Effects of budget management training in public administration: a case of non-financial managers in selected municipalities in South Africa

Abstract

Skilled personnel are a crucial resource in any organisation. Organisations must attract and retain talented and qualified employees, and municipalities should not be excluded from this requirement. In this regard, the study's goal is to establish whether non-financial managers in Western Cape Administration, South Africa, require budget management training. This study contends that providing training and development to senior management and staff is critical to organisational performance and productivity in achieving organisational goals and objectives. A quantitative study approach was used and a survey questionnaire was sent to a group of employees from the three municipalities, including managers (n=261), for data collection. The data was captured on excel spreadsheets and was analysed using graphs and pie charts. The study discovered a lack of training and development by selected municipalities for managers and personnel in charge of budgetary choices. It was also discovered that decisions are made by politicians and then delegated to managers. Managers do not create projects; they only execute them. Thus, they have no idea how legislators arrived at the budget allocations. This requires involving managers in decision making and providing substantial budgeting process training to them, as well as empowering budget practitioners to achieve congruence between budgets, budgeting processes, project implementation, and anticipated service delivery to residents. The study indicates that staff training and development are critical to organizational success and attaining organizational goals and objectives while providing employee commitment. Municipalities, on the other hand, should reconsider the meaning of training and development. The study proposes that procedures be put in place to ensure that staff receive ongoing financial management and budgeting training to perform their tasks successfully and diligently.