BEE and Skills Development

The Covid-19 disruption may just be your biggest opportunity to shift the skills development paradigms and boost your BBBEE Scorecard

The disruption of the past few months seriously impacted businesses, having us faced unprecedented challenges. At Peritum Agri Institute we understand that this may cause BBBEE and Skills Development spends to take a backseat. But we also know that the disruption offers an unprecedented opportunity for business to shift the paradigms on skills development and grow your scorecard midst the crises!

Despite Covid-19 there have been no exemptions made with regards to BBBEE and companies are still expected to conduct their audits as planned. It may be possible that certain leniencies may be introduced to cater for the effect of COVID-19 on BEE initiatives, but it is highly unlikely that BEE will be suspended as a whole or indefinitely. Therefore, stick to your BEE policies and plans, but rethink the paradigm of training.

The periods of restricted movement and phased lockdown presents various unique opportunities. Within a blink of an eye we simply stepped in and embraced online communication media the likes of Zoom and Teams. In just moments we mastered e-platforms, e-networking and electronic ways of conducting business. Covid-19 moved us five years into the future and got us 4thIR ready! So why not capitalize on the restriction of movement and extended lockdown and require that employees complete the various skills development initiatives online during the lockdown period whilst they have the time available. Why wastes a crisis? Put the time to good use and build organisational capability, benefit your BEE Scorecard and boost employee engagement through sensible and purposeful interaction.

How does training better your BEE score?

Skills Development is one of the three (compulsory) priority elements under the Revised Codes of Good Practice. Skills development is also one of the easiest priority elements to comply with. It measures the extent to which companies carry out initiatives designed to develop the competencies of black people internally and externally. The strategic question business should ask is: “Rather than train as a compliance exercise, how can we get training spend earning us optimal BBBEE points while at the same time making us more competitive?”

• This is possible and all businesses would want to benefit optimally from this opportunity to:
  Proactively develop the skills required to grow and sustain the business
• Invest in dedicated employees, through well planned career paths and retain them longer
• Grow employee engagement and hence profitability
• Use learnerships as an alternative way to attract and groom new recruits
• Use bursaries to grow skills in your communities and the industry at large and grow your reputation
• Implement these programmes cost effectively by taking advantage of all the available incentives.

First Get the basics right

A company cannot claim any points for skills on the scorecard if the following are not in place:

• Preparation and proof of submission of workplace skills plan (WSP)
• Preparation and proof of submission of annual training plan (ATR)

No mandatory training (legal required training for example health and safety) can be calculated for skills points.

Then Grow!

The Revised Codes of Good Practice have elevated Skills Development to the status of a priority element and have set the achievement of a sub-minimum of 40% of the targets set out in the Revised BEE Scorecard. The Skills Development Scorecard allocates points for:

• Skills Development spend on learning programmes for black people in general and black employees with disabilities;
• bursaries for black students at Higher Education Institutions.
• learnerships, internships and apprenticeships for black people;
• the absorption of black people into the workforce of the measured company or into the industry at the end of the learnership, internship and apprenticeship programmes.

At Peritum we prioritize your skills development needs

At Peritum Agri Institute we design integrated solutions to meet your skills development needs internally. We also offer a unique opportunity to the Agricultural Industry to contribute to the supply of a pipeline of future work-ready youth through Agri and Management learnerships and Diploma Programmes. So, if you’re looking for a clever all-rounder solution to your B-BBEE skills development scorecard, get in touch with us today.