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| responding to the challenge of skills
development (continued) |
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| Sasol’s skills development dialogue |
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| The following summary is written by Incite Sustainability, the convenors of this dialogue.
A more detailed account is available on request from the Sasol human resources department
at head office. |
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| On 29 August 2007, Sasol hosted a "skills development dialogue" with some leading South
African skills development practitioners. Sasol was represented throughout the meeting by six
executives and senior managers from the group executive committee, human resources, group
corporate social investment and the SH&E centre. The three external representatives were from
the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), the National Business Initiative (NBI)
and the media. Incite Sustainability facilitated the dialogue. |
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| "Investment in people is most
critical because people are
the most precious assets of
any company. They are a
backbone and future of any
company. We celebrate
Sasol's support of
government's initiative of
accelerating and developing
the skills base in our country,
especially around the areas of
scarce and priority skills." |
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| South African Deputy President
Mlambo-Ngcuka |
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| Sasol’s approach to skills development |
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| The discussion opened with a presentation from Sasol, in which they outlined some of the
company's key initiatives relating to skills development. The following issues were highlighted
in their presentation: |
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Sasol drew attention to the recent dramatic increase in the number and size of its projects,
escalating from about 160 projects in 2005 to about 380 projects in 2007. Recognising
the nature of the challenge of accessing the right skills to ensure delivery of these
projects, Sasol realised in 2005 that it needed a more holistic and integrated approach
to developing and implementing structured leadership as well as technical training and
skills development initiatives. |
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Sasol have formalised their approach to skills development into Project TalentGro, a multipronged
approach that has four primary focus areas: developing the capacity of existing
internal skills; developing critical and scarce competencies through pre-appointment
initiatives aimed at ensuring that a pool of talent will be available when required;
influencing the external skills development environment by participating in government
and business-led initiatives; and focusing on ad-hoc opportunities that arise through the
project to enhance short-term delivery. |
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Sasol's leadership and development programme is based on a talent pipeline framework
that uses a holistic framework to differentiate between the different levels of work in terms
of their complexity and managerial responsibility. This framework focuses on a hierarchy
that includes self-management; managing others; managing the business; function and
group; and, ultimately, managing the enterprise. Each of these management components
has a specific management and leadership development programme. |
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Although Sasol believes it has a number of excellent training initiatives throughout the
organisation, there is a concern that some of these are based on different delivery models,
mindsets and ways of ensuring competence. There is a strong desire to align these initiatives
into a common process and business language that will reflect Sasol's increasingly
interdependent mindset. Underlying this new approach is the belief that skills development
undertaken in South Africa should also be applicable in India, China and Europe. |
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Sasol's competency framework is based on a commitment to building a range of different
skills sets, including the technical skills and knowledge required for "functional
competence", basic management skills, problem-solving and decision-making abilities,
and developing capacity in terms of the "Sasol way" of doing business which comprises an
understanding of Sasol's values, leadership philosophies and standardised processes and practices. With the increasing interdependence between the different Sasol companies,
there is a need for a consistent organisational competence and value system
(the Sasol way). |
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Sasol also briefly outlined its approach to integrating skills development priorities in its
CSI programme, suggesting that providing people with appropriate skills is probably the
single most effective way of growing the economy. Sasol stated that it is looking to make
a contribution at all levels from primary through to tertiary and on into the job market.
In addition to developing skills that are directly related to Sasol's supply needs, there is a
focus on some of the most marginalised people in our society: women and unemployed
youth. An important focus of Sasol's teacher-training programme is on developing skills
in maths, science, and technology, with the aim of addressing some of the fundamentals
of illiteracy that present a significant challenge in terms of skills supply. |
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| "I have really found Sasol's
approach (on skills
development) to be very
forward-thinking, progressive
and positive. Sasol seems to
be more focused on finding
solutions than most other
South African companies.
However, I am not sure that
you have fully utilised the
significant leverage that
Sasol has, externally and
collaboratively, to address
the skills challenge that
South Africa is facing." |
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| Representative of National Business
Initiative |
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| Perspectives on Sasol’s skills development
performance |
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| Various views were exchanged regarding Sasol's approach to the challenge of skills shortages
in South Africa. |
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There was a general sense that Sasol's approach to skills development is forwardthinking,
progressive and positive. It was suggested that Sasol recognises the extent of
the problem and is focused on identifying solutions internally and in partnership with
others, rather than relying solely on a response from the public sector. |
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While its current and proposed internal activities were generally praised, it was suggested
that Sasol has not yet fully utilised the leverage it has externally, for example on
initiatives such as JIPSA and the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA). It was
suggested that business as a whole in South Africa is perhaps not sufficiently aware
of its ability to effectively shape the external environment on skills development. |
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Concern was expressed at the proliferation of private company initiatives on skills
development, which is seen as a symptom of public sector failure rather than a solution.
It was suggested that many of the private sector institutions are likely to close when
the cycle turns down and that structurally this is not a sound approach. While it is
understandable why companies are doing this, it was argued that the proliferation of
academies probably entrenches the problem, rather than stimulating the shift in mindset
that is needed. Sasol, and business generally, was encouraged to ask government to play
its role more effectively on this issue, as they are the only ones who can afford to do this
during quiet times in
the cycle. |
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It was suggested that Sasol is one of the few South African organisations that is an
example of national technical excellence, having taken technology that had failed
elsewhere, commercialised it and now operating plants in South Africa and globally.
On the one hand Sasol is seen as a "beacon of technical hope", yet on the other hand it
was felt that the company has image issues that in recent times have offset this beacon
of hope. Two key concerns include safety (which Sasol was now seen to be addressing
well) and empowerment, an issue that is probably not always well-understood. It was
suggested that these two clouds over Sasol are not allowing this beacon of technical
help and wealth and knowledge to shine through as well as it should. |
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Sasol was asked how it sought to address the challenge of developing technical skills
and an understanding of "the Sasol way" as part of its global expansion plans. It was
suggested that while on one level there are evident benefits in ensuring standardisation
of company-specific training, on the other hand staff need to be prepared to work in
very different socioeconomic and political environments. It was questioned whether a template for skills development in South African could be transferred easily, for example
to Qatar, China, Malaysia and Nigeria. |
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Recognising that the large majority of Sasol's employees are South
African, it was questioned whether Sasol is ready to become truly international
and to effectively integrate the anticipated large increase in foreigners.
It was recommended that Sasol (and South African business in general),
should begin to think more openly about the dynamics of race, "the
elephant in the room that no-one talks about". It was suggested that
companies would benefit by embracing the culture and race debate more
effectively into training processes. |
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| Responding to the issues raised |
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| In the ensuing dialogue, Sasol responded to the different inputs and
perspectives relating to their activities and approach to skills development. |
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Regarding its approach to developing skills globally,
Sasol referred to the experience of other companies that invest in
foreign countries. It was noted that these typically start with about
30% of their own nationals in the commissioning phase, before scaling
this down to less than 5% of their own personnel. Sasol recognises
that a particular challenge is to provide local nationals with additional
training over and above their country-specific training to ensure that
the personnel are able to operate Sasol’s plants in the Sasol
way. It was suggested that this requires a combination of using the
training facilities of the local country, as well as bringing supervisors
and the senior managerial level to be trained in Sasol’s
South
African facilities. |
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Sasol suggested it has been fairly successful with its recent experiences
with new operations in Africa, noting, for example, the training provided
in South Africa for Mozambicans and Nigerians. It is recognised, however,
that the challenge in future will be far larger and that the prospect
of 2 000 Indian or Chinese trainees may require a different model,
with a stronger regional focus. On this issue, Sasol emphasised that
to be successful in a host country, it must make use of bursary programmes
in that country, and enter into alliances with local training institutions.
Sasol again noted its positive experience in Mozambique and Nigeria,
arguing that this cooperative local approach has been most valuable
in developing trust with the local government and communities. |
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In terms of using its leverage more effectively in the South African
context, and responding to concerns regarding government failure on
this issue, Sasol acknowledged the concerns on this issue and highlighted
the need for industry to continue to work collaboratively with each
other and with government. They suggested, however, that this is a
particular challenge and that it was not always evident how business
could best respond in a pragmatic manner. |
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Responding to a specific query regarding the recent temporary use
of artisans from Thailand, Sasol noted that this has been undertaken
as a last resort after an extensive search for local skills. The need
arose during the construction phase of Project Turbo, when at any one
time there were 4 000 welders on site. On top of this, Sasol needed
an additional 3 000 welders for the Synfuels shutdown. The problem
was compounded by the regulated change in fuel type by 1 January 2006
across all refineries. |
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On the potential of thinking more openly about the dynamics of race,
Sasol responded that it does not have all the answers on this issue.
It was suggested, however, that the company is increasingly coming
to understand the nature of some of the differences within language,
race, and culture, and is starting to integrate this into a more fundamental
learning process for Sasol. |
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| "I think that South African
companies - such as Sasol - should be more open in
thinking about the dynamics
of race. Rather than shying
away from the issue, South
African companies should
embrace this culture/race
debate into their training
processes. I think that this
would put them at an
advantage internationally." |
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| Editor - Engineering News
(South Africa) |
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