Fixed term employment and its influence on workflow: a case study of SADC plant genetic resources centre.

Abstract

The nature of employment contracts has often been blamed to influence the flow of work and as the reason for poor operational performance in intergovernmental organizations across the world. Many studies have been done on fixed term employment contracts but very little have been researched on how these influence the flow of work in intergovernmental organisations. The study examined the influences of fixed-term employment contracts on the workflow of intergovernmental organisations using the SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre, in Lusaka, Zambia as a case. It focused on how the flow of work at these organisations is affected when the contracts of those employees superintending long term projects expire. Data was gathered from respondents using questionnaires and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). It was found out that fixed term employment contracts, to a greater extent, negatively affected the workflow of intergovernmental organisations. It was shown that there was interruption of work at the expiration of employee contracts, some planned projects are not implemented, abandoned along the way and yielded unsatisfactory results. Intergovernmental organisations are therefore recommended to match their employment contracts with the length of their projects, renewing these until the employee reaches retirement age or even giving permanent positions to high performers. It is also recommended that further studies focus on the need for intergovernmental organisations to hire employees specifically for projects that have got a known life span and match this with the contracts of employment as well as understanding losses incurred in these types of institutions as a result of the expiry of employment contracts. Key words: Fixed Term Employment Contracts, Workflow, Projects, Plant Genetic Resources.