A Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) is a person who will ensure that the organisation’s Workplace Skills Plan or Implementation Report is developed and implemented and serves as a liaison person between the organization or organisations and a Seta.
The function of the SDF is a key strategic function. The main purpose of the role is to ensure the organisation’s compliance and manage the risk in terms of the Skills Development Act, National Qualifications Act, Skills Development Levies Act, SAQA Act, BBBEE Act, BCEA, Labour Relations Act and EEA in terms of skills development.
A SDF ensures compliance and risk management of the above legislations by fulfilling the following roles:
- Advisor: To advise the employers and employees on the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and on the implementation of the WSP.
- Expert: To serve as an expert resource for accrediting the employer as a training provider and for the implementation of appropriate learnerships and skills programmes.
- Facilitator: To facilitate the development of an employer’s skills development strategy.
- Mediator: To serve as a contact person between the employer and the relevant Seta.
- Administrator: To complete and submit the Work Place Skills Planning (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR).
Key Performance Areas:
The SDF engages with and supports business unit leaders in the delivery of services to clients in line with the defined strategic objectives:
- Analyse the skills requirements within an organisation and coordinate the execution of the employees’ personal development plans; monitor the implementation of the workplace skills plan and report accordingly.
- Manage the organisation’s compliance risk related to the Skills Development Act, National Qualifications Act, Skills Development Levies Act, SAQA Act, BBBEE Act, BCEA, Labour Relations Act and EEA in terms of skills development.
- Manage the relevant Seta grant application process.
Differentiators for this role:
- The SDF is responsible for the successful submission of all legislative reports, that being Workplace Skills Planning (WSP), Annual Training Report (ATR) and associated reports.
- Align the company’s reporting requirements to legislation in order to meet the needs of SETA, DoL, and/or BEE Act.
- Ensure that the company’s learning requirements are aligned to the Skills Development Act, National Qualifications Act, Skills Development Levies Act, SAQA Act, BBBEE Act, BCEA, Labour Relations Act and EEA.
- Support all service lines with their annual B-BBEE reporting process and actively manage the skills development element with the B-BBEE verification agency or HR Manager.
- Actively participate and represent Skills Development in the company’s Employment Equity committee.
- Play an active role on the company’s EE committee by providing learning monitoring information.
- Engagement with stakeholders both in the company and externally to collate the supporting documents required for completion of the BEE and EE reports.
- Build professional relationships with relevant stakeholders to understand business needs in area/s of responsibility.
- Represent the company at the relevant Seta consultative workshops planned for the sector.
- Manage the company’s Skills Development Budget.
- Manage the process to prepare the Skills Development audit sample for submission to the BBBEE verification agency.
“SDFs and T&D in general are usually seen as a ‘nice to haves’ and are the first to be cut when times are tough. I do, however, think that as a function its vital to the growth and sustainability of any business,” says Anthea Kallis Business Continuity Manger at Summit.
“The process of the SDF is quite simple. A Skills Development Levy (SDL) is paid as 1% of a company’s salary bill to SARS on a monthly basis. SARS then administers those funds and distributes it to the relevant SETAs.”
If you would like to learn more about the SDF process at Summit and how it would affect your organsation’s learning journey, feel free to email Anthea at antheak@reachsummitglobal.com for more information.