BUSINESS AND TRAINING
21
Plumbing 2025 Training Strategy
Pillars – release of report
By IOPSA
“Success is 20% skills and 80% strategy. You might know
how to succeed, but more importantly, what’s your plan to
succeed?” – Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author and
motivational speaker.
Towards the end of last year, IOPSA and the PIRB
set out on a bold mission to craft a new direction
for the plumbing industry. We began the process
of creating a five year strategy for training in
the industry, and as we enter 2020 and start a
new decade, we will be ushering in a new era in
plumbing training.
With a dedicated five year strategy, we coordinate our
efforts, pull together the amazing initiatives happening
within our industry, and develop, grow and professionalise
together. This strategy will belong to the entire industry. It
will impact us all and will need to be championed by us
all. In order to ensure that this is a truly representative
PLUMBING 2025: Training Strategy
Key Strategic Pillars:
1. Coordinating the Ecosystem
We will create a single point of contact and management
within IOPSA and PIRB, for all things training related in
the plumbing industry. This includes applications, funding,
curriculum management and updates, as well as career
paths, amongst others. These will be fully managed on a
digital system, that will enable more and better training to
take place. Through strategic partnerships with selected
private and public training institutions, we will manage
quality, and encourage active industry engagement in
training. As a result, industry trust in the training system
will be restored, and there will be clarity both within the
industry and for new entrants on how the system works.
2. Driving the Future
We will establish a focus on new technologies, and
the opportunities these present. As an industry we will
take a position of thought leadership, and endeavour to
provide resources and training tools that are realistic
and action-oriented to help companies and the broader
industry take advantage of these opportunities. We will
explore and share new trends in leadership, technical
skills, new technology and global plumbing best practice,
April 2020 Volume 26 I Number 02
strategy, we began the process by gathering insights
from stakeholders across the industry, including plumbing
companies, individual plumbers, training providers
(public and private), manufacturers, retailers, government
departments, SETAs and others. We consolidated and
analysed this data in a research report and used the
results to establish key focuses for our strategy.
For the very first time, we would like to unveil our
Plumbing 2025 Training Strategy Pillars, exclusively in
Plumbing Africa.
As we continue on this journey to develop our five-year
strategy, your support and participation is vital. Watch this
space for further updates.
and will lead the way in the green sector. We will become
a strategic player in the country when it comes to green
technology and water risk management and will position
the industry as crucial to this.
"With a
dedicated five
year strategy,
we coordinate
our efforts,
pull together
the amazing
initiatives
happening
within our
industry,
and develop,
grow and
professionalise
together."
3. Proud to be Professional
We will take control of the narrative of what it means to
be a plumber and increase the level of professionalism
and trust both within the industry and with consumers.
There will be a universally understood standard for
professional plumbers and a restored level of pride in
the plumbing profession. Through a central point of
communication, we will create a narrative for the industry,
consumers and new recruits, with a deliberate strategy for
marketing, communications and branding. The ‘Proud and
Professional Plumber’ will encompass and not ignore the
informal sector and will educate consumers on what skills
are needed for which jobs.
4. Increasing Industry Participation
As an industry we will strive to widen our participation
and accelerate our transformation on all levels. This
will be a cross cutting effort, which will influence
all activities. We aim for industry participation to be
representative of the demographics of the country, and
to deliberately enact transformation holistically across all
levels of the industry. PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za