BUSINESS AND TRAINING
35
Enabling a win-win plumbing
career for unemployed youth
Deciding how to direct supply-chain-development funds
towards fundamentally changing lives, is a serious
question being explored by short-term insurance
companies in South Africa.
By Nedbank Insurance
There are a variety of options in understanding fund-
ing, including and not limited to internal enterprise
development models, offers from venture capitalists,
educational institutions and specialised incubator
programmes.
One big question is how to enable supply chain
development that ensures direct economic empowerment
that maintains the level of efficiency and effectiveness that
policy holders want.
This pilot programme tests a number of different factors to
establish what really works for the collaborators in a new
business model. It further focuses on the development
of plumbers and includes the Institute of Plumbing South
Africa (IOPSA) to align the technical requirements to the
professional plumbing quality standard.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), 2016-
2017 report, Can Small Business Survive in South
Africa?’, highlights that “three quarters of South African
entrepreneurs are opportunity driven”.
Considering that South Africa’s economy is based on
high levels of competition and improving efficiencies, it is
important that pilots with Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) add value to these two areas of an SME’s business.
Addressing these removes the barriers to securing a career
for young and bright candidates, who would otherwise
not be able to secure an employment opportunity. The
unemployment rate is currently 27.6% for quarter 1, 2019
according to Stats SA.
Taking the ‘pain points’ out that SMEs’ experience with
new recruits was an important first step of the programme.
The pilot design therefore ensured that time-consuming
tasks, such as finding Technical Vocational Education and
Training (TVET) educated candidates and preparing them
for the workplace, was established.
August 2019 Volume 25 I Number 6
This article shares some of the themes emerging from the
Nedbank Insurance supply chain development programme
in collaboration with industry experts. The focus is
specifically on the relationship between unemployed youth
and how to make it possible for them to establish a career
in plumbing, and to enable SMEs hosting candidates to
achieve value for their business.
From left: Programme participants: Gary Simister, Green Planet Plumbing (host employer);
Debbie Donaldson, Because YOU’RE worth it! (programme facilitator); Clarah Seisa,
plumbing apprentice; Loreal Raath, Nedbank Insurance (programme sponsor); Brendan
Reynolds, IOPSA (technical support, lead employer).
In addition, supporting SMEs to practically implement
mentor training and natural mentoring structures in
their businesses, was agreed as equally important by all
partners on the programme, as approximately 70% of
a plumbers training relies on the quality of the training
experience in the workplace.
Nedbank Insurance partnered with the Institute of
Plumbing South Africa (IOPSA) and plumbing service
providers, as they shared the common goal of enabling
young unemployed youth to qualify as professional
plumbers with the relevant level of support required,
education and workplace experience that is acceptable to
policy holders, especially where these candidates explore
starting their own businesses after qualifying.
SMEs have reported that the identification and workplace
preparation of the candidates is an essential element
going forward. “We can train on the work to be done, but
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