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CASE STUDIES BOOKLET

It gives us great pleasure to be part of a sector that is passionate about driving the skills development agenda. The skills@work awards give recognition to our partners in the banking and microfinance game for their dedication to skills development. I am excited by the innovative initiatives being implemented to improve efficacy in the workplace.

This year’s entries are proof that the country’s banking system is using innovative approaches and advanced technology to invest in skills development through continuous professional development of employees. Skills empower our people to thrive in the workplace. As it has been practice over the last five years, the BANKSETA shares those success stories through the annual skills@work awards.

Entrants submitted case studies to illustrate best practice in skills development programmes implemented in their organisations. This year we received outstanding submissions and it has been overwhelming to see the amount of effort going into skills development interventions.

The winners were hard to choose, not because they stood out for their determination and commitment to skills development in the workplace, but because they were in such good company. We should all be very proud of our sector’s involvement in this important feat – because it is paving the way to a brighter future for all South Africans.

We give our heartfelt thanks to all who have participated in this campaign; and we would like to congratulate all our winners this year!

Max MakhubaloCEO, BANKSETA


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The BANKSETA skills@work awards is a celebration of good practice in skills development in our sector. The awards focus on the real world of outcomes that result in how people’s lives are changed through various skills development interventions, and by implication, how that changes society and strengthens the process of nation-building.

Through these awards BANKSETA wants to acknowledge small to large businesses as well as accredited training providers for their continuous commitment to skills development. In addition the awards provide a platform for organisations to showcase their good practice in human capital/resource planning, education, skills development, learning/training and development practices. The official handover of the awards took place on September 29, 2010 at the BANKSETA Annual General Meeting.

The winners for 2013 are as follows:

Category: More than 150 employees – Nedbank LimitedCategory: Employer with less 1 - 49 employees – SCW Beleggings t/a CashwiseCategory: BANKSETA Accredited Training Provider – Compuscan

Special Commendation:

1. ABSA Bank Limited - For the level of depth and breadth of their skills development & training programmes.

2. African Bank Investment Limited - For their outstanding level of engagement with employees and for best practice applied in their skills development initiatives.

3. Masoyi Financial Services - For outstanding implementation of skills development initiatives within the Financial Co-Operative category.

The following qualifying criteria had to be met by the applicants:• Employers had to be registered with the BANKSETA for skills development levy purposes.• Accredited Training Providers had to be accredited with BANKSETA. If the provider was not registered with BANKSETA for skills levy purposes, the provider had to submit proof of mandatory grant application with their SETA.• Applicants had to indicate for which category an application was made under:

- Large Employers – employers with more than 150 employees - Medium Employers – employers with between 50 – 149 employees - Small Employers – employers with less 1 - 49 employees

• Applications and other project related documents were submitted on BANKSETA templates. Applications that did not meet the minimum criteria were disqualified.

For more information, please visit www.skillsawards.co.za

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Nedbank LimitedCategory: Large company (more than 150 employees)Award: Winner

The philosophy behind Nedbank’s people development strategy is for individuals to achieve full performance in their current jobs; to prepare individuals for larger/more complex/broader jobs in the future; and to support individuals to reach their full potential through continuous personal development. The approach is for the individuals to know themselves, the organisation, and to be able to contextualise the world.

For the fourth successive year Nedbank has retained its Level 2 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment rating as measured by the dti Codes. Nedbank’s 2012 score makes it the most transformed bank in the sector and the most transformed company on the top 100 JSE-listed companies.

Learnerships (Employed only)Nedbank uses learnerships to address the shortage of scarce skills. It has designed learnership programmes so that participants can gain South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) accredited qualifications after 12 to 18 months. The inclusive approach guarantees learners support. Class attendance is compulsory and coaches are involved in the learning process.

In 2012 Nedbank had 11 learnership programmes for 682 participants (428 black Africans) from such clusters as retail, capital, corporate, finance and risk.

Two examples of Nedbank learnerships are the • National Certificate in Banking – Foreign Exchange Learnership – Level-4 and• Eyethu Evergreen Trust – Core Banking and Financial Services Learnership Level-4.

Nedbank also offers the Foreign Exchange Learnership to its employees, which combines foreign exchange products, compliance and system learning with practical work-based learning into an integrated programme housed by Nedbank as a national contributor to the development of a very complex and scarce skill in South Africa.

The Foreign Exchange Learnership is designed to equip staff with multiple skills in foreign exchange payments. The integrated programme, which is unit standard based, includes technical and product knowledge as well as regulatory requirements to broaden the learner’s competence to function across various foreign exchange payment departments, within Nedbank. On successful assessment and certification of competence across all the relevant unit standards, a SAQA National Qualification at NQF Level-4 is attained.

Nedbank is also the main provider of the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the foreignexchange field. The SMEs are also responsible for coaching and offering learner-support due to their expertise and understanding of the environment. This is a huge value-add as this area has quite a number of People With Disabilities who required additional support during the learnership. To date 106 learners of which 86 were black, 56 black female, and 10 People With Disabilities (PWDs) have participated in the programme and a further 90 learners have been earmarked for 2014.


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Nedbank also hosts the Eyethu Evergreen Trust learnership whose sole purpose was to address the needs of employees who did not have a formal matric qualification and wanted to achieve an equivalent Level-4 qualification.

The Eyethu Evergreen Trust partnered with People Development to help identify an appropriate qualification that would meet the needs of the employees and the business. Employees’ experience was first measured through psychometric ,numeracy and literacy level assessments to determine if they were ready to enter into an NQF Level-4 qualification. Only 30% of the employees needed to complete a two-month bridging programme in numeracy and literacy before the learnership programme started.

This was the first time Nedbank successfully offered employees who had ABET Level-4 (which is an equivalent to NQF Level-1) an opportunity to pursue a national qualification (Level 4) equivalent to that of a matric pass. The success of this learnership is attributed to the combined effort, commitment and support of the learners, their Line Managers (Coaches), the Eyethu Trust committee members, Cornerstone Solutions and the People Development Team. All the learners completed the learnership and graduated at the end of 2012. Nedbank’s managers have seen a marked improvement in the learners’ performance in the workplace as well as their ability to work more efficiently as part of the team.

Work-readiness Interventions (Unemployed only) Nedbank also offers the Nedbank Graduate Development Programme to unemployed candidates. The purpose of this programme is primarily to bridge the gap between university training and business performance and also to address the unemployment and scare skills shortage; building a pipeline of critical skills; growing the leadership and management pipeline; recruiting, developing and retaining the best graduate talent in the market; and bringing in graduates through one entry point and exposing them to the various options or programmes.

Through group induction, rotation and designated training, graduates are better able to make more informed career choices. The business stands to benefit because the selected graduates will have a complete understanding of the business and how they fit into the bigger picture. Those with the “right” skills and aptitude potential can move from specialist/technical roles into leadership and managerial positions. The programme offers successful candidates meaningful career opportunities and workplace coaching and mentoring, among other things.

Selected graduates occupy a range of roles in the various business units, whilst simultaneously attending learning programmes and receiving on-the-job training. The final intent is to give all graduates the same experience from the start to create one Nedbank message: Nedbank is a great place to work.

For the past three years the Nedbank Graduate Programme has appointed about 120 graduates a year and proved to be a reliable way to bring talented young black people into the bank. The programme’s retention rate is over 90%.

Participation in BANKSETA-funded ProgrammesThe Nedbank Retail - Credit Accumulation & Transfer Project is a BANKSETA Recognition of Prior Learning project that entails looking at and identifying the internal qualifications offered by each bank that are not linked to unit standards and not credit-bearing. The content of the identified qualifications will be matched to unit standards. The BANKSETA recognises unit standards via the Credit Accumulation and Transfer system (CAT) for exemption on condition that they complete the qualification.

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Nedbank Retail indicated that it was interested in being part of the project. The Personal Loans division in Retail with a staff compliment of 3 800 employees indicated they would use this opportunity for some of their staff to become Fit-and-Proper through the CAT process. This was a business imperative because Personal Loans was integrating with another division in Retail and employees had to sell new products and be FAIS-compliant.

The internal course/programmes in the division were identified and made available to the consultant appointed by BANKSETA to assist with the process.The pilot project started in February until May 2012 with 150 employees in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Nedbank intends to have 1 020 employees successfully completing the programme before the end of 2014.

InnovationNedbank is proud of its Academies. The organisation believes in an innovative and integrated approach to learning - the success and importance of learning should not only be measured by the skills and competencies that are being developed, but also by the impact the newly-acquired skills competencies will have on desired performance and the organisation.

Nedbank Academies:The desire to transform corporate learning from training to measurable skills and capabilities development originally prompted the establishment of Nedbank’s first Academy in 2008. It continues to drive its development and expansion. The various Academy programmes are a vital part of overall people development strategy and include additional foundational programmes that facilitate entry-level qualification for the Academy programmes. One of these is the highly effective Nedbank Graduate programme which aims to prepare graduates for the working environment and bridge the knowledge or skills gap that exists because the education system does not adequately prepare graduates for the world of work.

Nedbank has several types of academies, some of which are: the Risk Academy, HR Academy and Leader Manager Academy. Other Functional Academies preparing talented individuals for full performance in their current roles and bigger roles in the future include but are not limited to the following:

Property Finance Academy - Addresses the limited availability of specialist skilled individuals in the property industry. Offering in-house training of this calibre supports Nedbank’s values of equipping staff with the necessary tools to thrive in our high performance culture, which in turn benefits the industry.

Business Banking Academy - Growing talent particularly in the front line where the supply of talent cannot always keep up with demand.

Retail Banking Academy - The objective is to play a leading role in developing and professionalising consumer-oriented retail banking across the world. The International Academy of Retail Banking believes that retail banking should be a recognised profession.

Learning Technology, in the form of the ‘portals’ is a fundamental enabler for the success of the Nedbank Academies. The Academy portals provide access and information to guide individuals, managers and practitioners through their different Academy needs while the My Curriculum Portal introduces the learner to the learning path they can follow to full performance. This path includes formal and informal learning items. Innovative use is made of social media platforms, which plays a strong role and learners are invited to participate in the discussion forums and blogs.


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Professionalisation Coaching provides alternative ways to develop people across all levels and supports Nedbank’s vision, deep green aspirations, strategic values, as well as intent. There are several types of coaching including coaching for executives, coaching for leadership/management talent and coaching to enhance leadership/management excellence.

The company uses the following modalities:• Consciousness Coaching®; Co-Active Coaching®; and • Integral Coaching®.

Supporting People with Disabilities (PWDs)Nedbank recognises that disability has little to do with ability. The company supports its own People With Disabilities (PWDs) and invests in athletes with disabilities for example the bank’s support of Team South Africa at the 2012 London Paralympics. The Nedbank managers’ conversation guide serves to educate and empower its leaders to have conversations with their subordinates about disabilities as the company tries to create a more inclusive environment. The guide outlines a full list of conditions, which are considered, or may lead to, disabilities.

The objective is to get all PWDs to register their status on the internal communication channel. In doing so the employee provides information to improve their working environment; it ensures that in an emergency situation the bank has the information needed to offer potentially life-saving assistance.

Nedbank is required to provide cost-effective reasonable accommodation for PWDs who voluntarily declare their disabilities. Employees who are registered benefit from free counselling through ICAS and can chat to a disability expert and ask for help with any disability-related query. Nedbank also ensures PWDs get the most out of their medical aid and working environment.

As part of Nedbank’s ‘My disability has little to do with my ability’ campaign, the bank encouraged employees with disabilities to share their compelling stories to raise awareness of the different disabilities and to encourage colleagues to declare their disability status. The internal campaign proved successful and the key messages and stories were cascaded across various channels over a two-week period. During the campaign an additional 30 PWDs registered on My Workspace.

Contribution to Socio-Economic ObjectivesIn terms of the B-BBEE Codes, corporates were required to spend at least one per cent of their South African operations net profit after tax (SA NPAT) on social development and upliftment in 2012. For Nedbank this equates to R59,8m for the year under review. In the 2012 financial year, Nedbank Group spent 1,60% of its 2011 SA NPAT, or R95m (2011: R75m) in support of 584 socio-economic development or social sustainability initiatives across South Africa.

The funds are dispersed through the Nedbank Foundation Trusts, Nedbank Affinities, the Nedbank External Bursary Fund, Consumer Education initiatives, as well as corporate social responsibility projects and initiatives undertaken by various business clusters throughout the group.

Nedbank has received various awards for its socio-economic initiatives. In 2013 for the second time in just five years, Nedbank was voted Africa’s Socially Responsible Bank of the Year at the African Banker Awards held in Morocco,Egypt. The CSR/Nedbank Foundation, established in 1992, plays a central role in enabling Nedbank Group to fulfil its ‘Deep Green’ aspiration of ‘being highly involved in the community and environment’. It does this by supporting community upliftment and development programmes that are empowering in the short-term and sustainable in the long-term with a particular focus on the four key focus areas of education (primary focus); community development; skills development and job creation; and health. Environmental impact is also given due consideration when projects are selected.

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Staff volunteerism is a further channel through which staff members are encouraged to support social sustainability objectives. By focusing on these primary focus areas, Nedbank avoids the risk of diluting its financial support and ensures it remains an effective enabler of transformation, upliftment and development in South Africa.

Of Nedbank Group’s total socio-economic development spend of R116m in 2012, R55,9m was distributed through the Nedbank Foundation; R40,3m of this amount was disbursed by Nedbank Foundation Trusts and R12,9m by the Eyethu Community Trust. Eyethu holds shares for the benefit of individuals and charitable organisations working to benefit black South Africans in the education sphere.


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SCW Beleggings T/A Cashwise (Member of AMSA)Category: Small companies (less than 50 employees)Award: Winner

SCW Beleggings CC is a microfinance business specialising in small loans on a short-term basis to the labour force. Cashwise is one of three trading names from the franchise group called Amalgamated Microlenders of South Africa (AMSA) to which this organisation belongs. About 300 firms are trading under the AMSA group.

Learnerships (Employed only)Cashwise has applied to participate in the “Learnership in Microfinance” through the BANKSETA. Two unemployed learners, from two different branches were enrolled, for the National Certificate: MicroFinance NQF Level-3 Learnership and two employees for the Further Education and Training Certificate: Microfinance, NQF Level-4. To ensure that the entrants are successful in their studies, they provided each of the candidates with a suitable Mentor and Performance Manager in order to monitor their progress.

Work-readiness interventionsThe learners were placed at Cashwise branches in Volksrust and Bethal respectively. Kelly Recruitment was contracted to recruit the unemployed learners according to agreed upon employer specifications and Learning Alliance was called upon to support learners for the duration of the learnership as well as to handle administration. A training provider was contracted for both learnerships. This entrant supported the learners by providing them with a qualified mentor at each office, doing regular evaluations and holding regular meetings.

The learners were provided with upgraded computer equipment and access to email and telephone technology so that they could complete their assignments and communicate with their facilitators. The learners’ progress was prominently displayed on a year-planner so that the learners could work towards clearly defined deadlines and their mentors could follow their progress. Despite operating in difficult times, Cashwise encourages innovative thinking amongst its employees by using brainstorming sessions to arrive at creative and innovative ideas and solutions. The company encourages staff involvement and this has proved rewarding and motivating to the staff.

Partcipation in BANKSETA-funded ProgrammesIn 2013, Cashwise participated in the following programmes: a) Learnership in Microfinance Levels 3 & 4b) Certificate Programme in Microfinance Management c) Discretionary Funding Window for funding for skills development

In 2012, participation was in the following:a) Coaching Excellence a) Training Voucher Project b) Mobile Training Solution

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Innovation

Cashwise does not neglect providing regular in-house training and investing in marketing and innovative projects. Employees and customers alike are all regarded as a source of good ideas. Communication with employees and customers is essential. The company uses email, phone technology and instant messaging via OoVoo, a free video chat and instant messaging application for desktop, mobile, tablets and Facebook. The people at Cashwise believe that if everyone in the company is trained, knows their product and is versed in the applicable legislation, employees and customers alike can make informed decisions. Though small, this company encourages professionalism and believes in remaining ahead of the changes and developments in the microfinance industry to ensure it remains a step ahead of its competitors.

ProfessionalisationCashwise operates on the principle of ensuring that the staff is trained in the company offerings and relevant industry legislation. Being knowledgeable results in always being a step ahead of competitors.

Measuring Training Impact/Assessment PracticesCashwise takes performance management seriously, and holds regular meetings in which evaluation forms are used to assess performance progress of employees. Supporting People With Disabilities (PWDs)Cashwise supports People With Disabilities, this is clearly shown by the infrastructure available at their facilities e.g. Wheel-chair ramps, rails, etc. However no training programmes have been put in place for disabled staff members as yet.

Contribution to Socio-economic objectivesFor the past eight years, the organisation has been planting trees at schools in townships during the Arbor Week. The aim is to teach children to preserve and appreciate our nature. By engaging the teachers, the organisation hopes to relay the message to future generations learners. This year is no exception, Cashwise has scheduled to plant trees at 3 different schools.


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CompuscanCategory: BANKSETA Accredited Training ProviderAward: Winner

Compuscan Academy provides training in the credit and corporate sector. It was established in 2003 as a dedicated training provider for the Microfinance Industry (MFI) when Compuscan received a BANKSETA training grant.

Learnerships (Employed only)The Compuscan Academy has enrolled over 219 niche learnerships since 2010. Learnerships cover essential skills needed for the day-to-day running of a micro lending organisation. Compuscan also offers the Microfinance Supervision and Management Learnership on NQF Level-4 which equips learners to function effectively as owners or managers of microfinance institutions (MFI). The Academy has enrolled 15 niche learnerships since 2011. In 2013, Compuscan Academy added the Further Education and Training Certificate in Debt Recovery registered on NQF Level-4 to its product offerings. There are already 50 confirmed learners in Cape Town and East London on this BANKSETA-funded learnership.

In 2012, BANKSETA appointed Compuscan Academy as the training provider on the Special Microfinance Learnership Project which benefits both employed and unemployed learners. Compuscan Academy has designed and developed on-line numeracy and literacy assessment tools that clients can use when recruiting and selecting learners to participate in learnerships. At the roll-out of a new learnership, Compuscan hosts an induction session with learners and coaches so they know what to expect. A dedicated learner support team follows up with learners. Support is given in Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu and Fanagalo. There are also assessment support days for learners to discuss learning gaps or challenges with their Facilitator or Support Officer. Compuscan Academy offers a practical coaching skills training session so that all coaches and mentors have the knowledge, skills and abilities to deal with aspects such as motivating learners, dealing with conflict and problem learners.

Work-readiness Interventions (unemployed only)Compuscan has a range of business skills training programmes available to prepare unemployed learners for participating in a learnership. These cover skills such as communication in the workplace, customer service, time management, workplace numeracy and literacy as well as basic labour relations skills.

Participation in BANKSETA-funded ProgrammesCompuscan Academy has participated in various BANKSETA-funded projects in its capacity as an accredited training provider. The projects often involved the design, development and delivery of comprehensive training programmes for micro-lenders in particular on compliance and other credit related skills. These programmes included the BANKSETA training voucher projects from 2006 to 2011; the BANKSETA NCA Life-Long Learning Workshop in 2008; and the BANKSETA NCA/Magistrates’ Court Act Life-Long Learning Workshop in 2009. In the 2012/2013 BANKSETA Niche Learnership Fund-ing Window, Compuscan Academy is participating in 10 niche learnership groups specifically the Mi-cro Lending Front Line Service Learnership. There are 106 learners, 19 of whom have completed their learnerships. All these learnership projects are now in the final stages of completion and a pass rate of more than 80% is anticipated.

Also in 2012, BANKSETA appointed Compuscan Academy as the training provider on the Special Microfinance Learnership Project for both employed and unemployed learners. The unemployed learners (62) are completing the Micro Lending Frontline Service Learnership (National Certificate in Micro Finance Level-3) and have been placed at employers in the micro-finance sector in Giyani, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Richards Bay and Johannesburg for the duration of the learnership. The 30 employed learners are completing the Micro-Finance Management and Supervision Learnership.

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InnovationConstantly searching for new ways to meet the growing needs of the credit industry, Compuscan provides customised training solutions to stakeholders in the credit market, innovative e-learning technologies and other training delivery methodologies, innovative training and learning methodologies and credit bureau study tours.

ProfessionalisationCompuscan Academy is a skills development and training provider who delivers accredited, generic and customised training services to the corporate industry of South Africa. Compuscan Academy has been offering excellence in training for over seven (7) years. Their affiliation with Compuscan Credit Bureau offers them a unique advantage in providing training services within the credit industry in South Africa. This has allowed Compuscan Academy to develop and offer a range of products aligned to applicable standards and the principles of outcomes-based education and training.

Supporting People With Disabilities (PWDs)Compuscan has not had many learners with disabilities, but its goal is to provide an equal learning experience for all individuals, including those with learning disabilities. The company has provided training to an individual with sight impairment and adjusted all of its learning material to accommodate their particular needs. This company offers free Money Management Workshops to individuals with disabilities, which range from sight to cognitive disabilities. They also offered groups of learners with disabilities training - at no cost to the learners. During 2012 and 2013 learners were from the Cape Town Association for the Physically Disabled, Cape Mental Health Society and Epilepsy SA. Compuscan also employed a learner with a disability in the position of Learning Support Officer for Compuscan Academy and provided her with an opportunity to complete the National Certificate in ODETD Practices at Level 5. She was allowed to work from home and given all the resources needed to do so.

Measuring Training Impact/Assessment PracticesCompuscan Academy hosts free Money Management Workshops countrywide to educate and equip individuals with vital money management and credit knowledge. From 2012 to 2013, 343 people from different communities benefited from the workshops.

Contribution to Socio-Economic objectivesOver a period of three months in 2012, Compuscan Academy designed, developed and delivered two specific credit skills training programmes (“The Fundamentals of Credit Processes” and “The Fundamentals of Credit Risk and Portfolio Management”) to Credit Officers; Credit and Risk Managers employed at the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) as well as other banks and microfinance institutions within Rwanda’s financial sector. This was a result of the specific need expressed by the Government of Rwanda to increase access by unbanked or under banked but viable, credit-worthy-individual entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to institutional credit by developing the skills and knowledge of those that extend credit to such entrepreneurs as well as SMEs.

The project was the first of its kind in East Africa. This training initiative uplifted the credibility of the financial sector in Rwanda and provided opportunities for the advancement and formalisation of credit processes and procedures and provided a framework for responsible lending practices that result in higher levels of profitability for the various institutions in the sector.


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ABSA Bank LimitedCategory: Large company (more than 150 employees)Award: Special Commendation

The Barclays Africa Group Limited, also known as Barclays Africa or the Group, formerly ABSA Group Limited, is one of Africa’s major financial services providers offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management.

Learnerships (Employed only)ABSA has an early careers framework comprising programmes for the South African environment. There are employability programmes comprising of the Future Managers Development Programme, Future Leaders Development Programme and the Pan African Graduate Development Programme. Developed by Duke CE for Barclays Africa Young Talent, the Pan African Graduate Development Programme accepted 180 candidates from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Botswana, Zambia, Mauritius and the Seychelles. It was developed to support the strategy of Barclays Africa to be the To-Go Bank, a unified vision and leveraging operations globally for local operational excellence. The BANKSETA has pledged its support as an Advisor to the programme.

The Programme aims to develop graduates from diverse backgrounds and vocational professions to be globally-minded and professional. There are innovative delivery methods including competitive stewardship immersion action learning, personal coaching combined with more traditional individual and group assignments to deliver a comprehensive and rigorous assessment approach. Innovative group assignments focused on new products, services or processes which yield business benefit and promote team learning and the focused experience of delivery under pressure to senior management. A strong theme of the programme was creating opportunities for talented and ambitious graduates across Africa to be positioned within Barclays for career advancement allowing them air-time and face time with senior leaders.

Work-Readiness Interventions (Unemployed only) The Employability Programmes team administers three learnerships: internal, external and niche. Skills development programmes for unemployed school leavers and graduates aim to contribute to the upliftment and human capital development.

The learnerships aim to benefit 804 learners and across all clusters (696 unemployed and 72 employed learners). The programmes tackle the problem of youth unemployment and build a skills pipeline for entry levels. Applications to the value of R153 055 875.81 were submitted after the BANKSETA Funding window opened in July 2013. By mid-July in 2013 there were 402 participants in the Letsema and Kuyasa Programmes (171 and 231 respectively). The aim is to feed the frontline with FAIS-compliant skills. Almost 50 staff members are participating in the five Niche Learnerships administered by the Employability office. The Bank Technician Programme accepted school leavers (92 females and 52 males) and unemployed graduates (95 females and 54 males). Over 5 300 graduates and 7 800 school leavers applied for admission.

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Participation in BANKSETA-funded ProgrammesThe strategic intent of the BANKSETA aligns with ABSA’s 2011 retail strategy which requires more optimal deployment and use of available resources in Retail Distribution. This requires adopting a learning perspective and development perspective as well as a staffing solution perspective. Flagship learnerships implemented with the BANKSETA are Letsema and Kuyasa. 70% of Letsema (post senior certificate learnership) participants have been absorbed by the sector and 55% of the unemployed graduates have been offered full-time employment by ABSA. This shows that this pool has been a good feeder into the frontline of the company’s business. In 2014 the BANKSETA will fund 380 Letsema and 200 Kuyasa learners and of these ABSA will get 75 and 45 respectively. ABSA will fund only 100 of the 175 Letsema and 205 of the 250 learners of the cohort of 425 learners starting with ABSA in February 2014. Funding is divided between the BANKSETA and skills development levy.

InnovationIn April 2011 ABSA implemented the Cornerstone Learning Management System (LMS) as the single entry point for all learning requirements for all employees. The LMS was branded Learning@ABSA and is commonly known as L@A – an indication of how familiar employees are with the system and how it has become a way of work in ABSA. Every working day Learning@ABSA records an average of more than 5 000 unique user accesses.

Over the last two years ABSA has incrementally populated L@A with thousands of courses and assessments. There are more than 4 000 learning objects on L@A of which over 1 300 are e-learning courses and assessments. Where it makes sense courses that were previously instructor-led and classroom-based have been converted into e-learning courses e.g. all product training at ABSA used to be given in classrooms. This was a very expensive and time-consuming model because training had to be given to a very large and geographically dispersed population. All product training has been converted to a suite of e-learning materials branded Products@ABSA. This single programme has saved the company million and made employees more active in their own development. ABSA’s moving from a push to a pull-model of learning i.e. the organisation makes materials easily accessible and employees consume the materials as and when they need to.

The Pan African Graduate Development Programme has several innovative design, delivery and assessment features purposed to achieve the goal of developing a graduate who is able to perform globally, aligned to the vision of To-Go Bank and who is customer-centric and innovative. The programme uses technology like Skype, email, video and tele-conferencing to support learning to work in a virtual team of international colleagues. In addition, the delivery channels were blended in that e-learning tools were used effectively to deliver standard content on project management and MS Office applications. Furthermore, feedback among syndicate members is collected and shared via online survey tools.

Given the high-stakes nature of success in banking and among high-performing graduates the programme used motivational and inspirational speakers in addition to a faculty of subject experts.

In addition, opportunities for individuals to suitably and appropriately shine in front of senior leaders are created. The Innovation Competition which culminates in a final presentation to senior bank leaders creates potentially a unique and valuable opportunity to be seen and recognised as an individual but still be associated with group success.

A radically innovative concept of creating and running stewardship projects was introduced to the programme. Syndicates get R25 000 in seed capital with which to generate a return by conducting any business deemed suitable and in conformance with requirements of law and the values of the business. The concept translated the stewardship organisational value into a practical project that graduates could scope, plan and execute.

ProfessionalisationABSA is encouraging and supporting professionalisation in various ways but what is impressive is that for its significant role in advancing the internal auditing profession ABSA’s internal auditing team won a recognition award at the 15th Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Southern African Conference. The recognition is for ABSA’s involvement in developing the Master’s Degree in Philosophy (MPhil) in


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Internal Auditing. Through the Gordon Institute of Business Science, ABSA and the University of Pretoria offer the degree in association with the Netherlands-based Erasmus University Rotterdam which is a first for the profession in South Africa.

Professionalism is used as a platform to create a common understanding of business behaviour shaped by the values of Barclays, but understood consistently in the context of a diverse culture. By creating an environment where people could learn to create new relationships and behaviours through coaching and team feedback, thereby elevating professionalism to a global context.

Measuring Training Impact/Assessment PracticesABSA follows and outcomes-based approach to assessments as required by the BANKSETA, which includes formative and summative assessments: • Level 1 Assessments – 100% application with all learning delivery interventions • Level 2 Knowledge Assessment – 90% application with all learning delivery interventions.

Implementation methodology reviews are done to determine and evaluate uptake and embed the change implemented in relation to the original process design and planned outcomes.

Supporting People With Disabilities (PWDs)ABSA supports People With Disabilities (PWDs) through an extensive wellness programme and Disability Support Fund Committee (DSFC). The purpose of the DSFC is to serve as an advisory committee to ABSA on all matters relating to disability. Furthermore, it manages and administers the Disability Support Fund which is aimed at reasonably accommodating employees in and outside the workplace and provides support to the employee’s dependants living with disabilities within the allocated DSF Budget.

The Disability Support Committee approves funding in achievement of reasonable accommodation of employees living with disabilities within budget; and their dependants (spouse/partner and their children). In the year, over 170 applications were received for ABSA employees and/or their immediate families. The Disability Support Fund Committee is awarded R3 million a year to manage on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer’s office. The committee is mandated to award financial assistance to staff and/or their immediate families who qualify for funding in one of nine categories.

Contribution to Socio-Economic Objectives

Talent Mobility Pilot Project:Unemployment is the main socio-economic problem facing people in all countries, made worse by the recent economic crisis. By ABSA-Barclays contributing to the development of people on a global scale a contribution is made to those people going on to change their nations.

As a multi-national institution, Barclays Africa Group Limited has a responsibility to effect change at local and global level. With this in mind the Talent Management Team took an inventory of initiatives in the organisation and established that although great work is implemented through the learnership programme, graduate programme, bursary initiatives and numerous CSI projects, there is a gap in terms of the company’s global footprint and how the company is effecting change at the global level as a global organisation.

Retail and Business Bank (RBB) and the Talent Management Team are embarking in a pioneering Talent Mobility Pilot Project aimed at skills and socio-economic development through the development of talent in organisations in various countries. This pilot will be between Barclays and the Bank of South Pacific (BSP) in Papua New Guinea. BSP faces challenges similar to those in Africa and provides an applicable environment for effective skills transfer.

The company hopes to provide learning and skills development opportunities to talented individuals identified within BSP. From a strategic point of view this will form part of the Transform (Talent and Reward) work stream for the cultivation of new partnerships with external organisations. This project aims to provide learning and skills development opportunities to talented individual identified within BSP.

The programme will take two to three years and 35 top talented individuals from BSP will rotate on two to three-month intervals between various businesses and Line Managers in Africa. The long-term vision is to create career eco-systems that generate business and practical cooperation in different markets across the world.

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The Pan African Graduate Development Programme participants work on raising money to help fund broader citizenship initiatives across countries represented on the programme. The programme has been designed to immerse delegates in the Barclays values. The Stewardship initiative urges delegates to leave the bank and its stakeholders better today than yesterday. The Pan African Bursary Programme results in ABSA/Barclays entering into partnerships with selected Pan African students from leading universities in South Africa. The focus will be on feeding ABSA’s talent pipeline and emerging talent for the Pan Africa Graduate Development Programme while also addressing the socio-economic concerns regarding tertiary education or the lack thereof that results in high levels of unemployment among the youth in Africa. The purpose of the Pan Africa Bursary Programme is to help build the Young Talent pipeline by ring-fencing top academic achievers at tertiary level.

The objective behind offering bursaries is to address critical skills needs within the financial services industry by giving dynamic, top-performing, full-time students the opportunity to complete their studies and potentially pursue a career at ABSA.

Over the last five years the programme has sponsored between 50 and 80 bursars a year. With the French Development Agency. ABSA also has a support programme for Municipal Housing Practitioners. The programme entails short courses developed by Shisaka and accredited by the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Public Governance. The courses lead to a local government qualification. The target group includes officials working in provincial or local government, human settlements or housing departments, depending on the organisational structure of the client whose role it is to deliver a housing service to the public. The overall purpose is to facilitate the delivery of housing by building knowledge and skills among housing officials.


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AFRICAN Bank Investments Limited (ABIL)Category: Large company (more than 150 employees)Award: Special Commendation

African Bank Limited, commonly referred to as African Bank, is a commercial bank in South Afri-ca. It is licensed as a “locally-controlled bank” by the Reserve Bank of South Africa. The bank is a subsidiary of its holding company called African Bank Investments Limited.

Learnerships African Bank’s vision is to develop the business strategy creatively through people. African Bank’s training is informed by its customer-centric approach to business. Employees have to be knowledgeable about the bank and its offerings. This is measured through proficiency and skills audits. There is also a strong focus on enabling leaders to deal with internal customers professionally. The bank’s talent development department and the ABIL Institute embarked on developing a learning framework.

The purpose of the skills audit for human capital is to assess the skills of African Bank’s people and identify gaps in line with the competencies needed in terms of human capital. Participation in the audit is compulsory for everyone. Auditing skills influences the development of programmes to help improve skills sets, grow and develop people to ensure they have the necessary skills for the future sustainability of the business and internal advancement in line with internal opportunity strategy. The company has annual roadshows and this year’s roadshow was about compliance and how individuals and teams can shine. Roadshows enable leaders to communicate messages directly and swiftly to targeted audiences.

The bank acquired Shadowmatch software to perform online behavioural assessments. The software allocates a Mentor (Line Manager) and a certain task for the learner and mentor to complete together. African Bank identified a big gap regarding maths and literacy which is why it teamed up with the ABIL Institute and Foundations Lab to address the gap through online learning. After piloting the programme will be rolled out early next year.

Work-readiness Interventions (unemployed only)There was great excitement when African Bank welcomed over 200 students when the ABIL Institute launched its CSI One-for-One initiative in April. CEO Leon Kirkinis encouraged students to follow their dreams with passion and shine like diamonds. The students were encouraged to study hard and in so doing build a positive and productive future for themselves and their families.

The learnership for unemployed people creates a pool of skilled candidates to be employed at African Bank in the call centre or other bank positions. This creates a talent ‘pipeline’ that makes it possible to have development and planned career paths. In a year 257 unemployed young people from historically disadvantaged communities are trained as Call Centre Consultants. The number of learners has multiplied by three in the past year. The integration of work-based training and experience has proven fruitful in skilling learners.

African Bank uses references from its employees to recruit learners. The bank found that it has employees who have financial difficulties because they support extended family members. In supporting them African Bank is helping to reduce unemployment. The bank employs 70 to 80% of its learners as permanent employees.

InnovationIn 2012 African Bank finalised its talent strategy. All staff members are now mapped against the talent management model available to all staff on the intranet. All development in the organisation is driven by the talent list developed after the talent-mapping process. The company’s approach to talent is that development be specific to an employee’s role such as sales training for someone in sales or learnerships for leaders.

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The company has developed pilot groups in three programmes: • Matric for all • Higher Certificate in Business Management: Retail • Higher Certificate in Business Management: Credit Banking.The pilot was successful and is now part of the organisation’s development plan.

ProfessionalisationAfrican Bank takes interaction with customers seriously. The customer representative must be professional in behaviour and appearance at all times. A professional dress code policy was implemented. African Bank is also in phase 3 of revamping all its branches.

Measuring Training Impact/Assessment PracticesFor the year 2013, African Bank introduced a scorecard on which development is a category. Staff development is measured on a monthly rather than quarterly or annualy.

African Bank Learning uses the four Kirk Patrick levels of evaluation. Return On Investment report to business measures cost, benefits, variables, hours spent on learning, allowed time for workplace applications and the facilitation of learning. The report also makes recommendations.

Support for People With Disabilities (PWDs)African Bank has teamed up with Bytes Technology to give 14 out of 35 learners with disabilities who had acquired the NQF Level-2 Contact Centre Support qualification an opportunity to get workplace experience. BMW had sponsored the learners’ studies.

To prepare the Supervisors and management team, African Bank hosted a workshop to raise awareness about the capabilities of People With Disabilities and “enable” the learners. An Occupational Therapist did an ergonomic assessment to evaluate the bank’s facilities and individual assessments were conducted with the learners to promote the banks’s interventions in supporting the learners.The recruitment process was fair as the intention was to treat the learners in the same manner as every other person.

This venture was a first for the company and part of a paradigm shift in the way things are being done and the way people at African Bank think. The bank is giving everyone a fair chance to get access to the work environment. In 2014 African Bank will continue its learnership programmes while also accommodating People With Disabilities.

Contribution to Socio-economic objectivesABIL Institute (the Corporate University) launched its CSI One-for-One initiative in April 2013. The aim of this initiative is to support individuals from previously disadvantages backgrounds with their studies at either of our partner institutes, Regenesys Institute or Maharishi Institute. Through this initiative we hope to encourage the students to follow their dreams and build a productive future for themselves.


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Masoyi Financial ServicesCATEGORY: Financial Co-operativesAward: Special Commendation

Masoyi Financial Services is a co-operative that specialises in finance management. It assists its clients in implementing saving interventions that will benefit them in the long-term. The co-operative was established in March 2011 by 12 founding members, and they currently boast a membership of 150. They aspire to grow and attain an even larger membership by end of 2013 as they continue to educate more members of the community.

Learnerships ( Employed only)Masoyi Financial Services does not only assist their clients but also looks for ways they can empower their staff. After researching available information about learnerships and how to apply, Masoyi Financial Services applied for a learnership and enrolled an employee for the Further Education and Training Certificate: Microfinance, NQF Level-4. The company holds a BANKSETA training voucher.

Masoyi has afforded its employees various training opportunities, such as taking part in the Capacity Building Project 2010 (Co-operative Bank Development Agency)(1); Capacity Building 2011(SAMAF)(9); Business literacy 2012(ATTI)(1); Trial bookkeeping 2012 (ATTI) 1 and Financial Management 2012/13(BANKSETA)

Participation in BANKSETA-funded ProgrammesMasoyi enrolled one of their members in the Financial Literacy Programme, offered by the BANKSETA through their Mobile Training Solution; and another member was enrolled in the Bookkeeping to Trial Balance course, also offered by the BANKSETA. The knowledge and skills attained by these two individuals was imparted to other members of the company, and as a result they were able to improve their bookkeeping and overall financial management skills.

Measuring Training Impact/Assessment PracticesMasoyi monitors every member’s financial plan monthly. This allows them to review shortcomings, if any, timeously and suggest a different approach to enable their clients to reach their goals.

Contribution to Socio-Economic ObjectivesDuring these hard economic times, Masoyi identified the need to educate the community at large about the importance of saving, no matter how small their savings may be. Empowering cooperatives on saving methods is one of their core functions.

Masoyi FSCPromoting a culture of saving

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PANEL OF JUDGES 2013

BANKSETA STAFF AND THEIR ROLES IN THE PROJECT:

Zandile Skosana Project Manager

Busisiwe Lubisi Project Co-ordinator

Christine rits Skills Development Manager

Bekisisa Nkala Sector Skills Planning Manager

Precious Sikhosana Event Logistics Co-ordinator

Ismail SadekExecutive Director:

Milpark Business School

Natalie ZimmelmanProgramme Development

Manager: AAT(SA)

Linda McClure Managing Director:

Junior Achievement South Africa

TheBankSeta

@TheBankSETA

The BANKSETA

www.bankseta.org.za

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+27(0)11 805 8348

[email protected]

+27(0)11 805 9661

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