Human Resources Practitioners’ Development – pilot project

Participants at the HR Practitioners’ Development pilot programme in July 2017
In the quest to create highly skilled human resources practitioners, and to ensure that they meet the changing staff development needs of higher education, Universities SA (USAf), in consultation with experts in this field, has conceptualised and tailored a Human Resources Development Programme specifically for practitioners within universities. This training is also seen as an important catalyst for institutional efficiencies and effectiveness expected of the new generation of HR practitioners.
The programme, accredited by the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), is a combination of self-study, two intense contact weeks, assignments and self-reflection stretched over a six month period. It is being run as a pilot in 2017, with funding support from the Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training (ETDP SETA).
The pilot exercise kicked off in July with 33 trainees drawn from 15 institutions. The trainees completed Study School 1 (SS1), which was hosted at the University of the Western Cape from 17 – 22 July. SS1 offered five modules on Change Management; University Strategy; HR Strategy; HR Service delivery and Personal Development. SS2, to be hosted at the University of Pretoria from 23-28 October 2017, will still cover five modules titled Talent Management, HR Risk Ethics, HR Risk & Governance, HR Analytics & Personal development.