Potential Learnership Candidates: How to Handpick Employees. Consider individual contexts when selecting employees for Learning Paths.
Who are the Best Learnership Candidates?
Train your employees well enough to leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.
Sir Richard Branson
In some companies, potential learners are identified through a process of self-targeting – i.e. they make the choice to be on the training themselves. Their managers might respond to their request to be on a Learnership with “You sure about this? I heard it could be a real *****!” Potential Candidate says “Nah, I’m gonna nail this…only way I get your job!”
Some employees are told “We’ve selected people to be placed on a Learnership – you’re one of them! It’s going to be a great experience and you’ll receive a qualification at the end. If you have a problem with this, speak to your direct line manager.”
What that usually means: Competition’s killing us (we don’t understand why). We need to beef up our BEE points and rebates! (Or HR gets retrenched first.) That’s where you come in! We don’t want any stories, your manager will deal with you.
Then there’s the visionary approach (which we L.O.V.E).
Manager to Potential Learnership Candidate:
So tell me, have any ideas about where you’d like to be 3 years from now?
Potential Candidate: Actually, I have! I’m enjoying this department and would like to progress in it. I’ve been wondering what I need to do?
Visionary Manager:
You know that the higher you want to climb, the more they look for qualifications?
PC: Yebo.
VM: So we need to look at what you can study. We want to run a Learnership here, it’s a full qualification so we’re looking for committed people who want to progress.
PC: Ok. That sounds great. Will it be hard though, will I get time off?
VM: You’ll be released for training each month but there’ll be work that you’ll have to do at home. Remember that we’re investing company time and costs. But at the end of the day – it’s you!
YOU OWN THIS QUALIFICATION. So if you want to progress and you’re willing to learn – I want you to go for it!
Skills development provides brilliant opportunities for everyone!
