How Wamly Is Creating Opportunities That Make an Impact

How do you make a real impact when there are rules, regulations and boxes to tick?

That's something we started thinking about during Wamly's B-BBEE verification process last year.

On paper, the outcome is simple: Wamly has achieved a B-BBEE Level 3 rating.

And we're proud of that.

But when we looked at what sat behind that rating, we found a story that was about much more than a certificate.

Behind the points were people who were given opportunities, businesses that received support and partnerships that created value beyond Wamly itself.

That's what changed the way we looked at the process.

Instead of only asking, “How do we get the right score?”, we started asking, “What does each point actually represent?”

And one of the clearest answers was our experience with the YES Programme.

B-BBEE: Looking Beyond Compliance

B-BBEE can easily feel like a compliance exercise.

There are documents to gather, evidence to provide and a scorecard to work through. It's detailed work, and it's easy to approach the process with the mindset of getting the certificate and moving on.

But looking back at the year during our verification process gave us a different perspective.

An internship might appear as a line item under skills development. In reality, it's a young person getting their first opportunity to enter the workplace.

Supplier development might appear as a figure on a scorecard. In reality, it's a business owner who may have been able to grow, hire someone or take on a new opportunity because of the support they received.

The more we traced our scorecard back to the people and businesses behind it, the harder it became to see the process as just compliance.

It was a record of things that had actually happened.

And that's where our YES journey really stood out.

Saying YES to Creating Work Experience

The YES Programme creates opportunities for young South Africans to gain meaningful workplace experience, helping them take an important first step into the world of work.

For Wamly, what started as part of our B-BBEE journey quickly became something we saw genuine value in.

We were pleasantly surprised by just how much potential we could find when we opened the door to people who were looking for their first opportunity.

Because getting your first job can be a frustrating cycle.

You need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience.

YES gives businesses a way to help break that cycle by creating opportunities for young people to gain real workplace experience.

And two people in particular showed us exactly what that opportunity can become: Lihle and Thando.

Using Our Own Hiring Technology to Find YES Talent

There's something particularly fitting about the way Lihle and Thando joined Wamly.

We used the same hiring software our clients use every day to find and assess them. Both went through a one-way video interview and completed psychometric assessments, giving us the opportunity to look beyond a CV and get a better sense of who they were, how they approached problems and what they could bring to the team.

It meant we could assess their potential, not just their previous experience.

And that's important when you're creating opportunities for people who may not have years of work experience behind them yet. What they do have is potential, a willingness to learn and the opportunity to show what they're capable of.

There's also something fitting about using Wamly to make these hires. We spend our days helping businesses find and assess talent, and this time, we were using our own hiring software to find people to join our own team.

But the technology was only one part of the story.

Because hiring someone is only the beginning.

What a First Job Opportunity Can Really Mean

A first opportunity can look very different on a scorecard than it does to the person receiving it.

For a young person, it can mean their first experience of a professional working environment. It can mean learning how to navigate a workplace, developing new skills, building confidence and discovering what they're capable of.

We've seen that with Lihle and Thando.

For Lihle, one of the biggest changes has been learning to communicate with more confidence and coming out of her shell. Thando has developed her ability to work under pressure, follow a structured workflow and communicate effectively in a workplace.

Their growth hasn't only been about the skills they use at work, either. They've had the opportunity to learn more about themselves, develop skills they didn't know they had and get a better sense of where they want to go next.

And we've been able to see that growth first-hand.

Lihle and Thando didn't simply become numbers on our B-BBEE scorecard.

They became part of the Wamly team.

They learned, contributed and grew. And in return, Wamly gained people who brought their own skills, perspectives and potential into the business.

That's the part of the YES Programme that made the biggest impression on us.

The impact went both ways.

Why Creating First Opportunities Matters

For us, this is where B-BBEE and social responsibility come together.

South Africa has a very real challenge when it comes to young people entering the world of work. There are talented people looking for their first opportunity, but without experience, getting that first “yes” can be difficult.

As a business, we can't solve that challenge on our own.

But we can contribute to it.

For Wamly, participating in the YES Programme is one way we can give back by creating opportunities for people who are at the beginning of their careers.

And we think there's value in looking at social responsibility this way.

Giving back doesn't always have to mean a once-off donation or initiative. Sometimes, it can mean opening a door.

It can mean giving someone a chance to build experience, earn an income, learn from others and discover what they're capable of.

For the business, it means creating a talent pipeline and bringing new perspectives into the team.

For the individual, it can be the experience that helps them take their next step.

That's meaningful impact to us.

Our B-BBEE Level 3 Rating: The Certificate Is the Proof

Our B-BBEE Level 3 rating is an important milestone for Wamly.

As we grow and increasingly work with larger businesses and enterprise clients, maintaining a strong B-BBEE rating will continue to matter.

But our biggest takeaway from this year's verification process isn't the number we landed on.

It's what that number represents.

It represents young people who were given opportunities to gain experience, the  suppliers and businesses that benefited from decisions we made.

It represents partnerships that created value beyond a single transaction.

And it represents a business that is learning to look at compliance differently.

The framework didn't create our intention to make a difference.

It gave us a structured way to look back and see whether we'd actually followed through.

That's a perspective we want to carry forward.

Because ultimately, a B-BBEE certificate tells you where a business landed.

The people and opportunities behind it tell you why it matters.

Want to explore the YES Programme?

If you're looking to create meaningful work experience opportunities through the YES Programme, get in touch with our Talent Consultant to learn more and access our existing YES candidate pool on Wamly.