Robbie Venter, Bill Venter & Madelise Grobler
Allied Electronics (Altron) has revamped its subsidiary Allied Technologies’ (Altech’s) training academy into a corporate university aimed at developing ever-evolving, critical skills for the company and industry, nurturing a culture of lifelong learning and catering for the further education requirements of all of its employees.
The newly launched Bill Venter Academy, named for Altech founder and chairperson Dr Bill Venter, was established this week at the Bytes Conference and Training Centre, in Midrand, with Bytes People’s Solutions MD Madelise Grobler taking the reins.
Established six years ago by outgoing patron, Altron’s newly formed Telecommunications, Multimedia & Technology (TMT) business group executive and Altech CEO Craig Venter, the academy had been successful with nearly 600 employees graduating in certificate courses, as well as master’s degrees.
Now the facility would move into a new age of corporate learning and skills development, following a natural progression as the group emerged from a year of transformation, which saw extensive restructuring and rebranding initiatives amid far-reaching cost-saving projects.
The Bill Venter Academy would comprise four strategic focus areas, namely management and leadership development for junior, middle, senior and top managers; sales enablement; customer service; and specialised and scarce information and communication technology skills programmes, to bolster the company’s talent pool.
The further educational opportunities would extend across the group, playing a “significant role” in securing the businesses’ strategic success and ongoing sustainability in the years to come.