Return on Investment on Training & Being Competent

So, I’ve been tasked to write a short blog about me! Where do I start?

I could do a bio on me but that information is already pretty much available through our Facebook page and LinkedIn profile, when it comes to the business side of me.

Our social media manager, advised that I should update you on some of the ‘qualifications’ I have attained over the last couple of years and give a brief about how they have added value to the services we offer, but also how they have added value to me as a person.

My attitude is one of ‘life-long learning’. So whether it is to work towards a ‘qualification’ or learn about a new concept or approach a topic or problem from a different perspective, I am passionate about learning. I am also passionate about ‘facilitating learning’.

In today’s National Qualification Framework, in RSA, outcomes based learning is the focus of our knowledge and skills and whether one is ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’. It is funny how we still want to know how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ we did, when we attend workshops with the purpose of obtaining some form of recognition.

Nevertheless, in many ways the competency to do certain things is more important than a mark for a test, as it is the application of the concepts that truly determines our ability to be competent in any skill.

So in, 2012 achieving the competency status for being able to “Conduct Outcomes based Assessments” was a great feeling as I am now ‘legitimately’ competent to carry out Recognised Prior Learning assessments on a variety of unit standards for individuals. “RPL’ing” staff is still something that companies do not really understand or realise the value of despite it ‘being around’ for years. Being able to assess an employee, on an RPL basis, who has been working well and is a productive contributing member of their staff complement, in order for them to be declared competent against unit standards that could lead to a qualification, reflects an organisation that values not only the skills the person has acquired, but also the staff member as they are acknowledging their contribution to the company in a very real and personal way. Yes, that employee may very well leave the company if they are RPL’d and realise that they could obtain a qualification which may open doors to promotions and a better life for themselves and/or their family, but then the company has achieved its objective which was in essence to give the recognition to that employee. 

Although I have been ‘working’ on and in the Human Resource Management field for years, especially with regard to Employment Equity and Skills Development Facilitation, I desired to be deemed competent in terms of SAQA and the NQF Framework. Therefore achieving the competency status of being able to ‘participate in the implementation and utilisation of equity related processes” as well as ‘develop an organisational training and development plan’; ‘conduct an analysis to determine outcomes of learning for skills development and other purposes’; ‘provide information and advice in regard to skills development and related issues’; ‘advise on the establishment and implementation of a quality management system for skill development practices in an organisation’; and ‘coordinate planned skills development’; all in 2017, was I believe, a great addition to our offerings as a service provider to companies in the human resource consultancy arena.

Of particular interest and passion, is creating and implementing a quality management system for skill development practices in an organisation. Any money spent on training and development should provide a Return on Investment, but the measure for this is very lacking in most organisations. We emphasise the need for this measure with our client’s whether we assist in the submission of the ATR-WSP annual reports or if we are conducting a skills gap analysis or putting together a succession plan that includes skills development.

All three of the ‘competencies’ achieved have confirmed for me, and for our business, and what we relay to our clients, that there cannot be transformation in any business without skills development. However the skills development plans and initiatives decided upon needs to make business sense in order for the business to be sustainable, and to be able to adapt quickly and smartly to the changes we are experiencing in this 4^th Industrial Revolution.

We, as a team at Diverse Human Resources love to empower people through knowledge, so when “Train the Trainer” workshop came up recently, I made a plan to attend. Currently I am preparing my Portfolio of Evidence, and believe I will be successful in achieving the ‘competency’ status. This will mean that Diverse Human Resources will not only continue to provide workshops to clients, but the value will be greater in that we will not only customise the training to our client’s needs; but that we can also customise training aligning it to an actual unit standard as well as carrying out a qualitative assessment on the ‘return on investment’ of the training.