Abstract:
The South African banking sector has experienced some progress in implementing employee
transformation over the past two decades since the Employment Equity Act (EEA) was
promulgated. The progress is somewhat evident in the junior, middle management and the
placement of women but deteriorates with seniority, with a wide gap in the top three
occupational levels within the banking sector. Despite legislation including the bank
committed targets in the Financial Sector Charter, the banks have not met the prescribed
targets and the progress in creating a diverse workforce across all occupational levels has
been slow and uneven.
The aim of this study was to identify the barriers that influence transformation implementation
within the banking sector in South Africa, with the aim of gaining new insights into this
important national agenda. Identifying the barriers, given the seemingly slow progress, could
assist Human Resources practioners, managers and leaders in creating new strategies that
will ensure a more accelerated transformation implementation process within the banking
sector.
An exploratory qualitative research method was adopted with the aim of identifying and gaining
a deeper understanding into the barriers to transformation within the banking sector. Thirteen
semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with Human Resource Executives,
Executive Heads of Business units, Senior Managers, Middle and Junior Managers as well as
Recruitment Managers within four of South Africa’s major banks. A thematic analysis was
conducted to gain a deeper understanding of transformation barriers in the banking sector.
The key findings of this study identified thirteen main barriers to transformation implementation
within the South African banking sector. The barriers were linked to lack of leadership
commitment, a ‘transformation resistant’ organisational culture, a lack of shared
understanding and engagement on transformation, negative perceptions amongst employees,
inconsistencies in Human Resources transformation implementation processes and an overall
lack of coordination, integration and focus in the transformation implementation. Furthermore,
the research culminated in a ‘Transformation Implementation Model’ that can be used by HR
practioners to accelerate transformation implementation in the workplace.
