E-learning is a cost-effective approach to bring HIV/AIDS training and education to the workforce, whether the company is a large organisation or a small, medium, or micro business. George Eybers, chairman of Skills2Learn, explores what can be done to accelerate HIV/AIDS prevention training in SA.
There are real economic benefits to having a good HIV/AIDS education programme in place in the workplace. HIV/AIDS will soon significantly affect the growth of the economy and income per capita in a variety of ways, both directly and indirectly.
This is according to a report by the Institute for Futures Research at the University of Stellenbosch - an exhaustive analysis, based on several sources, recently published in the South Africa Survey by the SA Institute of Race Relations.
The survey says problems will include:
* Disruptions to the production process caused by sickness and death;
* The decline in the rate of growth of the labour force;
* The decline in the average level of experience of the workforce;
* The deterioration in the quality of education; and
* The fall in public and private domestic savings as AIDS-related expenditure increases.
The report also indicates that the rate of return on capital is likely to decline, owing to a decline in productivity, increasing personnel expenditure, and a possible increase in the capital-labour ratio.
When surveying corporate SA's response to this critical issue, the problem remains one of limited uptake in HIV/AIDS prevention activities. Some South African companies are setting world standards with their HIV/AIDS programmes, but many are still ignoring the issue, seeming to assume that, for some reason, they will not be affected by the pandemic.
There is a wide diversity among South African companies in their efforts to educate the workforce. Some organisations are very serious about it and have dedicated staff working on programmes, many of whom are movers and shakers in that milieu. They know what they are talking about when it comes to HIV/AIDS, and they often participate in research. Other organisations do nothing. As strange as it may seem, some have not even distributed a single piece of paper about Aids to their workforce.
When we look at the size and scope of the challenge that we face when it comes to AIDS in SA, and the urgency with which we should be dealing with this huge problem, it is surprising that there is such a wide diversity among organisational responses.
It is most often the larger companies that have a dedicated person dealing with HIV/AIDS, usually reporting to the HR department, and whose job it is to oversee the company's responsibilities to meet the challenge. This is often a full-time job, especially in larger organisations. Sometimes in smaller companies which may not have a formal HR function, no one has been given the responsibility to do something about the problem.
There is typically a correlation between the size of the company and the effort it puts forth in dealing with the crisis. In some places it can be the production or purchasing function that has the responsibility. It all depends on the company culture and size. Some organisations have a dedicated corporate social investment (CSI) budget that is used to fund HIV/AIDS activities.
There has to be a shift in many of SA's workplaces from focusing solely on prevention to dealing with the realities of living with HIV/AIDS.
Responsibility for implementing effective HIV/AIDS workplace programmes must spread throughout the total company, through the unions, as well as with top management. It is just too important to be marginalised with the total responsibility resting in a specific department and with only one or a few individuals.
The government should be more proactive with regard to dealing with the situation. The Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) have indicated that until government actually mandates specific activities in HIV/AIDS, the practice will not be widely adopted among South African companies. Some organisations, through enlightened self-interest or a sense of social responsibility, or some of both, will take the initiative to spend time and money on HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, there is a sizable proportion that will not do so unless they are pushed.
It is ironic that US taxpayers have committed to spending $2 billion a year for the next five years to help with AIDS programmes in Africa while some organisations living in the middle of the problem have chosen to do little, if anything.
Usually, government intervention in what should be a business responsibility is not always the best approach. Rather, an initiative coming from within the business community itself would be the ideal course.
In the US, though, it was not until government set legal minimum ecological standards that held companies accountable for meeting these standards, with specific timetables and imposed penalties for non-adherence, that business made protecting the environment a strategic priority and objective.
In a situation like SA, where there is such a wide diversity of action being taken by organisations in the field of HIV/AIDS, government should step in and place more responsibility on companies to deal with the situation, clearly define those responsibilities and hold them accountable to achieving certain agreed upon standards. This is a subject that is critical to the country's future and to its people.
E-learning is a cost-effective, efficient manner in which to bring HIV/AIDS prevention training to the masses. An effective programme can be administered to an individual working on a standalone computer; or with two to three users per computer, encouraging peer interaction, or screen-projected for groups of 20-30, with a trainer facilitating the group, encouraging and leading group discussion.
All the material that is required is included in the programme to not just impart knowledge, but to get at the core HIV/AIDS issues in a manner that will encourage the learner to think about behaviour modification, and the consequences of their life choices.
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Skills2Learn, a provider of world-class e-learning courseware and services, serves its worldwide customers' e-learning systems requirements completely, consistently and affordably, leading its staff and suppliers in achieving this goal. It is dedicated to increasing the quality, reliability, performance and value of its e-learning products and services on an ongoing basis.
Skills2Learn strives positively to impact the global communities where it conducts business, in particular assisting the disadvantaged in their quest to compete in the digital revolution. It brings best-of-breed learning tools to emerging markets at a price and value that makes mass access possible.
Together with US-based In2ition, Skills2Learn specialises in IT-intensive educational courseware, as well as soft skills training, delivered in a variety of electronic formats. It also provides learning management systems to assist in tracking and managing employee progress through the training process.
Skills2Learn recently released a South African first HIV/AIDS e-learning program, in an interactive story format, concentrating on behavioural modification and education.
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