Building future engineering skills
SLR Consulting says it is nurturing specialised engineering skills by investing in graduate development, mentoring and management capabilities to replenish the engineering sector’s skills pipeline.
“The scarcity of specialist engineering skills is placing increasing pressure on consulting businesses to develop their own technical capability,” says SLR Consulting regional human resources business partner Thembi Montsho. “It is no longer possible to rely on recruiting experienced professionals from an already limited pool.”
Montsho explains that this has made skills development a strategic business priority, extending from university bursaries and graduate programmes to mentoring and leadership development. By supporting students through their university studies and augmenting this learning with vacation work, the company says it paves the way for graduates to enter its Early Careers Development Programme.
“Our 12-month programme currently supports between 18 people and 25 people annually in South Africa, combining internal on-the-job development with external training and career guidance,” she says.
Once young engineers have developed technical competence and as specialists progress, they are increasingly expected to manage projects, teams and client relationships – responsibilities for which technical expertise alone may not provide adequate preparation, adds Montsho.
The company has introduced an Emerging Managers Programme which aims to develop people management and performance management skills, as well as expertise in employee support. Mentoring and knowledge transfer help to provide a link between experienced specialists and the next generation.
“All our efforts are working towards making sure that skills development is sustainable – providing a measurable return on investment in terms of growing the consulting skills within the industry and within the business,” Montsho concludes.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation

















