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Human
Resource Development has been through an extremely testing time over the
last ten years.
The Dotcom era of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s saw companies
emphasising the need for specialist skills and people with these skills
prospered without needing to develop management skills. When the “specialist”
culture started to wane in the early 2000’s these people began to
realise that they had little to offer the companies that employed them
and many were forced to re-evaluate their careers or else acquire team
player or management skills.
At the same time
another phenomenon was taking hold in South Africa – that of black
economic empowerment (BBBEE). Previously disadvantaged employees were
being fast tracked through organisations and very often little emphasis
was placed on helping these people deal with the leadership
responsibilities that accompanied their status in the company.
Likewise, employees
affected by the advancement of BBBEE were left feeling that their
contributions were little more than meaningless.
The
three founding members of Dodici Capital Solutions albeit in different spheres
of industry noticed all these developments. Annatjie Wessels, as a
project manager, observed that managers often did not feel sufficiently
empowered to make decisions or else felt intimidated by the prospect of
being held responsible for their decisions. Madeleine Labuschagne, in
her dealings with students and in researching material for her published
articles and books, found that many people were uncertain about their
relationship with their employer or had little idea of how to build a
career.
Allison van Emmenis, as a trainer, felt that too often there was
a clinical approach to the concept of training. Companies wanted to be
seen as doing the right thing by improving the skills of their staff,
but there were very few new challenges once the training had ended.
The issues mentioned
above can all be solved through a comprehensive human resource
development program and in November 2004 Annatjie, Madeleine and Allison
decided to combine their specialist skills, expertise and experience to
provide just that.
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