I T ‘ S   T I M E

TO LEARN TO LOVE SKILLS SEASON

It’s the chicken run!!

At this time of the year you will find a steady stream of Berroca fizzies, Vitamin C tablets, excellent coffee and slabs of chocolate flow through the Thrive office; keeping our Skills Development team on track and enthusiastically jogging towards our end April Mandatory Grant deadline.

But we gotta love it! 
It’s the business Thrive was built on and the service we continue to offer 17+ years later.

So many companies not claiming or taking advantage of Seta Mandatory and Discretionary grants – largely due to ill-conceived misconceptions about the administration and benefits. Such a lost opportunity. In these economic times – can you afford to miss out?
SO it’s give-back time! In this newsletter, we’re sharing our tried and tested tricks and tips to help make your 2020 Skills Season easier than ever. Experience of 1000’s of WSPs can’t be wrong!

Either way – we have your back, Thrive Tribe!

Let’s do this!

Yours in skills, Andrea

Top 10 Tips for a Successful Skills Season(with love from us)

It will be a lot less like competing in the Hunger Games this year, we promise! Starting early is the name of the game – so pour yourself a cuppa coffee, get comfy and enjoy our top tips to help you make this a skills season your best yet:
  1. Find out who your company Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) is to ensure that they are linked to your company profile on the Seta online system – ensuring you have access;
  2. Ensure a clear understanding of your particular Seta’s requirements: employee demographics, training invoices, scarce and critical skills, and the like;
  3. In particular check what your Seta’s training reporting period is: it will either be January – December or April – March;
  4. Seta online systems can be really congested, resulting in sluggish and sometimes a standstill situation – start collating and capturing your data early;
  5. OFO codes can be allocated to your employee profile in the mean time, even if you don’t have all your training information – perhaps best to start there;
  6. The 2019 ATR needs to be completed using the 2017 OFO codes and the 2020 Workplace Skills Plan needs to be completed using the 2019 OFO codes. See the 2019 OFO codes here;
  7. With the exception of Services Seta (only) where both ATRs & WSPs need to be completed using the 2017 OFO codes;
  8. Seta systems often work faster and better after hours; so schedule your time accordingly (and watch out for your load-shedding status);
  9. Check when company signatories are on leave over the Easter/April period to ensure that they are available for sign offs;
  10. If applicable, ensure that you have a Training Committee meeting date scheduled in April for MG discussion and sign off.
Key benefits of this Mandatory Grant compliance include:
  • Providing an amazing opportunity to plan and develop specific scarce & critical skills requirements within your organisation –  ensuring both your business & your employees  are offered the opportunity to grow;
  • Ensuring your Mandatory Grant is awarded – this is 20% of your annual SDL;
  • Positively contributing to the SD component of your BEE scorecard;
  • Unlocking the opportunity to apply for Discretionary Grants as the year unfolds.
Of course, we are here if you get stuck! Thrive’s professional and customisable SDF services can help you manage the skills season the best way possible:
  • We can take over the process by being an external SDF to your organisation;
  • We can support your internal SDF with strategic insight and back-end administrative support.
We are just a click away if you need help!

Industry News

CETA LPQD ACCREDITATION NOTICE 
A reminder that all CETA Accredited Providers that achieved accreditation in the period of 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 will receive an automatic extension until 31 March 2021! For further information contact Batandwa Mchizwa on 011 265 5922.

 

DHET REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT CHANGE

In case you missed our News Flash earlier this month, accredited providers (SDPs) do not currently need to register with the DHET! Click here to see our news flash or read the full DHET communique here.

Seta Opportunities (and Bursaries Available)

THE GAUTENG CITY REGION ACADEMY (GCRA) BURSARY
The GCRA bursary programme is now open. Applications close 31 March 2020. Click here for more information.
PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS (PwC) BURSARIES
The PwC bursary for Chartered Accountancy students is now open. To apply “Register an account” and then  click here to follow the application guidelines using reference number PWC191010-10. Applications close on 30 April 2020.
THE SASOL BURSARY
Sasol is offering three different bursary programmes for South Africans. Click here for further information. Applications close on 30 April 2020.
PSETA WSP ONLINE SYSTEM
Please note that all Skills Development Facilitator (SDFs) passwords may have expired and may need to be reset in order to access the system. See here for further information.

#Setaninja News

WOOP WOOP! Congratulations go out to the following companies and the Thrive #setaninjas who  took them across the accreditation finish line this month:

 

Battling to get your company accredited at one of the Setas? Finding this process daunting or even impossible? Fret no more – we’ve got you covered! Thrive’s #setaninja‘s have achieved 100% success rate with more than 850+ company accreditation applications to 19 different Setas nationwide. So, if you are detrmined to get accredited in 2020, partner with Thrive to get  your accreditation fast tracked with one of our  #setaninja‘s today. Just click here to get in touch with us!

Training

Assessor Course 
Dates: 26 – 27 March 2020
Venue: Randburg, www.benvenuto.co.za
The cost: R5 950 (ex VAT) per person, including the venue, refreshments, manual, POE assessment and one re-assessment. A 10% discount is offered to anyone booking and paying before 31 January 2020.
Registration: For the course outline & registration pack click here.

Moderator Course 
Dates: 11 – 12 March 2020
Venue: Randburg, www.benvenuto.co.za
The cost: R5 950 (ex VAT) per person, including the venue, refreshments, manual, POE assessment and one re-assessment.
Registration: For the course outline & registration pack click here.

For more information about our scheduled training courses, take a look at our regularly updated Thrive 2020 Training Calendar.

WHY NOT REGISTER FOR BOTH?
Be a registered assessor & moderator by end 2020

Your team can now become constituent registered assessors & moderators within 12 months.
Streamline and optimise your training roll out with this hot COMBO special
and boost your competitive edge!
Let’s get this done in 2020!
Register for this COMBO for R9 500 ex VAT – and get a 20% saving on BOTH courses! 
Click here for more info!

 

I could give you some random chicken-cross-the-road joke, right?
But that would be irrepreHENsible

Run, Forest-Chicken, run!   Happy, love-filled February, everyone!

www.thrive.co.za

Thrive would like to thank you all for your continued support.