The New B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice

With the approval of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Codes of Good Practice in December, South African businesses are keen to understand the implications of the empowerment compliance targets.

After extensive consultation with civil society, big business, state-owned enterprises, international stakeholders and black businesses, the codes have been simplified.

Businesses with an annual turnover of less than R5 million are now considered Exempted Micro Enterprises (EME) and, whilst not being required to comply with any of the BEE codes, automatically receive a compliance level of 4. Companies with an annual turnover of between R5 million and R35 million are now considered Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSE) and only need to comply with 4 of the 7 BEE elements. Businesses with an annual turnover of more than R35 million are responsible to implement all 7 of the BEE elements.

Another notable easing, is the introduction of staggered targets. Three elements, namely employment equity, skills development and preferential procurement, allow for interim targets (to be achieved within 5 years) and end targets (to be achieved within 10 years) as a means of achieving compliance. This means that companies can develop short and long term goals that are easier to implement.

The Department of Trade and Industry seems confident that the new codes of good practice on B-BBEE not only address the concerns raised by key stakeholders, but that it will be implemented with much more ease and understanding.

Spanish Short Courses Introduced

Within the context of an internationalisation strategy, the University of Pretoria, in association with CE at UP and the Embassy of Spain, is stepping up its language portfolio by introducing Spanish courses.

Spanish has become an important asset in the rapidly globalising environment. It is regarded as one of the most important spoken languages internationally and is a profitable and cost-effective resource.

Two courses were introduce, “Spanish for Beginners” and a “Spanish Refresher Course”. Both courses aim to meet the varied needs of adult learners and include:

• Developing the four basic communication skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening)

• Encouraging delegates to achieve a good competency in communication 

• Advancing delegate involvement in the Hispanic World; the Latin American and Spanish cultural environment

Depending on the market response to the introduced short courses, the University will consider implementing Spanish as an academic subject of the BA (Lang.) Programme within the Department for Modern European Languages.

For additional information on these courses, contact CE at UP's Customer Service Centre on 012 420 5015 or visit the Courses section of our website.
 

April 2007

02 April - Advanced Course in Welding Metallurgy
02 April - Strategic Black Economic Empowerment
02 April - Programme in Engineering Management
02 April - Service Management - Operations and Strategy
02 April - Basic Course in Geographic Information Systems
03 April - Self Management Skills
05 April - How to Get Published: The Skills of Article Writing
10 April - Advanced Course in Project Management
10 April - Service-learning Training Programme
11 April - Basic Property Programme
11 April - Well-being in the Workplace
13 April - Narrative Career Counselling
16 April - Advanced Course in Trauma Counselling
16 April - Advanced Labour Relations Management
16 April - Advanced Programme in Supply Chain               Management
16 April - Management Development Programme
16 April - Environmental Law
16 April - Basic Principles of Econometrics
16 April - Disciplinary Enquiries at the Workplace
16 April - Basic Course on Computer Literacy
16 April - Advanced Course on Computer Training
17 April - HIV/Aids Awareness Programme
19 April - Customer Excellence
23 April - Advanced Course in Stewardship and Church                Financial Planning
24 April - Better Business English

May 2007

01 May - Insolvency Litigation and Administration
02 May - Faithful Witnesses
02 May - Research and Publishing
03 May - Report Writing for Results
04 May - Counselling Skills for Employee Assistance                Professionals
07 May - Introduction to X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
08 May - Property Intermediate Programme
08 May - Stress Management
09 May - Basic Pyrometallurgy
09 May - School Law for Educators
10 May - Situation-Specific Job Profiling and Assessment
10 May - Fundamentals of Shopping Centre Marketing
               In-house training

Training programmes can also be presented on an in-house basis where the course content is customised to meet the unique needs of each particular company.

    Complete a Certificate Course 

Contact us on (012) 420 5015 or data.ce@up.ac.za for further information.  For online enrolments visit www.ceatup.com

Paul Dinsmore, an international authority on Project Management, with twenty-five years experience, wrote that he never encountered a project that failed because of failure from a scheduling system, but he encountered countless project failures rooted in people problems.

Mr Giel Bekker, course leader of the Advanced Programme in Project Management (APPM), did research on the successful delivery of projects linked to the thinking preference of project managers. Whole Brain Technology through The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) was used to explain why some project managers are more successful than others.

Mr Giel Bekker, course leader of the Advanced Programme in Project Management (APPM)

The HBDI is a metaphoric model of how the brain works. The whole brain model is a coalition of the four different thinking selves and these selves can be characterised as the Analyser (rational self), Organiser (safekeeping self), Personaliser (feeling self) and Visualiser (experimental self). We all have areas where we are smart and areas where we are not. According to Bekker, the different phases in the project life cycle require different mental and therefore different management approaches. This is where possible unforeseen problems may occur.

Every project manager has an individual thinking preference which will influence the way in which the project is managed. The different stages of a project require different thinking styles. During the development stage the Visualiser and Presonaliser management styles are mostly required. The implementation phase, which consists of design, construction and project handover, requires mostly Analyser and Organiser management styles.

The question to be asked is: Does a project need more than one project manager for optimal results? The answer to this lies in the fact that an ideal project manager needs to operate in a whole brain way to meet all the required needs in the phases of the project as described. As a start, the project manager needs to know his own thinking style and approach towards management. This self-knowledge will empower the individual to be able to stretch his thinking in those areas which is not his preferred modes of operation. These are skills that can be acquired.

Often, the natural organisers and implementers are recruited as project managers in companies. This results in inadequate communication between the involved parties and often the project manager gets stuck in detail rather than looking at the big picture. Companies should aim at recruiting project managers that are able to operate in a whole brained way – this can be the distinguishing factor between smart and brilliant projects.

Preferred thinking styles and the project manager selection process are included in the Advanced Programme in Project Management's (APPM) course content. For additional information on this programme, contact CE at UP's Customer Service Centre on 012 420 5015 or visit the Courses section of our website.

Focus on HR, Industrial Relations and Humanities

Human Resource Management is the activity of managing personnel. In any organisation, managing personnel is the process of making sure the employees are as productive as they can be. The field of Industrial Relations looks at the relationship between management and workers, particularly groups of workers represented by a labour union. Industrial Relations can take place on many levels, such as the "shop-floor", the regional level and at national level. Humanities reflect on the fundamental question: What does it mean to be human? The humanities offer clues but never a complete answer. It reveals how people have tried to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of the world. 

Employee and Employer Empowerment Programmes 

• Employee Assistance Programmes; the course provides delegates with the relevant knowledge, values and attitudes of EAP and should equip delegates to become EAP coordinators within private companies, government departments and service-providing organisations.

• Life Skills in the Workplace; the purpose of the course is to equip people with skills that should enhance their lives and interpersonal relationships. The course should reduce frustration and enhance general satisfaction and social functioning. 

• Basic Counselling Skills for EAP Lay Counsellors; the course equips delegates with basic skills in lay counselling, with a focus on lay counsellors dealing with troubled employees in the workplace. 

General 

• Time Management; the course focuses on time management and topics include the identification of timewasters, the principles of effective time management ant the development of a personal plan for the effective management of time.

Gender Studies 

• Gender Mainstreaming; the objectives of the course are to; contribute toward the implementation of gender mainstreaming; address questions and skills that influence the implementation of gender mainstreaming; and increase the understanding and skills in gender mainstreaming.

Human Resources Development 

• Diversity Management; the course enables the HR official, responsible line manager and employees to implement practical guidelines to develop a culture of mutual respect, tolerance and trust in the workplace.

• Social Intelligence for Personal and Career Success; good social skills is a sought after competency in the modern workplace. This workshop is highly inter-active and participative, teaching participants the necessary knowledge and skills to become effective in managing themselves and others by utilising their social intelligence potential more effectively. 

Strategic Management 

• Advanced Human Resources Management; the course shows delegates how to strategically align human resources with an organisation's strategic objectives and how to become a strategic business partner. 

Human Resources Management 

• Situation-Specific Job Profiling and Assessment; the course promotes effective, fair and valid assessment of people for development at work, as well as the optimising of performance. This course provides delegates with the know-how of situation-specific job profiling and assessment. 

• Human Resources Management (HRM); the course includes a systems-approach to HRM; career development; job analysis; design and evaluation; human resources planning; recruitment and selection; performance management; training and development and new trends in the HRM field. 

• Organisational Development Process: Interventions for Change; the course enables candidates to understand the challenges and opportunities facing organisations during a process of change, and equips them with the most important skills to effectively manage change. 

• Situation Specific Job Profiling and Assessment; the course covers the latest edition to JP Expert, viz. CompIndex and comprises job-related measures of attainment and preferences that may be used by everyone trained by us to establish levels of functional competency or job related performance. 

Labour Relations 

• Labour Relations; the course covers themes such as; dynamics of the SA labour market; conflict management; affirmative action; latest labour legislation; grievances and dismissals; collective bargaining structures and processes; CCMA consillation & arbitration; strike and negotiation skills. 

• Advanced Labour Relations ; the course equips delegates with the advanced knowledge and skills required to function effectively in the areas of collective bargaining and negotiation, application of labour legislation, implementation of workplace procedures, dispute resolution and strategic labour relations management. 

• Workplace Labour Relations Skills Programme for Shop Stewards; this development programme has been specifically designed for customised in-house presentation to shop stewards and/or first line supervisors in medium to large SA organisations. 

For additional information on our HR, Industrial Relations and Humanities portfolio visit the Courses section of our website.