Its microlearning solution Accel5 is sure to be a hit with L&D professionals.
With over 3,000 attendees,close to 50 exhibitors and numerous knowledge sharing sessions, the inaugural HR Indaba was arguably a resounding success. In this article, Tiaan Scholtz, the regional sales manager at EBSCO South Africa, talks about why they have chosen to be a part of this year’s conference.
What does your EBSCO do, how long has it been around and what was the reason for starting the company?
EBSCO Information Services has been in existence for over 75 years in the USA. The company was started by a man named Elton B Stephens when he was in college as a way to make money to pay for his tuition. He worked as a subscription agent for journals and magazines to take the hassle out of managing multiple subscriptions from various publishers. Upon his completion of his Law degree, he was making more money than a law graduate would at their first place of employment, so he continued with his subscription business. Today EBSCO is still a family owned business with many company lines including subscription services, office furniture, realty and even fishing equipment. EBSCO consistently ranks in the Top 500 privately owned companies on the Forbes list.
EBSCO South Africa was opened just over 30 years ago in Johannesburg, offering the same subscription services as what has been offered in the USA for many years. Our customers range from academic institutions and corporate libraries to public libraries and medical institutions.
How do you differentiate yourselves from other competitors in your space?
EBSCO always consults meticulously with our customers and prospects to ensure that we offer the correct solution for their needs. We create new products continually where we see the need for content, software or services on the knowledge management market. We employ staff to negotiate with publishers to grow our content offering on a daily basis and offer professional training for all of our products.
With open access being a driving force in our profession, EBSCO is committing to creating open-source products to show that we are part of the revolution.
Why have you signed up for the HR Indaba and what should attendees look forward to seeing from you at the event?
The HR Indaba seems like a great opportunity to meet with HR and professionals involved in organisational learning from various industries in South Africa. We look forward to sharing what we have to offer these companies and to help them grow their skills, knowledge and research offerings to their staff.
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We would also like to show how digital learning content can be brought into the workplace without the need to attend training sessions that require employees to be away from the office for multiple days.
We hope attendees of the HR Indaba will make time to visit our stand and experience what Accel5 has to offer. This is a tool that teaches soft skills within minutes and offers content can be immediately applied to one’s daily workflow. We will also have a time slot at the Tech Zone, where we will be conducting a live demonstration of our Accel5 product.
What would you say is the biggest challenge facing the HR profession?
We believe that in today’s fast-paced world, it is extremely difficult to help your staff grow and maintain their soft skills in the workplace. Many courses that are offered, last a few days or even weeks. This is the reason we would like to showcase our Accel5 solution for busy individuals from graduate level up to C-suite levels, who most likely only has time for short bursts of personal learning.
