Fluor’s Commitment to Sustainable Development in Botswana

13th June 2017

     

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Development of individuals is critical to the overall success of companies, as well as to the countries in which they operate.

Fluor, a global engineering, procurement and construction company, has trained more than 250 000 people over a period of 100 years. In 2008, Fluor University, an award winning employee development programme that provides virtual training to individuals around the world, was established.

Fluor opened an office in Gaborone, Botswana, in 2015, that serves as the company’s operations base to expand and diversify business activities across sub-Saharan Africa. This office is also equipped with the required technology to allow individuals to access Fluor University’s online, instructor-led and video distance-learning.

“The training initiative in Botswana empowers many local trainees and contributes to building a sustainable workforce in the country,” said Andries Bester, Fluor Botswana country manager. “Our objective is to assist to build and develop a project execution skills base in Botswana and to accelerate local development and training.”

According to Bester, eight trainees from Debswana have recently completed their training in Project Controls over a period of five weeks. “The training model used in Botswana is put together by the Fluor University team, in conjunction with experienced subject matter experts and then incorporated into Fluor University,” said Bester. “The course modules that were selected form the learning catalog were tailored to meet the client’s immediate needs.”

Fluor University consists of five virtual Colleges: Construction & Fabrication, Projects Management, Project Controls, Supply Chain and Engineering.

Programmes within these five Colleges group various functional learning activities which include virtual courses, readings, experiences and videos, and is continually updated to meet the ever changing operating environment.

Fluor employees have access to more than 200 instructor-led courses in traditional classrooms or through video distance learning. More than 1,000 online courses are also available. Fluor University is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education & Training (IACET) to grant continuing education units (CEUs), needed for professional certifications.

Bester points out that instructors are functionally experienced experts from the industry and from within the Fluor, who have been accredited by the Fluor University as presenters. Courses include a variety of training in Engineering, Project Management, Project Controls, Supply Chain  and Construction & Fabrication. “During our last course, instructors presented from offices in Woodmead, Durban, Australia and the Netherlands by video conferencing,” said Bester.

“This way we had global subject matter experts sharing their knowledge.” Fluor embarked on a programme in 2014 to accelerate development and training by integrating local personnel into existing Fluor projects as part of the project team and by doings so, advancing their personal development. “This is the first fully integrated and structured approach to career development where experience on Fluor projects also provides practical
learning,” stated Bester.

According to Bester, Fluor has provided training to the value of 8 million BWP in Botswana to date. More than 54 000 hours were spent on safety training alone. The aim is to empower individuals to become part of Botswana’s young skills force, and also to employ a number of individuals to work for Fluor on projects in Botswana.

Training in South Africa dates back to the early 1970s and to date, more than 40 000 individuals have been trained to work in the engineering, construction and maintenance industry in sub- Saharan Africa.

“Our employees are socially responsible, passionate and committed to making a sustainable and positive impact in communities where we operate through Fluor’s focus areas of education, social services, community and economic development, and the environment,” said Bester.

“We believe Fluor University is a valuable differentiator and we are committed to building a sustainable project execution workforce in Botswana, as well as in any other country in which
Fluor operates,” concluded Bester.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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