We have had a number of our clients ask us: “how do we determine what type of training would be best for our business?”. Other clients wanted to know more about identifying the right person for the job, and how to implement these training programmes successfully. We have compiled a few FAQs to assist you making a decision on Skills Development.
1. What type of training should we implement?
There are many types of training that you can implement: short courses, skills programmes, apprenticeships, learnerships, internships and the list goes on and on. Identify what scarce or critical skills your company requires. This will indicate whether you would have to prioritise either short courses or skills programmes, over the longer apprenticeship or learnership. Once you have identified the business needs, you can start with the employees.
2. Which of my employees should I send for training?
What I found works the best is to first determine what the skills gaps are of the employees by conducting a skills audit. Once you have found the most competent employees, you can start by linking the business needs to the employees’ goals, and match them up for maximum buy-in and results.
3. How often do employees need training?
This would depend on the type of training the employee requires and what skills gaps have been identified by the business. Some employees would only require the basic knowledge of the job, where other employees would require more advanced and time-consuming training i.e. a learnership. Technological and mechanical industries find that their employees require more training due to the rapid growth of technology as a whole and would require more recurring training.
4. What types of training are there?
- Internal training – Employees receive on-the-job training that enables them to do their job. This is also an important training types, the more the employee receives training the better and safer they can perform their jobs.
- Short courses – These are usually either accredited or non-accredited training courses that are between 1 to 5 days. They can be seminars or even first aid or fire fighting training.
- Skills programmes – These are credit-bearing training programmes that require a little more time to complete. Normally between 1 to 3 months.
- Apprenticeships and learnerships – These courses are NQF aligned and registered with a training provider. They are normally between 12 to 18 months, and would require the student to attend class 2 to 3 days per month. These could be Business Management, Business Administration or even a trade.
5. How does my WSP/ATR assist with implementing training?
When you submit a WSP/ATR to your relevant SETA, they will pay out your Mandatory Grant. This means that 20% of your annual SDL will be refunded to your business to further implement Skills Development. They can also assist with Discretionary Grant funding for the more costly programmes like learnerships or Apprenticeships. This is not just a financial benefit, but this also assists you with tracking the progress of your training programmes and better aligns the required training to your relevant industry.
6. How do I measure effectiveness of training?
By conducting performance reviews on the employees who attend training. The following questions should assist you to determine if the training is effective:
- Did the employees enjoy the training?
- Did the employees consider the training relevant to their job?
- Was the training venue, style, participation, and experience comfortable?
- Did the employees learn anything new that they can implement in their day to day jobs?
- Can the employee transfer the knowledge to another employee?
- Is the change in the employee noticeable and can it be applied to a ROI?