(From AllAfrica.com) Accra — Mining giant AngloGold Ashanti has admitted first time since its operation in Ghana that it had not been good listeners with respect to its business culture, traditions and way of doing business in the country.

"We have previously made the mistake of underestimating local skills, while not looking to support our high level skills with the appropriate global operating and technical skills.

The net impact is we have too many expatriate working in areas where local Ghanaians should have the requisite skills and we are short where we see very specific global technical skill requirements," said Group Chief Executive of AngloGold, Mark Cutifani.

Cutifani was delivering the first in the series of annual AngloGold Ashanti Lectures on Business in Africa at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.

In an interview with The Chronicle, Cutifani noted that it was imperative for governments and its local partners to consider as a priority area, an investment in local needs and allocate capital to help support the infrastructural development in those areas of investments.

"When governments look to partnering us in investments we must first understand what the local needs are, and allocate capital to help support the infrastructural development within those areas and also do more for the development of new industries that can live beyond mining."

Read more.

Tags: ghana, africa, skills, development, public sector

Categories: International | News

Hot off the presses! It is confirmed that Jeffrey Zients, the nation's first Chief Performance Officer, will be speaking at the upcoming conference hosted by The Public Manager and the American Society for Public Administration. The conference will be held November 2-3 in Washington, D.C. For more information on Zients, see the press release. To HEAR him speak, go to the conference. Register at www.thepublicmanager.org/2009conference. Early bird registration has been extended until October 30!

Tags: the public manager, conference, chief performance officer, government, public sector, barack obama, jeffrey zients

Categories: ASTD in the News | Conferences | Government | Public Policy

Women who own small businesses will be able to use a new online U.S. SmallBusiness Administration training course to learn how to identify and takeadvantage of federal contracting opportunities. The new training course, WinningFederal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs, is part of an ongoinggovernment-wide initiative to promote opportunities for women-owned businessesin the area of government contracting. This free online tutorial is a practical and easy to use guide that walks awoman-owned small business through the contracting process. SBA is committed toensuring that women-owned businesses receive at least 5 percent of federalcontracts and believes better training opportunities are central to meeting thisgovernment-wide goal. Read the full release.

Tags: public sector, entrepreneur, private sector, women, training

Categories: News

(FRAN SPIELMAN, Chicago, Sun-Times) Chicago will spend $20 million in proceeds from the parking meter lease to create its very own "Tech Corps" -- by offering technology training and temporary city jobs to 10,500 laid-off professionals.

"There are a lot of people unemployed or who [have] lost their jobs -- not just laid off. How do you get 'em back to the work force as quickly as possible?" Mayor Daley said Tuesday, after a "Technology Summit" at Microsoft's Chicago headquarters.

"We want to create a pool . . . so any company looking [for] talent can come to Chicago and they can say, 'I can beat Europe for 10, 15, 20, 30, 50 years because of the talent that is not only presently here and retrained, but also with the school system.' There's more and more talent coming out in technology."

Chicago is already home to an estimated 350,000 information-technology employees in such fields as data processing, management and technical consulting and Internet publishing.

The $20 million Tech Corps initiative is aimed at creating an even larger pool of trained technology professionals to bolster Chicago's ability to attract information technology businesses.

Read the entire article.

Tags: jobs, careers, job search, training, public sector, chicago

Categories: News

Just put out a press release announcing the new issue of The Public Manager, which comes out October 15.  Good content regarding networking and collaboration among government entities. This quarterly journal is must-read material for everyone working in the public sector AND those working in non-profits or for contractors who deal with the public sector.  We put the press release out this week because EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION for The Public Manager's upcoming conference ends NEXT WEEK. If you haven't registered yet, go to www.thepublicmanager.org/2009conference and get the good rate. There will be a big announcement about a high-profile government official speaking at the conference coming in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!

Tags: the public manager, public sector, conference, networking, collaboration

Categories: ASTD in the News

LAST month, Kevin Rudd made a speech, which although not heavily reported, set the government a significant objective and will form an important marker for its success.

In an address to the Australia New Zealand School of Government, he set out his ambition to reinvigorate the public service to be more effective and efficient. This does not sound too sexy, but given the public sector accounts for more than 40per cent of the domestic economy, reform is vital. What is more, in many areas the public sector is in serious need of improvement.

The Prime Minister said: "We need a more sweeping reform driven by a long-range blueprint for a world class, 21st century public service." He also established an advisory panel to develop such a plan.

Whatever the plan, it is vital that public sector reform is not left entirely to the public sector. Business should take it seriously and attempt to shape this reform. Like any large organisation, the public sector is difficult to change and therefore needs all the insights and pressure that can be marshalled.

Read the full article.

Tags: innovation, talent management, strategy, public sector, private sector

Categories: International | News

(ABC News) -- The Federal Government's bid to set up national laws for workplace safety is in doubt, with Western Australia saying it is unlikely to agree.

A draft version of the new national occupational health and safety laws is expected to be released today.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard is meeting state and territory ministers, including a concerned Troy Buswell from Western Australia.

He is refusing to sign up to the laws because he thinks they give unions too much power.

Read the full article.

Tags: australia, workplace, public sector, safety

Categories: International | News

(From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) Out-of-work Wisconsin residents would have greater access to job training and technical college programs through a bill being considered by Democrats who control the Assembly.

The plan would be funded with a 1% income tax increase on individuals making $1 million or more, which would generate about $145 million, bill sponsor state Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) said Tuesday. A bill pending in Congress would provide at least $135 million in matching funds, he said.

The measure would mean about 40,000 residents would have increased access to job training, Mason said.

Technical college administrators reported that enrollment is up as much as 18% at their institutions, as are requests for financial aid. Many are on waiting lists for access to classes or financial aid.

"You hear from people repeatedly who are out of work, who had jobs for decades - skilled jobs, good jobs - who are having a hard time getting retrained," Mason said.

The job-training bill would use the combination of state and federal funds to provide financial aid resources to low-income students who are awaiting spots in desired programs; award grants to companies to modernize facilities and equipment to create jobs; and expand an angel investment tax credit program to boost qualified new businesses.

 

Read the entire article.

 

Tags: training, training funding, public sector, jobs, careers, wisconsin

Categories: News

(From the Frederick News-Post) The U.S. Small Business Administration recently launched a new online training course to make it easier for small businesses to win government contracts.

The course, Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal Contracts, is part of a federal government-wide initiative announced last month by President Barack Obama and is led by SBA and the Department of Commerce.

The free, self-paced, instructional guide gives an overview of the federal procurement process.

"The SBA online training course can help businesses access the federal purchasing system and position themselves to compete for the commercial opportunities offered by government contracting," SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said in a statement.

Chris Olson is consultant at the Frederick County Small Business Development Center and president of the Frederick County Entrepreneur Council.

"The SBA's website is a very rich resource, with lots of great tutorials and other reference and instruction materials for business owners, especially on the topics of financial management and government contracting," Olson said. "We always recommend it in our business start-up seminars."

Read the entire article.

Tags: government grants, small businesses, public sector

Categories: News

Tags: skills, skills shortage, government, public sector

Categories: News