HP opens business institute

By Leon Engelbrecht for HP
Johannesburg, 27 Nov 2007

HP has made good on its R150 million skills pledge at the Presidential International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development (PIAC-ISAD), in August, to open a business institute.

HP SA CEO Thoko Mokgosi-Mwantembe said the HP Business Institute (HPBI) will focus on graduates in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector and "focus on developing scarce and critical skills in high-growth areas of the IT industry".

The HPBI, she said, will help build a "sustainable capacity to deliver against the IT industry`s growth needs".

Speaking at an event at the Michelangelo Hotel, in Sandton, on Monday evening, to kick off the HPBI, Mokgosi-Mwantembe said the facility would assist about 300 identified SME businesses over the next six to seven years, with 1 000 graduate learnerships and short skills programmes for 800 employees.

"These are not new companies," she said, "they are companies that are in business today."

First of many

Mokgosi-Mwantembe said her company will finalise agreements with the signed-up SMEs this week and will interview and appoint the first batch of graduates by 7 December. The Information Systems, Electronics and Telecommunications Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority contracts will be signed by 4 February and the graduates will start their learnerships the same day.

"They are the first of many intakes to come over the next six years," Mokgosi-Mwantembe added.

The programme will concentrate on three key areas: high-end technical skills, business acumen and coaching/mentoring. Mokgosi-Mwantembe noted that many SMEs fail because of a lack of business skills. However, they gain significantly from a mentor or coach who can help them access finance, generate leads and introduce them to experts, especially in integration.

Ikgomotseng Rapodile, a graduate of a similar HP SA programme, said in his case it had been life-changing. He started out as call centre agent, but - through persistence - had secured an HP interview and, through perseverance, had become an IT engineer.

SME owner Anne Kleynhans also lauded the initiative. "As an entrepreneur, I strongly identify with the HPBI. My own business has grown through skills development and training," she said. "I fully support this programme and encourage my peers to do the same."