(Second from left) LinkedIn talent and learning solutions Asia head Koo, Deloitte Malaysia chief executive officer Yee, HRD Corp chief executive Shahul and Edotco group chief people officer Chelva at a panel discussion on talent management strategies.
PETALING JAYA: The lesson that Malaysian businesses should pick up from the pandemic is the need to upskill and reskill their workforces to navigate an evolving business environment.
While some companies have heeded that insight, there still needs to be a mindset change with others.
Datuk Shahul Dawood, chief executive of HRD Corp, Malaysia’s national agency for human capital development, drove home the message in a recent panel discussion on talent management strategies that training programmes should no longer be seen as a “luxury” but a necessity in all organisations. This applies to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, he said.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, many SMEs suffered as a result of not having proper training and development. About nine in 10 SMEs do not have human resource (HR) managers and lack proper training plans,” he said.
“Firms would generally opt to save profits for rainy days with not much allocation set aside for employee training purposes. This has to change.
“There is also the fear among employers that employees may leave the company after going for training. We have carried out many initiatives to help SMEs survive during the pandemic, particularly in giving their employees retraining opportunities. But at the end of the day, there needs to be a change of mindset among all businesses today.”
On the contrary, providing for learning and development (L&D) opportunities can actually help build a more engaged workforce, and boost talent retention as well as acquisition.
This is as a recent LinkedIn survey shows that in countries such as Malaysia, the lack of L&D opportunities for professionals to grow their careers and learn new skills is the top factor that drives them to seek a new job.
Compensation and benefits ranked as the second reason. Organisations in South-East Asia, including Malaysia, are concerned about employee retention, LinkedIn data shows –and six in 10 say they are providing learning opportunities to boost retention.
“In this fast-evolving climate, a sound talent management plan will be more critical than ever to a company’s success. We want to help businesses bring in the right talent through their door, engage and motivate their workforce, so that employees stay for the long haul and do their best work,” said Frank Koo, head of Asia, talent and learning solutions at LinkedIn in the panel held in Kuala Lumpur.
“We use our skills-building resource, LinkedIn Learning, to help them achieve this.”
LinkedIn Learning helps businesses revolutionise their L&D strategy, and deliver talent solutions that drive business outcomes.
This means that LinkedIn helps to map the relevance of learning to core business needs, so that leaders can find out any skill gaps and ensure their employees learn the most relevant and in-demand skills.
Secondly, it is an intelligent learning platform that allows companies to support their employees’ personal and professional growth through personalised learning content. With AI-driven recommendations, it surfaces the most relevant and applicable content to users.
“A learning culture empowers all employees – from C-suites to new hires – to invest in themselves, which can yield major returns to the business.
“Forward-thinking organisations that take an adaptive approach and continue investing in their most important resource, talent, during these times, will be the ones that are agile, and can emerge stronger,” said Koo.
For Deloitte Malaysia, they are using skills-based hiring to attract the best talent, which has also helped them widen their talent pool.
“The hiring landscape has pivoted. Companies are hiring based on which individuals have the skill sets that can allow them to perform beyond a specific set of tasks,” said its chief executive officer, Yee Wing Peng.
“Beyond focusing on productivity and operational efficiency, employers also have to consider how to build a strong culture, as well as create shared value, and purpose.
“We have to create a better working environment where employees can unleash their full potential and work in a great environment with the help of a partner, like LinkedIn. It is becoming more and more difficult for companies to hire full-time employees, especially skilled workers.
“For us, we have been looking at an unconventional pool of talent. Although some individuals have past 60 years of age, their minds are still very sharp, they have good skill sets, and they still desire to work and improve themselves. Companies can hire such individuals even on a contract basis, or to act as an independent advisor. This is how companies can beef up their human capital.”
Meanwhile, Edotco Group’s chief people officer, Ramon Chelva, shared that the group had increased its training budget by 50% during the pandemic.
“If you are serious about your talents, then put your money where it counts. At Edotco our approach to employee development and retention is through academy-based accelerated training programmes partnered with educational institutions.
“These trainings are usually long-term, between 12 and 18 months, so the employees themselves can see the progress of their own career development.
“The impact of this strategy enables us to move up our global industry ranking to number six in 2022 from number 16, pre-Covid in 2019.
“This did not happen by chance, but it was an engineered process where we took the necessary risk so that by the time the economy bounces back from the pandemic, we can be way ahead,” he said.
