Midrand graduate wins Accsys HR bursary

In another positive step forward for skills development in Human Resource management and payroll administration, Accsys, in conjunction with its client and partner, the Midrand Graduate Institution, has awarded the campus’ top HR graduate with specialised software training.

Accsys is a long-time industry partner of the Midrand-based education institution and regularly hosts site visits and workshops to offer prospective job seekers insight into the practicalities of the industry.

Jonathan Noko graduated with top honours in HR from the Midrand Graduate Institution and was presented with the free HR training course to the value of R5000 from Accsys.

“We believe that practical training and onsite learning experience within a payroll and HR environment will be of significant benefit to those entering the marketplace,” says Teryl Schroenn, CEO at Accsys. “eLearning and internships is, in our view, one of the strongest means of addressing the pressing issue of skills shortages across many industries.”

Schroenn refers to the findings of a recent ICT skills survey, conducted by ITWeb and the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) published recently, as just one of many reports pointing to what industries are describing as ‘a crisis’.

“According to this report the survey suggests that the real skills shortage at present and into the new year is as much as seventy thousand – which, as experts suggest, is more than a quarter of the current IT workforce. Clearly we have to do more to address this shortage and the role of training and opportunities to gain on-the-job experience cannot be over-emphasised,” adds Schroenn.

Noko recently completed the week-long training at Accsys and was exposed to a number of HR and payroll administration focused disciplines incorporated into the Accsys Peopleware solution. Modules covered included job specifications, training, employee relations, performance management and leave management.

Claire Fowler, eLearning and Training Facilitator at Accsys, says the benefit of this form of training and work experience can make a substantial difference to candidates.

“It lays a very solid foundation for graduates because they are presented with a real opportunity to apply their theory to live software and solutions, and thereby improve their knowledge of the working HR and payroll environment,” she says.

Noko is very pleased to have acquired the benefit of training so early in his career and his intentions are to secure employment within the field of HR/ payroll consultancy.

“It was very interesting and I had an opportunity to see how software can be used strategically within organizations, at different levels. My objective is to enter into the HR field and apply my knowledge, it is here where I can be effective and deal with people, and help them with employment issues,” says Noko.