Mathu Joyini of the Department of International Relations' HR division spoke to Margaret Harris

We are a government department operating globally, influenced by national, continental and global dynamics. We face similar HR challenges to other South African organisations, but we have also picked up that other foreign ministries are dealing with the same issues that we are grappling with. Of note is our ability to compete with other employers to attract the calibre of talent that is competent, confident and poised to represent SA in a fitting manner among the nations of the world.

As a country, we face growing expectations globally to contribute to a better world for all. As a government department we are often forced to compete with the private sector for exceptional talent. Competitive remuneration and perks then become an issue.

Another challenge is the often incorrect perceptions that many have about work experience within government. In addition to the above challenges, internally we continuously have to work on how we meaningfully engage and nurture the talent that we have and ensure that they want to remain with the department.

The department has been involved in a number of initiatives, including branding the organisation in different forums where we communicate our unique employment offering.

This year we intend to expand on this and give more focus on young professionals, women and people with disabilities. Another issue that we are currently addressing is improving the on-boarding process to ensure that new employees are integrated into their jobs and the organisation. We continue to innovate as we seek to respond to various challenges of our employees here and abroad. We will be putting more focus on secondments to international organisations. We also continue to benchmark ourselves with other foreign ministries to ensure we have best practices.

The department can accommodate various careers other than the core international relations and politics. We look for a variety of qualifications for different positions within two career streams: foreign service diplomacy, which consists of our political line function officials; and foreign service support, which consists of all corporate functions.

Qualifications range from international relations, politics, economics and commerce, humanities, general management, internal audit and information technology.

The people who will thrive are those who are true patriots of our country, who can ascribe to our values and national interests, have a good work ethic and are interpersonally and culturally sensitive. Our environment also requires lateral thinkers who are adaptable and innovative with an ability to manage stress, and build meaningful relationships.

The department takes the development of its employees seriously as it is committed to being known as a learning organisation. There are various learning and developmental opportunities available for employees.