Statement by Julie-May Ellingson
Chief Executive Officer
Cape Town International Convention Centre
A key pillar of the knowledge economy is having educated and skilled people who are equipped and enabled to create, share, and use knowledge efficiently. To this effect, the CTICC has invested substantially in the training and developmental needs of our staff.
We invested in a total of 3 639 hours of training for our permanent staff, which is a 235% increase over the 1 085 hours of training provided in the 2013/14 financial year. In addition to this short-term training, 31 staff members also had access to 20 different forms of long-term training, at some of the leading universities and institutions of higher learning.
We also undertook on-the-job training for our contract staff which contributed to our excellent customer service. We continually measure our success in this regard through our independently verified customer satisfaction index. In 2014/15, we again exceeded our overall customer satisfaction target of 75% by achieving a customer satisfaction rating of 80% across our business.
The CTICC’s growth strategy is founded on the cornerstones of succession planning and implementation.
For us, training encompasses the four spheres of statutory, vocational, developmental, and values-based leadership. In May 2015, we launched our exciting new graduate programme, which is aimed at providing young people who have recently obtained relevant tertiary qualifications with practical work experience.During the 2014/15 financial year, we took in 12 students – 10 from local tertiary institutions and two internationals.
CTICC Career Skills Day
We hosted 50 students from Mitchells Plain School of Skills and Lathi-tha School of Skills in Khayelitsha at a CTICC Career Skills Management Day in June this year. This interactive workshop, facilitated by our staff, created a platform for knowledge sharing, advice, insights and computer training, all geared to equip our youth with the tools they need to find gainful employment.
Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC)
We also hosted staff of the KICC as part of their exposure programme. Their team shadowed our Operations, Finance, Human Resources, ICT and Security staff to learn from the CTICC team. The KICC staff thoroughly enjoyed their time at the CTICC and a lot of fun and learning was had.
Angolan Ministry of Hotels and Tourism
The CTICC is benchmarked as an industry leader in terms of our product offering and our service excellence. We hosted the Angolan Ministry of Hotels and Tourism on a fact-finding and learning exercise to adopt best practice for their research into the development of a convention centre in Angola.
Youth Interpreter Magazine (Community-based organisation)
This magazine, managed and produced by a team of incredible youth, had approached the CTICC for advertising. What they walked away with, was way more than what they could have hoped for.
