The development and evaluation of self-management training programme for public servants in the Ministry of Education in Namibia

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Date
2013
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Abstract
Changes that impact organisations require employees to understand the responsibilities of self-management in order to contribute to the productivity of those organisations. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a self-management training programme for public servants in the Ministry of Education headquarters in Namibia. A two-group design was used, comprising an experimental group and a control group. A pre-test, a post-test and a post-post-test were administered to both groups, with the aim of comparing the groups and measuring outcomes resulting from the experimental treatments. The experimental group went through an intervention, and was then compared with the control group which did not go through the intervention. The post-post-test was aimed at determining the long-term intervention outcomes after participants had demonstrated achievement of the learning outcomes in their work environment. The participants of the experimental group were assessed by their supervisors to determine whether there was any improvement in work efficacy as a result of the self-management training programme. The following measuring instruments were used: A biographical questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Psychological Well-being Scale (PWBS), the Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire (PEQ), the Time Management Questionnaire, a Knowledge and Reaction Evaluation questionnaire and a questionnaire that was completed by the supervisors of the experimental group to assess the behavioural changes which could be attributed to the self-management programme. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilised to analyse the results. The results indicated that with regard to psychological wellbeing, participants showed increased achievement in the areas of environment mastery, positive relations with others, and purpose in life, while in the sphere of time management, improvement was found in participants’ ability to get work done at a specific time without interruption, their ability to establish a system or process to automate, as much as possible, tasks such as writing engagement letters and proposals, responses to requests for proposals, billing and review, and their capacity to fully empower subordinates and not attend to assignments for which others were responsible. The results also showed that, as a result of the self-management training programme, the participants of the experimental group improved in the following areas, as measured by their supervisors: time-management, creativity, self-monitoring, stress-management, emotional intelligence, self-esteem, self-efficacy, socialisation, work engagement, interpersonal communication. Additionally, the results showed that the participants of the self-management training programme were very satisfied with the way the training was organized and conducted.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master in Industrial Psychology.
Keywords
Self management, Time management, Emotional intelligence, Self esteem, Self efficacy, Stress management, Self monitoring
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