With approximately five million people living with disabilities in South Africa it is essential that human resource professionals understand how to address this issue in the workplace. Disability recruitment company Siyakha Consulting provides training for HR consultants through its workshops.

Respect and tolerance within work teams starts with accountablilty and responsiblity for our own actions while developing a team-decided and managed set of interpersonal values to further promote team building and enhance team performance says Brian V Moore.

The future prosperity and well-being of a country and its citizens depends on how well it educates its children, says Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba. The minister said concerted effort needed to be made in improving participation and results in science, mathematics and technology, adding that children in both urban and rural schools must have the same access to these subjects.

Employers still smarting from the sting of the global recession are remaining conservative in their hiring plans over the next three months according to Manpower Employment Outlook Survey which reported that the outlook is at its weakest level since the survey began in 2006.

Do you know your customers? If you are no longer serving your customers to please them, but to fulfil the objectives of an ancient business plan it may be time to rethink your approach and tap into this valuable source of business.

Africa's economic potential has attracted global and local attention including South African property developers who are keeping an eye on the opportunities as well as the challenges that Africa's promising new postion presents.

E-marketing consultant Melissa Attree advises companies to remain calm during this time of social media marketing confusion, and continue to focus on the best marketing approach based on the needs of the organisation.

As Youth Day approaches we reflect on our rich history and consider the afflictions faced by young people today. Child abuse continues to be a key concern as statistics show that of the 18,7 million children in South Africa, over nine million are being physically, emotionally or sexually abused.

Talent management has become a top priority for South African companies yet many businesses fail to deliver on their promises of greater flexiblity and on-the-job training. How does this impact talent retention in the workplace?

If there is one area in which training providers sometimes cheat their clients and learners (not necessarily the same) then it is in time spent on learning and assessment.

How do you sell training in industries that think it is not crucial? The reason behind my question is that there is a perception that training is not so crucial, especially in the IT industry.

The revised Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) has been gazetted, reconciling the act which governs the evaluation and awarding of tenders with the principles of the BEE codes of good practice. This is hoped to put a stop to tenderpreneurs and give the fight against fronting renewed fervour.

Democracy, de-regulation and digitisation across Africa has helped to create a more attractive environment for foreign investments and Africa is positioning herself to be the next new frontier says businessman Foluso Phillips.

The Transport Education and Training authority, Teta, has strongly denied claims of misconduct from former-employee Secomoco Sibambato. The former Corporate Servces Manager alleged that three senior officials had awarded tenders illegally. Now the training entity has ordered a forensic investigation into the matter.

'Great workplace performance becomes a reality when we hire people who are able to do what is necessary and who have a positive attitude towards doing it.' Attibility is a term coined by South African entrepreneur Andre Grobler to describe employees who have the ability and willingness to perform.

Mpumalanga’s matric pupils are in for a warm treat following an R8 million budget to finance winter school programmes during the upcoming school holidays. Provincial department spokesman Jasper Zwane issued a statement detailing the plans of education MEC Reginah Mhaule, including that the winter school classes will be compulsory for all schools that performed below 30%, and scholar transport and nutrition will be provided for all pupils attending the winter school programme.

The Department of Labour’s inspectors have embarked on a week-long inspection blitz targeting the farming industry in the Free State. According to the department, the inspectors will be checking labour law compliance. Besides enforcing labour laws, inspectors will also promote sound labour relations and provide information and advice on labour laws to employers and workers.

Human Resource departments are challenged to comply with new business legislation while still maintaining excellent levels of employee productivity and customer service, Majuda Software SA offers turnkey voice logging solutions that address legal compliance issues and also enable effective call centre agent evaluation and employee quality monitoring.

South Africa will continue building its political and economic relations with the United States and United Nations institutions. International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister, Marius Fransman, has arrived in New York for a working visit with the two parties. During the visit, Fransman will hold a bilateral meeting with the UN development programme regional director for Africa, where issues of the status of the proposed strategic partnership between the UNDP and South Africa will be discussed.