As the year winds down and executives set priorities for the year ahead, Afri Training Institute (ATI) is urging CEOs to move skills development out of the HR compliance column and into the core of business strategy for 2026.
“Most organisations still talk about people as their greatest asset, but when you look at the budget and the board pack, skills development is often an afterthought,” says Sandra Pretorius, General Manager at ATI. “In reality, it has become one of the biggest levers a CEO has to protect revenue, retain talent, and keep strategy alive in a very volatile environment.”
Why training keeps slipping down the agenda
Pretorius says traditional approaches and outdated assumptions are partly to blame. Training is still too often treated as a once-off intervention designed to tick regulatory boxes rather than shift behaviour.
“In many boardrooms, training is viewed as a sunk cost. Money goes into full-day workshops, everyone receives a certificate, and nothing changes in how work gets done. When executives do not see a clear line from learning to performance, training is the first thing to be cut when budgets tighten,” she explains.
The result is a widening execution gap. Companies invest in new systems, restructure teams or launch digital strategies, but the people expected to deliver those changes are not given the skills or support to keep up.
“Technology is moving faster than most internal training models. If we do not close that gap, organisations will keep buying tools they cannot fully use and losing people they cannot afford to replace,” says Pretorius.
Three reasons skills must sit on the CEO agenda
For 2026, Pretorius believes purposeful skills development should sit alongside digital transformation, AI and sustainability on the C-suite agenda. She highlights three areas where the payoff is most visible:
- Execution and agility. “When people know how to adapt processes, use data and collaborate across silos, strategies stop dying in PowerPoint decks. You see faster responses to clients, fewer errors, and teams that can absorb change without burning out,” Pretorius says.
- Retention and attraction. For younger employees in particular, the absence of growth is a clear signal to move on. “Gen Z workers are very direct. If they do not see learning, mentorship and a path forward, they leave. Replacing them is far more expensive than building a serious development path,” adds Pretorius.
- Risk and resilience. In sectors such as healthcare, logistics, financial services, and retail, skills gaps quickly become safety, compliance, or reputation risks. “One well-trained supervisor who can spot a problem early is worth far more than attending a generic risk workshop, which teaches learnings nobody applies,” she adds.
From tick-box to real-world capability
So how do CEOs move beyond compliance sheets and scorecards?
Pretorius believes the starting point is for executives to ask, “Where are we failing our customers or our people because skills are missing?”
In practice, ATI advocates for shorter, targeted learning built into the work environment rather than long, infrequent courses that sit outside it. That includes:
- Micro- and nanolearning to support specific tasks or process changes.
- Coaching and mentoring that turn theory into daily habits.
- Regular, focused check-ins instead of once-a-year performance reviews.
- Practical simulations that mirror real customer, safety, or operational scenarios.
“In one client environment, we replaced a series of generic customer-service workshops with short, contextual refreshers and daily huddles focused on live issues. Within weeks, response times improved, and complaints dropped, not because the budget increased, but because learning was finally tied to real work,” she says.
What should CEOs prioritise in 2026?
Beyond technical disciplines that are unique to each sector, Pretorius highlights a cluster of cross-cutting capabilities that are proving critical across ATI’s client base:
- Digital and data confidence rather than advanced coding for everyone.
- Problem-solving and decision-making under pressure.
- Communication and collaboration across functions and generations.
- Behavioural intelligence, including resilience, accountability and willingness to learn.
“These are the skills that keep organisations moving when structures change, systems get upgraded, or a crisis hits. You cannot outsource them. They have to be grown inside your teams.”
A CEO-level conversation
Ultimately, Pretorius believes skills development will only shift from paperwork to practice when CEOs own the agenda.
“A continuous learning culture is not something HR can build alone. Executives must start asking for evidence of behaviour change. They must also begin to treat skills as a strategic asset that deserves the same attention as technology or capital.”
“For 2026, my message to CEOs is that you must invest in the people who are going to execute your strategy. Skills have become the difference between organisations that talk about the future and those that are ready for it,” concludes Pretorius.