Learnerships

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Frank Groenewald October 2003
Learnerships Addressing multiple stakeholder
needs.
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• Today's Business
• Strategy
• Structure
• Process
• Current status

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The Strategic Context Different Stakeholders
Different Needs
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Learnerships Problem statement

• In the context of transformation imperatives,
  jobless sector growth, pressure on internal
  training costs, the challenge is to conceptualise
  and implement a learnership strategy that will
  enable sector learner targets to be met.
• The strategy must add business value, satisfy
  political imperatives, minimise negative business
  impact, comply with legislative requirements, be
  economically practicable, and must be implemented
  in short time-frames.

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• The strategy must
• add business value,
• satisfy socio-economic imperatives,
• maximize positive and minimise negative business
  impact,
• comply with legislative requirement,
• be economically practicable, and
• must be able to be implemented in short time
  frames.

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Levers

• Focus learnerships on areas where demand for
  skilled staff is highest as a consequence of
  scale and labour turnover
• Accommodate learnership recruits within existing
  recruitment patterns as far as possible, such
  that learnership candidates meet real staffing
  needs.
• Focus national need learnerships on a small
  number of generic learnerships with large numbers
  of learners

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BANKSETAs Strategic Objective

• To facilitate the rapid scaling up of
  learnerships in the sector to meet identified
  demands, such that negative business impact is
  minimised and business benefit is maximised.
• To achieve the above within the constraints of
  available funding.

This objective can be achieved by applying
strategic principles
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Different categories of learnerships and of
learners exist
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From a numbers point of view, transformation
learnerships are a subset of the national need
learnerships
National need n5000
Transformation n1250
Niche n?
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Strategic Principle 1 Focus for impact
Large numbers can be absorbed more easily using
this approach. A key question is however whether
the numbers committed to are to be considered to
be over and above normal recruitment intake.
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Strategic Principle 1 Focus for impact
Unique leverage point for driving numbers focus
here
Limited leverage point for driving unique value
focus here
Limited leverage point for driving NSDS targets
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Strategic Principle 2 Minimise negative
business impact
Centralised support will create efficiencies and
economies of scale, keeping unnecessary work out
of the banks themselves. The support could be
provided to all learnerships, not only the large
ones.
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• Principle 2 presents two implementation options

The cost factor is likely to be the overriding
consideration.
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Employment Skills Development Agency (ESDA)

• ESDA
• Centralised support function
• Create efficiencies and economies of scale
• keeping learnership-associated responsibilities
  within the banks to a minimum.
• Leverage funds available from the BANKSETA
• WHY
• To facilitate the rapid scaling up of
  learnerships.
• To minimise negative impact and
• To maximise potential benefits

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Strategic Principle 3 Make the detail work,
not the concept
Outsourced resources should be used in order to
achieve focus, appropriate competency deployment,
and quick turnaround.
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• Funding

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Funding

• The initial projection..R267 000 000.00
• 50 .
• BANKSETA
• 80 of the sector strategic fund over a three
  year period ( Approved)
• R6 000 000.00 from the 2002/3 sector strategic
  fund ( approved)
• 50.
• The BANKSETA will seek a grant from the NSF for
  the remaining cost R138 000 000.00
• ( in process R 25000.00 per learner)
• Graduates subsequently employed by the banks will
  incur a cost.

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Summary
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Agreements thus far

• The Accelerated Learnership Initiative will
• Develop 5000 learners over a 3 year period
• Develop Matriculants and Graduates at a 75 to
  25 ratio
• Focus on whole qualifications and not Unit
  Standard based qualifications
• Source qualifications in line with the sector
  priority skills need
• Ensure the inclusion of entrepreneurial and
  generic business skills in the qualifications to
  allow for cross sector deployment of learners on
  completion

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Agreements thus far(continued)

• The BANKSETA will facilitate the process on
  behalf of the banking sector by
• Obtaining commitment for the project targets from
  all stakeholders (DONE)
• Assisting the Institute of Bankers (IoB) to be
  registered as an Employment and Skills
  Development Agency (ESDA) (In process)
• Agreeing with the banks to provide for the
  workplace component of the learnership. (DONE)
• Accepting overall responsibility for project
  delivery. (DONE)
• Allow for changes in banking operating
  environment

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General

• Way forward
• Time lines
• Process agreements