Mental health elevated more than ever before

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for employers to initiate mental health programmes for their employees. According to Juliette Fourie, founder and CEO of Metro Minds, this is something that should have been implemented before Covid-19.

“Unfortunately, this pandemic has brought about change for everyone. We have all been forced to adapt. In the learning space massive changes have taken place as well, and we are seeing the need for mental health care more and more. We are starting to see that it’s not just about acquiring technical skills but that soft skills like health and wellness, resilience, change management and decision-making are important too,” said Fourie

“This climate has brought about the need to cope better, whether it’s coping with loss of a loved one, coping with financial issues, or even just having to be in isolation. Overall health and wellness are starting to take centre stage. No matter your job title, you need to have the mental capacity to deal with everything happening around you.”

 

Budgetary constraints impact BEE employment focus

As companies in the logistics sector struggle with Covid-induced budgetary constraints, the focus among employers is survival – which clearly has an impact on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) goals. That’s the view of Juliette Fourie, founder and CEO of Metro Minds.

Commenting on whether companies were still serious about BEE, Fourie said there was still a lot of focus on the equity part of BEE and who employers needed to employ. “But the focus right now is getting the right person for the job.” “BEE is about spend and right now employers are choosing to spend less on skills development and enterprise development to get points and procurement because they would rather spend that money on trying to survive through Covid-19. Employers are focused on keeping their staff instead of spending money to get points for BEE.”

Covid-19 has resulted in the consolidation of job functions for companies across the world and means that many employees’ roles have become redundant, says Fourie. Automation and technology have become massive in the logistics industry. “This has helped logistics companies become more efficient, but the reality is that the labour aspect is in decline. To put it simply, companies no longer need as many staff members,” she adds.

“The logistics sector has become a professional industry compared to years ago and companies are looking for professionals. In the last ten years recruitment in the industry did not require individuals to have many qualifications to complete certain job functions, but now companies are looking for professionals. There is a lot of pressure to formalise qualified people.”

Simulation a key differentiator in airfreight sector training

The complex airfreight sector demands far more than theoretical knowledge, says Juliette Fourie, founder and CEO of Metro Minds. And in the face of current challenges, now is the time to invest in training.

“We can all teach theory, but practical training is still a challenge,” she says. “A controller or coordinator is generally only exposed to paperwork and information – not necessarily the cargo and aircraft movement. They do not have context of how cargo is packed, packaged, handled, loaded, moved and delivered across the world, 30 000 feet above the ground. ”Which is why Metro Minds has developed its blended learning approach in technical and specialised fields like airfreight. The simulated environment exposes them to how cargo moves as well as areas of risk. It is addressing a holistic view to ensure every key activity is covered – not just a portion of the movement. Using the blended approach, we are able to develop more activities and practical case studies to understand the foundation of airfreight better.”

Airfreight essentials form part of two National Qualifications in freight forwarding and customs compliance – online as well as blended. “With the focused approach, one is able to simulate more activities, in less time, with more retention and application.” She says the dramatic shift that has taken place to more modernised, simulated and virtual learning platforms is set to continue in the future. “Accelerated learning through simulation, gamification and practical learning is the way of the future. At Metro Minds we continue to come up with innovative ideas and solutions in this area,” she says, indicating that learning and education not only play a fundamental role in successful workplaces in general but are essential in the logistics sector where one is only ever deemed as good as one’s last shipment.

 

Lockdown underscores vital role of virtual training

Virtual classrooms are here to stay. So says Juliette Fourie, founder and CEO of Metro Minds, who believes that accelerated learning programmes like simulations and virtual classrooms provide massive opportunity for the training sector.

“We can reach so many more people and have a huge target-focused approach. Skills analysis, career coaching, and training according to purpose – not compliance,” she says. “The focus on innovation is extremely important. The opportunities are endless when you change your thinking and leadership vision to an innovating, integrated approach.” The company, recently awarded second place in the SA Innovation League of 2019/2020, has invested significantly into virtual classes, professional videos and more online and digital learning platforms and simulation activities in recent months. “Given the past few months’ disruptions due to Covid-19 and lockdown, this made practical sense,” says Fourie, who is also a big supporter of the power of emotional intelligence.

“Understanding habits, behaviour and personalities is an important aspect of the learning environment and we are investing more and more into these profiling tools prior to learning taking place. The next step is the launch of the Metro Minds Mentoring Hub where students, managers and any person invested in their self development can join for career coaching, business mentoring and health and wellness coaching. Having a meaningful life starts with having positive and healthy relationships, a satisfactory career, a well-balanced and loving household, and a healthy body and mind. It doesn’t matter which industry. Our learning programmes have evolved into more than just ‘soft’ skills and technical skills,” she says. “The launch of eMinds lite is also a very exciting product. Aimed at development in all spheres of a career, its powerful online programmes are reasonably priced. This links into our webinars where we are introducing these topics.”

According to Fourie, while the trend is to move training online there is still a need for contact learning and coaching sessions. It is often dependent on the sector. “Sales programmes, for example, require more field coaching as does management training where there are more in-depth leadership case studies and practical methodologies to handle.” She says the challenges in the training sector are connectivity and funding. “Not everyone has the equipment and data connectivity tools to attend virtual classes and online interventions. Due to this, we decided to provide each new registered learner on our 12-month courses with a tablet loaded with data for the year.”

Her overall outlook, however, is extremely positive. “We are forever changed by what we have experienced in lockdown and with Covid-19 in the past few months. We work smarter, we are more productive, we live different lives, we learn differently, we innovate more, and we are able to customise almost everything.”

Hire slow and train to stay

A successful talent pipeline that keeps a company moving forward requires a minimum of three years to achieve, says Juliette Fourie, CEO and founder of Metro Minds. Such a pipeline allows not only for talented prospects to be identified early, but also to be retained and aligned to a business strategy.

“The recruitment for the first year of talent is therefore extremely important,” says Fourie, indicating these are the employees identified to keep, grow and develop the company. Training, she says, plays a critical role in such a pipeline, ensuring that staff are aligned to the business strategy. “Strategies are often focused on compliance rather than what the business needs. There are wonderful vehicles like learnerships, internship, graduate programmes and simulations which can assist in such a strategy.”

Fourie is a firm believer in the ‘hire slow and train to stay’ principle. “People are far more productive and perform much better when they are invested in. ”Recruiting and then training staff, however, is not always an easy task for any business. “There are numerous challenges,” explains Fourie. “The numeracy and literacy proficiencies from school leavers certainly is one. It is not great and really has an impact on basic calculation and communication skills. Secondly, graduates entering the workplace with no experience but with a perception of quick and instant growth into an organisation can also be difficult to manage.”

Studies indicate that more than 50% of new, inexperienced job entrants lack critical thinking, 46% lack industry experience and 45% don’t have enough general business acumen. Without a formal talent pipeline that is actively recruiting and training new staff, companies can find themselves dealing with serious skills gaps. “The majority of new hires require extra coaching and training to get them up to speed,” says Fourie. “One of our big challenges, however, is funding models versus strategy for development,” says Fourie.

“A lot of drive for training comes from whether an organisation has received Seta funding or not. The BBBEE scores are also important to them and training is determined dependent on how many points are gained.” Whilst this is completely understandable, it does however make planning an academic year extremely difficult – especially to transfer skills from one year to the next into new qualifications. According to Fourie, Metro Minds continues to focus on its digital platform as well as virtual reality learning methodologies, a growing industry trend.

Supply chain simulation programme set for launch

Metro Minds is set to launch a supply chain simulation programme within the next few months following increased demand from the industry for training and skills development. According to Lynne Shale, the company’s senior logistics facilitator, this comes as the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market continues to grow, develop and change in line with heightened consumer expectations.

“Consumers are applying more pressure on the retail stores to be able to order globally as well as online, and are demanding more variety at a faster-moving pace. This puts pressure on the industry for constant, effective timeous deliveries.” She said this demand along with the highly competitive retail market was having an effect throughout the supply chain. “Distribution centres are having to constantly adapt operationally as well as logistically. Communication, real-time visibility, improved technology, location of facilities, route and load planning are of paramount importance,” said Shale. “Skills development in logistics is critical as this part of the supply chain is key to delivering customer satisfaction to all role players within the FMCG supply chain.”

Metro Minds CEO Juliette Fourie said the company was continuously launching new programmes to assist with supply chain optimisation.“Accelerated learning programmes like simulation are very valuable in this environment making it imperative to use training providers that can customise according to your environment,” she said.

Digital learning platform launched

Metro Minds has launched a new digital learning platform that takes e-learning to the next level. According to company CEO Juliette Fourie, eMinds aims to give students a far richer experience than just delivering content and assessments. “All our programmes are available on this platform and also align with the regulatory processes required from accredited training,” she told FTW. “Our simulated training is becoming more and more technologically driven with a lot of focus on systems, practice and imitation of the real world.

As a WiseTech partner, Metro Minds is working alongside Nomad Partners to assist companies with their support and training on the Cargo Wise System. We have also teamed up with innovation organisation Innocentrix and are hosting their high-end technology tool called the Thinkubator.” According to Fourie education technology is developing fast with digital learning platforms now the norm. Virtual reality and simulation are increasingly being used, with ongoing development in this field.

“The changing environments and drive for accelerated learning methodologies are enabling higher performance and better productivity,” she said. “Considering the laws of frequency as captured by Aristotle, namely the more things are experienced together, the better the memory or recall of them, it is easy to understand why simulation is such a powerful educational tool. Although it is not the exact real-time environment, the simulated one can be as successful as a real-life scenario.”

Fourie said, due to the nature of the logistics industry, it was always recommended to focus on simulators that emphasised specified tasks and activities. “A range of skills can be taught in the simulated environment and would be a good start to experience the broader range of skills needed in this industry to perform well and be productive,” she said. “There are significant benefits around workplace simulators – for individuals and new job entrants, employers and society, in addition to financial advantages.”

Online learning platform extends reach to Africa

Aligning education with new technology and processes that allow for better accessibility, flexibility and customisation remains a trend in the logistics industry – and that includes the airfreight sector. According to Juliette Fourie, Metro Minds CEO and founder, from an educational perspective the airfreight industry faces similar challenges to other sectors. “Safety, security, regulations, frequency and pricing should be understood by the controller handling the work on behalf of the customer,” she said. “It has been estimated that logistics costs as a whole constitute at least 14% of the cost of goods in South Africa, which is at least 50% above the global norm.

Airfreight is fast paced and comes with high demands. It is imperative that the workforce serving this industry has a trans-disciplined and integrated approach when making decisions and solving problems.” Fourie says online learning with simulation (an interactive platform that promotes accelerated learning) is continuing to gain traction with industry. “Although we focus a lot on the technical skills around international trade and logistics, we have developed tools and programmes like simulation to ensure higher performance levels and better productivity,” she told FTW.

“Evidence collected from first-time job entrants indicated that over 90% of the tested population would be more productive, make less mistakes and feel more comfortable and work-ready should they attend a workplace simulator.” The company’s online learning platform, eMinds, has also been developed to reach anyone working in Africa, allowing for integration of information between trading countries. The company is set to launch its “Kickstart your career Programme” within the next few months. This is aimed at school leavers and youth, providing a qualification in entrepreneurial skills, and will form part of companies’ socio-economic sponsorships. “Our largest investments now are in new digital, gaming and virtual reality developments that form part of our programmes,” said Fourie.

Don’t let compliance issues overshadow strategic objectives

Training should be the number one priority for businesses in the current skills-deficient environment. It’s an area that has become extremely complicated in recent years, according to Juliette Fourie, CEO of Metro Minds. “Even though some organisations have well-defined talent pipelines and methodologies to improve skills development, it is very much guided by funding models from Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas), B-BBEE compliance targets, employment equity and the reality of cash flow and profit margins,” she said. But when the focus became too heavily reliant on meeting compliance targets rather than following a long-term business strategy, the skills in demand were driven by a false sense of direction, she added.

“Skills are still in massive demand. We urge organisations to look at their skills and talent pipelines and rather start with their business strategy because the rest will fall into place when the strategy is implemented correctly,” she said. Metro Minds operations director Samantha Dorrington agrees. She believes that looking at the calibre of talent and education levels coming through the system, the responsibility has shifted to the private sector to look after the skills demand. “Organisational culture plays a large role in the drive towards filling the skills demand and we are directly experiencing the difference between “compliance-driven” students and “well thought-through business strategy” students.”

At the same time, skills development had become a huge compliance tick for businesses for various reasons, said Fourie. “Training providers are regulated by inconsistent processes that hinder the learning process rather than advancing it. Due to the compliance laundry list, the need for training is expressed in financial targets, rather than a long-term invested education and development plan. This makes it difficult to plan and have sustainability in the business.”

GAP programme exposes school leavers to logistics

In a bid to address the logistics industry skills deficit and attract more school leavers to the industry, Gauteng-based specialist freight and logistics training company, Metro Minds, has launched a new GAP year programme. “The programme focuses on exposing school leavers to the different disciplines of any business, aiming to ignite a new thinking process with exposure to problem-solving, decision-making and serving the larger society – the soft skills that school leavers are not exposed to during their secondary education,” says Metro Minds CEO, Juliette Fourie.

The GAP year was designed to provide school leavers with a choice of careers in the freight and logistics industry, as well as expose them to the realities of the workplace, and highlight opportunities in new venture development, says Fourie.“The GAP year is followed by a simulated industry-related qualification which focuses on industry-specific qualifications.” She says the simulation portion of the course is completed within a consecutive three-month period following direct exposure to the workplace.

Fourie points out that Metro Minds has been encouraging companies to look at simulation solutions for graduates entering their workplace to fill the gap between the academic and theoretical knowledge they have and the lack of industry knowledge, decision-making, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Largely based on its simulation programmes, Metro Minds has, to date, won three innovation awards. “We continue to invest in new and innovative ways to implement better learning solutions,” says Fourie, noting that its new offering includes an interactive digital learning experience which incudes simulation.

“We recognise that people want to be exposed to self-taught processes but still experience something practical with valuable human engagement.” Fourie adds that the online and digital experiences are an extension of Metro Minds’ learning methodologies. “It does not replace our popular contact sessions but, instead, becomes part of our accelerated learning process,” she says.