How can WSP and ATR help identify and close skills gaps within your organisation

How can WSP and ATR help identify and close skills gaps within your organisation

by | Mar 15, 2023 | Articles, ATR, Digital, Education, Featured, Future World of Works, Human Resources, News, SMME, Workplace Skills Plan

A workplace skills plan is a detailed document that outlines the skills required by an organisation and identifies any gaps in those skills. The skills plan should consider the current skills of employees and their future training needs, as well as sector specific scares skills gap. The skills plan is an essential tool for HR managers and training committees, as it provides a blueprint for the development of training programs and career development plans for employees.

 

“The Skills Development Act, aims to expand the knowledge and competencies of the labour force, improve productivity, increase employment and eradicate inequality in society” Teboho Motsoane.

 

In order to develop a skills plan we need to conduct a skills audit of the organisation first. A skills audit involves assessing employees’ current skills against the skills required for their roles. This can be done through interviews, surveys, and performance appraisals and will help identify gaps in employees’ skills and highlight the areas where training is required.

 

Once skills gaps have been identified, these gaps are then translated into a training plan. The training plan should be based on the skills plan, should address the identified skills gaps and should be designed to meet the organisations’ and its employees’ specific needs and factor in sector specific skill requirements. It is important that training committees meet on a quarterly basis to discuss implementing changes into the plan if needed to due to current conditions in the working environment and operating sector at that time.

 

An actual training report (ATR) is an essential tool for measuring the effectiveness of training programs. The ATR reports on the actual training that was concluded in line with what training that was planned in the WSP.

 

The ATR assists in identifying whether the training program has successfully addressed the skills gaps identified in the skills plan. It can also highlight any areas where further training may be required. The report should be used to inform future training programs and to ensure that the organisation’s training needs are being met.

 

The WSP/ATR tool assists in creating opportunity for employees to obtain the skills required to remain competitive and can contribute to an organisation’s success.

 

Develop integrated learning pathways for your employees that will enhance employee engagement and organisational effectiveness with Siyakha’s expert assistance in crafting and submitting a WSP and ATR.

 

Contact us on 011 706 9006 or via email on sune.marais@siyakha.co.za to ensure that you get the best fit solution for your organisation through our specialised process and experienced team.

Employment Equity Amendment Bill: What To Expect

Employment Equity Amendment Bill: What To Expect

by | Nov 1, 2022 | Articles, B-BBEE, Education, Featured

It is always important to consider the regulatory environment. Looking at the “S” in ESG, one should consider the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), for it has become a crucial part of South African Legislation. While progress around B-BBEE has taken place, the change in the C-Suite of originations is yet to create the inclusion impact many had hoped for. To reach the goals set out in the transformation agenda in the country, one should not only consider addressing obstacles within the state. There is also a responsibility that falls on the Private Sector to have the courage to stand firm in ensuring sustainable change by closely considering diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The continued quest for redress led to the appointment of the country’s new B-BBEE Advisory Council in June 2022, which will guide the government on the ‘intensified transformation’ of the economy. However, for authentic and accelerated transformation to be achieved, the B-BBEE act must be applied consistently by both the Public and Private Sectors, particularly concerning Section 10 and Section 13 (G). These sections refer to the Status of the Codes and Reporting by entities in the Public and Private Sectors.

Although no substantial changes have been made to the B-BBEE Act and Amended Codes of Good Practice after 2015, the most significant transformation push comes through the new Employment Equity Amendment Bill, which is expected to be the vanguard in a new transformation push for the country.

The Department of Employment and Labour governs the Employment Equity Act, allowing minister Thulas Nxesi to set employment equity targets for different business sectors. Targets may be set for different occupational levels, sub-sectors, or regions.

The Amendment of the EE Act of 1998 is intended:

  • To reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses;
  • Empower the Employment and Labour Minister to regulate sector-specific EE numerical targets;
  • To promulgate section 53 of the EEA for issuing the EE Compliance Certificate.

The expected introduction of five-year sector targets will mark a new beginning for inclusion. All current Employment Equity plans fell away on 22 September 2022. The new plans will have to be aligned with five-year targets, as self-regulation is yet to deliver broader diversity and inclusion.

The primary purpose of the Employment Equity Act is to promote the right to Equality, to ensure that all employees receive equal opportunities and be treated fairly by their Employers.

As a result, the Amendment Bill has seen two significant changes, namely:

  • The definition of “designated employer” has been narrowed, and the Minister of Employment and Labour (Minister) has been empowered to determine sectoral numerical targets. In the current Act, an employer that employs fewer than 50 employees (small businesses), but has a total annual turnover that is equal to or above the applicable annual turnover contained in Schedule 4 of the Act, is deemed to be a designated employer and falls within the scope of application of Chapter 3 of the Act (which deals with affirmative action measures).
  • The inclusion of small businesses has been removed from the Bill, thus Chapter 3 of the Act will no longer apply to small businesses regardless of their turnover. These employers will therefore not be required to produce an employment equity plan and submit annual reports. Notably, section 14 of the Act, which permits voluntary compliance with Chapter 3, has been repealed.

The newly created section 15A, contain pertinent aspects

The Minister has the power to identify National Economic Sectors, that are defined as “an industry or service or part of any industry” and may set numerical targets to be achieved to ensure representation of suitably qualified individuals from designated groups in all organisational occupational levels.

The sectoral targets will be published in the Government Gazette, giving interested parties a minimum of 30 days for commentary.

Several additional sections were amended to align with section 15A. In so doing, section 20 has been amended by inserting section 20(2A) requiring a designated employer to align numerical targets in its employment equity plan, with the applicable sectoral targets set by the Minister.

Section 42, has been amended by inserting section 42(1)(a) that requires alignment with the Minister’s sectoral targets in so far as compliance with the Act is concerned. In addition hereto, the amended section 53 requires a designated employer to set its numerical targets following the applicable sectoral targets as determined by the Minister as a precondition for a compliance certificate to permit contracting with the state.

These amendments assist small businesses in having a less onerous compliance process. Once these targets have been Gazetted a follow up-article detailing these targets will be published.

Feel free to reach out if you need assistance with your current employment equity submission at: Klarinda.Meiring@siyakha.co.za

Kenya: East Africa’s Tech Capital

Kenya: East Africa’s Tech Capital

by | May 26, 2021 | Africa, Articles, COVID-19, Digital Technologies, Education, Goverment, Invest, Investment, Kenya, News, SMME

The country has a world-leading FinTech industry, with a growing ecosystem of start-up entrepreneurs

 

“New investors are arriving in Kenya every week to seek partnerships with the country’s tech talent in its 50-plus innovation hubs”

 

Almost three years ago, Kenyan entrepreneur Mark Karake packed his bags in Silicon Valley to return home to Nairobi and immerse himself in Kenya’s rapidly expanding start-up scene.

 

He launched the Impact Africa Network as a non-profit start-up studio to ensure that young, talented Africans have the opportunity to participate in the digital transformation of Africa as both creators and owners.

 

Impact Africa Network offers 12-month Innovation Fellowships to talented college graduates seeking to launch their own start-ups and has a deal with LinkedIn to match all donations received.

 

Karake is just one of a growing ecosystem of start-up entrepreneurs in Kenya who in 2019 broke all records to raise more than $400 million. An early adopter was iHub, founded more than 10 years ago by Erik Hersmann. It has incubated great success stories such as Majik Water and M-Shule and has inspired scores of innovation accelerators around the country.

 

Since then, the Kenyan Innovation Hub has grown at a breath-taking rate. These new hubs work closely with Kenya’s universities. iBizAfrica, for example, is hosted by Strathmore University and has incubated more than 300 start-ups, including ValuRaha, Buymore, and Tatu Creatives. C4D Lab operates out of the School of Computing and Informatics at the University of Nairobi and is home to the prestigious Nairobi Innovation Week.

 

In addition, the University of Nairobi hosts the Fabrication Laboratory, perhaps better known as FabLab, which specialises in digital fabrication and is part of a network of labs linked to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At Kenyatta University, the Chandaria Foundation supports the Chandaria-BIIC’s attempts to merge academic research with innovation. About 70% of its budding entrepreneurs are Kenyatta University students and have had successes ranging from mobile money start-ups like FlexPay to healthcare initiatives.

 

Kenya now has a world-leading FinTech industry. Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money system is well known and in use in seven other African countries. Less well known is that innovations in Kenya’s FinTech space have seen financial inclusion in Kenyan banking grow from just 26% in 2006 to an astounding 83% of the population today. As a result, the traditionally ‘unbanked’, the rural poor, and women farmers and street traders are benefiting from FinTech and using it as a passport to economic empowerment.

 

These Kenyan innovations have become models for the rest of the continent, with 24 countries in Africa having committed to a digital economy blueprint.

 

As Africa begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, improving the continent’s healthcare systems is a major area for innovation. Kenya’s e-health start-up TIBU Health demonstrates how digitalisation is transforming patient care. Since its launch last year, it has served more than 10 000 patients with a comprehensive home-based vaccination service.

 

TIBU’s success has attracted new local and international investors, which the company will use to set up a high-tech micro-lab to process medical samples in-house and boost its healthcare logistics and delivery network. This is only part of a bigger picture that is seeing new investors and corporates arriving in Kenya every week to seek partnerships with the country’s tech talent in its 50-plus innovation hubs.

 

Kenya sits at the heart of the East African economy, and through the East African Community has easy access to neighbouring markets in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, with the massive Ethiopia just to the north. This gives Kenya’s entrepreneurs a larger market in which to sell and expand.

 

All this must be music to the ears of Impact Africa Network’s Karake and his dream to ensure that young, talented Africans participate in the digital transformation of Africa.

 

Kenya is at the crossroads of this transformation as it increasingly becomes a key player in Africa’s digital future.

Rwanda’s future world of work

Rwanda’s future world of work

by | Mar 31, 2021 | Africa, COVID-19, Digital Technologies, Education, Employment and Equality, Future World of Works, Goverment, News, Rwanda

Rwanda needs to address issues of education and equality before it can embrace the rise of digital technologies

 

The Rwandan government aims to create 1,5-million jobs by 2024 under the National Transformation Agenda

 

Rwanda is considered a revolutionary economy in Africa. It has grown significantly over the past decade, particularly in mining, agriculture and manufacturing, and has been identified by the World Bank as one of the fastest-growing economies on the continent, with a steady increase in economic activity of approximately 8%. In addition, the unemployment rate is low, and Rwanda’s connections with East Africa, the Middle East and China have bolstered its growth.

 

This steady increase in economic activity has provided opportunities for skilled workers to support the country’s tea and coffee industries, and services and mining sectors. Investment is pouring into Rwanda, with world-leading brands such as PwC, Unilever, KPMG, Coca Cola and Tiger Brands growing the private-sector economy.

 

One must consider a number of factors when contemplating the future world of work of any country, including the ratio of economic activity in terms of informal versus formal sectors and opportunities, quality of education and skills development across the population, unemployment statistics, and gender equality.

 

Informal versus formal sector

 

According to a 2020 report by The New Times, approximately 77,65% of employment in Rwanda takes place within the informal sector, with agriculture one of the leading sectors in this regard. The approximately 22% workers employed in the formal sector typically work in the construction, social services, transport, trade, finance and real estate industries.

 

Given that the majority of employment takes place in the informal sector, and mostly in agriculture, approximately 80% of the country’s population resides in rural areas, while the remaining 20% is based in the capital and other cities.

The Rwandan government has embarked on a drive to reduce informal-sector employment and to increase employment in the private sector via the establishment of multiple programmes, with the aim to create 1,5-million jobs by 2024 under the National Transformation Agenda. To achieve this, 214 000 off-farm jobs would need to be created per year.

 

Government, however, will need to make a significant effort to dismantle current social barriers and increase recognition that the creation of jobs for the less skilled population of workers is just as important as establishing a knowledge-based economy for the middle and upper classes.

 

Employment and equality

 

In November 2020, the International Labour Organisation issued a report relating to the youth labour market and school-to-work transition. Unemployment remains relatively low in Rwanda, at approximately 22%. This can be somewhat misleading, however, or create the assumption that the Rwandan population is thriving. The reality is that majority of Rwandans lives in extreme poverty and, despite its impressive growth, the country remains relatively poor with low-quality employment and high levels of informality. Women in Rwanda experience the highest levels of unemployment, resulting in inequality and gender disparity.

 

Youth unemployment is primarily an urban phenomenon and is a result of youth having inadequate access to information and resources, low levels of employable skills, and insufficient training opportunities.

 

Education

 

Education in Rwanda remains problematic. According to a World Bank report published in 2020, the school net enrolment rate increased to 97,7% in 2016, but academic performance in rural primary schools remains low and the quality of education poor. The rate of primary-school completion rapidly declined from 78,6% in 2011 to 65,2% in 2016, an indication of the frustration experienced by the community. There is, however, a drive by the government to reach 40% enrolment in upper secondary education, and for 25% of students eligible for tertiary education to receive a government scholarship, while others would be eligible for loans.

 

There is light at the end of the tunnel. According to a World Bank report, Future Drivers of Growth in Rwanda, which was published in May 2019, Rwanda is actively driving its vision to become an upper-middle-income country by 2035 and a high-income country by 2050. To achieve this goal, there is increased emphasis on human capital and private-sector development. To drive this, a strategic plan in the education sector will priorities human capital and increase fiscal resources for education under the 2019/20 budget.

 

The way forward

 

What does the above mean for the future world of work in Rwanda? It is evident that a number of societal issues will need to be addressed. Given the significant level of foreign investment, access to formal employment will increase, however, the low levels of education means there will be a lack of skilled workers to fill these positions. In addition, as Africa moves away from a corporate-based environment, change agility and adaptability by individuals to upskill and reskill will be significant. Again, the challenge lies in the fundamental issue of education and equality.

 

There is a significant move to digitise sectors across Rwanda to drive the local economy, but the current education system does not provide the required education or skills to navigate this complexity, which could ultimately result in further unemployment. Rwanda is no different to any other country across the globe with the rise of digital technologies, however, before the country can move to this level, it will need to address the above key societal issues, and quickly.

 

In addition, informal sector employment should not necessarily be seen as a deterrent to success, but rather as presenting myriad opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs. While the Rwandan government is looking to decrease employment in informal markets, the focus should be on programmes that enhance, support and accelerate the move towards entrepreneurship. Across Africa, the majority of employment will stem from small, emerging businesses and should not be discouraged, but rather celebrated and supported through relevant national transformation agendas.