What is Skills Development?
Skills development refers to the process of enhancing and improving one’s abilities, expertise, and proficiencies in various areas. It involves deliberate efforts to acquire new skills, refine existing ones, and adapt to changing circumstances in order to stay competitive and effective in personal and professional life.
MasterStart is the collaborative online partner of Africa’s leading providers of executive and business education, including WITS, UCT GSB, GIBS and Coventry University.
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Why does Skills Development matter in South Africa?
Economic Growth
Employment Opportunities
Relevant skills can lead to the creation of new job
opportunities, particularly in emerging
sectors such as technology, renewable energy,
and advanced manufacturing.
Social Inclusion and Equity
Addressing Skills Shortages
Targeted skills training initiatives can address these gaps, ensuring that industries have the skilled personnel needed to grow and function effectively.
National Development Goals
Skills development aligns with South Africa’s national development goals, such as those outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP), which aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.
Enhancing Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Skills training encourages innovation by providing individuals with the knowledge and competencies needed to develop new ideas, products, and services.
How can managers prioritise Skills Development?
Foster a learning culture
To encourage managers to prioritise workplace learning, our online short courses align training initiatives with business goals and demonstrate their impact on productivity and competitiveness. This shows a clear return on investment through data and success stories, and involves managers in planning to ensure relevance, which fosters a culture of continuous learning, with senior leaders modelling this behaviour.
Skills development provides incentives, support, and flexible, relevant training options to make it easier for managers to engage. This is to regularly measure and report progress to maintain momentum. By highlighting the benefits to both teams and the organisation, there is motivation for managers to prioritise Skills Development.
Why does Developing Skills matter in South Africa?
Create a Learning Culture
Provide Access to Resources
Encourage Goal Setting
Offer Incentives and Recognition
Provide incentives and recognition for employees who engage in skills development, such as promotions, financial rewards, and public acknowledgment of their efforts and achievement
How will your company benefit from using skills to solve business problems?
Skills are becoming more prioritised than job titles in the workplace, making it essential for organisations to shift from being jobs-based, and instead adopting a skills-based approach.
But what’s the difference between these two models? Unlike in the jobs-based model, in a skills-based organisation, employees are not limited to their job description or role. Instead, they can use their skills to take on different projects and responsibilities.
Workplace skills are dynamic as industries adapt to new business models. It is important that your employees are equipped with the necessary and relevant training to be productive within an organisation, regardless of their level of employment. At MasterStart, we align your employees’ skills adaptability with industry needs to ensure that they retain a competitive edge and are able to meet company objectives.
With short courses that run between 6 and 12 weeks, employees are able to apply their new-earned skills development to the workplace, which readily places them at an advantage to learn and grow within the organisation.
