The compatibility between extension aims of staff and their organisation: implications for management

Abstract

It is imperative for an organisation to have a basic understanding of the reasons for its existence, which describe its aims or vision. These aims must be known and shared among employees, since they give direction and meaning to them. This pilot investigation was done to investigate the compatibility between extension aims of extension staff and those of their employer. It shows that only 50 percent of respondents have an acceptable understanding of the official aims (vision), and that none of the components of the official vision has sufficient compatibility with the perceptions of staff. Furthermore it was found that the internal compatibility of respondents' aims is insufficient, and for unknown reasons there was no overlap of respondents' aims with the most important issues of the official vision. It became evident that staff members were suffering from high levels of frustration that could be linked to being unaware of and not knowing the official vision. The implications of these findings are that management should immediately give serious attention to the matter, and as a first step should investigate the causes of this problem. Secondly, management should share its vision and imprint it with all staff, after which it should empower staff to take steps to reach the vision. This may help towards breaking the unacceptable levels of frustration by staff and to align the perceptions of staff with the official aims of the organisation.