The freight industry has not been able to take advantage of the recessionary ‘breathing space’ to train staff, according to Juliette Fourie, who heads up the accredited training service provider, Metro Minds. “The reality is that although companies had more time on hand to upskill their staff, they simply couldn’t afford to do so,” she told FTW. “It was a choice of spending money on training or on salaries to retain staff.” Fourie feels that the skills shortage has, in fact, deteriorated as some people in the freight forwarding and clearing industries have been seeking jobs in other industries where the impact of the recession has not been as severe. “This means that the industry has lost yet more skills.” It has been a recession that has caused companies to become creative and look for the most efficient and cost-effective ways to upskill their staff and keep them happy in their current job functions. But recession or not, said Fourie: “As long as there is an absence of career-pathing there will always be a shortage of skill.” To meet this need, organisations are looking at more and more customised solutions. “Given this,” Fourie added, “we will continue to provide programmes and skills development projects that run in-house, and are tailored to the needs of the organisation.” The company divides its courses into three, separate sections. “Mechanism of Freight” is designed to cover the likes of Incoterms, imports and exports, and letters of credit (L/C); “Soft Spots” for time, stress and conflict management, telephone and e-mail etiquette, customer service and the like; and “Powerful People” for management, leadership, finance, sales and the like. Metro Minds is also part of the project team rewriting the Fiata (international federation of freight forwarders’ associations) diploma. “Once this is finalised by the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff),” said Fourie, “we will be one of the preferred suppliers offering the diploma. “And, as the national skills shortage is increasing, we have also decided to extend our programmes and workshops to Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.”
