Analysing trends in skills training

Corporates and government opt for those skills that will ensure delivery & give greater support to executives

South Africa’s skills shortage is biting deep with a top training company seeing a dramatic rise in training courses for management support staff and methods to assist new managers to cope. A new determination to deliver on projects is also clear from training courses opted for.

For two years in a row Johannesburg-based training company AstroTech’s top course has been High Performance PAs and Administrators, last year it was almost twice as popular as the next most popular course – Business Analysis and Systems Analysis, now it is almost three times more popular than the next highest rated course, Management for New Managers, and it has doubled the number of course participants in the last year. This is more astonishing when it is realised that the course range at AstroTech is targeted almost exclusively at executives, CEOs and senior managers.

“It is not the PAs who are enrolling themselves, it is their bosses,” AstroTech CEO, Liza van Wyk, “and what this reflects is a critical need among executives to have top level support staff around them. Skilled personnel and professionals are already taking strain, trying to cope with underqualified people around them, so it is imperative that they have highly qualified support staff. This course helps in that process.”

Overall what the study shows, is that faced with South Africa’s massive infrastructural challenges, business and government want hard, sharp, focussed training. Courses in 2007 indicate the very high rate of new managers needing help, five out of the top 10 are for example, Technical Person to Manager, Project Management for Non-Project Managers and Finance for Non-Financial Managers. “The economy has grown so rapidly that it has been impossible for training and education to keep pace. We are seeing much younger people in very senior positions and often they have very demanding portfolios given the new urgency for governments and corporates to deliver, especially ahead of 2010, so there is inordinate pressure to perform and we provide some of the skills that help new managers and their organisations do just that.

“Also the rise in demand of people attending the Project Management for Non-Project Managers shows a new urgency from government and the private sector to ensure delivery. There is far more emphasis on ensuring South Africa can meet its deadlines within budget,” Van Wyk said.

People management skills remain one of the most vexing challenges for new managers with AstroTech’s People Management for New Managers and Technical Person to Manager rising to sixth and seventh places in 2007. “How well a manager can motivate and inspire staff will also impact on how effectively they can boost productivity and ensure delivery,” Van Wyk observed.

“If you look at our top 10 public courses and the numbers of people trained by AstroTech (percentages of overall total are given here) it gives an interesting picture of where businesses feel there are deficiencies in skills for staff at senior and executive level:

AstroTech says it has also seen a significant switch to inhouse training from companies trying to keep staff on the job while learning more - major skills training organisation AstroTech and it’s sister company BizTech saw a 106% increase in inhouse courses this past year.

“Although there are still more people attending the public courses, and we saw a 30% increase in enrolments for these, there is a strong trend toward in-house courses,” CEO Liza van Wyk said. Her companies run public courses in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and inhouse courses wherever demand takes them. AstroTech focuses on the executive and senior management market as well as professionals, while BizTech, which was launched in April and has been phenomenally successful, concentrates on administrative and support staff.

Analysing training patterns for the past year, AstroTech found that the number of training days for public courses rose 53% while those for inhouse courses shot up a staggering 212%. The number of courses also increased – from 102 to 157 for public courses, an increase of 54% and again, the tailored courses AstroTech creates for inhouse clients saw the diversity of these offerings shoot up from 41 types of courses to 115 or a 180% rise.

“BizTech saw three times more people attend public courses than inhouse training, with double the number of courses for the public training. It could indicate that at present businesses are less concerned with skills deficiencies with support and administrative staff, but I think it is too early to tell. The overall success of these courses shows a demand that has surprised even us.
“This year was AstroTech’s ninth in business and as we go into the end of our first decade it is astonishing how we have seen the economy grow and change. We predict that the next three years are going to see very hard work for growth and implementation. These are the most exciting of times,” Van Wyk concluded.

Biz Tech Fast Facts:
Biz Tech is an equal opportunity company.
Biz Tech courses include: Mastermind the Perfect Corporate Function; Finance and Budgets for PAs; The PA MBA; Business Communication; Professional Office Manager; Project Management for PAs and Administrators, etcetera…

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
LIZA VAN WYK, CEO BIZTECH 011 997 9800 or liza@biztech.co.za

Issued by MediaOnLine mediaonline@global.co.za