Skills Development

In tandem with the Employment Equity Act, the group has again fully complied with all of the requirements of the Skills Development Act. Skills development fora within our trading and service divisions are held to review and monitor progress against the workplace skills plans.

During the year R42,3 million was spent on skills development within the group.

Skills development grants

As a result of full compliance, we have qualified for all applicable grants due from the Wholesale and Retail SETA (in the case of our trading divisions) and the Services SETA (in the case of our financial and services divisions). In all cases, the SETA grants received are earmarked for further investment into training. All spending of grants is reported at operating board level to ensure that these funds are exclusively applied towards further training.

Accreditation

Foschini remains a fully-accredited training provider. This has enabled us to provide our staff with the opportunity to achieve qualifications that are registered on the National Qualifications Framework via internal training, thus saving on the cost incurred through the use of external training providers. This training is provided and assessed internally using methodology that is approved by the Wholesale and Retail SETA Education and Training Quality Assurance bodies and is in line with SAQA principles.

Representation

We are represented on the Wholesale and Retail Standards Generating Body and represent the group at all relevant SETA fora.

Talent development

Training programmes within the group are designed to up-skill our staff in all areas where a need has been identified. Relevant programmes are held throughout the year, ensuring a constant and consistent level of understanding of group processes amongst our staff at all levels.

Our training programmes address the building of both generic business competence and leadership competence.

An important emphasis for us during the course of the year has been the strong focus on developing the talent of our store managers and merchants (the latter being our buyers and merchandise planners) to ensure that we meet the need for a pipeline of trained and competent employees in these key retail roles.

With these objectives in mind we launched:

  • a retail academy for store managers;
  • a merchant trainee development programme aimed at newly-employed talent; and
  • a merchant academy for honing the skills of existing merchants.

All of these are in-house projects designed to cater for our identified skills requirements.

Our retail academy for store managers touches every store manager and potential store manager both nationally and in Namibia.

The curriculum is aimed primarily at supporting the following goals:

  • development of business skills and improved retail knowledge;
  • managing employee relations and performance; and
  • equipping store managers as coaches to develop their staff.

We are committed to creating a learning environment with a number of delivery options including distance-learning programmes and formal workshops facilitated nationally and in Namibia. We believe that learning should also be self-directed, and all store managers should take charge of their own learning and can progress at their own pace.

Allied to this retail academy is the developing manager programme. Its scope is primarily the technical business skills required to manage a store.

These store manager programmes are aligned to the wholesale and retail SETA qualifications.

Our merchant trainee development programme is a structured programme available to new and young talent in the group. It is run over a period of 18 to 36 months and combines technical and generic programmes to build the capacity of the trainee buyers and planners. They are given the opportunity to spend time in various areas of the group’s businesses, gaining valuable hands-on experience and knowledge. The programme is supported by a coaching initiative by which each trainee receives training from a technical coach as well as a senior mentor. The trainees enjoy a high level of exposure to and interaction with senior management throughout this programme.

Our merchant academy for existing merchants has a curriculum that combines technical and generic programmes designed to support the building of their capacity. The curriculum is based on an integrated approach, yet allowing flexibility for customisation across the divisions. The programme harnesses the existing talent within the group by using skilled staff members as in-house facilitators, so encouraging multi-skilling and the use of best practices by all merchants.

Our leadership development training is a further initiative, based on a pipeline model, to meet the group’s future leadership requirements. This approach highlights key milestones that make up the development process for aspiring leaders. To reach a milestone, the attendees must gain proficiency in a variety of competencies that meet the demands of a particular career phase. Career progression is based on mastery of these concepts, given sufficient time to achieve competence. The process is supplemented by assessments, specialised training, coaching, and various projects and assignments. The capability of each developing leader is carefully monitored and reviewed. Talented individuals are advanced on this journey according to their level of performance and potential.

Number of staff trained  
   
Total number of staff attending training programmes 11 004*
Total black staff trained 9 520
Percentage of black staff trained 86,5%
Total black women trained 6 657
Percentage of black women trained 59,6%
* One staff member may have attended more than one training programme.