It may be an unfamiliar concept in a country where millions of people have little or no formal education, but lifelong learning holds the key to the future for many South Africans. Business schools are trying to tap into this continuous updating of skills and knowledge, which is necessary to develop the SA economy.
Research shows that nearly half the population lacks the skills required for the current economy. They are not qualified for the jobs they already hold, and in an age of automation and artificial intelligence, that will only get worse. Many of the jobs that exist today won’t be around in five or 10 years. And many of those that are, will require different skills.
Yesterday’s university graduates are tomorrow’s unemployment statistic — unless they keep updating their knowledge. As Henley Business School Africa dean Jon Foster-Pedley puts it: "Life is overtaking us and it won’t sit around waiting for us to catch up."
That certainly applies to business education. What managers or executives learnt a decade ago about leadership or HR has lost some relevance, particularly in an age of remote working. Executive education is only part of the solution.
Helena van Zyl, former director of the University of the Free State Business School, says the traditional model, through which students gain qualifications on specific subjects, is "too limiting and too slow".
"I am of the opinion that lifelong learning and executive education should … address all the elements in the world where we work," she says.
Milpark Business School dean Cobus Oosthuizen says there is no such thing as too much knowledge. "You should never come to a point where you think you know everything. Business schools need to evangelise lifelong learning. What doesn’t grow, dies."
Quoting a World Economic Forum report stating that 50% of employees need reskilling by 2025, Regenesys Business School dean Penny Law says: "If the gap between industry and academic institutions is reduced, through partnerships that design and deliver programmes that are directly relevant to the workplace, employers will invest more in lifelong learning endeavours, as they will benefit directly."
It’s important that schools impress on students that education doesn’t end with graduation, says Wits Business School quality assurance head Susan Benvenuti. "Lives change, careers change. People must think critically about their future. Fortunately, that culture is starting to emerge."
When it comes to lifelong learning, alumni are an obvious target — and many, in fact, are asking for it. To this end, "we should be building on existing relationships", says Wits director Maurice Radebe.
Regent Business School has consistently highlighted the importance of reskilling and employability. "I don’t think business schools in general have paid enough attention to lifelong learning," says school director Ahmed Shaikh. "A lot of people feel vulnerable because of shifts in industry. We have to think ahead. We can’t just react to the market."
It’s a sentiment echoed by Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) interim dean Morris Mthombeni, who says schools "must bring the future to the present".
"One reason business schools came late to the lifelong learning party is their funding model," he explains. "It makes them focus on the now and not enough on tomorrow."
But change is happening. With the general shift to online learning, schools say they can now provide short-duration, "bite-sized" chunks of relevant knowledge. North-West University Business School director Jan van Romburgh says: "People don’t want to sit for two days any more. They’d rather learn something specific in three hours.
"We want to package learning into small, relevant pockets that build up over time."
If the cost is equally small and relevant, that will encourage students.
Foster-Pedley says schools — and the higher education sector in general — need to accommodate the "phenomenal desire" for continued learning, particularly among people disadvantaged by SA’s historically damaged education system. They were brought up to consider education a privilege. Now that they are progressing at work and beginning to recognise their true potential, "they want to get back on the education bandwagon".
Clearly, schools have to be innovative to safeguard their futures.
Market research for this story shows corporate financial constraints and business uncertainty (mainly the result of Covid) caused a significant drop in executive education demand last year.
The number of customised programmes — tailor-made for individual corporate clients — fell significantly from 2019. Open programmes were almost unchanged, though this owed much to a flood of women-in-leadership and customer-service courses.
Despite a surge in digital programmes, off a very low base, the total number of students attending executive education programmes at participating schools in 2020 fell sharply from the previous year, from 29,940 to 21,543.
Programmes conducted in other parts of Africa by SA business schools more than halved, from 67 to 33. There was also a sharp drop in the number of African companies sending their staff to programmes in SA.
The 2020 switch from classroom to online teaching did away with many of the former’s costs, such as accommodation and catering. This was reflected in average programme costs, with schools either holding prices at 2019 levels or making significant cuts. The average daily cost of a customised executive course, for example, fell from R7,033 to R3,133, and an open course from R9,522 to R6,987.
But generosity extends only so far. For 2021, the averages rebounded, respectively, to R9,684 and R11,247.
Changing business and social dynamics are reflected in the increased range of programme subjects. While traditional subjects such as leadership, finance, project management, strategy, entrepreneurship and personal development continue to hold sway, companies and individual students can also "reimagine your business beyond Covid-19", learn how to manage staff they never see, and "develop strategic thinking skills utilising behavioural science and neurostrategy".
Employers would like them to expand their offerings even further. Though grateful for the thought leadership and skills imparted through executive education, they want schools to do more on change leadership.
What else do they think schools should be doing? Top of employers’ wish-list is for schools to facilitate discussions between the government and the private sector. They also say schools should address social issues, help "educate the masses", offer more creative problem-solving and provide more relevant case studies.
Tellingly, though 95% of employers think business schools have a role in facilitating debate on matters of social, economic and political importance, only 55% think they actually do so.
Despite these misgivings, 95% of employers say they would continue using the business school they do now. If they were to change their mind, Gibs’s runaway preference as first alternative has been whittled away by the university schools of Wits, Stellenbosch and Cape Town.
A year ago, Gibs enjoyed a lead of eight percentage points and the four were separated by 14%. Gibs still leads in 2021, but the overall spread is down to 4%. Henley Africa follows, then Milpark Business School and Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership.
Research demographics
Market research for this story took place between March and June 2021. Fifteen business schools participated. They were the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, the Da Vinci Institute School of Business Leadership, the University of the Free State Business School, the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science, Henley Business School Africa, the Management College of Southern Africa Graduate School of Business, Milpark Business School, the Nelson Mandela University Business School, the North-West University Business School, Regenesys Business School, Regent Business School, Rhodes Business School, the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership, the University of Stellenbosch Business School and the Wits Business School.
In addition, 78 employers from around SA took part.
Of these, 73% were in the private sector, 18% in the public sector and 9% from nongovernment or nonprofit organisations. The majority of participants were in financial services, followed by education, manufacturing, retail, fast-moving consumer goods and logistics.
Other sectors polled included consulting, engineering, agriculture, property, construction and hospitality.
Research was conducted by the Lodestar Company
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