From Research to Real Impact: The Qhubekela Phambili Trainer Development Course

What started as a research journey in 2015 has grown — steadily, purposefully, and with enormous heart — into something truly impactful.

A Decade in the Making

Back in 2015, we began exploring how evidence-based career reintegration programmes could be adapted for the South African context. The goal was straightforward but deeply meaningful: help unemployed people find their footing again. What followed was years of rigorous research, collaboration, and commitment.

In 2020, a significant milestone arrived. Together with Dr Rachele Paver, Prof Hans De Witte, Prof Anja Van den Broeck, and Prof Roland Blonk, we published a landmark study on the South African adaptation of the JOBS Programme — a structured, evidence-based career reintegration intervention designed specifically for unemployed individuals: Click on the following link to watch a video about the results of the intervention study: https://vimeo.com/1186361296

Paver R, De Witte H, Rothmann S, Van den Broeck A and Blonk RWB (2020). The Implementation and Evaluation of the South African Adaptation of the JOBS Program. Frontiers in Psychology, 11:1418. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01418

This study demonstrated that the programme works — and that it works in the South African context. That mattered enormously.

Turning Research into Practice

In 2022, we took the next step: registering a short programme in career enhancement that brought this evidence-based approach directly into the hands of job seekers. Research was no longer sitting on a shelf. It was working.

A New Chapter: Qhubekela Phambili

In April 2026, we reached another exciting milestone — we submitted our application to register the Qhubekela Phambili Trainer Development short course.

Qhubekela Phambili — "keep moving forward" in Zulu — captures the spirit of this programme perfectly. This short course is designed to equip trainers with the knowledge and skills they need to deliver the JOBS Programme to unemployed people across South Africa. By developing trained facilitators, we multiply the reach of what began as a research project into communities where it is needed most.

Standing on Shoulders

None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary dedication of Dr Rachele Paver, who put an enormous amount of work into preparing this short course for registration. In the words that have always felt most true: we are standing on the shoulders of dedicated people.

What Comes Next

We are now awaiting official registration. Once approved, the training will be rolled out through Rise (Articulate) and personal contact sessions with trainees — a blended approach that ensures both scale and depth.

The road from a 2015 research question to a nationally registered trainer development programme has been long. But watching evidence become intervention, and intervention become infrastructure — that is what makes the work worth it.