Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 44 | Page 37

FEATURE : SKILLS AND TRAINING ensures the delivery of the right quality of training and reskilling , in the right way and at the right time .
“ In the case that one party fully takes the responsibility , there is a risk of disconnection in the training and reskilling . The CIO comes in with knowing the urgent training requirement for the business and HR assists with choosing relevant training programmes for the employees ,” she added .
She explained that HR helps with understanding long term career-based training and the CIO values more of the actual technical and on-the-job training from a productivity point of view . “ The CIO addresses departmental specific training needs as opposed to HR ’ s approach to training at a wide company level . A partnership approach thus yields the most effective results ,” she noted .
Grant said there should be a strong , collaborative approach between HR and , learning and development teams . She said to be part of the conversation , HR should ensure they continually upskill not just in their own subject area , but in the business itself , as well as the business units they serve .
“ A shared vocabulary around the technology and skill sets is critical for delivering the appropriate training interventions , being clear on competency frameworks and the reward programmes that link into them ,” she pointed out .
“ 4Afrika ’ s partner-led SkillsLabs and the Interns4Afrika programme offer our graduate youths access to skills and certification , so that they are workplaceready by the end of their programmes , and our Enterprise Skilling initiative works with employers to provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities to existing workers
Fikile Sibiya , CIO , e4
who want to improve their skills and move into 4IR positions ,” Abdella added . “ Developing skills to fill these new job roles remains high on our agenda . Regardless of age – whether students in schools , youth in and out of college , or today ’ s IT professionals – our mission is to empower every individual to achieve more by skilling , upskilling and reskilling them to lead a better quality of life .”
Abdella said through initiatives including Cloud Society , the AI Business School and partnerships with NGOs , governments , academia and businesses , Microsoft is helping to build digital talent pipelines for its partners and customers .
Looking ahead , e4 ’ s Sibiya said organisations in Africa should partner with multinational vendors to bridge the IT skills gap .
“ Part of the process of procuring vendor services , should be a knowledge transfer and reskilling or upskilling of talent in African organisations . I think another important partnership is between universities , multinational vendors , the government and business . The curriculum in universities needs to adequately equip the upcoming workforce with skills that are relevant to sustain the digital future of the continent ,” she added . • www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
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