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SAGEA 2025 CONFERENCE

About the Conference

This is more than just an event – it’s a platform for thought leadership, collaboration and influence!

The SAGEA 2025 Conference will connect you to colleagues who are committed to the attraction, recruitment, assessment, development, retention and everything in between - of young talent as employers, institutions of higher learning, foundations or solution providers.

Our team will ensure that you have opportunities to focus on issues impacting the graduate recruitment lifecycle for young talent – by learning from experts, discovering how they have dealt with the latest challenges and opportunities – from the changing nature of early careers to unpacking ethics for students and graduates, understanding the CHRO’s role in driving the young talent agenda – and more. Using a combination of keynote speakers new and emerging insights, practical case studies and panel discussions, the format of the Conference will encourage sharing of information, feedback, and debate.

Attendance Options and Venue Details
Attendance options will be as follows:
In-person attendance,
with accommodation
In-person attendance,
without accommodation
Virtual attendance
via livestreaming
Our in-person venue is the Riverside Sun Hotel, situated on the banks of the Vaal River in Vanderbijlpark, less than an hour from central Johannesburg, the Riverside Sun hotel offers award-winning comfort and service in a beautiful country setting.
Click here for accommodation support





Who should attend the SAGEA 2025 Conference?

If you are involved in any aspect of the graduate attraction, recruitment and development lifecycle or have any of the following job titles, this Conference is just for you:
  • Graduate Recruitment Consultant
  • Graduate Programme Manager
  • Early Careers Consultant
  • Career Centre Co-Ordinator or Manager
  • Talent Acquisition Specialist or Manager
  • Talent Officer
  • HR Manager
  • HR Consultant
  • HR Business Partner
  • Learning Development Specialist
  • Human Capital Manager
  • Human Capital Partner

Important Dates

Monday 14 July 2025

Conference bookings open

Friday 12 September 2025

Early bird offers expire

Tuesday 30 September 2025

Payment deadline for Early bird bookings

Friday 31 October 2025

Conference bookings close

Wednesday 12 November 2025

Conference, Day One: 12h30-16h30

Thursday 13 November 2025

Conference, Day Two:  09h00-15h30

Thursday 13 November 2025

Gala Dinner and SAGEA Awards Presentation: 19h00 onwards

Friday 14 November 2025

Conference, Day Three: 09h00-12h00

Feedback from our 2023 Conference

“It was a fantastic conference Cathy and Camilla, well done to you and the team for yet another highly successful event!”


“You really pulled out all of the stops with the keynote speakers this year, they were all excellent.”


“The conference was excellent overall.”


“The 2023 conference was the best I have attended thus far. The blend of speakers and topics gave me great insights and different perspectives pertaining to the youth market. Hats off to the SAGEA team! You improve your game consistently to give us the best experience and learning. Thank you.”


“This conference was great for my development as a Career Services professional in Higher Education. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”


“Topics were very relevant. I loved how both the voices of Employers and Universities were loud and clear through the conversations.”


“This was my first time attending the conference and WOW what an amazing experience! Thank you to the SAGEA team for such an amazing event.”


“This conference was a success, and it truly was well organised. The refreshments, food and drinks were great, the engagements with others as well as the network opportunities were numerous. The atmosphere was great. Cathy and team can be very proud of this feat and trust that it can only be built upon in years to come.”


“I loved the panel discussions; the idea was refreshing for me.”

Themes to be addressed at the 2024 Conference

Artificial Intelligence: The next Superpower?

A recent WEF article suggests that “AI skills are becoming more important than job experience”.  With exponential growth in the use of generative AI at work, there is little doubt that the use of AI to manage workloads and increase efficiency and creativity will create advantages for workers who know how to deploy AI to their advantage.  What are we, as a community of Employers and Higher Education Institutions doing to define entry-level AI skills and ensure that we grow these as part of early career development?


DEI as core to your development strategy

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) should underpin an organization's Employee Development Strategy by serving as guiding principles throughout every stage of the development process.  When creating individualized development plans for employees, do you consider their unique backgrounds, experiences, and aspirations?  Are you providing development opportunities that are accessible and relevant to all employees?  And have you identified and addressed systemic barriers that may hinder the advancement of underrepresented groups within the organization?


Using Development and Assessment to carve unique career paths for young graduates – A case study

Employers make extensive use of Assessments at the selection phase of the employment lifecycle – but how often are assessment outcomes being used effectively to guide the career paths of young talent, based on their strengths, interests and aspirations – whilst meeting the evolving needs of the organisation?  If you have success stories to share, we’d love to hear them!


Using Behavioural Science to create a high performance but nurturing environment in which graduates will thrive

Together with AI, Behavioural Science is the new kid on the block. By understanding and positively influencing the principles that drive motivation, engagement and productivity employers can build a high-performance culture that promotes autonomy, collaboration, a growth mindset, constructive feedback and psychological safety – and ultimately the success of the organization.


How do you develop Line Managers to become your talent-builder magnets?

Great managers and leaders engender loyalty and often hold the power to positively influence retention.  Young professionals are drawn to workplaces where they feel valued, supported, and empowered to grow. Leaders and managers who can create a positive work environment that resonates with young talent will not only enhance your employee value proposition and attractiveness as an employer of choice – it will also ensure that young talent thrives in the organisation.

Adapting a global development programme to suit a South African market – Case Study

As a global organisation there will be many instances in which policies and programmes that come from the centre don’t necessarily cater for the nuances of the South African culture and “way of doing things”.  When it comes to development programmes, how can you preserve the best global content and repurpose it for local conditions?


Elevating the Young Talent Agenda through multiple pathways

Is your organisation embracing a “build” strategy that has dedicated support and resources?  Does the organisation have a clear vision for building talent from the bottom up, and is there an openness to building different pathways for young talent that looks beyond formal graduate programmes and caters for the missing middle? 


Talent Management and Succession for Early Careers Professionals

Career management, internal mobility, and early careers are prevalent on the talent agenda as organisations recognise the strategic imperative of investing in early talent. However, there are persisting career mobility challenges for our senior talent which makes succession planning and the mobilisation of young talent challenging.  How do we solve for this?


Shifting the focus from GPA Scores and Qualifications to Skill-Based Recruiting

In the US 43,9% of employers use GPA scores as part of their selection criteria when recruiting young talent – whilst we are starting to recognise the benefits of assessing and selecting candidates based on their skills/capabilities we still tend to hold on to GPA scores.  Similarly, we rely on qualification more than potential when hiring young talent.  Why is this the case and how do we shift the dial?


ESG and Sustainability – how does this fit into Graduate Development?

There is mounting pressure for organisations to embed sustainability into their core practices – going beyond environmental conservation to embrace a holistic approach that includes ethical sourcing, social equity, and economic viability.  Cultivating a sustainability mindset among graduates, will empower them to become responsible leaders who contribute positively to both organizations and society as a whole.  How do we build this into curricula and ensure that we embed sustainability in organisational DNA?

Sponsorship Opportunities

We would like to extend an offer to our SAGEA members to sponsor certain elements of the Conference and there are several sponsorship options to be considered.  These options are flexible, and we would be happy to chat about any different sponsorship ideas you may have.

Sponsorship of the 2025 SAGEA Conference will provide your organisation with a unique opportunity to establish yourself as a thought leader and source of best practice, promote your products and services to a range of talent and career professionals and establish valuable relationships which you can continue to build following the Conference. We aim to offer a selection of partnership opportunities, catering for a range of budgets.

For further details about sponsorship options please contact either cathy.sims@sagea.org.za or camilla.pennington@sagea.org.za

Conference Costs

Conference Package
Cost
With Member's Discount

Early Bird - Full Conference (In-Person)

Cost

R 11,320

With Member's Discount

R 9,500

Early Bird - Full Conference (Virtual)

Cost

R 6,700

With Member's Discount

R 5,600

Full Conference (In-Person)

Cost

R 14,150

With Member's Discount

R 11,850

Full Conference (Virtual)

Cost

R 8,050

With Member's Discount

R 6,750

Gala Dinner and SAGEA Awards ONLY

Cost

R 1,700

 

Please take note of the following:

  1. Early-bird bookings must be paid in full by 30 September 2025 to qualify for the discounted price. Late payments will result in tickets being charged at full rates.

  2. Our cancellation policy for events is as follows:
    • Cancellation 30 days or more before – 100% refund
    • Cancellation 15 – 30 days – 50% refund
    • Cancellation 15 days or less before – no refund

However, replacements of attendees may be made at no charge, up to 48 hours before the event.

By booking tickets to attend the Conference you accept these Terms & Conditions.

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