An investigation of a nexus between employee skills development and competence in the Eastern Cape Department of Education

Background: In South Africa, it has become essential to have better access to high-quality and relevant skills development to achieve the goal of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. Therefore, employee capacity building has become a strategic priority for the national growth and development of all emerging countries.Aim: This article seeks to investigate a nexus between employee skills development and competence.Setting: The study was carried out in the Eastern Cape Department of Education.Methods: The article employed an inductive research approach and an explanatory research design to achieve its desired objectives. Moreover, structured questionnaires were used as the data collection tool, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the findings.Results: The results of the article confirmed that skills training and development ensure that staff is empowered, informed and trained, which results in improved efficiency in the workplace. In this situation, spin-offs will benefit public organisations, since employees’ increased abilities open new opportunities for long-term employment growth and organisational effectiveness. Furthermore, the knowledgeable and well-trained individual would make sound organisational decisions while competently providing a public service.Conclusion: The article revealed that the Department of Education has a wider skill learning system that is informed by the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 and perhaps the most critical problem that has hindered the development of employee skills in the public sector. The Department of Education does not do enough to incorporate the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) learning relationships, and the system becomes highly suboptimal without doing this. Such problems have cascaded down to affect the competence of many public employees. This article on the effect of training and development on employee performance has emerged as a tool for obtaining valuable knowledge on the issue.Contribution: This article contributed to the broader knowledge as a tool for obtaining valuable knowledge on the issues and on the effect of training and development on employee performance which has emerged.