Professional development in the field of human resource management of heads and specialists of the innovative organizations

This paper reports on research that was undertaken to determine the problems experienced by deputy principals in secondary schools, and the extent to which these problems were experienced. Although some research was conducted on the deputy principalship, no research treats the problems that deputy principals experience upon appointment comprehensively. An understanding of the problems experienced by secondary school deputy principals is a necessary precursor of an induction program to address the problems. A quantitative approach which was underpinned by the post-positivist paradigm was adopted. In order to determine the extent to which the problems were experienced, a survey was conducted among one hundred and fifty seven secondary school deputy principals in the North West Province. The participants came from a diverse context of rural, township and urban schools. The deputy principals who participated in the study included those who were newly appointed (one to three years of service) and those who were experienced (more than three years of service). Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means and percentages. There were no significant differences in the responses of both newly-appointed and experienced deputy principals. The results revealed that deputy principals experienced administrative, financial management, work pressure, personal and physical resources problems. In an attempt to address the problems identified, a context-specific induction program is recommended. The induction program should be an on-going program of professional development and should preferably include specific aims, action steps to be taken to achieve the aims that are set and measures to evaluate progress.

Sustainability and green practices are in the frontline of issues organizations globally are concerned about because of the consequences of climate change and its challenges. The objective and key question of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between knowledge of green human resource management (HRM) practices and its implementation within the organizations. The study followed a methodology of triangulated empirical research approach with a combined method of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Human resource practitioners from human resource divisions in higher education institutions in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, formed the population surveyed. Interview schedule and questionnaires were instruments used in data collection. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data collected from interviews. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 was used to analyze quantitative data collected. About half of HR practitioners indicated minimal awareness of the concept ‘green HRM’, but reflected moderate knowledge and understanding of green HRM activities. Overall, the findings revealed a moderate application of green HRM principles in HRM activities in the institutions. There was no policy framework in the form of green HRM policies to drive green activities within the HR divisions and institutionally. Findings also revealed that there is a relationship between knowledge of green HRM activities and its implementation within the organization. Also, a strong correlation was found to exist between green HRM policies and implementation of green HRM activities in the organization. This then led the researcher to recommend that organizations who aspire to go green, be resource efficient and sustainable will need to have green HRM policies in place, they will also need to ensure that training and awareness workshops on green HRM are conducted to skill and equip all stakeholders involved.

The article aims to reveal the university rating by its faculty motivation, which has an impact on human resources development in higher education sector and raises the university competiveness level. To achieve the given goal, the researchers have developed a model for evaluating the university rating on faculty work motivation by assessing implementation of motivational factors in the university, their weight for determining its rating in comparison with the threshold value.
The article examines blocks of motivational factors, such as material-monetary, material- non-monetary and non-material. The authors believe that systemic and timely use of these blocks of motivational factors by the university may increase the lecturers’ professional skills level, quality of the educational program and the academic process itself and contribute to the growth of university competitiveness.
During the research, the lecturers were surveyed by using a structured questionnaire, and a model for assessing the university faculty motivation level has been developed based on the research outcomes. Comparative analysis of the obtained results and the threshold value have been made so that to come up with conclusions on the university
rating. The survey has revealed that the university under study has the B+– class rating, which demonstrates a fairly high result. There have been made recommendations to the given university on achieving the higher-class rating.