“Colour me Ready” Workshop: Adding Colour to the Skills Development element of the B-BBEE codes
17 March 2014 – Much debate has surrounded the effects on businesses with the implementation of the revised B-BBEE codes, which were published in October 2013. Companies have been given one year to realign their B-BBEE strategies, before they are assessed on the revised codes.
Many businesses are concerned about how the new codes will affect their ratings and for those businesses which are not at least 51% black owned, it will mean a significant decline in their scorecard if they are to work on the same structure as they have for the previous codes. Confusion over the codes’ structure as well as the actual scoring methods have come into question.
However it can be stated that the main aim of the revised codes is to force compliance as a totality, instead of being able to select elements on which to score based on their convenience.
The fact of the matter is that B-BBEE is not legislation, and therefore can only act as a code of good practise steering South African businesses toward the common goal of growth and transformation within the economy.
QSE’s, which reflect the majority of up and coming entrepreneurial growth, have a mammoth task ahead of them as they could previously choose any four of the seven elements, and now they are measured on the same scorecard as larger companies. The one advantage that QSE’s now hold over a Large Company is being able to choose one priority element other than ownership. The Skills Development element features as one of the priority elements along with the Ownership and Enterprise and Supplier Development elements.
One of the biggest increases, in terms of required spending, has been the Skills Development Element which focuses on industry specific empowerment and growth. As of this year, companies will be required to spend 6% of their payroll on training, double the amount from the previous codes. The Skills element has also increased from 15 point to 25 points, showing the importance of skills development in the economy.
Progression Options have become leaders in developing and project managing skills development strategies which follow a best fit strategy, in order to provide employer and employee with maximum benefits.
Progression believes that Skills Development is at the forefront of transformation and offers the best solution to sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace.
“Training yields lower staff turnover and allows your company to grow from within” states Beth Cook, CEO of Progression.
In order to offer more insight into Skills Development in South Africa, and how your business can best align its strategy with the new codes, Progression will be hosting an ‘out of the box’ styled Breakfast Workshop. Various members of the Progression team will be presenting a ‘detailed and colourful’ approach to how your business can best comply and maximise its Skills Development points with the revised codes.
The Breakfast workshop will be hosted at the Mercure Hotel, Bedfordview on Wednesday 26 March, the cost of the workshop is R450 per person. Registration will start at 8am, with the workshop running from 8.30 am to 11 am. Seats are limited so email julia@progression.co.za to reserve your space.