DACHSER South Africa recognised for leading in skills development

Managing Director of DACHSER SA, Detlev Duve, was at the black-tie ceremony to receive the award, of which all winners were only announced during the ceremony. Duve says of the achievement, “This is the first time that DACHSER South Africa has participated in the Logistics Achiever Awards. The application procedure was a rigorous process that included a site visit by a champion judge. We were very pleased to have made the shortlist. Receiving a silver award from among 89 entries is gratifying because it is an acknowledgement of DACHSER SA’s commitment to skills development for the logistics industry.”

The Logistics Achiever Awards is an annual event that recognises professionalism and excellence in the effective application of strategic, tactical, and operational logistics and supply chain management principles, concepts, and practices in Southern Africa. The awards include Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and a Special Platinum Award.

Focus on soft skills

DACHSER SA was one of five first-time entrants this year in a growing field of entries. The qualifying process itself is highly detail-oriented, requiring commitment by both the judging panel and participating companies in the lead up to the final selection. The initial application process is followed up by a site visit and guidance provided to the company by the champion judge. Thereafter a shortlist is compiled and those companies are invited to a formal presentation and Q&A session before a panel of judges.

DACHSER SA believes that what set their application apart was the fact that they focused on the softer skills of people development rather than their core business. Duve says, “By necessity our work is highly process driven using sophisticated routing and tracking systems and specialist warehousing capabilities. While we could have put forward these aspects in our application for the Logistics Achiever Awards, we took the decision to focus on our skills development because this is something that we are highly passionate about, both in providing continuous learning to existing staff and equipping new entrants with the right skills.”

This is particularly relevant in the South African context, where unemployment sits at almost 30%, leaving many talented young learners with limited prospects upon matriculation. Duve says, “Our learnership programme has been developed in-house to equip learners with comprehensive logistics skills as well as basic work skills. Since 2012 we’ve had an annual intake of 15 learners. We employ up to 70% of the learners that have graduated from the programme which is a great incentive to those learners taking part. In fact, we liken the learnership to a year-long job interview.”