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If you are looking for workplace training in Johannesburg, BOTI runs practical short courses for teams in-house at your premises, at its venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online. Browse BOTI’s corporate training programmes and short courses to find training that matches the skills your roles need now. This article explains why a skills-first approach to hiring and development makes that training more useful.
The New World of Work keeps changing, and it asks us to keep changing with it. Technology, business and people are all trying to work together smoothly in a setting that feels familiar but runs very differently. The one thing we can rely on as we face these challenges is change itself.
The pandemic drove much of this change, and many jobs now need a new set of skills. Employers therefore need to rethink how they recruit and whom they recruit. That means paying less attention to qualifications and degrees on their own, and more attention to skills. This does not mean employees no longer need technical qualifications in their fields. What matters is how people use their expertise in a workplace that looks very different from the pre-pandemic one. The aim is to build on existing technical expertise. Employers who invest properly in training and upskilling their employees find it easier to keep their talent.
Focusing on skills makes the hiring process easier and more efficient
Look at almost any economy today and you will see that many businesses are either technology businesses or technology-enabled businesses. Research on the labour market suggests that the skills needed for the same job have changed a great deal over the past decade, and are likely to keep changing quickly. In other words, your job is changing even if you are not changing jobs. In the same way, the demands on your business are changing even if you are not changing your business. For this reason, many leaders now see a skills-first mindset as a practical way to handle the New World of Work, for people, businesses and the economy. More executives are also asking their organisations to rethink the hiring process from the start.
Focusing on career development and improving talent retention
Traditionally, people were hired on three main factors:
- their technical competence, shown by a qualification such as a degree or diploma;
- their track record;
- their connections, or ‘who they know’.
Skills, as such, were seldom assessed. Hiring strategies are now changing as fast as the world around them. People looking for more rewarding work increasingly describe the skills they have and the skills they want to build. Businesses that struggle to fill roles are asking a different question: does this person have the skills to do the work and get the job done? The result is a labour market that pays more attention to skills.
Skills-first hiring is the new way to match talent with opportunity
International studies agree that a large share of the global workforce will need reskilling over the coming years. This applies to digital skills, and also to the soft skills that matter so much in the hybrid workplace. As jobs change and need new skill sets, talent managers need to adjust their hiring strategies. Qualifications should become one input rather than the main filter, and the focus should move to candidates whose skills match the role.
Many established hiring practices still screen out capable people simply because they lack a traditional qualification. That habit needs to change, because the technology used at work has moved quickly since the pandemic. The demands of work, and the skills each role needs, are now very different for individuals and companies alike.
The good news is that many skills carry over from one role to another. A driver already uses planning, timekeeping and stock-handling skills that are useful in a supply chain role. A cashier already uses the communication and problem-solving skills a customer service role needs. A skills-first approach looks for these overlaps and then trains for the gaps.
Upskilling employees to succeed in the New World of Work requires a strategic shift at management level
Upskilling employees calls for a change of mindset at management level. Managers have three goals to balance:
- keeping the organisation competitive;
- growing employees’ potential;
- giving people the skills to handle a changing workplace.
Companies that keep their employees up to date with new technologies and ways of working are the ones most likely to do well as work keeps changing.
How to put a skills-first approach into practice
A skills-first approach works when it is planned, not when it is a slogan. These steps help HR and line managers in Johannesburg and elsewhere turn the idea into workplace training that changes results.
- Describe each role in skills. List the tasks each role performs and the skills each task needs, for example writing clear reports, handling customer complaints, analysing data in Excel or leading a team meeting.
- Assess the skills people already have. Use line-manager input, work samples and short practical assessments rather than CVs alone.
- Find the gaps that matter most. Rank gaps by their effect on customers, safety, cost or output, and start with the few that make the biggest difference.
- Choose short, targeted training. One- to three-day courses aimed at a specific skill are easier to schedule and apply than broad programmes.
- Hire for skills and potential. Train interview panels to test skills through structured, competency-based questions. BOTI’s Interviewing Skills: Competency-Based Interviews That Reduce Bias masterclass and the Employee Recruitment and Selection Course cover this.
- Measure the result. Agree before training what should change at work, then check it afterwards. The Measuring Results from Training course shows how.
Which skills to build first
Every organisation is different, but most skills-first plans include a mix of the following:
- Digital and AI skills, so staff can use everyday tools well. A good starting point is AI Tools for Everyday Productivity.
- Soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving and adaptability. These are covered in 10 Soft Skills You Need.
- Management skills for new and middle managers who must coach, delegate and develop their teams.
- Role-specific technical skills such as finance, supply chain, health and safety or software that a particular team relies on.
Planning and funding workplace training
In South Africa, most employers pay the Skills Development Levy of 1% of the leviable amount (total remuneration). Employers whose leviable amount over the next 12 months will not exceed R500,000 are exempt[1].
Levy-paying employers can claim back a mandatory grant of 20% of the levies they paid. To qualify, they must submit a Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report to their SETA by 30 April and be up to date with their levy payments[2]. A skills-first review gives you the information a strong Workplace Skills Plan needs. If you would like help matching identified skills gaps to courses, ask BOTI to help you build your training plan.
Frequently asked questions
Where can my team do workplace training in Johannesburg?
BOTI runs workplace training in-house at your premises, at its training venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online. In-house training lets a whole team learn together and apply the content to your own work.
What is a skills-first approach to hiring and development?
A skills-first approach judges people mainly on the skills they can show and the skills they can learn, rather than on qualifications and job titles alone. It uses skills to guide hiring, promotion and training decisions.
Which workplace skills should we train first?
Start with the gaps that most affect your customers, safety, costs or output. For many teams these are digital and AI skills, communication and other soft skills, and practical management skills for team leaders.
Are BOTI’s workplace short courses accredited?
Most BOTI workplace short courses are not accredited. They are delivered as professional skills programmes, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance. BOTI is also a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider and offers selected QCTO occupational certificates and skills programmes for teams that need a formal route.
To help your managers build a skills-first culture, BOTI’s Talent Management and People Development Course shows how to identify, develop and keep the skills your organisation needs. Training runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online. Call BOTI on 011 882 8853 or email [email protected], or request a quote. This course is not accredited. It is delivered as a professional skills programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Sources
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.