We are facing new realities of the world of work. Nothing could have prepared us for the new challenges we face during a global pandemic forcing us into social distancing.
The world of work will never be the same again and we need a different set of skills to re-design our future!
You have the opportunity to be excellent!
You can respond to any challenge or change in different ways – either get stuck in the crisis OR be part of the solution…
Let’s take the road less traveled
WHO is Liezl van der Westhuizen
and
WHY am I writing this blog
I grew up in a small town in the Sandveld in the Western Cape in South Africa. When my parents moved there, I was 11 years old and believed I could do anything and everything I’ve put my mind to. And for most of my growing up years, I’ve managed to prove this to myself. After school, I chose a career and focused on becoming the best in my selected field.
It is so easy to fit into society’s perfect picture of expectations. School, study, build a career, work, retire… We sometimes forget all the different things in life we love, are good at and enjoy doing. When I grew up, it is easy to see the different things I could do when I grow up – the different colors of my potential life-parachute.
After school, I joined the South African Women Army (SALVKOL) in George – a beautiful coastal town in the Southern Cape in South Africa. Here I learned to not only be a responsible citizen, but I believe I grew into the person I am today living through one of the toughest years of my life so far. I learned about perseverance, about the choice to get up and go again after a fall, to always find an alternative solution when faced by a dead-end and to be creative in any and every aspect of life!
After this life-changing year I studied within the Social Science field and worked for 6 years – again aiming to be the best in my field. I ended up back at the Higher Education Institute where I studied as Lecturer and spent the next almost 8 years building into eager students, what I’ve experienced in life and living my purpose in life. This was such an empowering experienced and such a privilege to be part of the growth experiences of many students.
An opportunity opened up at the College to establish a new Further Education and Training College (FET) offering post-school qualifications. I was offered the challenge to develop a Quality Management System, to create operational procedures and to assist in establishing a well-respected leader ahead of its time as FET College. After 6 years I left and worked for a brief period as Monitoring and Evaluations Manager at a Non-Governmental Organisation specialising in HIV and Aids prevention and services.
At that time in my life and my career, I had a well-established set of principles and a well-defined professional ethical code and it became harder and harder to work within a context where I could not align my employer’s ways of doing things, with my own beliefs and ethical code. And I realised it is time for me to re-visit all the different colors of my parachute… At some stage I was asked by my employer to establish an internal Training Academy within the organisation and I realised – If I need to do it for them, I can do it for myself…
In September 2013 I established my own Consulting Company and Accredited as Private FET College in 2017, currently offering 10 full qualifications within 4 different SETAs. I’ve built a return-client base within the Skills Development Sector with service offerings including Assessment, Moderation, Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) functions, conducting Skills Audits and submitting Work Skills Plans and Training Plans for companies. I’ve developed SAQA aligned curriculum and offered my Professional Facilitator skills as a Freelance Consultant. I’ve assisted many Training Academies to develop their Quality Management Systems and to set up their Academies from start to implementation.
After working in the education and skills development sector for 20+ years, my approach to business changed in an instant after a very informative webinar presented by Suzanne Hatting on the 4th Industrial Revolution. This webinar challenged me to rethink the way I run my academy, present training and where my focus should be.
I decided to start this blog to reflect on the future realities of skills needed within an ever-changing world of work.
This series of topics will not only open your mind to near-future realities, or challenge you to think differently – it will prepare you with knowledge and skills to change the way you think about yourself, your current job, your skills, your potential – and most of all – it will tap into your creative innovative self to unlock everything you need to succeed in work opportunities.
With the global Coronavirus (#COVID-19) and almost 5 billion people under lockdown (April 2020), all our collective experiences of life and work as we know it, have been challenged and changed. We are no longer relying on what we know how to work, but what we discover to be possible in our current context. Although this lockdown and social distancing will pass, the world of work will be changed forever.
Due to this global health crisis, I decided to launch Future Skilled as it will address the immediate need. I choose “progress over perfection”.
Let’s support each other to be ready for what the new world need from us. Lets support each other to be Future-Skilled!”
[Liezl van der Westhuizen holds a Masters Degree from UNISA within the Social Science Sector, worked within the Higher Education and Further Education sector, within Local Government, Faith-Based Organisations, the NGO sector and since 2013 runs her own successful company, Creatividad Consulting cc. Her company grew from a single-person consultancy to include a FET Private College and recently a Not for Profit Company assisting entrepreneurs to find their niche and generate work and income to sustain their livelihood.]
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