Elevate your skills development and B-BBEE strategy with CTU and UXi – Watch the webinar
Businesses cannot approach skills development and B-BBEE as checklists that must simply be completed.
Instead, they need to see them as opportunities to grow their businesses and generate organisational value.
This is according to experts from CTU and UXi Artisan Development, who presented at a recent webinar.
Titled “Elevate Your Skills Development & B-BBEE Strategy with CTU and UXi” the webinar focused on how businesses can navigate the complexities of skills development and B-BBEE and align these business imperatives with key organisational objectives.
Funding is available
Denise Marshall, Project Manager at UXI Artisan Development, began the webinar by outlining two key opportunities that can deliver substantial funding to be used in skills development.
These are:
- Mandatory grants – All companies that contribute to the Skills Development Levy (SDL) are entitled to get 20% of their payment back if all levy payments are paid timeously and all appropriate plans are submitted.
- Discretionary grants – Discretionary grants are given to companies that show initiative to upskill employees and unemployed individuals with scarce and critical skills.
Marshall explained that companies which have a track record of focusing on upskilling their employees and unemployed people are more likely to receive a discretionary grant.
Further financial benefits are also available in the form of tax rebates of up to R80,000 on your discretionary grant.
Maximising your strategy
Charmaine Morley, Skills Development Specialist at UXI Artisan Development, then encouraged attendees to take a new approach to B-BBEE and skills development.
“Instead of looking at B-BBEE requirements first and then at an implementation strategy, rather look at your business objectives and strategy first – and then find opportunities within B-BBEE requirements to grow and expand,” said Morley.
For example: businesses can use B-BBEE requirements and the funding outlined by Marshall to develop unemployed individuals with scarce skills that the business desperately needs to grow and thrive.
The key to achieving this is working with a partner who is established in the skills development sector and is willing to collaborate with your business to understand your unique needs before providing your business with any solutions.
Key trends to consider
Emmarentia Booysen, National Skills and Business Development Manager for CTU Training Solutions, then unpacked the key trends CTU is seeing in the skills development sector.
These include:
- Blended learning – Skills development is now happening both online and in-person, and this needs to be supported.
- Practical learning – It is no longer enough only to have theoretical knowledge. Learners need hands-on experience.
- Continuous learning – Skills development strategies must account for the fact that industries are changing at unprecedented rates, and new skills are constantly required.
- Targeted learning – General qualifications are no longer sufficient. Job-specific, scarce skills are necessary to thrive.
Host Karlien Rust, National Marketing Manager at CTU Training Solutions, then highlighted that while historically each industry has had specific skills needs, there are now many skills that are necessary across almost every sector.
Importance of technical proficiencies
Perhaps the most important example of skills needed across the board are technical proficiencies.
“It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – these technical proficiencies have exploded,” said Booysen.
Technical skills are particularly important given the trend towards everything going green and paperless.
This means you need people who can help you move your data and systems to the cloud and implement applications and programmes that can drive productivity in the modern workplace.
Booysen added that these technical proficiencies are where the biggest skills scarcities currently lie, giving businesses an opportunity to embrace skills development programmes to stay ahead of their competitors.
“Everybody thinks they know how to use tools like Excel – but even with such common tools, they don’t know how to use it to its full capacity,” said Booysen.
“If someone in your business actually gets trained, the proficiency of your staff will improve so much because their work will become easier, and they will work faster.”
Work with CTU
CTU is ready to help you upskill your employees through its broad range of corporate training solutions.
It is committed to helping businesses optimise their technologies and address their skills shortages through its industry-leading consultative training and development solutions.
Click here to learn more about CTU and UXI’s solutions, or contact Emmarentia Booysen at [email protected].
Watch the full webinar below.
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