Botswana needs to up its training game

Botswana needs to invest heavily in training for its transport and logistics industry as the lack of skills continues to impact negatively, according to Kevin Lees of Truckhire. “We have a severe lack of artisans and truck drivers at present, as well as general skills. More training is necessary from government side as well as the private sector.” According to Lees one of the major obstacles is the lack of any facilities or specific courses in the country, making it reliant on South Africa for training. “The government does offer a tax rebate for training of employees, but it is not always feasible because there not many training facilities.” This means employees have to come to South Africa for specialised training, which can be costly. And the transport industry for the most part attracts very specific kinds of people, especially when one is looking at truck drivers. “Not just anyone can be a truck driver,” said Lees. “It is a difficult job to do at the best of times. Another major obstacle is that often companies invest heavily in training employees only to find them leaving and joining the competition. It is important that we as an industry keep standards at a specific level and ensure we are continuously training our people despite these challenges.” He said difficult economic times were an ideal time to train workers. “I think it is important to resist the urge to retrench workers when the going gets tough as it is expected to in the next few months. When we retrench we lose the skills we have built up during the boom times and it ultimately impacts even more negatively in the long run.” The shortage of skilled drivers remains another major concern for operators in Botswana, according to Lees. “Drivers in our industry are crucial and if we do not address the shortage we are going to run into some severe problems in the near future.” Lees believes one of the major problems is that standards are not kept at a consistent level. “Companies are taking on drivers with blemished records because drivers are so scarce at present.” He says it’s also important that the industry as a whole ensures that drivers are paid well and incentivised to do well to ensure that the standard is kept high. This, he says, will also go a long way in stopping drivers from job-hopping.