The story of award winning Saien Naidoo and his rise to success through learnership and graduate development programs!

Why are you not doing more learnerships and graduate development programs? 

Are they too much work, too costly or do they lack long term results? Do you find that doing learnerships does not really lead to BEE score improvement?  If any of this is true for you, perhaps reconsider after learning the true story of Saien Naidoo! 

The story of award winning Saien Naidoo and his rise to success through learnership and graduate development programs! 

Learning truly leads to results for the individual as well as for the company, offering workplace experience. Especially if we are consistent in our actions and persevere with following the learnership requirements.  

Saien did his learnership with the Acino group, which has been a B-BBEE level 1 company for the past 3 years. Saien says: ‘The rotation between marketing, regulatory affairs and the medical departments was so effective.  They included us in almost every meeting, and therefore, my colleagues and I have so much to offer post learnership. At Acino it is all about long-term sustainability.  Acino truly shapes us so that we can sustain the business going forward.’  This made him realise that he wanted to work for Acino. 

In Saien’s experience, learnerships and graduate development programs bridge the gap between academic knowledge and workplace skills. ‘I’ve learned so many things throughout the learnership! Even how to behave in a big company & how to greet, he says smiling. 

Saien was appointed into a permanent position as Medical Science Liaison in August 2021 and in this position, has received encore awards. The Encore Award is a monetary award which is given as a token of gratitude from Acino for going the extra mile. It recognizes people who have done an excellent job and have gone above and beyond their usual job description.  Saien has been able to positively contribute to the business as an MSL and has received 2 of these awards since he was employed in August 2021.  

An emotional Saien says: ‘I was over the moon. I am recognized for really adding value. I thought I was still finding my feet, and yet Acino recognized me. I was learning so much and then I realized I was doing things right.  

Saien still uses the skills he has learnt during the learnership with Acino and Diverse Conversations. For example, the territory management principles helped him to see customers in the most cost-effective way. The social styles course , where recognizing a customer’s social style has become part of how he gets the most out of customer interactions. Being in the medical department, he uses value dossiers all the time. The design of the Diverse Conversations Pharmacoeconomics case study in the course is so applicable that he uses the taught principles daily. 

He continues to say: ‘The way in which the yearlong roll-out plan was designed was brilliant. All the facilitators and assessors at Diverse Conversations were great! Especially Kirsten, who did such a fantastic job with us. Diverse Conversations offer a lot more coaching and support than just the content of the learnership itself. The positive energy motivated us, and it was the fuel towards success. As the learners, we came in as a group of strangers and left as friends. We are still in contact today.’ 

Thinking about the current groups of learners going through learnerships and graduate development programs, his advice to them is:  

• Get out of your comfort zone, stop being shy and engage with people.  

• Know that they’re watching you all the time, and remember that it is a yearlong interview

• Make sure you pass the red face test.  Have integrity and do the right things right, especially when they are not watching. 

Saien says: ‘I am so grateful to Acino for this opportunity. The fact that they employ most of the learners says so much about the company’s values. I look forward to working with Acino and continuing to add great value to the company.’ 

Learnerships and graduate development programs are beneficial to companies in many ways. Saien has observed the following:   

• Learnerships make it easier to transition from learner to employee as they are already shaped into the company culture.

• All the learners who were employed post learnership are really engaged and contribute to the company optimally.

To put it simply, there are three main benefits of employing a learner who has completed a learnership with your company and Diverse Conversations: 

• Easy onboarding – as they are already a perfect company culture fit

• Engaged young talent contributing optimally

• Score BEE points for skills development and absorption

He ended the discussion with these words: ‘I would not have been where I am if it were not for the learnership through Acino and Diverse Conversations.  I will forever be grateful to both these companies.’