Cloud computing leads training priorities

Commenting on the findings, Zaheer Kader, GM of Foster-Melliar, a subsidiary of the Morvest Business Group, says cloud computing will become dominant over the desktop in the next decade.

“In other words, most users will perform most computing and communicating activities through connections to servers operated by outside firms. This technological breakthrough is the reason why cloud computing is a popular choice of study,” he says.

It also emerged from the study that the majority of organisations (70.45%) have training budgets, compared to 15.91% that do not, with the remainder unsure.

Mediocre investments

 

Most of the organisations (26.79%) invest between R5 000 and R10 000 in training annually, while 23.95% noted that they invest less than R5 000, and 15.57% said they invest more than R20 000.

Financial constraints, cited by 67.07% of the respondents, are the most critical factors that influence an organisation’s decision to participate in a training programme, while timing was another consideration (62.87%).

Kader points out that, based on the amount companies allocate for IT training per annum, organisations are not taking IT training investment seriously. “I believe that R10 000 per annum is insufficient for an organisation to stay abreast with the ever changing technological developments with both hardware and software.”

He also stresses that IT training investment is vital for organisations because business operations will not be interrupted by the introduction of new systems and staff will be more confident in their use of IT, leading to improvements in their productivity.

“Staff can make full use of new systems as soon as they are installed. Having improved IT skills within your business will allow you to introduce new technology as it becomes available. ICT is embedded in any organisation today.

“The fast pace of technological advancements makes it crucial to the success of any organisation. Organisations that stay abreast of these changes and adequately train their staff gain a competitive advantage,” he adds.

It also emerged that most organisations (37.50%) compile workplace skills plans that are implemented on a continuous basis. Some 34.09% said that, while they compile workplace skills plans, these are not implemented regularly. On the other hand, 17% do not have workplace skills plans.

According to the study, most organisations (60.8%) both outsource and do their training in-house; however, outsourcing (15.91%) is less popular than in-house training (23.3%).

When it comes to the frequency of training within organisations, the majority (51.7%) train their staff as and when necessary. Nonetheless, 21.52% do so once or twice a year; 10.8% three or four times; and 5.11% more than six times annually.

E-leaning vs classroom learning

The survey also determined that most enterprises (69.89%) use classroom-based training when executing their programmes. Some 60.93% use on-the-job training, while online learning garnered the support of 53.98% of respondents.

Asked to choose between e-learning and classroom-based learning, the majority of respondents (51.7%) selected both. However, classroom learning beat e-learning 24.41% to 19.89%.

Most organisations (80.84%) believe the best time to train their employees is during working hours. This was distantly followed by 11.98%, which prefer to train after hours. Only 5.99% chose Saturdays, with 1.2% saying they prefer to train before work.

Kader believes the majority of learners prefer to attend classroom-based training as they are given the opportunity to ask the facilitator to re-explain any sections that were not easily understood.

“Classroom-based training is also more popular as it enables the learners with similar portfolios, from different organisations, to interact among each other and share or learn from each other.”