Factors Affecting Organisational Performance: A Case of a Human Settlement Department in South Africa

Abstract

Organisations today are concerned about factors that affect their performance, including the role of strategic planning within the organisation as this enables the organisation to effectively and efficiently manage its resources. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting the performance of the department of human settlements in South Africa (herein the department). The quantitative research method was used, and the study was piloted using six selected respondents from the targeted population of 89 and these respondents were excluded from the study. A questionnaire was designed to collect primary data, and 72 questionnaires were distributed to the randomly selected respondents and 45 responses were obtained representing a 65% response rate. The study established that environmental factors, working environment, organisational culture, organisational assets, human resources management, organisational structure and leadership are the factors that affect performance in the department. It was also established that strategic planning acts as a platform to align departmental strategic documents with government planning documents such as NDP and PDP, facilitate the setting of specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time frame (SMART) objectives and targets, communicate departmental vision, values, goals and objectives effectively and clearly and provide feedback platform for planning outcomes and performance measurement. Based on the analysis undertaken, it was recommended that the department must strategically invest to improve the resources required to aid the employees to effectively execute their duties and that the department should ensure sufficient human resources to achieve the set strategic targets.