The investment in training service providers who have the resources, experience and expertise to offer immediate value is pivotal to the strategies of competitive businesses today.
So claims Richard Rayne, managing director at On-Site Training, the training house contracted to specialist banking group Investec (comprising Investec plc and Investec Limited).
On-Site Training is a privately-owned national Proudly South African provider of comprehensive training services covering Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and critical Business Skills Development.
The company is differentiated in the market through its ability and proven track record in meeting requirements of clients on site. This equates to automatic benefit for the client because there is no additional expenses or capital outlay in the investment to cover aspects such as travelling costs, downtime or non-productivity during training.
“This is considered one of our core strengths and we have established ourselves in the market for reliability and convenience. Training is essential, and given the intense focus on skills shortages today, we offer a service that appeals to any competitive business that has a vested interest in equipping staff and retaining intellectual capital without seriously impeding on budget strategy and application,” says Rayne.
On-Site Training provides various end-user computer training to the general staff complement at Investec.
The training house has been the sole end user provider for the past two years. It is contracted on an annual basis and either offers standard training events at Investec’s premises to staff or customises the offering in terms of content and time to specific teams within Business Units.
Trainers from On-Site Training work directly with the Learning and Development team at Investec and interface with the business in this way.
“Computer skills are obviously core to the functioning of the bank and thus various training events have been organised across the institution.
However Investec consolidated the approach and through various needs analyses identified the most fundamental up-skilling requirement and contracted On-Site to provide such training requirements,” explains Lesley-Ann Gatter, from Investec’s Learning and Development team.
Gatter adds that aside from the need to develop employees, the financial services sector faces a constant and substantial shortage of skills which means that skills development will remain a key industry driver.
Investec’s needs analysis regarding various, ongoing upskilling requirements resulted in On-Site Training, being contracted to provide key computer skills training.
“There is a consistent need for certain training offerings,” adds Gatter. “Specifically, we require Microsoft Excel related training more than any other offering. IT proficiency is paramount to the organization.”
According to Gatter, in the course of the 2007 annual review, On-Site was recognised as having a level of expertise and proven efficiency in the market, and offered value for money. This aspect, together with service delivery, speed of execution and personalized engagements, placed On-Site Training as Investec’s end-user computer training service provider of choice for the 2008 calendar year.
Says Rayne, “We are very pleased to continue our partnership and service to Investec, a forward-thinking company that believes in building people and applying knowledge for the betterment of the market in general and ultimately the socio-economic climate of the country.”
