Government more visionary than Corporates?

The South African government has been accused of taking a number of questionable decisions recently, which, in many people`s eyes, have clouded its more laudable actions. So, perhaps it is time to look at some of the more visionary approaches it has followed in terms of training and what it proposing to do in the future.

The New Economy is part of what we are living today and, in spite of the inevitable and necessary dot com shake-out, it is not going away. What SA companies should be asking themselves is how they are going to become a viable part of that New Economy, rather than ignoring it. The problems are there whether they face up to them today or down the line.

What the New Economy means to most companies is huge skills shortages, reduced product life cycles and fierce competition in a global market place. The SA government obviously took note of all of this and coupled with the issues pertaining to the Employment Equity bill it launched the SAQA and the Skills Development Acts.

The question that has to be asked in the light of this legislation is: where was business in all this? Why is it necessary for government to take the lead when business should actually be leading the way? Corporate Training Centres tend to have an inward focus and have to fight a survival battle in an environment where competition in the global economy has become quite fierce. Perhaps the time has come to look at the good aspects in these pieces of legislation and to build on them.

SAQA is a prime example of a legislative framework that has an excellent potential prove exceptionally useful in terms of its relevance to the workplace. This is because the focus is on delivery as opposed to creating paper certificates.

Training needs to be structured so that it provides an outcome from which the candidate, the organisation and the economy can benefit. The challenge, however, is for business to take the lead and to make this work. Depending on government to run the race alone or to wait for it to untangle itself from its own red tape may take too long.

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It might be beneficial for government and business executives to spend the time to read Davis and Botkin`s The Monster under the Bed*. Business needs to become more involved and actually vet the SETA`s and be represented there. Unless these SETA`s become transparent organisations that are run in a professional and business like way they too will go the route of obsolescence.

Training of resources is often seen as a costly exercise whereby employees are given skills, which they can go and apply at another company. This may be true but the fact that employees leave companies is a given and training may just retain them, unless there is another reason for their departure.

If an employee is trained and does leave the company, but the application of his or her skills remains within South Africa, the economy still benefits and so does the original company, albeit in an indirect way.

Investing in people through proper training is about investing in a company`s ability and the economy. A positive economic climate benefits all companies (except maybe those generating income from huge interest rates) and investing in people who can make it happen seems logical.

* The Monster Under the Bed: How Business is Mastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit, by Stan Davis, Jim Botkin. ISBN: 0684804387, Touchstone Books.