Have you got more to give and further to rise? Henley’s part-time Advanced Diploma in Management Practice for new managers, team leaders and supervisors is an accredited programme that can get you unstuck and give you a skills and confidence boost so you are free to rise in your career and your life!
Management is notoriously hard to learn and is mostly learned the hard way! So says Henley Business School Africa Dean Jon Foster-Pedley, who wants to start a skills revolution in South Africa to build careers, organisations, performance – and hope in the country.
South Africa has a talent gap problem, he explains. “Quality management and leadership skills are rare, and an estimated 45% of the workforce have skills unsuited to the jobs they are doing, and only about 4-5% of those who start school in South Africa go on to get degrees; it’s 55% in Finland and 50% in the UK.”
In too many cases, individuals are promoted without the experience and skills they need to manage effectively, which can have dire consequences not only for the individual but for their colleagues and the greater organisation.
The remedy? “We need to make management training easier, faster and more immediately useful for organisations,” says Foster-Pedley.
Henley Business School has developed a unique qualification stairway in Management Practice, from post-matric to masters level, designed to fast-track the management skills of working South Africans, helping their careers as well as the companies they are working for.
“This is a new way of education. Midcareer management training with qualifications for people who have work experience and high motivation. People can work while they study and gain lifelong motivation and a huge confidence and skills surge. At the same time, companies get a massive boost in capability and talent. This is turning the great disadvantage South Africa has into an advantage.”
As part of its commitment to making it easier to access this training, Henley Africa has opened a campus in Cape Town, in addition to its bustling Joburg campus, to offer its training in that market. This February, it will kick off its accredited training on that campus with the launch of its SOAR! Programme, an Advanced Diploma in Management Practice (ADMP), and the third accredited programme in its management stairway.
SOAR! is accredited at NQF level 7 (the same level as an undergraduate degree) and is especially relevant to new managers, team leaders, and supervisors who have been working for many years but lack formal degree-level qualifications. The programme offers skills that are immediately applicable in the workplace, and which positively impact students’ ability to manage and lead through complexity.
Nantus Grobler, a University of Pretoria sports science graduate looking to build his management competence after moving into a sales role, says he was drawn to Henley Africa precisely because of the school’s clearly articulated stairway of programmes starting at his (then) level of experience, all the way up to MBA level.
“I’ve been studying with Henley for three years. I started with the Higher Certificate in Management Practice (HCMP), then moved on to the Advanced Certificate in Management Practice (ACMP), and now I’m doing the ADMP,” he says.
“Initially, I was worried that I would fail, but on reflection, I think that was simply a fear of the unknown because once I started the first course, the supportive environment and focus on developing confidence and self-awareness really came to the fore.
“I’ve applied what I’ve been taught into my workplace systematically, and it’s had a massive impact. Since starting my studies, I’ve shifted from something I thought I loved (sales) to something I really love (business), which could not have happened without Henley.”
Whether you work in a small or large organisation, or if you are your own boss, the Henley ADMP is perfect for bolstering your business acumen, reinforcing strategic management practices and expanding your thinking by introducing you to key concepts such as customer value, the future world of work, design thinking and sustaining excellence.
ADMP graduate Claire Nombika says the programme gave her the confidence to realise her life-long dream of being her own boss.
“Two years ago, just after I’d handed in my last ADMP assignment, I launched my recruitment firm, Lusapho Professional Business Services,” she says. “I had always wanted to start my own business but did not have the confidence to do it until the ADMP. Now my company, which is 100% female and black-owned, has 40 employees and a branch in the UK.”
The SOAR! programme is a Council on Higher Education (CHE) accredited programme consisting of five learning blocks delivered over 12 months. The medium of instruction is both face-to-face (there are 22 contact days over the study term) and online.
“All assessments are project-based and directly relate to a student’s professional role. In this way, their workplace becomes a learning laboratory where you can apply the theory you’ve learned in your own career context,” says Jonathan Stock, Director of Open and Accredited Undergraduate Programmes at Henley Africa.
"Now is the time to start on the lifelong pathway to becoming a good strategist, a pathway that will grow as you move later, if you wish, into honours and MBA. IN this programme, you will learn to manage unfamiliar and ever-changing contexts. You will grow your own purpose as a leader - a real superpower - and learn to excel under pressure and in complex times. Above all, you will learn to deliver, to act for impact and turn your learning into action and results at work."
The five learning blocks cover the following topics:
1. Thinking processes and practicesADMP applicants require an NQF level 6 certificate or equivalent national diploma, evidence of English proficiency, and three years minimum management experience. Recognition of Prior Learning candidates are also considered.
There are multiple intakes in 2024, with the next programme kicking off in Cape Town on 24 June and in Johannesburg on 20 May.
Get a taste of the Henley learning experience at the next ADMP info session.
Date: 14 March 2024
Time: 19:00 – 20:00
Location: Online via Zoom
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