Changing Demands Of Business

On-the-job skills development is an increasingly valuable aspect of the working world. According to a Lorman Training Solutions study, 70 per cent of employees would be somewhat likely to leave their current job to work for an organisation known for investing in employee development and learning; 34 per cent of employees who left their previous job were motivated to do so by more career development opportunities, and 86 per cent of millennials would be kept from leaving their current position if training and development were offered by their employer.

“As a learning organisation we appreciate the importance of upskilling our people to build new competencies,” says Nokuthula Chonco, senior specialist: learning at MultiChoice Group. “Parallel to upskilling is reskilling of our people to enable them to transition with our business, and technology is at the core allowing customer insights to be effectively systematised across all verticals.”

Workplace training is good for business

Speaking specifically about the IT and technology-related training courses offered by the MultiChoice Group to its employees across Africa, Chonco says: “The upskilling and reskilling of our people directly supports our business objectives as we increase our online penetration in over-the-top (OTT) products and platforms to enable growth and meet demand. Development of tech skills also supports the group in being a global leader in content protection and cybersecurity.”

Ravika Bandyopadhyay, head of people development at Sanlam, says that the modern world is characterised by accelerated change, technological advancement and evolving customer expectations. “We operate in a knowledge economy where skills have an exponentially shrinking shelf-life, where lifelong learning has become an economic imperative. The biggest competitive differentiator in the future will be an agile, skilled workforce of continuous learners.”

Why focus on workplace training?

Bandyopadhyay says that Sanlam believes an agile and skilled workforce that can adapt and innovate will be its biggest competitive differentiator for the future. “Training opportunities focus on developing individuals for performance and success in their current and future roles. We offer holistic workplace training opportunities ranging from functional, soft skills and technical, which includes product, process and systems,” she says. “Employees further have access to management and leadership programmes that build their capability to successfully lead the business and people at their respective levels of leadership. Leadership development focuses on both transitional and transformational programmes. Training is delivered internally and sourced externally.”

MultiChoice Group offers IT and tech training across the broad themes of cloud technology; security and governance; AI, big data and analytics; digital marketing and analytics; and content and media, with around 20 different courses covering specific aspects. “All employees can and are encouraged to study and choose from a catalogue of tech programmes. Our employee bursary offer and personal development engagements elevate the benefit and impact of science, technology, engineering and maths disciplines and the application thereof in their day-to-day roles,” says Chonco. The group is also looking to launch an AI Academy and is part of an Enterprise Skills Initiative where any MultiChoice employee can register for a Microsoft certification.

Bandyopadhyay says the group’s financial planning-related workplace training was put in place because, in South Africa, qualified financial planners must complete a qualification exam from the Financial Planning Institute of South Africa (FPI). “This is aligned with Sanlam’s strategy of providing a professional financial advice service to our clients. It further ensures that advisers maintain their knowledge and skills annually to keep up to date with the latest developments in the financial sector, thereby making sure that they can guide their clients in the best possible manner,” she says.