SOUTH AFRICAN L&D MANAGERS EXCEED GLOBAL STANDARDS DESPITE SKILLS CRISIS:

Release of 8^th Annual ASTD/SABPP State of

The South African Learning and Development Industry Report

By

Marius Meyer, CEO: SABPP, Robin Probart, President: ASTD Global Network South Africa and Melanie Bushney, Associate Professor:Unisa

The 8^th annual ASTD State of the South African Learning and Development Industry Report has been released. While growth in the South African economy is impeded by the skills crisis,skills development managers have risen to the occasion and implemented exemplary L&D practices in their organisations.This annual survey questionnaire is sent to a sample of organisations both private and public to determine the state of skills development in the workplace. This survey is generally completed by the L&D departments and in many cases by the skills development facilitator or training coordinator. This survey attempts to quantify and qualify the L&D practices in South Africa. It also attempts to present a reference tool or front-end to establish a human resource development benchmarking forum for South Africa. A comparison of the results on an annual basis assists in determining the extent to which certain trends and practices have been implemented in the workplace.

The sample size of 472 of participating organisations is greater than previous years and the result are considered more representative of what is actually happening in the workplace. The essential questions asked of participants revolve around:

· The size of the payroll, the number of employees and the percentage of payroll spent on training

· Opportunities in the professional development of L&D practitioners

· Information Sources and knowledge management

· The implementation of computerised HRIS in organisations

· The prevalence of electronic learning(e-learning) in South Africa

· The needs analysis methods employed

· Training evaluation and measurement(ROI)

· Training and organisational developments trends

· The effectiveness of mentoring and coaching

· The effectiveness of talent management

Respondents could also comment on the training and organisation development industry. These qualified views allowed the researchers to gain a deeper insight into the perceptions of L&D staff in the evaluation of the industry.

From this year the HR professional body and HR Education Training Quality Assurance body mandated by SAQA, the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) and ASTD Global Network South Africa have collaborated on this project for increased impact and distribution. This alliance enriches the scope and impact of the project to ensure wider participation and dissemination among its 5000 HR practitioners, of which more than 1200 are registered in the specialist category of L&D. SABPP will use its research team to optimise further L&D research opportunities flowing from this project. This also means that ASTD members will get access to SABPP research reports such as the following papers that have already been published:

• The nature of professionalism
• Appropriate skills utilisation: The Netcare case study
• King III Report on Governance: HR – the way forward
• HR Risk Management

Aims

The aims of this research project were:

· To determine national benchmarks for L&D in South-Africa

· To provide a comparison of national benchmarks with international norms

· To infuse the latest L&D best practices in curriculums at universities

· To facilitate inter-institutional collaboration in the areas of articulation regarding HR and HRD qualifications, as well as research

· To position UNISA, UJ, NMMU, NWU and VUT as active national participants of the HRD Universities Forum (HRDUF) in pursuit of the National Skills Development Strategy III.

Results about key benchmarks

The key findings of the report are as follows:

• South African organisations spend3,11% of payroll on training (3,13% in 2008 and 3,60% in 2009), significantly above the 1% required by the Skills Development Levies Act, and more than the amount as reported in the USA State of the Training Industry study (2,24%).

• 96% of organisations have human resource information systems (HRIS) in place which is five percent more than in 2009.

• Performance management data (83%), questionnaires (78%), and interviews (62%) are the major training needs analysis methods. Significantly, the use of performance management data increased by 17% from 2006 and moved up from being the third most popular to first place this year.

• Over the last couple of years, there has been an increase in outsourcing. External design increased slightly to 57% in 2009 compared to 53% in 2006. In 2010 the figure stands on 53%, a decrease from the figure in 2009. External delivery increased to 54% in 2008 (52% in 2005, 37% in 2006 and 53% in 2007). In 2010 external delivery constitutes 52%, another slight decline.Internal design increased to 47% in 2010 while internal delivery constitutes 48% in the same year.

• Despite the growth in e-learning, classroom training is still the most popular method of training. Its prevalence has increased from 58% in 2003 to 66% in 2010. The use of e-learning has increased from 17% in 2003 to 26% in 2006and has grown further to 30% in 2007 (33% in the USA). In 2009 e-learning has dropped to 27% but again increased to 33%in 2010.

• While only 9% of organisations measured the financial ROI of training programmes in 2004, this figure has increased substantially to 40% in 2008. In 2010, 39% calculate the Rand value ROI of training programmes.

• Interestingly, 72% of South African organisations use mentoring and coaching, and 33% of them said that it is either “effective”, 18% “very effective and 30% ”effective to a certain extent”.

• Responding to the prevalence of talent management, 49% of companies have talent management strategies in place in 2009 and 53% in 2010, and 30% of them view its implementation as “effective” and 11% as “very effective.”

· Regarding differences between the size of organisationsand different training types the following can be reported:

- Small organisations tend to focus more on business skills and sometimes general skills.

- Medium-sized organisations tend to focus less on general skills and less on all skills than large organisations.

- Large organisations on the other hand focus more on all skills except business skills and sometimes general skills.

· As far as differences between the size of organisations and general dimensions in training are concerned:

- Small organisationsfocus less on Information resources, ROI, HRD, eHRM and HRIS than larger companies. But they focus more on Mentoring and Talent management than other organisations.

- Medium organisationsfocus less on Mentoring and Talent management than other organisations.

- Large organisationsfocus more on Kirkpatrick framework, HRIS, HRD, ROI and Information resources than smaller and medium organisations.

The greater sample size of this survey provides a more comprehensive view of workplace learning in South Africa.

The comments of respondents on the training and organisation development industry varied from highly positive with constructive suggestions, to severe criticism. Of particular concern is a widely held view by respondents that top management only pays lip-service to workplace skills development and that often training figures and funds are misrepresented. However, there is also the opposing view that the focus on training and staff development, including planning and funding is constantly improving.

There is a need to blend the needs and dictates of the organisational business strategy with that of the National Skills Development Strategy. The need for scarce skilled-staff and the shortage thereof is a challenge in both the public and private sectors and throughout this research prominent emphasis by HR and L&D practitioners are placed upon on this dilemma.The lack of adequate funding still remains an issue although the percentage payroll employed for training compares favourably with that of the USA.

Be that as it may, despite our education backlog and skills crisis, South African L&D managers have performed very well in comparison with their international counterparts on key benchmarks such as training investment, e-learning, mentoring and coaching and talent management.

For more information about the research partners of this project visit www.astd.co.za and www.sabpp.co.za Copies of the full report may be ordered from Sandra Erasmus on sandra@sabpp.co.za

Interview with God - Screensavers

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Interview With God

The opposite of Old is not Young

"The opposite of old is not young. The opposite of old is new.

As long as we continue to experience the new,

we will gloriously inhabit all of the ages that we are."

(Susan Sark)

To experience the “New” we need to open up to change. A concept I thought I was Okay with. I always believed that I was change resilient. Then, I came to a shocking realisation, that I, like most people am comfortable about the “old”.

I like my space to remain as it is, with its wild abandon, but still the same. I like to know that the people in my life are the “same”. The most startling realisation of this was when I experienced a “change” in my mother – the constant in my life.

There for me – sharing a close and special friendship.

I should not be surprised that Mom’s life testimony should become my directory for managing change.

The first monumental change, was when she was shot in the face during a hijack attempt in 1995, and her world took on major changes. Having partial to little sight in her remaining left eye, very little sense of smell and a false right eye – her independence was remodeled. Needing to depend on others for assistance in driving to the shops or going anywhere for that matter – she took charge of this change by learning to walk around her neighborhood with the aid of a stick. She said to me the fear of not knowing who was “out there” motivated her to such an extent, that she was determined to meet all the people outside of her home. The neighbors and passers by. She walks every morning and greets everyone she passes. Looking directly into their faces (she can’t see them) and directly facing her fear.

Not being able to work to earn her living, she took on her first love – painting. First in water colour and now with the advent of acrylic water colours she now can paint on canvas again. The fumes from acrylics affected her damaged sinuses that water colour was her only option. Her dream of having her wall covered in pictures came to fruition...now they are a gallery of her work, as is our home.

Her other hobbies – dress making and cooking also flourished. It’s hard to believe that a person, who can only see spots from one eye, could sew her granddaughter’s First Holy Communion dress (the closest you can get to a wedding dress).

These changes happened apart from me, a witness and support. From my vantage point, she was the “same” the mother I knew, she dealt with all the adversities – we all did, but she was still the “same”. Little did I know that what I had taken for granted and depended on would “change”.

HER constant – Eddie died in 2009. How could I expect her to remain constant? I did. I felt that she would definitely mourn and we did together. But having spent 22 years with a man – her constant – now he was gone, obviously creates change. The space he left behind will always be his, but life shifts to accommodate this space.

Mom’s friends rallied around her, and I have never in my life witnessed the power of a network of friends. Because Mom is dependant on others for her mobility (she can’t drive). In order to deal with the pain and heartache of not having Eddie by her side, she went “inside” and her inner self emerged. A person I had only known for a few years before she married Eddie and after she and Dad divorced in 1978.

My inner child and her inner child have met...and it hurts...a raw pain, something that I would rather hide and keep covered up.

I look at the same woman but see someone else, I look at myself and see someone else too. I fear what I see, I don’t know it. The constant has gone and in its place is something intangible and difficult grasp. I cannot “see” it and I cannot clearly identify it either. It has no defined outline – it’s just there.

Mom has met a man who cares for her deeply, and she for him. Why do I at this point struggle to “name” him? We give the people in our lives “tags” like: my mother, my father, brother, sister, step-father, friend, boy friend...etc. I resist giving him a “tag”. He is simply Eric. I “see” how he makes her happy, I “see” how she has become the woman she has yearned to be. She has a lightness in her step, a sparkle in her eye, a smile which doesn’t leave.

I “see” too, how her home has become more his home...an recently “their” home...I “see” that this is good, but I feel I don’t belong. The person I was – doesn’t belong anymore. Is it because that person in me reminds her of Eddie? Perhaps?....

So when the two people meet we rub...a bit...and it’s sore, deep, deep down inside.

So I pull away. It’s easier to go back to my “old” safe place than embrace the “new”. The “new” means confronting my inner self.

Mom is taking shape into the person she was before, attractive and youthful and beautiful. My “old” self inside feels uncomfortable, we weren’t meant to go “back”...but forward. I could depend on her becoming “old”. I resist this and I feel angry for this reflex. Why can’t I just let it happen and stand back to observe, why do I have to feel?

The answer, I believe lies in the fact that we are all connected and when change happens to one person we can either choose to detach completely from this and remain the “same” or we can allow it to “change” us too. This requires faith. Faith is believing, despite not knowing, defining and seeing what will come. Walking in the “dark” and believing that what will come out at the other end will be better, will be good for me and will make me stronger. I have faith that I am where I am meant to be. I have entered the journey and I have faith that there will be ground ahead to carry me, even if I cannot “see” it. I will change – I will become “new”. It will be good and I like my Mom have an amazing network of friends to carry me when I “can’t” or when I “fall”.

If You Were the Chief HR Officer of BP

> Latest estimates gathered from the US government's geological teams, estimate that the rate of flow of the BP spill is more like 30,000 gallons a day, the equivalent of one Exxon Valdez spill every 8 days, in the gulf of Mexico and moving fast. Aside from the public verbal blunders of BP's CEO, it has also been shown that BP took some shortcuts on this deep and perilous endeavour; BP has always claimed to be a leading expert in the safe quest for more, deeper, oil; they have teams of authorities and PhDs on their payroll. I realize that managing public opinion and damage control were important to such a public organization; yet, clearly their CEO, as the supreme representative of the organization, has lied, misrepresented the organization and his organization is the author of a major catastrophe.
>
> Should a CEO be held accountable for organizational outcomes and suffer the supreme consequences for the whole organization? After all, he has been, based on documented evidence, rewarded(bonus/stocks/millions) for previous company successes ; how should he now be punished for company failure(s)?
>
> QUESTION TO ALL HR(AND NON HR) COLLEAGUES If you were the Chief Human Resources Officer of BP, in the midst of this catastrophic ecological and economic disaster caused by your CEO(yes, his firm, his complicit subordinates etc?), what would you recommend be done with its CEO?...I say fire him! What do you think?

Kenton - Uncle Clive's House

Kenton - Uncle Clive's House

Baffled by the Generation Ys

In the last six months I have been facilitating a group of sales reps from one of our top five banks in SA. Coupled with this, having attended and completed the Personality Compass presented by VHL in Johannesburg, I have taken a deeper look introspectively as to why I find these groups so “difficult” to facilitate. I am passionate about facilitation, and in fact when I am away from it, I suffer withdrawals much like that of a hardened addict. I facilitate adult groups and also teach teenagers and pre-grade children, but never have I come across a group of people who challenge the theories of learner pedagogy!

I perceive the following challenges (no not problems) in facilitating these groups. There is good rapport between myself and the group, but pulpable resistance to training. I have asked pointedly if this training is what they want…”Oh yes…” but no further comments. Asked if they are committed ….”Yes, but you know it’s difficult, there’s soooo much work!”

Attendance is good, not the best because family life is priority. The qualification they are studying towards requires them to do self study at home and then write tests…we have called them Knowledge Questionnaires to try and “soften” the blow. It’s like pulling teeth to get them to sit for two hours to complete a combination of multiple choice questions and written answers from a short paragraph to an essay.

I have also observed that the group blatantly “cheats”. Gosh, I am horrified, as a baby boomer myself, I would NEVER have contemplated cheating – copying from a friend, hushed whisperings of the answers (albeit in another language – which I am NOT supposed to understand – but I have studied Zulu so can catch the gist of what is being said). I balk at being hooked into “teacher” mode – strictly laying down the law!!! I am not that old.

So typical to my Personality compass of a SW – I give them stern looks, intimidating body language and when pushed become the school Mam!!! I complain back at my office about how little work ethic they have, how my children of 10 and 7 can do better than them and stamp my feet in horror, to only return again the next month and repeat the cycle.

Today it hit me!!! My AHA moment… the problem is not them it’s the difference in the way they are “hard wired” to perceive and relate to the world. Linda Gratton mentioned in her conference here in SA that Generation Y characteristics cut across all cultures and continents…so why did it take so long to sink in?

Googleing “Generation Y” I found a host of sites and excess information and graphics on the topic!!!

In case you are interested…the following description sums my dilemma up in terms of the USA context, which as Linda Gratton said, cuts across all cultures and countries:

“Born during a baby bulge that demographers locate between 1979 and 1994, they are as young as five and as old as 20, with the largest slice still a decade away from adolescence. And at 60 million strong, more than three times the size of Generation X, they're the biggest thing to hit the American scene since the 72 million baby boomers. Still too young to have forged a name for themselves, they go by a host of taglines: Generation Y, Echo Boomers, or Millennium Generation.” (http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_07/b3616001.htm by Ellen Neuborne in New York, with Kathleen Kerwin in Detroit and bureau reports)

Heading for my forties, I feel REALLY old!!!

No wonder I don’t “relate” to my groups. The problem is in how we get our message across. The challenge I am now faced with is, in adapting my style to be able to hit home…

Learner pedagogy!!! The basic principles of facilitation….Uh duh!!!

Further, my problem goes deeper, my resistance to accepting that there is a divided between my “generation” and theirs. I am not just standing fixed in time no matter I feel inside, the divide grows wider. So I must get with the beat!!! Pull my pants down to show off my crack – trash the granny panties. Put wires in my ears and blast them with music (Rolling Stones is good) and keep up my status on Facebook, join Twitter and think of some radical ways to revamp my Knowledge Questionnaires…I will get back to you on how this is going.