The field of skills transfer and learning has taken on new meaning with employees becoming more aware of their right to be up-skilled, and taking more responsibility for their own career development. This is the view of Colin Emanuel, Chief Executive Officer of the Bridge Shipping Group, a company which has placed skills transfer high on its corporate agenda. “All staff members need to be informed of, and have equitable access to, training and development opportunities based on the operational needs of the business. Our training and development aims to equip staff members with competencies required to fulfil job requirements, and focuses on the transfer of skills from the classroom to the workplace,” says Emanuel. The Bridge Shipping Group, a logistics company and the largest exporter of containerised cargo by rail in Southern Africa, has a skilled staff complement of 500 throughout the region. The company conducts regular assessments of staff training and development needs via a formalised management panel system. In ensuring that it complies fully with the Skills Development Act, the Bridge Shipping Group submits an annual Workplace Skills Plan and Training Report to the Transport Education and Training Authority (TETA).“We also send quarterly reports to TETA and ensure that all our training interventions support our application of the Employment Equity principles,” notes Emanuel.

The company’s skills transfer and training agenda is based on a strategic approach which supports both the operational needs of the business, as well as a focus on the individual employee and his/her personal development and training needs. “Career development is part of our strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Our view of training and development is that it must both suit both the overall goals of the business, as well as fostering the best in our people.  The objective is to match employee interests, aspirations and capabilities with opportunities within the organisation, with a view to optimising productivity and potential,” says Emanuel. Bridge Shipping has a systematic career development programme which includes a cross-section of learnerships, internships and workplace experience opportunities for graduates.  The company’s training programme takes on a variety of forms, including formal training (both internal and external), routine basic training, ‘refresher’ training, on-the-job training, mentorship and coaching programmes, and accelerated training and development needs, particularly for previously disadvantaged persons.

“Our training budget for 2013 will focus on employee development and company-defined skills upliftment, and will also focus on customer service training, which we have identified as a critical business need,” notes Emanuel. The company’s Durban-based training facility, Bridge Port Training Academy, has a five-year full accreditation with TETA for standards relating to lifting machinery. It is also accredited with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) as a training partner, and in 2012 was accredited by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Marine Studies department as an approved trainer of maritime students. “Career development is about developing people. It formalises the commitment of both the company and the individual to self-improvement,” notes Emanuel, emphasising that all training programmes are tailored to individual needs. “All development is self-development – the onus is on the individual to develop him/herself. Bridge Shipping’s strategy is to create a climate which lends itself to career and self-development.” He concludes: “Our training and development programmes provide a host of tangible benefits which feed other business and HR objectives. These include building a high-performance workplace, nurturing a learning atmosphere, contributing to diversity management and adding value to our reputation as a preferred employer in the shipping industry.”