Original Research

The role of the human resource development practitioner within Industry 4.0 in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality

Colile T. Naka, Cecile M. Schultz, Phillimon T. Mpete

Received: 12 Jan. 2026; Accepted: 26 Apr. 2026; Published: 11 Sept. 2026

Copyright: © 2026. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract

Orientation: The role of the human resource development (HRD) practitioner within Industry 4.0 holds great potential for directing the entire organisation and better preparing the workforce for the upcoming technological advancements.

Research purpose: This research aimed to explore the role of the HRD practitioner within Industry 4.0 in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality by determining the constraining and contributing factors and the future expectations.

Motivation for the study: The role of HRD practitioners in South African municipalities within Industry 4.0 is unclear and needs investigation.

Research approach/design and method: The research employed a qualitative approach, engaging with 11 participants from the Municipality. Data were collected, and thematic analysis was utilised to analyse the data.

Main findings: The main findings from the research were in line with research from previous studies. For example: Working in silos, Budget constraints, Change management, Delay in process, Lack of resources, Talent management, to name a few.

Practical/managerial implications: To understand what was expected of them and how they should train and develop employees, HRD practitioners identified their role within Industry 4.0. Several hindrances might affect the transition into Industry 4.0, like delays in the process, lack of support and budget constraints, to name a few. Failure to keep up with technological advancements will hinder smooth adaptation and employee training in Industry 4.0.

Contribution/value-add: The study informs workers about their specific position and clarifies the role of HRD in the context of impending technological improvements.

Keywords: training and development; technological advancement; COVID-19; budget constraints; working in silo; lack of resources and staff.

Introduction

In the past two decades, human resource development (HRD) has been the fastest-growing sector of management development due to substantial changes and competition in the business environment (Kareem, 2019). Research (Re) conducted in the Stellenbosch and Drakenstein municipalities was consistent with these findings. Although the two municipalities appeared to be making great strides in providing training, limited support became a major factor (Kamara et al., 2019). The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality experienced the same problem as the Stellenbosch and Drakenstein municipalities, namely a lack of managerial and financial support.

The role of human resource (HR) practitioners as human capital developers includes closely overseeing HR as a collective with the objective of preparing employees to prosper in the new world of technology (Dhanpat et al., 2020, p. 8). The cooperation between technology and employees, the developing importance of Human Resources in Industry 4.0 and the direction of current and future employment must be determined. This would help establish effective HR strategies and ensure employee well-being during Industry 4.0 technological breakthroughs (Niraimathi & Kumari, 2024). Human resource must reduce turnover and increase retention. As they transition, employees demand mental health and work-life balance help from the company (Panday et al., 2025). The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality HR department seldom applied technology it had access to before the advent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but was then forced to go online and use some of the technological advances, such as e-recruitment and online training (Saxena et al., 2021). A national human resources (HRs) department policy, as well as HR training schemes at the lower levels, will increase the productivity of the workforce, especially where Industry 4.0 explicitly requires specialists (Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2021).

The HR and employees in general need to be better equipped to cope with technological advances to avoid poor adoption of technological changes and ultimately, failure to maintain good work performance standards (Agrawal et al., 2022). Change is inevitable, and the fear of the unknown is what would make employees resist technological transformation. Human resource development practitioners need to educate employees on Industry 4.0 and ensure that no jobs are lost during this process (Owen, 2021). The skilling and reskilling of employees will be critical, as some positions may become redundant.

Research problem

Many employees resist the technological changes brought about by Industry 4.0 and lack the skills to participate in Industry 4.0 (Agrawal et al., 2022). The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality gave scant attention to recognising and communicating processes and procedures for its urban planning function during the early lockdown stages (Nel & Luwin, 2022). The research found that the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality had a fully operational training system despite minor challenges that might arise, like a lack of support from top management, resulting in insufficient budget allocations.

The rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has emphasised the need for stronger integration between technology and HRs, requiring organisations to develop strategies that support employee well-being, retention and continuous skills development. Whilst municipalities such as Tshwane have begun adopting technologies like e-recruitment and online training – particularly accelerated by COVID-19 – there are still gaps in readiness and capability.

There was limited support from stakeholders across municipal departments, coupled with a lack of integrated and coordinated thinking and activities (Nokele & Makgany, 2023). This fragmentation created uncertainty for HRD practitioners and constrained their ability to effectively fulfil their roles. Although the advent of the 4IR has contributed to improvements in municipal service delivery, these gains have occurred within a context of ongoing structural and strategic uncertainty.

It was therefore concluded that municipalities have the potential to more fully integrate technological advancements into their systems, provided that existing barriers – such as poor coordination, limited stakeholder alignment and inadequate strategic integration – are addressed to enable the effective application of 4IR technologies in South African municipalities (Nokele & Makgany, 2023).

Research purpose

This study explored the role of HRD practitioners in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality within the context of Industry 4.0, focusing on the factors that constrain and enable their effectiveness, as well as their future expectations in supporting technological integration and organisational performance.

Literature review

Underpinning theory

The researchers adopted Human Capital Theory to underpin the literature component of this study, as it emphasises both individuals’ inherent abilities and the value of investing in their development. The rationale for investing in human capital is reflected in three key perspectives: firstly, ensuring that new generations are equipped with the knowledge accumulated by previous generations; secondly, providing training that enables individuals to apply this knowledge in the creation of products and the delivery of social services; and thirdly, encouraging innovation by motivating individuals to develop new and improved ways of addressing community needs (Shanaz et al., 2020). This study is grounded in Human Capital Theory, emphasising the importance of developing employees’ knowledge, skills and innovation capacity in the context of Industry 4.0 (Shanaz et al., 2020). It highlights the critical role of HRD practitioners in engaging and retaining talent, whilst noting that challenges such as limited support and skills shortages hinder effective human capital development in the municipality.

Previous studies showed that HRD was the most critical element in communicating employee challenges and engaging, involving and retaining capable employees, specifically employees with experience, interest and basic knowledge (Carlback et al., 2023). The main focus is to shift to a more direct and sustained approach to human capital within the organisation. A human capital shortage can present a huge challenge to further development, as organisations may find it increasingly difficult to engage, retain and attract employees for all positions (Carlback et al., 2023).

Future research should focus on addressing the identified gaps by adopting more context-specific and practitioner-centred approaches. In particular, there is a need for empirical studies that explore the lived experiences of HRD practitioners within municipal environments undergoing digital transformation. Such studies should examine how HRD roles are evolving in practice under Industry 4.0 conditions, rather than focusing only on theoretical or organisational-level readiness.

The role of the human resource development practitioner within Industry 4.0

The researchers aimed to present the move from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0 as a necessary transition whilst uncovering recent perspectives on a broader scale on how HRD could enhance development and learning in the organisation. This would include keeping abreast with technological changes and being ready to adapt to Industry 4.0. According to Maisiri and Van Dyk (2021), the contributing factors that will enhance HRD within Industry 4.0 are skills and talent, as they are known to be the drivers of the successful adoption of Industry 4.0. There will be changes within job requirements because of the increased complexity of the workplace. This has the potential to threaten unskilled jobs and semi-skilled employees (Maisiri & Van Dyk, 2021).

At the dawn of the 21st century, the world was watching Industry 4.0 and the digital transformation and revolution of the business world, which required organisations to be ready for the developmental changes that were underway (Ghobakhloo, 2020). Digital technologies have changed the way organisations act in business markets in terms of what they are currently offering (Ritter & Pedersen, 2020). Organisations are experiencing challenges in motivating knowledge workers to fully realise their human potential within Industry 4.0, which in turn may hinder effective HRD in this context (Schultz, 2021).

Changes in leadership and political parties bring about changes in the day-to-day running of a municipality. Post-apartheid (which is post-1994) democratic South Africa chose a hefty local government system enshrined in Chapter 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996 (Reddy, 2021, p. 8). Over a period of more than 20 years, most municipalities in South Africa have been unsuccessful in rendering proper services, due to a shortfall in capability and budget management skills (Uys et al., 2022, p. 23). This can result from under- or over-disbursement that eventually leads to poor delivery of services.

Employees who do on-the-job training do not gain financially, and during this process, co-workers will develop a healthy working relationship whilst improving their working conditions (Nguyen et al., 2021, p. 93). Employees who have been with the organisation for a longer period of time have faced many challenges and can reflect on things learned from experience and share them with others.

Previous studies on the future expectations of the human resource development practitioner

Previous studies indicate that only a small number of organisations regard professional HRD practitioners as strategic partners, whilst the majority continue to view their roles as primarily operational, reflecting varying perceptions of HRD’s function (Lundgren & Poell, 2023). Furthermore, some organisations experience challenges in aligning the strategic intentions of HRD with their practical implementation, creating a gap between policy and practice. This misalignment poses a significant challenge to the evolving expectations placed on HRD practitioners within the context of Industry 4.0 (Russ et al., 2023). In the context of Industry 4.0, where rapid technological advancements demand agile and future-oriented workforce development, this challenge becomes even more pronounced. Human resource development practitioners are expected to play a transformative role in reskilling and upskilling employees, fostering a culture of innovation and enabling organisational adaptability. However, when their role is perceived as operational rather than strategic, their ability to contribute meaningfully to these objectives is constrained. Consequently, organisations may struggle to fully leverage human capital as a source of competitive advantage, thereby limiting the effectiveness of HRD in supporting Industry 4.0 initiatives.

Research design

Research approach

An exploratory research approach was adopted in this study. Exploratory research is generally used to investigate new or under-researched areas with the aim of generating insights and uncovering emerging patterns within a specific topic (Gerring et al., 2020). This approach was appropriate for the current study because limited research exists on the role of HRD practitioners within the context of Industry 4.0 in municipal settings. In addition, the interpretivist research paradigm was applied to support the exploration of participants’ subjective meanings and experiences, allowing for the collection of rich, open-ended data.

Research method

A qualitative research method was used in this study to gain an in-depth understanding of participants’ experiences, perceptions and professional roles. Qualitative research focuses on exploring how individuals interpret and make sense of their realities, including how decisions are made within their work environments (Barrett & Twycross, 2018). It is a flexible and evolving approach that accommodates diverse epistemological positions and allows for a detailed exploration of complex social phenomena (Yadav, 2021). In this study, the qualitative method was particularly suitable for capturing the nuanced experiences of HRD practitioners in relation to technological change and organisational dynamics.

Research setting

The research involved 11 interviewees, most of whom had senior roles within the HR department at the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

Research participants and sampling method

The researchers used the purposive sampling technique, as it was most suited to the nature of the research. It is a non-random technique that does not need underlying theories or a set number of participants (Etikan et al., 2016). In qualitative research, a final sample cannot be used to determine the sample size (Creswell, 2014).

The researchers used purposive sampling, and the following inclusion criteria were used to select the participants:

• Employees of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality before, during and after COVID-19.
• Employees with at least 3 years’ experience.
• Permanently employed staff members.

The following exclusion criteria were used when selecting the participants:

• Employees with no work experience in HR or HRD or performance management.
• Employees who did not hold a relevant 3-year HR or HRD qualification.
• Staff members not willing to participate.

Data collection method

Semi-structured interviews were conducted through Microsoft Teams. In qualitative research, there are three types of interview methods: unstructured interviews (they are the most flexible type of interview and are typically conducted in a conversational manner), semi-structured interviews (interviews combine structure and flexibility by using guiding questions whilst allowing follow-up probing). They provide both consistency and rich insights, but their effectiveness depends on the interviewer’s skill and structured interviews use a fixed set of questions asked in the same way to all participants, making data easy to compare and analyse. They ensure reliability and objectivity but may limit depth and detailed responses (Alam, 2021). The researchers used interviews that could be conducted through a telephone call, through a face-to-face encounter or online through Microsoft Teams (Alam, 2021).

Data recording

During data gathering, the interviews were recorded and stored for record-keeping reasons. All the employees who participated in the data gathering process gave consent to be recorded.

Strategy to ensure data quality and integrity

Qualitative researchers are expected to maintain transparency and trustworthiness during the data analysis process (O’Kane et al., 2021). The researchers demonstrated trustworthiness by showing an understanding of credibility, dependability, transferability and confirmability (O’Kane et al., 2021). Purposive selection of participants was applied, involving those with the insight and experience to provide valid data (O’Kane et al., 2021).

Researchers are expected to provide a detailed explanation that shows that the qualitative study’s findings may be relevant to other conditions and situations. Transferability was limited in this qualitative study due to conceptual aspects (O’Kane et al., 2021).

Dependability refers to the stability of the study over time (O’Kane et al., 2021). The researchers used ATLAS.ti Version 22.2 software to assist with data accuracy; ATLAS.ti is a qualitative data analysis software.

Confirmability aims to prove that the researcher’s findings are based on the participants’ responses and not on any personal motivation or on unfairness (O’Kane et al., 2021). The researchers used ‘memoing’ during the data analysis as evidence to demonstrate the correctness of the interview interpretations, as suggested by Birks et al. (2008).

Research strategy

Previous research found that qualitative research allowed the clarification and comprehension of complex matters. It is obligatory to have a sound and suitable research method for a broad and complete inquiry (Alam, 2021). Qualitative research was adopted by this study to identify the role of the HRD practitioner within Industry 4.0. Qualitative research utilises audio, visual and textual data to understand how human beings experience a phenomenon and appreciate the meaning they assign to their experiences (Aldaihani & Islam, 2022). Formulating the research question is a key but complex assignment in qualitative research. The question should be closely aligned with the approach selected; in other words, approach and question are interdependent (Bertomeu & Esteban, 2023).

Data analysis

According to Alam (2021), data coding is a transitional process connecting data analysis and data collection. Moreover, data coding is a procedure in data analysis and clarification that allows the researchers to form a relationship between data and idea (Alam, 2021). There are three stages of qualitative data analysis (Bonache & Festing, 2020):

• Data familiarisation.
• Constructing the primary codes, categorising themes, capturing codes, revising themes and forming the batch.
• Pattern formation and establishing the relationship between main categories.

Thematic analysis plays a big role in qualitative research; it is able to assist the researchers with organising and analysing raw data whilst creating themes and sub-themes during the data analysis process (Salm et al., 2021). The researchers used ATLAS.ti Version 22.2 software to analyse the raw data collected from the 11 participants; it was during this process that the raw data were coded, and various themes and sub-themes emerged.

Reporting style

Findings were confirmed verbatim with the study participants. To ensure the confidentiality of the participants, each participant was assigned a number.

Ethical considerations

Ethical clearance to conduct this study was obtained from Tshwane University of Technology Research Ethics Committee (Ref. No. REC2023/12/022-MS). Researchers adhered to ethical guidelines under a confidentiality agreement, ensuring participant privacy and anonymity. Permission to conduct the study was granted by the Director of Knowledge Management at the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Interview guides and consent forms were shared with participants beforehand, who were informed that participation was voluntary and anonymous. Confidentiality and anonymity were maintained throughout data collection and reporting, ensuring the credibility and trustworthiness of the findings. No participants were harmed during the study.

Results

The research findings of the study were solely based on data gathered from the participants and are presented in this portion. The participants’ responses were categorised thematically into main themes and subsequently divided into sub-themes. Table 1 gives an overview of the main demographic information of the participants. Most of the participants had senior roles within the municipality’s HRs department. There were four HR officers, one deputy director, one functional head, two organisational development specialists and three directors amongst the 11 participants in this study. The qualifications of the participants ranged from a national diploma to a doctoral degree.

Themes used to analyse the future of HRD competencies are discussed forthwith (Table 2).

Theme 1: Constraining (hindering) factors

This section deals with the themes and sub-themes which employees felt were constraining (hindering) factors that would affect the roles of HRD practitioners within the municipality.

The perceptions of the researchers based on the literature review were consistent with most findings from the interviews. There were several hindrances that might affect the transition into Industry 4.0, like delays in the process, lack of support and budget constraints, to name but a few.

Sub-theme 1.1: Political views

The participants felt free to express their political views and how that directly impacted the municipality, as it is a state-run organisation. According to them, a change in leadership and political parties meant a change in the day-to-day running of the municipality:

‘They hire their own people to the wrong positions. That usually affects the organisation, it is usually the unions appointing their members from their political parties.’ (Participant 5, 62 years of age and 28 years in service. Qualification: National Diploma in HRM)

The above gave a political identity to the local bureaucracy to ensure that the executive leadership of municipalities had a uniform political vision and ideology to facilitate the expansion of local government.

Sub-theme 1.2: Delay in process

There are factors that may cause a delay in the process; in this case, budget and support from top management may be the two key contributors:

‘I think slow adoption of technology will be the death of us.’ (Participant 11, 40 years of age and 10 years in service. Qualification: PhD)

Unfortunately, the implementation of these advances did not move at a pace that pleased the employees at the municipality.

Sub-theme 1.3: Working in silos

Most employees at the municipality adopted a work culture of functioning in isolation rather than across departments or teams, and they did not readily share resources and information:

‘We don’t and currently like I’m seeing is just his silent. HRD it’s silent according to me. It’s so silently silent within Tshwane.’ (Participant 7, 41 years of age and 10 years in service. Qualification: BTech Project Management)

From what Participant 7 said, one can see how absent HRD was and how isolated it was from other employees. Human resource development practitioners need to be more visible; they could maybe do team building to become acquainted with other employees.

Sub-theme 1.4: Budget constraints

Over a period of more than 20 years, most municipalities in South Africa have been unsuccessful in rendering proper services, due to a shortfall of capability and budget management skills (Zweni et al., 2022):

‘I feel like the role of HRD is being undermined by management. They should be given enough budget, in terms of the training.’ (Participant 7, 41 years of age and 10 years in service. Qualification: BTech Project Management)

Industry 4.0 is a big technological advancement, and some employees are looking forward to it and will be disappointed if implementation does not take place due to budget.

Sub-theme 1.5: Lack of resources and staff

To be fully functional, there are special skills required by organisations, as well as the correct human capital with the right knowledge and expertise:

‘Lack of staff perhaps in the department or in a division? There’s not enough staff, so they can’t send people for training and development because there’s not enough people to do the work then.’ (Participant 10, 54 years of age and 15 years in service. Qualification: Honours Degree in Psychology)

Sometimes, employees did not have time to take on training programmes because of a shortage of staff and their concern about who would take care of their responsibilities when they were gone for a week.

Sub-theme 1.6: Communication

Communication is essential, especially when there are advanced technological changes within the organisation:

‘They missed, definitely be trained in terms of how they should assess in terms of the tool that they need, cause I’m not sure if they’ve got enough tools. Tools of trade with them, because I don’t see their communication.’ (Participant 1, between 45 and 50 years of age and 7 years in service. Qualification: PhD Philosophy)

The municipality should develop communication training programmes based on the level of communication in the municipality.

Sub-theme 1.7: Change management

The municipality’s readiness to adopt change will be defined by the employees of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality:

‘Some changes need to happen I think maybe they needed to be given the power tool or accountability to express themselves, or maybe through to work in terms of the budget, they must be allowed enough budget and be given accountability to be responsible, to utilise perhaps the budget.’ (Participant 7, 41 years of age and 10 years in service. Qualification: BTech Project Management)

Clear goals and expectations should be set for employees to account for all money spent and outcomes achieved.

Sub-theme 1.8: Lack of training

The world is changing and evolving, as are organisations and their technology. The municipality needs to invest in training and close all the current training gaps:

‘When I get here and my colleague must teach me on the software that I’ll be using, I’ll definitely be utilised against the HRD doesn’t have maybe money to take me to a course, but most of the time is on the job training.’ (Participant 1, between 45 and 50 years of age and 7 years in service. Qualification: PhD Philosophy)

Most employees at the municipality were only given on-the-job training, hence they reached the conclusion that the municipality did not have money.

Conclusion of Theme 1

Training and employee development are an integral part of an organisation’s development. By investing in employees, the municipality can foster a culture of continual improvement and learning amongst employees. A carefully planned training budget will allow the municipality to align the overall organisational learning purpose with the organisational goals. Political appointments may cause resentment in qualifying participants who are not given an opportunity just because they are not members of a certain party or trade union; the HR function needs to safeguard against this.

Theme 2: Contributing (helpful) factors

Human resource development practitioners need to take decisive steps to help organisations prepare for the coming technological advancements and equip employees with the necessary skills (Mukhuty et al., 2022). According to Rana and Sharma (2019), organisations can upgrade their innovation dimensions to a remarkable degree with the engagement of competent employees.

Sub-theme 2.1: Learning from the past

Learning, training and education constitute an investment in an employee’s productivity. Experience is a great teacher, and employees can learn from senior employees who may have had the same experiences or challenges:

‘I’m not quite sure that we are waiting for another COVID to happen so that you know we can readjust, but I think we’ve got an opportunity now to train workers on these technology or advanced technological tools.’ (Participant 11, 40 years of age and 10 years in service. Qualification: PhD)

Participant 11 expressed the view that the municipality should make sure that employees were technologically advanced enough to handle any type of situation that might occur:

‘I normally call it informal learning. Very critical and informative learning from employees who have done such in the past, we need to begin to look into informal learning and introduce informal learning.’ (Participant 2, 58 years of age and 13 years in service. Qualification: Master’s Degree: HRM)

Informal learning offers employees the opportunity to master the knowledge and practical skills they require to perform their responsibilities.

Sub-theme 2.2: Planning

The municipality needs to properly plan for its desired outcomes to achieve its overall goal. Planning will support the municipality in attaining its vision and mission:

‘Where employees will indicate their training needs for a particular financial performance cycle and then they have to plan around it, including the budget, because some of the process of training have been taken by external service providers.’ (Participant 8, 55 years of age and 11 years in service. Qualification: Bachelor of Administration)

When training needs are identified, it is easier to do budget plans:

‘Audit wherein you identify that there is a need for training and development. So in our municipality, we capacitate our employees through training and development. We identify the need for training intervention we sourced out. If we cannot offer it in house we source out. We want to capacitate each and every individual so that they can actually enhance.’ (Participant 1, between 45 and 50 years of age and 7 years in service. Qualification: PhD Philosophy)

The above process, explained by Participant 1, is how they, as HRD practitioners, plan to meet employees’ training needs whilst implementing the organisation’s goals.

Sub-theme 2.3: Support and develop learning

The municipality needs to develop a learning culture and adhere to it, be it instilled through posters or word of mouth:

‘And then I think that might be personal because some department or my manager might not want to train us. But is the role of HRD to make sure that you are trained? And every employee within Tshwane is equally trained, equally developed.’ (Participant 7, 40 years of age and 10 years in service. Qualification: BTech Project Management)

Human resource development practitioners should ensure equal opportunity for training and development. A supportive and learning culture has to be promoted to produce a healthy working environment:

‘That’s the thing because from the experience that we have for that in the performance agreements, 90% percent of the employees will not indicate their training needs. So, and they need to make it difficult for HRD practitioners to compile the WSP if they compile it then it will not indicate sufficient meaning.’ (Participant 8, 55 years of age and 11 years in service. Qualification: Bachelor of Administration)

Human resource development practitioners need to stress the importance of employees communicating their training needs, and maybe there should be consequences for those who do not:

‘I think an impactful HRD practitioner needs to extend themselves to bring more of the human side than the relational side as well as the connectedness to what is happening in the system.’ (Participant 1, between 45 and 50 years of age and 7 years in service. Qualification: PhD Philosophy)

Support is held in high regard, and it is evident that employees would appreciate more support from the employer:

‘People like to feel that they are important in an environment, and one of the ways that you can assist people is to provide them with training opportunities and learning opportunities so that they feel empowered.’ (Participant 10, between 45 and 50 years of age and 7 years in service. Qualification: PhD Philosophy)

Employees at the municipality wanted to feel valued, seen and supported, especially by their direct supervisors. That would give them a sense of recognition and motivate them:

‘I mentioned previously and you see you. Another thing is to also to have the support and buy in from leadership. That is very crucial because if leadership does not buy into that it becomes a problem.’ (Participant 2, 58 years of age and 13 years in service. Qualification: Master’s Degree: HRM)

The leadership of the municipality has to listen to or support not only HRD practitioners, but also the employees in general. Retention must be the utmost goal of the organisation:

‘The HRD practitioner has to look into the state of the learning organisation. Try to find out more of what employees know and do, what are their opinions about the learning culture.’ (Participant 6, 38 years of age and 12 years in service. Qualification: National Diploma: HRM)

From the above participants’ input, it is clear they long for learning opportunities.

Sub-theme 2.4: Evaluating and gap analysis

An evaluation needs to be conducted of where the organisation is currently, and which solutions could be applied. Based on the feedback received from the participants, there is a gap, and the municipality has to work with HR to close this gap:

‘The HRD practitioners are the engine of the organisation. They are involved in performance appraisal and then they can definitely identify needs for employees and then set up the developmental intervention through training.’ (Participant 1, between 45 and 50 years of age and 7 years in service. Qualification: PhD Philosophy)

Participants directly and indirectly said there was a gap and that HRD should be the driving force for the municipality to achieve everything it planned:

‘They’re doing a skills audit to check actually employees and that they have the necessary equipment or necessary requirements in their particular positions. So it will help the city as a factor to ensure that they end up closing those gaps.’ (Participant 3, 51 years of age and 20 years in service. Qualification: National Diploma: HRM)

Management should invest in the development of HRD practitioners to equip them with the knowledge and the skills needed to impact the entire organisation:

‘The HRD practitioner has to look into the state of the learning organisation. Try to find out more of what employees know and do, what their opinions are about the learning culture.’ (Participant 6, 38 years of age and 12 years in service. Qualification: National Diploma: HRM)

Ideally, the municipal processes should include the realistic evaluation of capacity, internally and externally, to respond and adapt with agility in real time.

Conclusion of Theme 2

In summary, human resource management is evolving through the influence of digital technologies, strategic transformation, and key theories such as human capital theory, which recognises employees as valuable assets. Organisations that invest in employee skills and capabilities are more likely to improve performance and remain competitive. Overall, HR has shifted from an administrative role to a strategic function that supports innovation, growth, and long-term organisational success.

Theme 3: Role of the human resource development practitioner

Research conducted within HRD on professionals and scholars has proven that the role of HRD has been undervalued (Elliot et al., 2020).

Sub-theme 3.1: Training

Training procedures serve to enrich employees, with the implication that training can have profitable behavioural welfare results. A good training and development plan has the potential to grow employees:

‘They are responsible to continuously assessing our skills and in terms of what we are doing, then they are responsible for training our employees within City of Tshwane.’ (Participant 7, 41 years of age and 15 years in service. Qualification: BTech Project Management)

The above participant looked forward to being upskilled. Human resource development practitioners should receive training and development related to Industry 4.0 before the rest of the organisation. The HRD practitioners need to be the champions of Industry 4.0.

Sub-theme 3.2: Talent management

Talent management can be defined as an indefinite process that includes attracting and retaining skilled, high-quality employees (Ivan, 2021):

‘They are involved in recruitment, they are involved in talent management, they are involved in skills auditing and then identifying even developmental needs within the organisation.’ (Participant 1, Between 45 and 50 years of age and 7 years in service. Qualification: PhD Philosophy)

A platform where employees can provide feedback is critical so that practitioners can identify employees’ development needs.

Sub-theme 3.3: Support

The most crucial role HRD practitioners play is to offer support whilst ensuring the effectiveness and performance of the organisational workforce:

‘All those things, all those support resources that is needed, you need to ensure that. You are the way you are supportive. You bring all those in and yeah.’ (Participant 9, 53 years of age and 10 years in service. Qualification: Honours Degree: Project Management)

Participant 9 clearly articulated employees’ needs and expectations from HRD, namely to bring together the resources to improve their working space.

Sub-theme 3.4: Skills audit

The municipality, in partnership with its HRD practitioners, should come up with practical methods for conducting a skills analysis to identify the skills needed for each job or performing a skills audit to determine the skills each individual holds:

‘They are helping the city, assessing or doing what we call skills audit. They’re doing skills audit to check actually employees and that they have the necessary equipment or necessary requirements in their particular positions.’ (Participant 3, 51 years of age and 20 years in service. Qualification: National Diploma: HRM)

Participant 3 pointed out that a skills audit was being done at the municipality. It was a great initiative, as it could assist the municipality in assessing skills demand versus supply.

Sub-theme 3.5: Recruitment

Recruitment is a critical HR function and plays a large role in structuring the overall performance of an organisation:

‘There’s a migration here from what people used to do into something new and that would require some transformation in the form of change management initiatives and you see in terms of and it’s part of the areas that I’ve mentioned, like your recruitment diversity.’ (Participant 2, 58 years of age and 13 years in service. Qualification: Master’s Degree: HRM)

Poor recruitment decisions may negatively impact the municipality’s overall performance. Effective recruitment strategies that include diversity should be considered.

Conclusion of Theme 3

The municipality spends millions of rands on employee training and development, including skills programmes. For better coordination and planning of the entire organisation’s training schedule, employees must communicate their training needs to be addressed within that financial year. Human resource development practitioners must be trained in workplace communication to close the current gaps between them and employees. Clear goals and expectations should be set for employees to account for all money spent and outcomes achieved.

Theme 4: Future expectations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Artificial intelligence and robotics

The world is evolving, and Industry 4.0 is almost here. Organisations should keep abreast of all the changes.

Sub-theme 4.1: Artificial intelligence and robotics

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are taking over the world. Artificial intelligence contributes to technological advancements in invention, production and distribution and has become ubiquitous.

Some participants knew or had an idea of what Industry 4.0 was and how it would affect them or their workplace or the role of HRD practitioners in general:

‘With all these upcoming technological changes with lots of robotics and everything and I’m not sure if things are going to be genuine scamming everywhere.’ (Participant 7, 41 years of age and 15 years in service. Qualification: BTech Project Management)

Participant 7 expressed fear of and discomfort with AI and robotics. The municipality must install proper security measures.

Sub-theme 4.2: Resistance to change

Resistance to change is inevitable, and employees were scared of, uncomfortable with and sceptical about Industry 4.0. Concerns emanated from various factors, such as job security:

‘I’m one of those people who might resist change because first of all, I’m not being told I might be scared that somebody’s going to steal my job, you know?’ (Participant 7, 41 years of age and 15 years in service. Qualification: BTech Project Management)

Participant 7 expressed strong fears of losing his/her job and was concerned about job security. The municipality needs to ensure that no job losses occur during this process.

Sub-theme 4.3: Avoid delays in the process

Many participants perceived the advent of Industry 4.0 as dreadful, but HRD practitioners need to sell it to the organisation and, most importantly, to the employees:

‘I think the benefit will be there it wouldn’t be there through cut a lot of things. Lots of the unnecessary delays you know. Then you’ll get to see the profit or the service delivery will improve.’ (Participant 5, 62 years of age and 28 years in service. Qualification: National Diploma: HRM)

During the Industry 4.0 era, the turnaround time will be quicker, provided employees are willing to learn and adjust, thus avoiding delays.

Sub-theme 4.4: Leadership

Leaders are important in every organisation because they provide a working space that is supportive and promotes success:

‘Another thing is to also to have the support and buy in from leadership. That is very crucial because if leadership does not buy into that it becomes a problem.’ (Participant 2, 58 years of age and 13 years in service. Qualification: Master’s Degree: HRM)

Leadership engagement refers to genuine agreement and vital support from the top management team towards a common vision or goal.

Sub-theme 4.5: Developing competencies

Competencies are expertise, skills and attributes that are applicable in an organisation. It is important to cultivate competence to enhance the effectiveness and quality of employees’ work:

‘I think it would be for me the impact the HR practitioners within the industry can bring forward. I can play a role, my role would be to develop, but it’s my development having an impact.’ (Participant 4, 48 years of age and 24 years in service. Qualification: BA Honours Degree: HRM)

Participant 4 mentioned the role played by HR, which is to develop, and its impact. Human resource and HRD are both important in every employee’s development process.

Sub-theme 4.6: Support

Management needs to work hand in hand with HRD practitioners to ensure that employees are exposed to professional and personal development and opportunities to learn and grow within the organisation:

‘Workplace skills, skills gaps, so that at least we can be sure what kind of material we have and then how we can try to improve, especially in terms of knowledge and then and other work-related matters.’ (Participant 3, 51 years of age and 20 years in service. Qualification: National Diploma: HRM)

The main themes that emerged from the data collection of this study included lack of resources and staff, political views, resistance to change and leadership, amongst others. Additional identified themes were future expectations of Industry 4.0 and the organisation’s overall readiness.

Findings were consistent with previous research: HRD practitioners have been viewed as the drivers of employee-centred activities such as career development, learning and development and organisational development (Lundgreen & Poell, 2022, p. 49).

Future research

There are several constraining as well as contributing factors within the municipality and local government that may allow further research. With HRD playing a major role in training employees, learning and professional education, it is highly recommended that the organisation’s overall performance and development strategies take into account the constraining factors highlighted by the participants. Employee support is crucial, and the municipality must ensure that no employee is left behind during this process – from office workers to those working on-site. A change specialist should be appointed to ensure a smooth transition into Industry 4.0. Similar research can be conducted in the future within other South African municipalities to compare the findings with this current study. A questionnaire can be developed based on this study’s findings and then validated.

Limitations and recommendations

A limitation of this study was the lack of enthusiasm and the hesitancy of the participants to contribute to the study. Another limitation was that some participants would agree to participate in the interviews and later cancel, whilst others did not reschedule after not showing up. Some potential participants refused to participate in this study. One participant was uncomfortable with being interviewed and proposed manually filling in the answers, not allowing an opportunity to probe or ask follow-up questions. A delay of over 2 months occurred in the time scheduled for data collection. As per the primary objective, HRD practitioners should identify their roles in the Industry 4.0 era. That will place them in a position to know what is expected of them in terms of the employees’ training needs. The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is encouraged to close the gaps that exist between employees and HRD practitioners, between HRD practitioners and management and lastly between employees and the leadership of the municipality.

Contribution of the study

This study paved the way for future research studies. It highlighted the importance of HRD practitioners’ role in Industry 4.0. The employees voiced their interest in being upskilled to better perform their roles and build upon their existing skills. The skilling and reskilling of employees will be very important, as some positions may become redundant. Regarding the evolution of HRM involving AI, analytics and digital technology, the participants expressed their interest in upcoming developments such as e-learning and online recruitment, which might improve decision-making, enhance HR operations and grow employees’ skills and knowledge. This study paved the way for the two departments to join forces and explore avenues for co-operation, whilst closing the gaps that might exist.

Conclusion

The main aim of this research study was to identify the role of the HRD practitioner within Industry 4.0 in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Based on the data collected and the research findings gathered from the municipality, conclusions and recommendations were formulated. The contributing and constraining factors that could affect the role of HRD practitioners within Industry 4.0 in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality were explored as the secondary research objective. Some employees were excited about and looked forward to the technological advances, displaying a positive attitude. Others had reservations, fearing they would lose their jobs and be replaced by robots. The HRD practitioner needs to ensure maximum employee support so that employees are comfortable with all the upcoming advancements, as they will be on the receiving end.

Acknowledgements

Colile T. Naka would like to thank God almighty for carrying her through, Connie Park for the technical editing, Magriet Engelbrecht for the language editing, Ekaterina Rzyankina for the data analysis and supervisor, Prof. Cecile M. Schultz and co-supervisor Dr Phillimon T. Mpete and the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality for allowing data collection.

This article is based on research originally conducted as part of Colile T. Naka’s Masters thesis entitled, “The role of the human resource development practitioner within industry 4.0 in the city of Tshwane metropolitan municipality”, submitted to the Department of People Management and Development, Tshwane University of Technology in 2024. The thesis is currently unpublished and not publicly available. The thesis was supervised by Cecile M. Schultz and Phillimon T. Mpete. The thesis was reworked, revised and adapted into a journal article for publication. The author confirms that the content has not been previously published or disseminated and complies with ethical standards for original publication.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

CRediT authorship contribution

Colile T. Naka: Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing. Cecile M. Schultz: Supervision. Phillimon T. Mpete: Supervision. All authors reviewed the article, contributed to the discussion of results, approved the final version for submission and publication and take responsibility for the integrity of its findings.

Funding information

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Cecile M. Schultz, upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and are the product of professional research. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated institution, funder, agency or that of the publisher. The authors are responsible for this article’s results, findings, and content.

References