Human Capital
Employees are central to Altech’s ongoing ability to remain competitive and profitable, but are also implicated in a number of important sustainability issues. These include skills development, employment equity, health and safety, HIV/Aids and human rights.
Altech is also guided by legislation that governs employment issues. This includes the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Labour Relations Act, Employment Equity Act, Skills Development Act and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which enshrines basic human rights. The company is also guided by the Department of Trade and Industry’s (dti) Codes of Good Practice (CoGP) in delivering on various employee-related transformation objectives.
Altech operates in the ICT sector that experiences a global shortage of skills. Skills development, attraction of top talent and retention of staff is therefore of the utmost importance. Altech’s human capital management plan incorporates policies for training and development, recruitment, remuneration and succession planning, all of which work to help the company meet its skills development objective.
Responding to the need for technical skills development
Altech’s most pressing technical skills lie in the engineering field, for which a graduate-in-training programme helps to ensure a steady pipeline of engineering skills. Engineering graduates are enrolled in the 18-month programme and receive practical work experience required to complete their engineering qualification. In 2011 there were 120 Altech Academy graduates from various programmes.
Altech also supplies bursaries to students studying electrical engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science on an annual basis. One of Altech’s proudest development programmes, The Altech Academy, was established in 2007 for high-potential future leadership candidates. The programme is an NQF level 8, and students wishing to obtain a full Master’s degree in Management of Technology and Innovation (MSc MOTI) only need to hand in a dissertation.
