Key Elements of Skills Development in HR Portfolios
At the heart of skills development lies a team responsible for ensuring compliance to legislation, navigating the complex landscape of skills development, and meeting relevant deadlines.
- Compliance to legislation and regulations
- Navigating the complex landscape of skills development
- Meeting relevant deadlines
According to Zodwa Tomile, Learning and Development Manager at Air Products, skills development plays a critical role in gaining, improving, and expanding the abilities of employees. This can be achieved through formal, informal, and on-the-job training.
There are numerous advantages of enabling employees to improve their skills set, including equipping them to adapt to changes in the work environment, improving their employability, assisting them to achieve their professional goals, and contributing to the overall performance and success of the organisation.
Key Skills Development Strategies at Air Products
Skills development is a key element within the human resources (HR) portfolio, specifically within Air Products. It ensures that the skills and knowledge required by employees are in place, and it looks at the trends in the industry/sector in terms of scarce and critical skills.
- Sourcing and implementing relevant interventions
- Equipping employees with specific skills sets
- Creating and strengthening a talent pool within the company
Tomile explains that the industrial gas industry is specialized and technical, which requires a workforce with specific skills sets. It is essential to equip employees with the knowledge and relevant skills they require to function optimally in their roles.
Regulatory Framework and Legislation
Organisations within all industries are required to compile and submit the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) / Annual Training Report (ATR) to their respective Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA). This information is consolidated into the Sector Skills Report, which in turn informs the National Skills Plan.
The National Skills Plan determines the skills needs for the country and issues a directive to relevant institutions for implementation.
Skills Development is underpinned by a number of South African regulations, such as the Skills Development Act, Skills Development Levies Act, Employment Equity Act, and BBBEE Act.
- Key Legislation:
As an industrial gas manufacturing organisation, Air Products is affiliated to the Chemical Industries Training Authority (CHIETA) Sector Education Training Authority (SETA).
Addressing Skills Gaps and Needs
CHIETA plays a crucial role in identifying the skills needs and gaps within the chemical industry and partnering with the industry in addressing those skills/training needs.
The manufacturing industry is constantly evolving, and there is a definite shift from manual assembly lines or techniques towards more technologically advanced automated processes.
Skills Development in Action at Air Products
Tomile further describes that she compiles and submits the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR) to the primary SETA, the Chemical Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) on an annual basis.
This report informs the SETA on which training was implemented in the previous year as well as the training planned for the current year.
This information is then incorporated into the Sector Skills Plan which determines the priority of skills for the chemical industry which in turn informs the national skills needs (National Skills Plan).
Challenges and Success Stories
Commenting on the challenges of Skills Development, Tomile comments: “There has been a shift in the Skills Development landscape that came into effect on 1 July 2024.
This has brought many changes and challenges in the field, with most, historical qualifications being replaced by QCTO Occupational Qualifications.
The introduction of Occupational Qualifications aims to align the learning programmes to the occupations in the workplace, in accordance with the Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO) Codes, which is basically a skills-based classification system for jobs in South Africa.”
Even though there are several challenges with regards to skills development, Tomile highlights that Air Products has success stories to share.
The implementation of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in technical and non-technical fields has yielded the desired results as employees who participated in various learning programmes attained Certificates of Competence and Red Seal Certificates.
Through these programmes, the unemployed youth are now permanent employees within Air Products and their Skills Development Absorption Partners.
Over the years, they have also partnered with various Skills Development Providers to implement programmes for unemployed learners with disabilities and placed over 80% in permanent employment.
Through these initiatives, individuals have not only obtained certificates or qualifications, but there has also been a significant improvement in their self-confidence, increased employment opportunities, and subsequently, improved livelihoods.
A Future-Oriented Approach
Tomile concludes: “As a leader in the industrial gas industry, it is imperative that Air Products ensures compliance to legislation, but more importantly, that we create opportunities for our employees to improve their skills and knowledge in order to excel and contribute to the future success of the company.”
In the words of J.P.
