The shortage of skills, specifically in engineering and the built environment, has become a key challenge for industry and the public sector in South Africa and globally.
The search for appropriate talent in these disciplines has resulted in companies and sectors adopting different strategies to attract and retain these skills. These range from salary premiums and sign-on bonuses to the internal promotion of ”poaching” and various retention incentives. It is clear that these modalities increase the cost structures of companies and could negatively impact on their overall competitiveness. An industry or sector that is uncompetitive could influence the overall competitiveness of the country and this could influence the national inflation figure, hence the economy. Is there a failure to appreciate the critical role of appropriate talent in the national economy?
It is widely recognised that the boom in the resources and construction sectors in the past two to three years has contributed to the skills shortage in that the demand for skills were greater than the supply.
Another reason, however, is the apparent misalignment of education, employability of talent and the economy (the three Es), an aspect which Rakesh Malik, the practice head of global sourcing, Hewitt Associates, captures with respect to India.
In India, according to Malik, the employability of talent developed by the education system is as low as 15% for certain categories. Although I do not believe that the figure is as low in South Africa, we do have various companies that have to promote additional training for their graduates to perform entry-level jobs. This adds additional costs to companies, which could have an effect on the long-term profitability of the industry or sector. There is extreme value in the argument that universities should train graduates for society at large. The question is: how flexible is our higher education system to respond to a fast-changing business and industry environment?
With the increase in socio-economic challenges, the interaction of innovation and discipline technologies in process and systems, and the quest for the appreciation of ”soft skills” in both the industry and public sectors, the pressure on the higher education system to deliver on talent that responds to these challenges is real.
To address these challenges holistically universities need to have strong industry and public sector advisory boards that can provide proactive input into changes or trends in the environments in which they operate. Furthermore, curriculum development and subject presentation need to expose future skills to the critical, often subjective aspects of values, socio-economic drivers, the understanding of and appreciation for the concept of ”zero harm” with respect to safety, health and the environment.
The faculty of engineering and the built environment at the University of Cape Town is addressing these challenges head-on. Academic development, where we focus on the understanding and then provide the necessary support and intervention to ensure that every potential talent has a high probability of success in completing his or her studies, is key to delivering appropriate talent to our market.
The concept of ”zero harm” with respect to safety, health and environment has been raised not only in how the faculty operates, but also in how it educates. The faculty has embarked on a value and culture programme with students and staff to create an internal environment of understanding and tolerance and will hopefully provide appropriate talent who have the ability to adapt to changing environments. A rigorous review system has been put in place that uses the input from faculty and departmental advisory boards.
Moreover, universities need to have a stable, competent staff complement to address these challenges in a way that maximises the talent leaving the university. It is imperative for all stakeholders to participate actively and ”get their hands dirty”. We need to ensure that we attract (and retain) good academics to universities and that universities are resourced appropriately to deliver on these talents.
We can provide services to the poor only if we have a robust economy, and one can have that only if one has strong industry and public sectors that are resourced with the appropriate skills. Government, industry and our universities must interact more closely so that the three Es converge to an outcome of sustainability and competitiveness.
Professor Francis Petersen is dean of the faculty of engineering and the built environment, University of Cape Town