SKILLS TRAINING NEWS

Learnership programme to aid development of young professionals

10 AUG 2016 | SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT |  PDF    

With South Africa's continued skills deficit being compounded by a lack of technical skills, on-the-job training and mentorship should be a priority in each organisation. In a step to close this skills gap, REDISA has launched a Learnership Programme at its head office in Cape Town.

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The 12-month programme, valued at R460,507, will provide learners with the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification while gaining work experience. The five selected learners, Dillan Little (19), Litha Plaatjie (22), Melissa Jacobs (19), Aphiwe Gaqa (21) and Nolukhanyo Sibonda (22), all went through an interview process that included Personality Assessment and Learning Style Assessment.

“The launch of this programme is part of our on-going efforts to promote skills development amongst the youth,” said Stacey Davidson, director at REDISA. “Mentoring is something I am passionate about, especially for young people. I think that the economic emancipation of young people cannot remain a song; it has to become a reality. This means that, as a country and as business, we must encourage our youth to prioritise education in order to pull themselves and their families out of poverty and hopelessness,” she said.

The programme will develop young minds by imparting knowledge and skills that further their education and experience across various industries and sectors. In order to gain a certificate, learners will be required to complete both a theory component and a practical component. The programme will follow a strict module plan which includes practical work experience. The learners will perform administrative roles while gaining exposure to key areas across the REDISA business.

In three years, REDISA has already seen 18 interns gain valuable experience, and 10 of them are employed permanently at REDISA and 8 have moved on to formal employment and other projects. “We look forward to continuing to work with our partners in government, business and trade unions, as well as consumers and NGOs, as we continue to create jobs and develop small businesses,” said Davidson.

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

UJ takes SA to Enactus World Cup 2016 in Canada

2 AUG 2016 | SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT |  PDF    

A student team, comprising of 884-members, from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) have been crowned the winners of the Enactus South Africa National Competition. The UJ team will now fly the SA flag at the Enactus World Cup 2016 in Toronto, Canada on 28-30 September 2016.

Enactus University of Johannesburg: Enactus South Africa National Competition winners

The Enactus University of Johannesburg team, made up of students from various UJ faculties, competed against 21 South African universities in Johannesburg last week. The team’s projects explored solutions to the mounting unemployment crisis through enterprising business innovation.

Their entrepreneurial stealth demonstrated in reinventing strategies, finding innovative solutions to complex real-world issues and well-executed presentations clinched them the prestigious title.

The Enactus University of Johannesburg team was lauded for two multi-stakeholder engagement projects – an urban farming project and a project aimed to create entrepreneurial opportunities for refugees. 

Under the stewardship of Joyce Sibeko (Lecturer in Business Management, UJ), and Christa van Zyl (Lecturer in Communication Design, UJ), the team embarked on a multi-stakeholder engagement project that aims to create opportunities for urban agriculture in a sustainable food system in Soweto. Amidst a global concern over food security, this project highlights the impact of urban farming.

In collaboration with Dr Naude Malan (Lecturer Development Studies, UJ) the team was instrumental in providing a platform for entrepreneurs to satisfy a customer base in their own community. The Izindaba Zokudla (Conversations about Food) project was established as a result. 

“The Izindaba Zokudla project advocates specific approaches to urban agricultural development in Johannesburg. It draws on participatory research to build the capacity of farmers’ organisations; to facilitate engagement with food enterprises in the city; and to use design and technology development as a means to improve agricultural practices,” said Sibeko.

“The project not only markets urban farmers in Soweto but also increases the urban farmer’s opportunities for retail,” she elaborated.

Another global challenge that the UJ team tackled is the refugee influx into economies. The focus is on the development of a business model to secure a sustainable stream of income for foreign nationals in Johannesburg and Pretoria which could curtail xenophobia and be exploited in other global societies. 

“Looting and xenophobia attacks on foreign nationals were some of the reasons for the Enactus UJ team to explore solutions to better the standard of living within our communities. Training on how to run small informal trading outlets were held in Gauteng. The team assisted foreign nationals with business plans that enabled them to generate start-up capital,” she said.

“Our students’ performance was exceptional, as the level of competition was incredibly high. Our team competed against teams representing top South African universities,” says Sibeko.

At the World Cup Competition in Canada, they will go up against the national winners from the 35 other participating countries. Each team will be given 17 minutes to showcase their projects to the judging panel of business leaders, which includes J.P. Bilbrey, president and CEO of The Hershey Company, Andrew Cranston, global chief operating officer of KPMG International and Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America.

For more information on the Enactus World Cup 2016 in Toronto, Canada, visit: 
www.enactus.ca/enactus-world-cup-2016/

BUSINESS TECH

Why you need to stop giving money to beggars in South Africa

By Staff WriterJuly 28, 201619 Comments

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has called on motorists to stop giving money to beggars at intersections.

The Bedfordview & Edenvale News reported this week that the local SAPS believes that criminals posing as beggars are behind a recent spate of violent crimes in the area, including rape.

Bedfordview SAPS spokesperson, warrant officer Mduduzi Nhlabathi, told the community paper: “It is important for our residents to note that these beggars will not leave our area as long as they are still getting money from members of the community.

“One of the main solutions to getting rid of beggars is to stop giving them a reason to come back. Stop giving money to beggars,” said Nhlabathi.

It isn’t the first time that the SAPS has called on residents to stop supporting beggars.

“When you give money to a beggar on the street, you are not just feeding their addiction. You are also giving them a reason to stay in the area. You are creating a market for them,” said Cherri-Lyn Croucamp of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) in 2015.

Nhlabathi went a step further, saying that residents who continue to support beggars can be regarded as accomplices to the crimes they commit.

“We can’t, as law enforcement officers, keep quiet when we are working on ridding the area of beggars and some members of our community keep giving them a reason to be back. We rely on our residents to do the right thing,” he said.

A report published in January by Solidarity Helping Hand stated that “most beggars on the street are drug addicts”, putting that figure at as many as 80% to 90%.

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ICT NEWS

#CapeTownICTSummit: The building blocks of digital transformation

28 JUL 2016 | SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT |  PDF    BY: LAUREN HARTZENBERG

When Instagram was bought by Facebook in 2012, it was only two-years old and comprised 13 people. The startup used their digital smarts to change the concept of photography as we knew it, and it paid off - a total of $1 billion in fact.

Anthon Muller, executive head: enterprise mobility pre & post sales, Vodacom Business.

Kodak, by comparison, at one point employed a whopping 140,000 staff members. The one-time industry giant, established in the 1800s, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 and today has a market capitalisation of less than $1 billion. Kodak's fall from grace now serves as a stark warning of the peril that awaits companies that don’t adapt to digital change and embrace the technologies that come along with it.

“If you’re not going to digitally transform your company and adopt new technologies, you’re going to go out of business.” These were the words of Anthon Muller, executive head: enterprise mobility pre & post sales for Vodacom Business, at the Cape Town ICT Summit this week. He spoke on the current business buzz-phrase ‘digital transformation’, which he says needs to be decoded into simpler terms that are applicable to all levels of business – from SMEs, to government and multinationals. According to Muller, SMEs equate to approximately 55% of South Africa’s GDP, so it’s especially important that they are digitally enabled and that it's made more affordable for them to do so.

Enterprise mobility 101

Part and parcel of digital transformation is enterprise mobility. If you’re in the dark about what this means Muller gives the following definition: "enterprise mobility is the set of tools that need to be adopted in order for [digital] transformation to occur." These technologies, he says, are needed to remain competitive, by improving products and services, as well as streamlining business processes within the organisation.
Transformation needs to extend to the individual as well. Muller asks the question: "how are we as employees transforming as individuals to adapt to the jobs of the future?" We have a personal responsibility to adapt our skill-sets accordingly and acquire new ones. 

A rough guide

Muller offers the following key considerations when embarking on a transformation journey.

Culture and leadership: Yes, the big back-end systems and data centres are important, but digital transformation ultimately begins with [company] culture. If business leaders and senior executives don’t have a good grasp of the concept it won’t filter down correctly to employees. It’s not the sole responsibility of the CIO either. Leadership needs to buy into digital change and invest in it. 

Creativity and design thinking: Get creative! How have you done business up to now, and how are you going to do business going forward? Can anything be changed for the better? The answer is probably yes. It’s important to note that these decisions cannot be made by the executive board in isolation, because the really creative ideas often sit with one’s employees. The creativity is there, but a think tank needs to be created so that the innovation can be harnessed.

Balance – inside and out: Transformation can’t only be worthwhile for your end customers. Internal systems need to be considered as well. How can digital transformation be used to make things simpler for employees? It must be remembered that a company that is digital on the inside also attracts new talent, namely the AlwaysOn workforce that thrives working from just about anywhere. Flaunt your digital wares to attract the right talent.

Holistic approach: Look at digital transformation as a holistic process and approach it as such. There’s no quick fix, and doing a patchy job will inevitably result in problems down the line. Remember, it’s a journey.

EVENTS & CONFERENCING NEWS

Johannesburg youth quiz politicians on how to build a youth-inclusive city

27 JUL 2016 | SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT |  PDF    

On Thursday, 28 July 2016, from 6.30-8.30pm at the Johannesburg City Hall, the #2X roadshow will present its final youth dialogue under the theme, "Fixing the spatial inequality that kills the hustle: How do the different political parties plan to build a youth-inclusive city?"

The focus will be on the Corridors of Freedom Programme, which intends to transform the apartheid spatial patterns that have continued to entrench inequality in the City of Johannesburg. This will also be an opportunity to assess whether the political party representatives in the top five parties contesting local government elections (ANC, DA, EFF, IFP and UDM) appreciate what challenges young people are faced with in Johannesburg. 

The aim of this dialogue will be to answer, amongst other questions, the following:

• Has this programme improved the lives of young Joburgers and are there other alternatives?
• How does the Corridors of Freedom project address the particular concerns of young Joburgers, and are we seeing a real improvement in the quality of youth lives?

#2X is a campaign aimed at amplifying young people’s voices in the real and digital worlds. It aims to galvanise young people to champion their own local issues and bring those issues to elected representatives’ doorsteps. The campaign falls under youth engagement and social impact agency Livity Africa’s Voting Is Power (VIP) platform. 

Launched in the lead up to the 2014 national and provincial elections, the VIP platform was conceived as a proactive response to voter apathy and democratic disengagement among young people. With almost half the population made up of young people, VIP bridges the gap between politics and the youth, ensuring that they take ownership of civic engagement and become the champions of the unique agendas they set. 

Using digital, media and live engagements, the national platform centralises the social, cultural, economic and political themes of young people’s lives in interpreting, interacting with and monitoring South African politics, governance and policy. Since the lead up to the first voter registration weekend in March #2X has travelled throughout the country, engaging with young people about their part in the democratic process and particularly, the importance of their issues and their vote.

For more information, go to www.viplive.co.za.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP NEWS

The economy is tanking - time for South Africa's entrepreneurs to shine

27 JUL 2016 | SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT |  PDF    ISSUED BY: GLOBAL DATA INTELLIGENCE LIMITED

The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 may be well behind us, but many of the world's economies continue to struggle. Here in South Africa recovery was rapid, peaking in 2010.

Since that time, economic growth has been generally trending downwards once more. This time last year, growth was a very healthy 4% - this year the economy has shrunk by 1.2% in the first quarter. GDP was also down 0.2% year on year.

For South African businesses this is terrible news. Mining, one of South Africa’s major sectors shrank by 18.1% over the course of the last year. This was echoed by slightly smaller falls in the agricultural and transport sectors too.

Bad news for jobs

Continued uncertainty in every market has had a serious effect on jobs too. Unemployment currently stands at 26.7%, the highest level since 2003. This means that more than a quarter of the total South African labour force is currently jobless.



It is worth noting that some of these employment statistics are disputed. Back in 2012, local labour analysts suggested that unemployment rates may actually be just ~11% because of the way that jobs are recorded. The South African government does not record “informal jobs”, those which are beyond the reach of the tax system.

The general downward trend in the economy is concerning however, likely to see many more jobs lost if things do not improve soon.

An opportunity for entrepreneurs

Despite the general negativity surrounding an economic recession, many people without jobs find the conditions right for starting their own businesses. Indeed, a study conducted by researchers from the University of California found that the number of start-ups launched during a recession was unexpectedly high.



As traditional sectors struggle – like mining and agriculture – entrepreneurial South Africans have a good opportunity to join the digital revolution. There are now 25 million internet users in South Africa, representing a potential customer base that covers 47% of the population.

This online marketplace is set to grow in the near future, creating even more opportunities. Where South Africans spent R19.8bn to get online in 2014, they are expected to spend R59.6bn next year.

Targeted messaging can beat market trends

The key to successful marketing, whether the economy is in good health or not, is to create marketing messages that are finely tuned to specific individuals, and then making sure those messages reach your intended recipients. Targeting the right person, at the right time with the right offer will always buck wider economic trends.

For any would-be South African entrepreneur, being able to reach the right individuals will be critical to the success of their venture. One of the best early investments start-ups can make is an accurate contacts database, tailored to their target market sector.

Being able to communicate with relevant individuals from the outset allows new businesses to avoid the long, drawn-out process of building a contacts list from scratch for instance. And by choosing the right database, they may be able to gain a significant head start on their competitors – even those who are well established in the marketplace. 

Finding a database supplier that has complete, accurate and up to date information is no easy task. Our research has turned up several players, only to discover that the majority have become significantly outdated. The player with the most complete and current list is a company calledGlobal Database, which currently has access to a sizable rolodex of contacts across 142,000 companies, large and small, representing over 40% of South African business.

The Global Database service is much more than just an email list however. A one-year subscription buys access to direct dial phone numbers, postal addresses as well as personal email addresses for key decision makers. The data, which is updated daily for maximum accuracy, also allows entrepreneurs to filter and support based on industry sector, employee headcount and even annual turnover. This level of granularity ensures that they spend less time identifying their perfect targets, and more time engaged in the actual marketing and sales process.

Armed with this kind of information, entrepreneurs have a great chance of getting ahead in a negative market. To see why were so impressed by Global Database, why not arrange a no-obligation demo or request a free sample of data?

SKILLS TRAINING NEWS

How to bridge the education-workplace gap

26 JUL 2016 | SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT |  PDF    BY: RASHIED SMALL AND LIEZL LELEU

Many graduates approach the "new chapter in their career" with enthusiasm as trainees/clerks in the accountancy profession, but are often shocked when they encounter the reality and challenges on applying their "knowledge" in practice.

These experiences of graduates are a clear indication of the “education-workplace” gap which is not unique to the accountancy profession but is becoming a global concern with numerous questions being raised by industry captains about the value of tertiary education.

The reasons for the gap

The “education-workplace” expectation gap may be attributed, firstly, to the understanding of the workplace requirements by tertiary education leaders. Secondly, the disagreement on the responsibilities of education institutions and industry for the training and development of the learners; and thirdly, the extended process of changing academic programmes, which may not accommodate the rapidly changing requirements of the workplace. 

Other causes include:

• The mismatch of the academic qualification and the workplace requirement;
• The focus of the academic learning process on subject content and technical knowledge; 
• The silo approach to knowledge development and assessment; 
• The lack of exposure to the application of technology in the learning process; and
• The lack of the development of critical skills required for the application of knowledge in a changing business and economic environments.

Current approach

The short-term solution currently being implemented to address the gap in South Africa is to provide “work-readiness programmes”. However, these programmes focus on developing the pervasive and inter-personal skills to facilitate the transition into the working environment. 

The long-term solution is to review the education and training as a continuum with a focus on an integrated approach that addresses the competence requirements of executing the critical work functions at the expected levels of proficiency.

This requires a paradigm shift in the education environment with a change from the traditional teaching and learning system to competency-based education system (integration of technical knowledge and practical skills).

Changing skills requirement

The 21st century is abuzz with the concepts of “technology and connectivity” as the drivers of progress and development. The accountancy profession is no exception. Long gone are the days of “pencil pushers and paper users” because technology such as accounting and financial reporting packages have changed the skills sets required from human resources. 

Technology has taken over the processing function (data conversion to financial information) as well as financial information analysis through artificial intelligence and “big data”. 

Furthermore, the shift in emphasis of financial reporting towards principle based reporting about the economic phenomenon of business transactions rather than rules based coupled with the demands for Integrated Reporting have placed even greater a premium on the cognitive skills of the professional in the accountancy profession. 

A consolidation of the aforementioned and, more importantly, for the relevance and survival of the professionals in the accountancy profession, it is an unequivocal requirement for changes to take place in the education and training. 

Way forward

To close the gap, educational leaders and captains of industry must work in a collaborative manner to develop and implement the following strategies:

• focus on making academic qualification relevant in the market and the graduates employable,
• re-curriculate the academic programmes by aligning them with the workplace skill requirements;
• incorporate the development of competencies (technical knowledge, practical skills and pervasive skills) into the curricula;
• align the teaching and learning strategies with the outcomes of the revised curricula by focusing on competency-based education systems;
• develop the critical skills such as reading, critical thinking and writing into the teaching and learning process; and
• review the assessment strategies to evaluate the competencies of the learners.

Does this mean that the current education and training systems should be discarded – the answer is a definite “no”, but they should be reviewed and adapted to meet the changing demands of the business environment and workplace expectations? Everyone claims that accounting and the related subjects are practical in nature, yet it is taught in a technical and theoretical manner often ignoring developing the skills required to apply it in the world of work. 

It is not a question of reducing the technical knowledge which is often blamed for information overload by academics, but focussing on the skills required to facilitate the process of engaging with the volumes of information.

Partnership of collective sharing

For education and training to be a continuum it is necessary for educational institutions and industry to form a partnership of collective sharing of responsibilities through a co-operative manner pursuing an integrated mandate. 

The development of employable and competent professionals is not only key to the accountancy profession, but it is critical in addressing the risks such as fraud and corruption, which are depriving business and the economy of the ethical responsibilities of ensuring sustainability and growth.