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Malaysia is still eyeing the term ‘developed nation’ and with that ambition in
mind, the country needs capable workhorses that can pull the cart through.
Still in dire need of skilled and semi-skilled workers to achieve the national
agenda, the country needs not only to stop the brain drain currently
plaguing the country but also upskill the workers that are in the active eld. Supermarket Today's
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3/13/2018 Upskilling the Malaysian workforce – BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News | Largest English Daily In Borneo
Thus enters the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), a body Upwell Superstore
formed with the aim of developing quality human capital towards achieving 100% Super Store Moyan
high-income economy.
Property Highlights
“A wise man once said that the empires of the future would be the empires
Central Land_Palm Residence
of the mind, which suggests the importance of knowledge and skills in
Naim properties
determining the fate of nations.
Kwang Tai Development Sdn Bhd
Sunbangan Aneka Sdn Bhd
“It is undeniable that the intellectual, cultural, social and economic
Lee Onn
empowerment of the people – also known as prowess – is needed for any
Eden on the park
nation to progress and to stay progressive,” quoted HRDF chief executive Hock Seng Lee Construction Sdn
Datuk Vignaesvaran in an exclusive interview with BizHive Weekly. Bhd La Promenade
The fund was formed in 1993 and has spent the last 23 years spearheading
the upskilling of Malaysian workforce by nancially assisting companies for
HR development.
With this, employees with no formal education but have learnt the relevant
knowledge, experience and expertise in the workplace can also be certi ed
based on their competency levels.
POPULAR
Vignaesvaran a rmed that human capital is a critical enabler to create
TODAY WEEK MONTH ALL
economic value and enhance a person’s quality of life – which can only be
Headless body found on Lundu
done through education and training.
beach
“In this instance, Malaysia will need to gain a competitive advantage in the Nothing but blank paper
new economic order driven by powerful forces of the Asean Economic LRT details out end of this month
Community (AEC) and the Trans-Paci c Partnership.
3rd Mile Market rst to adopt
Maybank QRPay in the state
“Hence, up-skilling and re-skilling of its talents are needed to meet the
challenging demands of the dynamic global business and trade. Local Chong to move motion in
Parliament to initiate amendment
talents in this context will need to possess qualities that will help them to PDA 1974
achieve global competitiveness and put them on a level playing eld with
their competitors,” he added.
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As reinforced in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan, “An e cient and e ective
labour market is necessary for local, regional and global competitiveness
which will attract foreign direct investments and propel Malaysia towards Top Local News in 2017
economic growth.”
Currently, Malaysia sits among 20 top economies on the Global

Competitiveness Index (GCI) and will need to embrace solutions that will
help them address challenges to include, skill shortages; talent mobility and
talent retention. A liates
“Up-skilling and re-skilling of our inherent talent and resources will not only -- Affiliates --
fuel our high-priority sectors, creating high-income jobs, but will also help
Malaysia transition from a developing to developed economy,” he Supplement Downloads

enthused.
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Member of
Problems arising from employers
Companies registered and incorporated in Malaysia who have registered

with the PSMB and paid their HRD levy are eligible to apply for training
grants.
They can defray all or a major portion of the “allowable costs” of training
attended by their employees. Training must be in the area of direct bene ts
to their business operations.
The problem now is that most employers in Malaysia want to hire workers
who are already skilled and do not need training, and yet without training,
these workers would not have the necessary skill level – creating a Catch-22
scenario.
Aside from that, most training regimes chosen by employers usually come
under the team building and motivation category as popularly requested –
which is not the certi ed courses the HRDF is pushing for.
The concept that most employers in Malaysia fail to realise is that training
the workforce is essential to the achievements of a business with the most
positive bene t is of course, better employees.
The idea in this is that the better the employees are at their job, the easier it
is for the company to attain the level of productivity required, and hence,

success.
“Most of the people take training as a cost. But, as a matter of fact, training
in itself is an investment,” Vignaesvaran highlighted. “For individuals, it
builds skills and lifts earnings potential, while for businesses it contributes
to a more productive workplace.”
The actual motivation to undertake training may come from the individual,
the employer, or a combination.
Some employers fear that the bene ts of investing in training are lost when
employees leave and take their newly developed skills to another employer.
Meanwhile, many employees clearly see the bene t in taking charge of this
investment in their future, setting clear goals as to the nature and content
of the training that will best suit their career plans.
According to a survey done by Kelly Services, when asked to identify the

main motivation for learning new skills or undertaking training, the largest
share of employees (57 per cent) cite the opportunity for promotion with
their current employer. A further 47 per cent cite the opportunity for
promotion/advancement at another company, and 42 per cent plan to
enter a new eld of work.
In essence, the largest group of employees are motivated to undertake

additional training or skills development by a desire to stay in their current
job. At the same time, a smaller but still signi cant number are keeping
their options open to a diverse range of opportunities outside their current
employment.
From the employers’ eyes
From an employer’s perspective, one of the key motivations behind the

investment in training is for sta retention. However, the likelihood of
higher retention may not be uniform across the workplace.
There is a noticeable di erence across generations when it comes to the

main factors that in uence their training decisions, explained Kelly Services.
The upheaval in local labour markets over recent years and business
cutbacks in funding of professional development have changed the way
that many employees view the need for upskilling.
Rather than relying on their employers, they are taking control of their own
career development.
Globally, 60 per cent of workers are either actively seeking further

education or training (23 per cent), or considering it (37 per cent) to pursue
a new eld of work.
The APAC region stands out as a skilling hotspot, with 69 per cent of those
surveyed either considering or seeking further training.
The propensity for individuals to undertake fresh training or education will

depend on a host of factors, including industry dynamics, the state of
competition in the jobs market, and the likelihood of the training
‘investment’ producing a payo in the form of salary or promotion.
For training to be meaningful it needs to be relevant and practical-not

‘training for training’s sake’.
In an era when employees are embracing the notion of self-directed

training and continuing education, there is a new focus on providing the
most appropriate type of training. Employees seem to possess an inherent
understanding of what works best in terms of the development of their
skills.
For the majority of workers, the most desirable training is that provided by
their employer: training that is centered on the real and practical elements
of the job at hand.
Keep in mind, in today’s evolving workforce economy, the last two decades
have radically altered the way skills are acquired and developed.
Skills are no longer ‘front-end loaded’ onto a career but rather characterised
by lifelong development and renewal as most skill sets have a nite life.
It was noted that the upgrading and renewal of skills plays a critical role in
personal and professional development. It also has a vital role in broader
workforce development, which is the cornerstone of organisational
e ciency and productivity.
The responsibility for managing skills development no longer resides solely

with the employer.
Employees recognise that they need to take control of this important aspect
of their careers, and think strategically about how they invest in the
development of their intellectual and professional capital.
What is clear is that personal decisions about training and professional

development are now an integral part of the employment equation, and
have an important bearing on employee morale, performance and
retention.
However, despite all the research done, many Malaysian companies are still
reluctant on upskilling and training their sta due to fear of the employees
seeking better opportunities after receiving such training.
In certain sectors such as service based jobs, skills have become more
exible as the service industry has grown. Service jobs place a higher
premium on good interpersonal skills and access to a large network-the
kind of skills often developed precisely by changing jobs noted a Bloomberg
article.
A new employer, after all, also means new co-workers. In all but the biggest
companies, it’s almost impossible to develop the same skills by staying in
one place.
“The result, though, is an example of classic economic short-sightedness. If

job skills translate, companies can make the cost-saving decision to cut
worker training and simply hire people with the skills they need.
“But if everyone makes the same calculation, we end up with a collective

action problem: No one is training. The number of un lled jobs suggest that
employers’ expectations may not be realistic.
“More education might make up the di erence, but school can rarely teach
what most people learn on their rst job,” it added.
While SMEs contribute up to 65 per cent of total employment, their GDP

contribution is still nominal at best when compared to more developed
nations.
Many Malaysians lack quali cations
HRDF’s Vignaesvaran observed that most employees in Malaysia are either

unskilled or semi-skilled, and while there have been several initiatives by
both HRDF and the government to employees to send workers for
upskilling training, the results seem to be less than satisfactory.
“Many of our member organisations as well as industry associations in fact

strategise on optimising the Fund to continually up-skill their labour force
for greater productivity.
“However, some of the employers have submitted their feedback, which is

currently being evaluated by HRDF for win-win,” he stressed.
Vignaesvaran said among concerns were expensive training courses,

increase in demand from employees post training, training not suiting the
needs of the company as well as employees seeking greener pastures post
training.
Vignaesvaran also highlighted that another reason why SMEs are not keen
on upskilling their sta is due to the fact that most SMEs operate with a
limited number of sta .
This means that a single worker tends to hold multiple responsibilities,

hence when one employee goes for training, there’s usually nobody to ll
the vacuum causing disruptions to daily operations for the company.
As stated previously, the high turnover of sta is a disincentive for SMEs to

invest in training hence it’s not uncommon that workers use SMEs as a
stepping stone to a better-paying job with more established companies.
After gaining experience and skills working with SMEs, these workers would
move on to bigger companies to enhance their career prospects.
Namely, a human resource startup, analysed more than 13,000 salaries in

high-growth elds like technology, ecommerce, advertising as well as digital
media and found that employees within a speci c salary range are more
likely to stick around.
It also added that incentives also encouraged employees to stick around.
Senior rewards and human resources professionals indicate that retention

of key talent is one of their top challenges and that they worry about having
the people needed to win market share when the economy improves.
They fear that key employees are becoming increasingly frustrated in their
organizations due to layo s, the resultant expansion of job accountabilities
and constraints on reward programs – primarily limited base salary
increases, lower incentives and fewer advancement opportunities.
CIPD noted that companies might o er a cell phone, travel reimbursement

plan or even sodas in the break room, but in today’s modern workforce,
those perks have moved more toward standard than competitive.
“Today, employees seek more intangible perks like a sense of community or

a boss who understands them.
“Many companies achieve this by o ering perks that help with team
bonding. In fact, 55 per cent host company picnics, and ve per cent allow
employees to bring their pets to work,” it noted.
Increasing employee retention
The CIPD study found that increasing learning and development

opportunities plays a signi cant role in increasing employee retention.
Another study found that promotion opportunities were a major
psychological factor in job satisfaction.
It’s apparent that companies need to o er advancement opportunities as a

goal to work toward to retain employees. Employees who are bored or feel
trapped will go somewhere else that gives them the room needed to grow
their skills.
Vignaesvaran commented on the matter by noting that training and up-

skilling programmes can be very powerful tools to motivate and enhance
the productivity of employees.
However, it is crucial for employers to have in place employee retention

strategies, which are independent of the training and development plans of
employees.
“Training can actually improve performance and if followed by appropriate

‘placements’ within the organisation such as matching the enhanced skill
sets with additional or enhanced responsibilities,” said the chief executive.
Remuneration is always a key factor for any employee. With higher skill set,
employees tend to demand a higher wage which begs the question if this is
among the key reasons why Malaysian employers are adamant on keeping
the wage low despite the increase in productivity from their employees
after training.
From HRDF’s perspective, the single most important factor that determines
the pay or a worker’s employability is their ‘Skill Sets’.
Employees with higher skill sets would be able to increase their productivity
as well as their contribution to the company’s pro ts as well as growth.
“Therefore, companies need to shift their mind sets and be prudent in

planning their wages to commensurate with skill-sets of their employees,”
he stressed.
He added “Companies should prioritise the welfare of their workforce by

creating a positive working environment. As a suggestion – companies
could start by promoting ‘good health’ through sessions on simple o ce
exercises, dietary
counsel and lifestyle tips. This will keep them active and productive.”
Research suggests that workplaces that value employees’ well being have
yielded the greatest rewards because of increase in productivity levels.
This is among the factors that contribute to the national brain drain
whereby local talents start seeking greener pastures overseas translating to
a decrease in skilled human resource locally.
Vignaesvaran clari ed that one of the many reasons for the local brain
drain is a wide gap that exists between the skills, salaries and the industry
jobs.
He noted that people explore opportunities outside of Malaysia for want of

better salaries for their skills or jobs that would put their skills to productive
use.
“I strongly believe that the issue of Brain Drain can be managed well
through re-skilling and up-skilling training programmes; mapping the right
talent to the right industry and organisations (competency mapping); and a
well-planned talent development and retention strategies by the respective
HR units of organisations.
“Also, if we are able to build a high-skilled workforce, we will also be able to

successfully reduce our dependency on foreign expertise in semi-skilled
and skilled areas as Malaysia is expected to create over 1.5 million new jobs
by the year 2020 in industries that require highly skilled talents!” he
exclaimed.
Measures to boost human resource management
In its e ort to assist the nation, HRDF has embarked on a multitude of

programmes to motivate employers to train their sta .
The group have kicked o the 30 per cent Consolidated Fund on April 2016.
There are six major programmes under this pilot project which includes the
1Malaysia Outplacement Centre for retrenched local workers, and the Train
and Replace Programme for training and replacing foreign workers with
Malaysians.
Vignaesvaran explained that the 1Malaysia Outplacement Centre would

lead to job opportunities for retrenched Malaysian workers and
unemployed graduates to ll various positions in the aviation, hotel and
retail sectors.
For the 1Malaysia Outplacement Centre pilot programme which begun on

April 18, 200 retrenched local workers are currently being re-skilled for
guaranteed job placement in either the same or di erent sectors.
Several companies from the aviation, retail and IT sectors have already
approached HRDF for collaboration with this programme.
As for the ‘Train and Replace’ pilot programme which started on March 28,
employees from the retail, aviation, oil and gas, and hospitality sectors had
been selected to replace 115 foreign workers with Malaysians.
For this, four courses had been approved to provide speci c skills for local
workers. Among the courses identi ed are Certi cate in Retail, Abridged
Helicopter Commercial Pilot Licence, Certi ed International Welding

Inspector, and Professional Certi cate in Animal Husbandry.
The 1Malaysia Outplacement Centre aims to train 3,000 workers while the
‘Train and Replace’ programme would train 7,000 workers annually
Other major programmes which HRDF plans to carry out with the unutilised
portion of the levy, include SMEs up-skill and re-skill programmes, the
1Malaysia Globally Recognised Industry and Professional Certi cation
Programme (1MalaysiaGRIP), and the certi cation or value-added
programmes.
In its e orts to get in touch with the Sarawakian employers more, HRDF is
also planning to open two more branches (Sibu and Miri) to get a better
footprint in Sarawak as well as to enable an easier dissemination of
information to local employers here.
Vignaesvaran noted SMEs need to build their organisational human

capacity and capability by acquiring the latest knowledge, expertise and
technology through continuous up-skilling of their workforce.
“As such, and in line with the recommendations under the NEM, most of the
training programmes o ered under this initiative will be focusing on
certi cation and are internationally recognised.
“Our teams are extremely adept not only in meeting the objectives set out
in the HRDF Act, but also in providing continuous feedback to improve the
system, making it more e cient and e ective in its implementation.
“I strongly believe that the story of Malaysia does not end with what we are
today, but what we can be tomorrow. At HRDF, our endeavour is to harness
such potential towards catalysing development of competent workforce
through various upskilling and capacity building programmes.
“What is most critical in all that we do is to educate and raise awareness

through various promotional initiatives on the need for e ective skills
enhancement programmes to remain competitive as individual
professionals, as progressive businesses and as a productive nation,” said
Vignaesvaran.
Despite the uphill battle the HRDF is currently ghting in order to persuade
employers to upskill their employees, the 67 false claims made by human
resources trainers is not making things easier for the fund.
As a recap, local media reported that a total of 44 registered human

resources departments have collaborated with 13 training providers to
make 67 false claims from the HRDF.
The false claims totalled RM1.17 million and so far 49 training providers, as
well as eight fraud cases, have been referred to the Malaysian Anti-
Corruption Commission (MACC) for investigations.
“I believe that Malaysia (in to the future) will have no choice, but to build the
quality of its human capital to gain and retain its competitive advantage in
the global marketplace.
“This will require for the industry and our HR principles to evolve and our
mind-sets to change, making way for policies that will motivate and
encourage talent to continually enhance their skills and thereby, their
income.
“A high-skilled workforce is one of the absolute determinants of a high-

income nation and sooner than later, we as a nation have to get there, in
keeping with our aspiration to achieve a knowledge-intensive, developed
economy status,” enthused Vignaesvaran.
At the end of the day, the panacea for the current issue of the limited pool
of skilled workers are there, it is just a matter of employers actually
reaching for the remedy and taking it.
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3/13/2018 Upskilling the Malaysian workforce – BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News | Largest English Daily

glish Daily In Borneo

 NEWS  BUSINESS SPORTS  UTUSAN BORNEO THESUNDAYPOST COLUMNS BAT 

 May 1, 2016, Sunday  Jonathan Wong bizhive@theborneopost.com

Currently, Malaysia sits among 20 top economies on the Global

Malaysia transition from a developing to developed economy,” he Supplement Downloads

Problems arising from employers

Companies registered and incorporated in Malaysia who have registered

According to a survey done by Kelly Services, when asked to identify the

In essence, the largest group of employees are motivated to undertake

From the employers’ eyes

From an employer’s perspective, one of the key motivations behind the

There is a noticeable di erence across generations when it comes to the

Globally, 60 per cent of workers are either actively seeking further

The propensity for individuals to undertake fresh training or education will

For training to be meaningful it needs to be relevant and practical-not

In an era when employees are embracing the notion of self-directed

The responsibility for managing skills development no longer resides solely

What is clear is that personal decisions about training and professional

“The result, though, is an example of classic economic short-sightedness. If

“But if everyone makes the same calculation, we end up with a collective

While SMEs contribute up to 65 per cent of total employment, their GDP

Many Malaysians lack quali cations

HRDF’s Vignaesvaran observed that most employees in Malaysia are either

“Many of our member organisations as well as industry associations in fact

“However, some of the employers have submitted their feedback, which is

Vignaesvaran said among concerns were expensive training courses,

This means that a single worker tends to hold multiple responsibilities,

As stated previously, the high turnover of sta is a disincentive for SMEs to

Namely, a human resource startup, analysed more than 13,000 salaries in

It also added that incentives also encouraged employees to stick around.

Senior rewards and human resources professionals indicate that retention

CIPD noted that companies might o er a cell phone, travel reimbursement

“Today, employees seek more intangible perks like a sense of community or

Increasing employee retention

The CIPD study found that increasing learning and development

It’s apparent that companies need to o er advancement opportunities as a

Vignaesvaran commented on the matter by noting that training and up-

However, it is crucial for employers to have in place employee retention

“Training can actually improve performance and if followed by appropriate

“Therefore, companies need to shift their mind sets and be prudent in

He added “Companies should prioritise the welfare of their workforce by

He noted that people explore opportunities outside of Malaysia for want of

“Also, if we are able to build a high-skilled workforce, we will also be able to

Measures to boost human resource management

In its e ort to assist the nation, HRDF has embarked on a multitude of

Vignaesvaran explained that the 1Malaysia Outplacement Centre would

For the 1Malaysia Outplacement Centre pilot programme which begun on

Helicopter Commercial Pilot Licence, Certi ed International Welding

Vignaesvaran noted SMEs need to build their organisational human

“What is most critical in all that we do is to educate and raise awareness

As a recap, local media reported that a total of 44 registered human

“A high-skilled workforce is one of the absolute determinants of a high-

What do you think of this story?

Great (75%) Nothing (25%) Angry (0%) Sad (0%) Interesting (0%)

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Ad prepaway.com theborneopost.com theborneopost.com theborneopost.com

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