Softline Pastel - leading South African supplier of accounting and business solutions to the small and medium enterprise (SME) market - has launched a recruitment division responsible for finding, training, and supplying Pastel skills for its own requirements as well as those of its business partners and customers.
"We've seen a marked increase in customers asking us either to recommend people with the right Pastel skills or put them in touch with a recruitment agency that has the expertise and knowledge to place superior Pastel skills," says Tamsin Bradford, head of the new Pastel People division.
"We believe that the recent surge in demand for Pastel skills reflects a number of South African issues, including changes in legislation that affect bookkeeping and accounting and put additional regulatory pressure on SMEs.
"There has also been an acceleration in the number of start-up SMEs. One in six adult South Africans is now self-employed and upwards of 122 000 close corporations have been registered every year for the past six.
"At the same time, sales of Pastel software have been growing at more than 35% per annum, with 2 000 accounting packages alone being sold every month. All of which means that demand is outstripping the availability of bookkeepers and accountants who know how to use the software to best advantage.
"We've never aligned ourselves with a recruitment agency, largely because recruitment agencies rarely have the in-house knowledge and experience to be able to test Pastel skills accurately. Also, we have intimate knowledge of what actually happens in the average finance department particularly during stressful times such as the financial year-end period. This provides us with an enormous advantage when searching for skills. However, while the right skills are critical, we also believe that culture fit is even more important than certificates. If you have someone with the right attitude, he or she will be able to learn the necessary software and accounting skills. If they have the qualifications you're looking for but don't fit into the organisation, they are of no use to you.
"In addition, as creators of the software, we're in very close touch with our customers' needs and understand SME business culture extremely well. We're therefore better placed than most recruitment agencies to ensure that our customers get the right person for their bookkeeping or accounting job.
"For these reasons, and in the best interests of our customers, we've decided to undertake recruitment - and, where necessary, training - of suitable candidates for them."
Pastel People has been registered as a recruitment agency but, according to Bradford, does not see itself as a competitor in the general recruitment industry.
"We'll be focused very specifically on finding Pastel-related skills for ourselves, our customers, and our business partners - and will be applying our unique techniques and criteria to doing so. And, because we see this as only one of our support services to our customers, we will be charging less than the industry rate for placement of the relevant skills.
"Specifically, our Cover customers, who sign an annual contract with us for support services that include free contact centre and e-mail support as well as software upgrades, will be given significant discounts on placement fees."
Pastel People will operate online from the middle of the year, allowing potential candidates to respond to advertisements via the Pastel Web site. However, face-to-face interviews with each candidate will be mandatory, as will the validation of existing Pastel certificates and qualifications.
"As has always been the case with our support centre staff, who must pass an eight-week training course before being employed, our requirements of people applying through the Pastel People division for jobs with Pastel, our customers, or our business partners will be extremely stringent," Bradford says.
"There's absolutely no point in our going to the trouble of starting a recruitment division if we cannot guarantee that our customers will get the very best Pastel skills this country has to offer."
For more information, e-mail: recruitment@pastelpeople.co.za or visit www.pastelpeople.co.za.
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Softline Pastel, a member of the Softline Group, is South Africa's leader in accounting, payroll and business software for the SME market. Founded in 1989, Pastel has been a trusted name in accounting software for over 18 years and is recommended by nine out of 10 accountants that serve the SME market. While Pastel is South African-born, it is used by 180 000 businesses worldwide and is currently sold in over 52 countries through a network of more than 3 500 channel and business partners. The Pastel support contact centre, a critical component of the business, has received both local and international accolades, and was voted best customer service contact centre in South Africa by its customers in the BPeSA 2007 National BPO Awards.
For more information, please visit the Softline Pastel Web site at www.pastel.co.za.
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