There is increasing awareness about the importance of the human resource function in the achievement of organisational success. However, what is also recognised is the fact that this function is fraught with challenges and is becoming more complex in the delicate balance of employer and employee rights and responsibilities. An appreciation of labour legislation and its impact on the human resource operations, policies and procedures of organisations is therefore critical to support organisations as they engage in their core activities on a daily basis. Failure to do so can generally result in significant resources including time being diverted into non value creating activities.

An appreciation of this area is now a prerequisite for the fostering of a positive workplace environment and for the development of proactive relationships between organisations and employees. It also ensures that employers are aware of the several responsibilities which are placed upon them and thus protect their organisations on the one hand through the discharge of their responsibilities to employees whilst ensuring that employees are cognizant of their responsibilities.

This 3-day workshop is designed to develop the abilities of financial / accounting graduates and professionals in both the private and public sectors to analyse and model their projections based on internal and external variables. The workshop will inform participants on the review and analysis of key financial statements, including management accounting reports, as well as the assessment of business strategies and plans presented by executive management to form the basis of projection assumptions and parameters. Participants will gain specific insight into the application of financial modeling techniques to ensure that projections are well grounded and presented.

Participants will be better prepared to engage, inform and /or interact with senior management allowing the entity to anticipate, benefit from and adjust to challenges as they arise or even avoid potential problems altogether.

This 3-day workshop will introduce persons to the strategic elements of management. The required skills of communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, performance management and defining objectives will be discussed in detail. Participants will learn the importance of managing effectively while achieving organisational goals and objectives.

Upon completing this programme, participants would have covered the elements of transitioning from an individual contributor to the role of people manager, identified the strategic performance elements required for the position, examined setting performance and development goals for others, discovered how to give feedback and motivation to staff and sharpened their communication and decision making skills.

The need for skilled report writing has increased in the last 20 years. Companies increasingly seek training for technical staff, however, technical writing skills are not only necessary for engineers and alike; these skills are critical in any technically-oriented professional job. Technical communications—or technical writing—is not writing about a specific technical topic such as computers, but about any technical topic. The term “technical” refers to knowledge that is not widespread, that is more the territory of experts and specialists.

Technical communications is the delivery of technical information in a manner that is adapted to their needs, level of understanding and background. One of the challenges in writing about highly technical subjects is to do so in a way that a non-specialist could understand. This ability to translate technical information to non-specialists is a key skill to any technical communicator.

Good technical reports can serve the purpose of effective communications, motivating the implementation of recommended actions and gaining the respect of the organisation. This comprehensive 2-day workshop covers technical report writing principles. Participants will be able to create technical reports with confidence, skill and enthusiasm.

High potential professionals, executives or managers preparing for their first board appointment or mandate will be required to recognise and understand the responsibilities and value of effective directors. Being a board member is a very different role from being a senior executive and brings with it added complexity and unique responsibilities which are different from other management and operational roles. To successfully carry out a board mandate, directors must have a general overview of a company’s operational activities and corporate governance, including an understanding of its strategic objectives and exposure to risk. This training programme is therefore designed to help prepare you to effectively function in this new role.

Often professional personnel, who do not have formal training in project management, find themselves assigned to perform in a project team environment and are not equipped with the basic understanding of the project management processes. This training course was designed to fill those gaps.

This programme was designed to help persons understand what is required in the Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Closing out phases of their projects. Use of Project Management concepts assist project managers in achieving project efficiency i.e. within time, within budget, and within quality parameters. This is a foundation course from which persons can further develop their skill sets in project management.

Procurement, Negotiating and Contracting in the current economic climate presents many challenges to Supply Chain professionals. These challenges, however, are coupled with areas of opportunities such as lower prices. Of these challenges, supply chain vulnerability can be identified as the greatest as suppliers face bankruptcies worldwide and credit becomes almost non-existent. Today’s successful global businesses consider Purchasing as a strategic function that leads and enables change within an organisation. The sourcing strategies of the past can no longer inform the future and it is necessary to reassess your sourcing strategies and take the proactive measures to remove any risk to your supply chain.

This programme will engage participants in understanding the tactical and strategic responsibilities of purchasing/supply; the purchasing process; and the role of the professional buyer in the organisation. The course discusses the business and ethical sides of the procurement function and reviews and defines professionalism in purchasing. You will be guided through key supply management activities such as sourcing, quote solicitation, supplier selection, supplier management and negotiations. This course also covers legal aspects of purchasing and contracts that every buyer must understand to properly represent their organisation. In addition to reinforcing some of the fundamentals of procurement, this contemporary workshop will introduce participants to strategies that will ensure that their supply chains remain robust enough to withstand the many challenges.

Effective Business Writing is at the core of any professional’s ability to communicate. In fact, in this globalised environment, where communication through person-to-person meetings is becoming a practice of the past, the writing of emails, proposals and other business correspondence are increasingly becoming more expedient methods of conducting business.

Consequently, professionals now face the reality that they must develop a razor-sharp ability to write effectively, in order to out-compete others in the work environment and remain several steps ahead of competitors in the execution of major projects, tasks and assignments. The market now demands that professionals develop the capability to write for optimum results, in order to maintain their overall competitiveness.

At the end of this workshop, participants should have the capacity to craft winning business documents that create the results they want, within stringent time frames.

COVID-19 has changed the world of business as you know it for now and the foreseeable future and possible situations such as those listed below would be areas of concerns for organizations:

1. An employee has symptoms of COVID-19, has not taken the recommended precautions, and your business has been found to be the epicenter of a number of community spread cases for the virus. There is now both a staff and a media frenzy;
2. Your firm’s poor employee relations practices and failure to adequately protect “essential” staff has led to a highly publicized lawsuit;
3. Your firm which offers personal services has been forced to remain close, but when it reopens you anticipate that it will be challenging to convince clients that you are safe for business.

These are some possible crisis scenarios in a new Covid-19 world which can cause the normal operations of the firm to cease and all resources steered towards addressing the issue and handling inquiries from the media and regulatory authorities.

1. Do you have a crisis resilience template or a plan to reposition your brand for success after a crisis?
2. Is there a crisis communications plan to assist you in navigating turbulent times when you are the “butt” of talk in the media, the regulator, and clients?
3. More importantly, perhaps, could your turbulent time been prevented altogether?

A clear, consistent and focused response is required. Not only must the communicator deal with the crisis itself, but the organization’s reputation must also be managed.

This course guides communicators through the process of developing a crisis communications plan and gives practical examples of how to message during a crisis and filter lessons learned from an incident to improve the crisis communications response.

The course will also assist participants in identifying situations that may likely develop into a crisis and determine the steps needed to avert the development of a smoldering situation into a full-blown crisis.

Boards have a significant role to play in uncertain and tumultuous times. In fact, decisions regarding the crisis management and response and business continuity plans come directly from Boards. The Company Secretary’s role to a Board of Directors is one of considerable importance especially during challenging times. Every company must have a Secretary and the Secretary is charged under the Companies Act with a number of specific legal duties. The Company Secretary is also the officer to whom everyone turns for guidance on corporate transactions concerning shares and shareholders and the person responsible for ensuring a proper record of these transactions is kept.

Especially during a crisis, it is imperative that the role, responsibilities and expectations of a Company Secretary are clearly articulated and are well understood. This training is an excellent refresher for those with some experience in the role and will provide those aspiring or new to the role with a solid grounding in the requirements of the position.

The Company Secretary plays a key role in promoting good governance practices by the board of directors. During periods of fragility, violence, conflict and health pandemics corporate governance should top the priority list. In fact during such crises good governance practices can form the front line of defense, helping companies to stay in business, manage employees and keep customers satisfied.

The Company Secretary Role, when well performed, facilitates efficient and effective meetings and decision-making and ensures adherence to best corporate governance practices which are especially needed during a crisis. The Company Secretary also plays an important role in on-boarding new directors, identifying and arranging appropriate director training and development and assisting in board evaluations.

In this role it is imperative that the Company Secretary be familiar with best practice corporate governance and how best to provide guidance and support in these practices. This training will provide those aspiring or new to the role with a solid grounding in good corporate governance practices and the role of the company secretary. It will serve as a refresher for those experienced in the role and also explore some of the more recent developments and challenges through the sharing of information and experiences.

The human resource function requires a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing and developing people, organisational culture and the working environment. Human Resource management deals with recruitment, training and development, performance, motivation and communication. Employing people with the right knowledge, skills and attributes is a crucial factor in the success of any business. Making a bad recruitment decision can prove costly and time-consuming. Even after selecting the “ideal” employee, retaining their skills, keeping them motivated, and focused on achieving results often prove challenging. Retaining good performers is as important to business success as knowing how to handle poor performance issues. This Human Resource Management for Non-HR Professionals workshop is designed to equip line managers and supervisors with the skills and knowledge needed to carry out human resource functions effectively. This programme will be especially helpful to those without formal HR training, seeking guidance on HR Management issues or looking for a refresher course.

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet tool capable of performing calculations, analyzing data and integrating information from different programs. It is becoming increasingly important as methods for analysing data are becoming more and more complex. Additionally, the use of such performance software has become mandatory as part of the everyday work life of an individual whether it be in the private or public sector. While there are other programs which perform the functions of this software in a simpler graphical user interface, the application of learning such software would enable the user to apply such skills to any software package which entails the same functionality to a greater extent, thereby making the individual more marketable in their field.

In light of these factors, this course has been designed around the core areas of Functions, database manipulation, creation of reports and charts and the creation of advance formulas. This course will cover the advanced level of the Microsoft Excel software and place emphasis on the quick and efficient use of this software to attain positive results.

How do you formulate and implement strategy in your organisation? Do you really understand the external environment and the effects on your company? How is the Covid 19 Pandemic affecting your company? Was this part of your risk mitigation strategy? How will your company deal with the fall out? How do you plan for an unpredictable future?

This programme is designed to equip you with some tools for strategy formulation and analysis. The programme will give managers an insight into Industry Analysis, Core Competence and Strategy, Rivalry Analysis, Acquisition Strategy and Growth analysis. Learn from the mistakes that other big companies have made.

The business world today is considerably different and more complex than it was a decade ago, both the challenges and opportunities facing organisations of all sizes. Organisations are required to continuously find better ways to compete in the ever-changing global business environment. In this context, the programme develops the strategic thinking and decision-making abilities of managers. While globaliszation and international travel has allowed for increased trade it has also increased the risk. How protected are you?