Evaluation of the Monyetla Work Readiness ... - Business Trust

• In three out of the five cases, learners were recruited from in-house databases. Thesedatabases had already conducted a level of pre-screening.The interview with People Solutions revealed that the training provider was au fait with the project.It communicated a deep understanding of the learnership and also placed a heavy emphasis on theneed to support learners to ensure that the transition from the learnership to work readiness waseasier. The observation that it represented multiple consortia, both in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal,also reflects its experience and reputation in the sector.Evaluation of the data shows that 65% of consortia were led by employer companies that signed thecontract agreement with the Monyetla project office, and only 29% had employers playing anadministrative and project management role. On the other hand, 18% of consortia were led bytraining provider companies, and 47% of the training providers played an administrative and projectmanagement role. Two consortia (12%) had members who were not employers, recruiters ortraining providers, but played a purely project management role.An interesting case worth mentioning is that of the two members who led the Credit ManagementSolutions and South African Post office consortiums. These two companies, Lankon and Prodigyrespectively played leading roles in these consortia as contract signatories and also as administratorsand project managers. Lankon did not get involved in the recruitment, employment or training oflearners, while Prodigy, which is not a recruitment company, stepped in to do the recruitment oflearners. The impact of these ‘additional’ consortium members is analysed later in the report.The withdrawal of the Call Centre Nucleus consortia left TeleTech as the only offshore investorthat participated in the programme. Call Centre Nucleus’s rationale for withdrawing, as it turnedout, was in sharp contrast to the results achieved by Teletech.The insert below illustrates the TeleTech experience of the Monyetla programme. TeleTech waschosen for this illustration because:• it is a new international player in the South African call centre market;• it is the only off shoring employer in the project; and• it achieved success by participating in the model.Insert 1: The TeleTech Experience“Offshoring International Investor” The TeleTech Experience of MonyetlaTeletech is a new investor in the South African BPO&O sector operating in Cape Town. It is a globalBPO&O company operating in Europe and the United States, and off shores BPO&O services from thesecountries.The company is relatively new in South Africa but has already experienced phenomenal growth, and is,according to Luke Mills, its CEO, currently the largest offshoring company/investor in South Africa,The company employs 220 people and aims to employ a further 7,000 that will drive investment of up toR300 million in the country over the next 3 -5 years. TeleTech has already begun expanding its premises inCape Town to prepare for this growth.The company relies on grants from the Monyetla programme and also explores other avenues drive itsexpansion. Mills said that the Monyetla grants were key to the success of the company and “if not for thegrants, we wouldn’t be able to hire so many unemployed people”.Participation in the Monyetla programme has seen TeleTech being awarded a total of 422 learners in 6different intakes. The company achieved an 87% success rate in terms of learners found competent andplaced all of them (100%) in employment, and also trained 170 supervisors at an average ratio of 1:2 for allits intakes. Some of these supervisors were trained from the Monyetla intake of learners.In the mid- to long-term, the company plans to provide its own training by launching “Teletech University”.34