SABPP gives HR students a glimpse of the work environment
SABPP gives HR students a glimpse of the work environment
SABPP COO: Mr. Xolani Mawande addressing the HRM students
Puleng Maphisa
On 20 April, the Department of Human Resource Management (HRM) hosted its South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) HR Career Day. The purpose of this event was to take students through the journey of a career in Human Resource Management within the work environment. This was organized by the SABPP student chapter of VUT that was launched last year. Various representatives from industry brought students up to date with developments in the discipline and expectations from employers.
Key takings from this event, is for students to have a well-rounded understanding of the role and impact of an HR practitioner. “HR practitioners should have strong ethics, be the voice of the employees, have courage, be responsible and must acquire knowledge and skills required for getting the best out of people,” said Dr Pierre Joubert, HOD: Human Resource Management.
The keynote speaker was Mr Xolani Mawande, SABPP Chief Operations Officer (COO) who congratulated VUT for receiving the award for the best HR Standards aligned institution in South Africa in 2016 and further mentioned that some of the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) lecturers are part of their Higher Education Committee and Evaluation Committee. A graduate from this Department was also appointed as the first HR Audit officer in the world.
SABPP is an NPO that awards excellence and competence of students at universities accredited by them. “It is within our pipeline at the SABPP to make HR be declared as a statutory profession, every university should have a student chapter that is active, gets into seminars and is funded by the SABPP,” said Mr Mawande as he discussed their future plans.
For more information regarding the VUT HR student structure please visit the Facebook page: #vutcareerday.