Basic Business Skills Programme

Target Audience
This programme aims to provide participants with basic knowledge and skills in the work environment. The minimum requirements are basic numeracy and literacy and a level of education equal to Standard 5 – 6. This programme can, and has, been successfully used by organisations for accelerated development of employees into supervisory positions.
Objectives
To introduce participants to basic knowledge and skills required in the workplace with particular emphasis on:
- Understanding the environment in which they work
- Their role and responsibility in the organisation
Developing their skills in the following areas:
Self-management and leadership
Communication
Goal setting
Problem solving
Conflict management
Team work
Planning and time management
Organising and control
Their job with regard to serving customers (internal and external)
Developing financial awareness (including financial life skills)
Programme Structure and Content
Total days = 6 (i.e. 3 sets of workshops, spread over 6 weeks, two days every second week)
Course Content

SECTION ONE: AN INTRODUCTION INTO THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
This section helps the delegate to get a clearer picture (helicopter view) of the Business Environment or Economy as a whole. It looks at where ICMD fits into the bigger picture.
1.The Economy
2.Macro & Micro Economy
3.Factors affecting the Micro Economy of SA include:
Inflation
CPI
The State Budget
Taxes
The Reserve Bank and Interest rates
Banks and Interest rates
Socio-Economic Environment
Labour Legislation

SECTION TWO: FUNCTIONAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF BUSINESSES
This section focuses on building an understanding of the Functional Areas necessary to run an organisation.
Purchasing from suppliers
Production
Marketing to customers
Finance
Administration
Personnel
General Management
Competition

SECTION THREE: UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMERS AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

This section builds competence and understanding around customers and how to serve them at increasingly higher levels. Tolls for improving on existing customer service levels and the reason for it’s importance in a business environment is dealt with.
1.Introduction
2.Shocking Statistics
3.What is Customer Service?
4.Why do we treat customers so badly?
5.Customer service is about attitude – your attitude
6.Customer communication
7.Four steps to improve communication
8.Handling unhappy customers
SECTION FOUR: SELF MANAGEMENT
Managing others effectively begins with good self management and this section aims to develop a competence in this important area.
The Johari Window
What is self-esteem?
Communication & self-esteem
The Importance of being assertive
How to Develop assertiveness: From Victim to Victor
Conflict Handling
Managing yourself effectively
Managing groups
Group process or Group Development
Your Basic Rights: The power of personal awareness, insight and mastery
Performance feedback
Transactional Analysis
Receiving feedback
Giving feedback
Goal setting.
Learning Approach
Pre-course work:
No pre-course work is required
Full-time workshops Tlhopheho Modise and Malcom Gaw will be the faculty facilitating on this course. They will have been briefed as to the industry and organisation in order to make the workshop relevant and applicable. It is suggested that we have one facilitator across the six days, as this helps build trust and a rapport between the facilitator and the class. Having a new person facilitate every day, will mean that it takes a little longer to establish trust and rapport. Participants also relate easier to one person than to six different facilitators at this level. It should be noted that at this level, experiential learning facilitates practical application together with conceptually framing the principles learnt. A work journal is kept and submitted as proof of progress and covers the relevant topics per training intervention for the period between sessions.

The work journals will be the workbooks, which will be used during the course of each day to record what the participants are learning as well as giving them ‘activities’ to complete away from the classroom.
Participation of higher levels in order to illustrate commitment, understanding and support, the leaders of the organisation are required to partially participate in the programme on request. Partial participation could include graduation and rewards, clarity and recognition. Commitment by leadership to develop and establish appropriate structure, processes and systems will ensure follow-through and sustainability of learnt behaviour.
 

Assessment

A graduation takes place at the end of the process, where participants demonstrate what they’ve learnt which may include a display of their work journals. This will be illustrative of their progress and actions on how they are going to apply their knowing, i.e. how their efficiency has improved over the duration of the different interventions or, participants could do presentations on what they have learnt to their managers.