Businesses cannot approach skills development and B-BBEE as checklists that must simply be completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, they need to see them as opportunities to grow their businesses and generate organisational value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is according to experts from CTU and UXi Artisan Development, who presented at a recent webinar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Titled \u201cElevate Your Skills Development & B-BBEE Strategy with CTU and UXi\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further financial benefits are also available in the form of tax rebates of up to R80,000 on your discretionary grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charmaine Morley, Skills Development Specialist at UXI Artisan Development, then encouraged attendees to take a new approach to B-BBEE and skills development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInstead of looking at B-BBEE requirements first and then at an implementation strategy, rather look at your business objectives and strategy first \u2013 and then find opportunities within B-BBEE requirements to grow and expand,\u201d said Morley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the most important example of skills needed across the board are technical proficiencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what industry you\u2019re in – these technical proficiencies have exploded,\u201d said Booysen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technical skills are particularly important given the trend towards everything going green and paperless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverybody thinks they know how to use tools like Excel \u2013 but even with such common tools, they don\u2019t know how to use it to its full capacity,\u201d said Booysen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CTU is ready to help you upskill your employees through its broad range of corporate training solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is committed to helping businesses optimise their technologies and address their skills shortages through its industry-leading consultative training and development solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click here to learn more about CTU and UXI\u2019s solutions<\/a><\/strong>, or contact Emmarentia Booysen at emmarentiab@ctutraining.co.za.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch the full webinar below.<\/p>\n\n\n