BRIAN SIM Country head and managing director PERSOLKELLY Malaysia
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Showing posts with label Human resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human resources. Show all posts
Thursday, October 20, 2022
How to win in the workplace
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Youth unemployment hit record high in 2017: MIDF Research
 |
| Young and jobless | Invest Cyberjaya |
Graduate unemployment was 45.5 of overall jobless amid skills mismatch and demand for low-skilled jobs, says MIDF Research
PETALING JAYA: Youth unemployment was at its highest ever at 10.8% in 2017, of which graduate unemployment constituted about 40.5% or 204,000 of total unemployment due to skills mismatch amid a backdrop where demand for low-skill jobs continues to reign – which in turn may leave the government falling short of its 35% skilled workforce target by 2020, according to MIDF Research.
For every 100 jobs available, there are 76 jobs for elementary occupations and 10 jobs for plant and machinery operators and assemblers, which leaves 14 jobs for the high-skill and other low-skill occupations.
About 86.3% of job vacancies in 2017 were for low-skill jobs which was deemed less suitable for a fresh graduate while high-skill jobs such as professional, technicians and associate professionals, comprised 4.1% of the total job vacancies.
It noted that the high single- and double-digit unemployment rate among youth, defined as those between 15 and 24 years old, as being normal not only in Malaysia, but in Europe, the US and South Korea.
The high youth unemployment rate was mainly contributed by soaring graduate unemployment, despite the steady increase in tertiary-educated workers joining the workforce, which was also the fastest growing segment at 4.1%, followed by secondary at 3.2% and no formal education by 0.3%.
Employment share of professionals and technicians and associate professionals improved to 12.2% and 10.5% in 2017 expanding at 0.8% and 4.6% respectively.
“In terms of share, the rising stake of skilled-worker or tertiary-educated is in line with the Eleventh Malaysia Plan. Under the plan, the government estimated skilled-worker to total workforce ratio to touch 35% by 2020. Nevertheless, we view the ratio is not expected to reach the target at the current pace,” MIDF Research said.
“We forecast the skilled-worker ratio to register at 32% by 2020. Continuous improvement in production efficiency, resource allocations and better technology adoptions under the Industry 4.0 will facilitate and accelerate the productivity level in Malaysia in the long run,” it added.
The overall unemployment rate in the country remained low at 3.4% last year.
Malacca remains as the state with the lowest youth unemployment rate for the seventh consecutive year at 2.9% while Sabah recorded the highest at 13.5% in 2017.
Meanwhile, Selangor the largest employer, 23.2% of total national employment saw overall unemployment rate of 2.8% and youth unemployment rate of 9.4% last year.
The overall youth unemployment rate across all states registered poor performances compared with the previous year, 2016.
In 2018, the youth unemployment rate is expected to fall slightly to 9.9% and the overall unemployment rate to stand at 3.3%.
The job market outlook for commodity-based sectors is expected to improve in tandem with recovering commodity prices. This in line with anticipation of improvement in global trade, and higher demand for export products is expected to benefit industries such as electrical & electronics and mining.- sunbiz@thesundaily.com
Related:
Youth unemployment rate still high | The Edge Markets
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[PDF]Youth Unemployment Rate Remain High - MIDF
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Malaysia needs structural reforms says global investor
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Corruptions, Conflict of interests, politicians and Malaysian bloated civil service
Structural issues including education are holding Malaysia back
Huge Civil Service Size, Attractive Emoluments and Benefits are costing Malaysia !
Prized job: While long-term security like the pension scheme free
healthcare and easy loans have been among the perks of joining the .
..
Bloated civil sevice in Malaysia must cut down the size and salaries
Call on the Government to downsize the country’s bloated civil service
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says Tunku Abdul Aziz: "If you have no power, you cannot abuse it.
Civil servants hav...
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Goodbye Motorola! How Chicago's greatest tech company fell to earth?
Under the Galvin family, Motorola had soaring achievements. This was the
company, remember, that invented the cellphone. Those days are over.
What went wrong?
Click below and Scroll or arrow down to keep reading.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Huge Civil Service Size, Attractive Emoluments and Benefits are costing Malaysia !
Prized job: While long-term security like the pension scheme free healthcare and easy loans have been among the perks of joining the public service, many job seekers now want to become civil servants because it pays well. — Bernama
The attractive emoluments and benefits in the public sector are costing the country, say experts.
THE civil service had never been *Sofea Mohd’s dream job but in the current competitive job market, the final year Economics student at a local public university is seriously weighing the option. Especially since she was offered a temporary position at a ministry where she had just completed an internship.
“My seniors advised me to take the offer – one said she had to wait years before she got a job, another said he had to work in a fastfood restaurant and sell pens and children’s books on the street, so I thought I should listen to them and just take it.
“They say my chances of being hired permanently will be higher then,” says the 22-year-old.
The main reason she decided to accept the offer, however, is the pay, she tells, “It’s not as low as people say. I will get a daily wage but I can earn at least RM2,000 a month. The pay for permanent staff is of course better.”
Her friend *Azman Jailani dreams of starting his own business but is also planning to join the public sector after graduation.
“That’s what my parents want me to do. They say there is more security in the civil service. I can start my business later if I want,” says the final year business studies student.
With the academic year coming to a close at most tertiary institution in the country, many graduating students are preparing for the next chapter in their life. And like these two, many are looking at the civil service for a job guarantee.
It was reported recently that the Public Service Commission received 1.56 million applications last year to fill 25,046 job vacancies in the public sector. In 2015, the PSC received 1.63 million applications for 24,606 vacancies.
While the attraction of a government job is well-noted – long-term security; a pension scheme; cheap, if not free, healthcare; easy loans – many job seekers are now drawn to the public sector because of its pay.
The pay for the public sector, especially for entry-level jobs, is on par with the private sector, says Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan.
“It has to be noted that public sector wages have risen, in some cases outstripping the wages in the private sector. And that is only the basic pay. When you add the different allowances and bonuses, the public sector’s salaries – perhaps except for those at senior management level – could be more attractive than that of the private sector.
“Then there are also many benefits for civil servants such as house loans and healthcare benefits for them and family that continue even after they retire.
“In the private sector, the health insurance coverage ends when you leave a company’s employment or retire,” he says.
But the attractive emolument and benefits in the public sector have come at a price for the country, say economists, one that Malaysia will not be able to afford in the future. In fact, some believe it is already hurting Malaysia’s economy – it has been reported that it will now cost the nation more than 40% of government revenue to maintain the public sector.
Experts have pointed to its sheer size as a reason for the burgeoning bill of the civil service.
In February, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani told a local Chinese daily in an interview that it is a growing challenge for the Government to run the public sector due to the rising costs.
“One of the issues that we have to address is the ever-increasing government operating costs and expenses.
“For example, we have about 1.6 million civil servants, which is one of the world’s largest proportion of civil service,” Johari was quoted as saying.
With a population of 31 million, this means Malaysia has a ratio of one civil servant to 19 people, said the news report, which cited corresponding ratios for other countries in comparison: Singapore (1 to 71 people), Indonesia (1:110), China (1:108) and Britain (1:118).
The reported size of the civil service caused a stir, with the Public Service Department director-general Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman refuting criticisms that the civil service is oversized by reiterating Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa’s statement that the size of the civil service is a matter of definition under the Federal Constitution, which includes the police, the armed forces, and healthcare and education personnel.
As Zainal Rahim told the press, the actual size of the civil service would only be 682,790 should Malaysia adopt the same calculation used by other countries. This would make the ratio of civil servant to population as 1 to 44, instead of 1:19, he said.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, meanwhile, put Malaysia’s employment in the public sector as only 10.8% of the total labour force in 2013.
But as Johari highlighted, the fact is, emoluments make up the biggest portion of the Government’s operating expenditure, and that cost has been and will keep expanding.
“In 2003, the pay of public servants totalled RM22bil but it increased to RM74bil by 2016. In 2003, the pension of civil servants was RM5.9bil and in 2016 the amount soared to RM19bil.”
This year, some RM77.4bil have been allocated in the 2017 Budget for public servants’ pay and some RM21bil for the pension and gratuity payments of retirees, which is about 45% of the allocated operating expenditure of the country.
The challenge to cover the spiking cost is intensified by the declining Government revenue, the vernacular newspaper reported Johari as saying.
“In particular, revenues from the palm oil and natural gas industries, which generated profits of about RM65bil in 2014, fell sharply to RM30bil in 2016,” he was quoted.
Concurring, economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng says the rising operating expenditure is also a concern due to its impact on the country’s development.
<< Dr Yeah: ‘The development expenditure should be half of the budget if we want a dynamic economy.’
“Over the last decade or so, we are seeing the operating expenditure in the government budget expand to the extent that we are not able to expand the development expenditure,” says Dr Yeah, who is an economics professor at Sunway Business School.
Some RM214.8bil was allocated for operating expenditure in the 2017 Budget while only RM46bil was allocated for development.
“By right, the development expenditure should be half of the budget if we want a dynamic economy as we see in many countries, especially in the developed countries,” he adds.
“But in Malaysia, the development expenditure has shrunk to as low as 20% of the budget. This will have a multiplier effect on our economy.”
He argues we should be spending more on our development, both in increasing the quantum of development expenditure and at the same time focusing the development expenditure on the right sectors – not just hard infrastructure but also soft infrastructure like social and human capital development.
“This is important in improving the quality of our workforce and their skills, in terms of boosting the talent development that can push the frontiers of growth in the country, especially in science and technology and other emerging knowledge and industries.
“The Government needs to attract investments in these new sectors, so that is why development expenditure is one of the key contributions to spark growth in those sectors and accelerate the growth of the economy towards becoming high end, high value.”
He points out, various studies have shown that the country’s civil service is big, with a low productivity rate.
“Regardless of how we calculate the total, we definitely have more people in the public sector than necessary, and studies have shown that labour productivity is quite low for the public sector.”
Rightsizing the civil service is the way to go, he asserts, but it should be treated as part of the continuous effort of improving the efficiency of its delivery service.
“The key is to be able to provide the services required by the people optimally, which is at the smallest number and lowest cost possible without sacrificing the quality of service,” he says, stressing that the underlying note is that “we should be getting bigger banks for our bucks, that is the taxpayers’ money.”
Crucially, Dr Yeah adds, while rightsizing the civil service is important to sustain growth, it is important that we rightsize without disrupting economic growth in terms of the employment situation in the country.
“We have to ensure meaningful employment for all while sustaining a low unemployment rate so that we can maintain the domestic economic growth momentum.”
Any prudent government would seize the opportunity to rightsize and enhance the public sector efficiency, Dr Yeah says.
“It is important to rightsize gradually and incrementally at a pace that does not disrupt the economy.
“Because the risk is that if we are hit by a downturn and the government is forced to undertake the pending cuts then that would be more painful and damaging to the economy. There would be a loss of productive capital when we face that kind of situation,” he says.
Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim, immediate past president of the Malaysian Economic Association (MEA) also believes it is time for Malaysia to rightsize the civil service due to the huge sum of civil servants’ salaries and pensions in the government expenditure.
As he had told the “Economic Governance: Public Sector Governance” forum in February, it could be a problem for Malaysia if it runs into a financial crisis and rightsizing is “better sooner than later” if Malaysia wanted to avoid falling into a Greece-like crisis, where the European country had to cut salaries and state pensions for its civil service.
“It is worthwhile to do it now while we can still afford it.
“I think we should do it gradually. It is kinder to do it now with incentives than to suddenly cut their salaries and pensions at a time when they can least afford it,” he was reported as saying.
Mohd Sheriff, who is also the former Finance Ministry secretary-general and Economic Planning Unit director-general, points out that there are ways of rightsizing in a humane and caring manner including providing free courses on skills development that will make people employable in the right sector like ICT, English, basic accounting, corporate law and others.
He says with the right skills, many would even leave the service on their own accord to improve their lives.
Dr Yeah agrees.
“While their pay is comparable to the private sector, many of the second layer and support jobs in the civil service have low long-term prospect,” he says.
“If their skills are improved, they and their families could get better prospects for the future. And if they are forced to look at other opportunities in the private sector or in entrepreneurship, in the end they could be better off,” he says, pointing to some of the initiatives already taken to rightsize the civil service and improve its productivity and efficiency, especially under Pemandu.
Dr Lee Hwok Aun, senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, says the Government should explore different ways to raise more revenue, such as by introducing a capital gains tax.
As a former lecturer at a Malaysian public university, Dr Lee says he can appreciate the enormous difficulty of rightsizing the civil service.
“The projected increasing burden of civil service salaries and proven continuous increase of operational expenditures in overall federal government spending, at the expense of investment, are major causes for concern. And the size of the civil service matters, but the long-term issues are even more complex,” he says.
For the civil service to be effective, nimble and efficient, it will need to attract and retain talent in certain sectors – which means paying higher salaries, especially for key positions such as teachers, he says.
As he sees it, the main problem is over-bureaucratisation.
“There are various unnecessary administrative posts, which add cost and tend to perpetuate procedures and heavy paperwork. I can attest to this from my experience working in a public university. An overhaul of administrative strategy and operations is probably necessary in many departments, before making any staff reductions. If not, when staff retire or relocate, the same amount of tedious work becomes distributed among fewer people, causing service and morale to decline,” he says, adding there will also be resistance from civil servants who stand to lose their pension if they leave.
“We should be understanding and merciful about this situation. Forms of compensation, or the option to convert from public sector pension to an EPF lump sum, could be explored.”
MEF’s Shamsuddin concurs, pointing out that there are also a lot of duplications of service and work at the federal level and state level and so on.
“A good example is tourism where there is a tourism agency at the federal level while the state has its own tourism Exco and office.
Duplications impact the private sector as it is a problem to deal with different government agencies to get something done. When there are too many agencies, that will bound to cause delays,” says Shamsuddin.
Dr Yeah says it is imperative for the Government to enhance the efficiency of the delivery service and effectiveness of the public sector across the board, such as putting them to work in priority areas and where they will have the highest impact.
“Crucially, when we focus on improving productivity through redeployment, retraining and re-skilling, quite naturally, we will be rightsizing.”
It can even be a win-win situation for the public servants as a smaller number of employees that commensurate with a higher productivity will mean an increase in profit, so the civil servants can receive higher wages, he notes.
Still, Dr Yeah feels the public sector’s emolument bill should be capped.
“We need to ensure that the public sector wages do not exceed the workers’ productivity or rate of inflation, as that itself will lead to a productivity decline.
“We should cascade it so that the wages in private sector could rise in tandem with thepublic sector,” he says, adding that at the same time the size of the civil service needs to be reduced. “If we don’t rightsize and instead create more civil service jobs, it will be a downward spiral.”
The Government also needs to enhance Malaysia’s investment climate and attract more foreign investments, he adds, “The strategy of the country should be to push for private sector growth, especially in new and emerging areas which would boost demand for highly skilled labour.”
Ultimately, says Dr Yeah, the public service sector should not be the job reserve or employer of the last resort in the country.
To achieve this, we need to stop the disproportionate interest in the public sector which is not healthy for the economy, he says.
“We should be steering the workforce towards the private sector or they should become entrepreneurs so that they can raise their income opportunities and create jobs.” The tightening of the job market can lead to higher investment, higher productivity and higher wages, Dr Yeah notes, “This is the virtuous cycle we need to kickstart to sustain an economic growth for the country at a higher level.”
*not real name
Next: Some of the initiatives already taken by the Government to rightsize the civil service and improve its productivity and efficiency.
Source: The Star/ANN by Hariati Azizan
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Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Big bosses are watching you !
BIG bosses are watching. Firms are keeping a closer eye on their employees’ punctuality and efficiency – thanks, or no thanks, to technology.
Larger companies are investing in advanced software in mobile devices that can detect location – and record the time taken to complete tasks.
And smaller firms have found that run-of-the-mill but inexpensive instant messaging apps can also be used to monitor workers. Employees of local property valuation firm GSK Global, for example, when out at meetings are told to send a picture of the venue to their departments’ WhatsApp group chat within 15 minutes of the designated time. Those who are consistently late will get their bonuses docked.
Bosses say they are not spying on their staff. Rather, they want to improve efficiency.
GSK Global boss Eric Tan said: “I want my staff to be punctual so they can be done with work earlier and go home by 8pm.”
Market research consultancy Asia Insight chief executive Pearly Tan agrees.
Her firm engaged local tech start-up Epsilon Mobile earlier this year to develop mobile data collection software that records the time employees take to interview people and complete surveys, among other things.
It costs “a few hundred thousand” but Tan said it was worth it. The software helps the company spot patterns in the way the surveyors work, and also intervenes to reduce errors and boost productivity.
Her firm plans to use the software, which is enabled with Global Positioning System (GPS), to detect its employees’ location.
Epsilon Mobile boss William Vo said besides market researchers, organisations such as voluntary welfare groups and chain restaurants had also shown interest in his data collection software.
Similarly, tech company FPT Asia Pacific provides a few fast-moving consumer goods firms with GPS-enabled data collection software to monitor roving sales staff.
While most surveillance technology now focuses on tracking location and time, firms may soon be able to use it to monitor their workers’ interactions with customers.
Local tech company FXMedia is in talks with some retailer groups to roll out a visitor analysis system in stores. The software detects the number of customers and consumers’ emotions using webcams.
However, bosses admit there are some drawbacks to using workplace surveillance technology; workers face extra stress and loss of privacy. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network
Related article:
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Financial talent crunch worsen
Asian Institute of Finance (AIF) chief executive officer Dr Raymond Madden said that the talent shortage could be due to the lack of understanding on how to cope with the Gen Y group.
Madden:‘At the moment this group of people (Gen Y) makes up about 40% of the current workforce in Malaysia.“Within the next eight to nine years, we expect the Gen Y workforce in the banking system to rise to about 50% from 25% currently, which means that almost half of the people working in banks will be Gen Y employees, namely those below 30 years of age.
“At the moment this group of people (Gen Y) makes up about 40% of the current workforce in Malaysia and in many Asean countries. This number is expected to increase to 75% within a relatively short span of time,’’ he told StarBiz.
According to the Financial Sector Blueprint published in 2011, the workforce number in the financial sector stood at 144,000. It is anticipated that over the next 10 years, the sector would require a workforce of about 200,000, an increase of 56,000 from the current 144,000 employees.
Madden said among the sectors in the financial services industry that were facing talent shortage was in Islamic finance, notably in the areas of syariah expertise.
Besides this, he added, the crucial areas in the banking system facing talent shortage were in credit and risk management, corporate finance, treasury and wealth management.
He said due to the expected rise of the Gen Y workforce in the financial services in the coming years, banks and other financial services sectors needed to have a better understanding and knowledge of this group.
This group, he said, was looking at what he termed as the three E’s – engage, enrich and empower. He described Gen Y as an impatient lot as they wanted to be prominent in the organisation and would join another organisation if they did not achieve their targets.
As this group was ambitious and wanted to climb up the career ladder as quick as possible unlike their older counterparts, hence employers needed to know how to deal effectively with the Gen Y segment.
Towards this end, Madden said AIF – through its four affiliate institutions – was working closely to beef up talent in the financial services sector.
The affiliates are Institute of Bankers Malaysia (IBBM), Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM), The Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII) and Securities Industries Development Corp (SIDC).
For example, he said the Financial Sector Talent Enrichment Programme (FSTEP), which is run by IBBM, had played an important role in training new graduates in the financial services industry.
FSTEP is an intensive-training programme that prepares trainees for the operational aspects of finance and banking.
AIF in collaboration with UK-based Ashbridge Business School carried out a survey this year, which among others, showed that 22% of Gen Y employees in Malaysia believed it was reasonable for them to be in a management role within six months of starting work at their respective organisations.
Commenting on the survey, he said there were also inter-generation gaps that existed in the financial services industry between the Gen Y and their older managers, adding that there was a clear difference in perception of Gen Y managers and Gen Ys themselves.
The survey polled 1,200 financial services professionals, including senior human resources personnel who actively manage Gen Ys in their respective organisations.
Contributed by by Daljit Dhesi - The Star/Asia News Network
Saturday, August 10, 2013
How to grow a small business?
The following, though not exhaustive, are some examples that will set you on the path to growing your still minuscule venture.
Technology
SMI Association of Malaysia president Teh Kee Sin acknowledges that technology adoption is often an issue for small companies.
“It’s always a challenge. They see technology adoption more as an expense rather than an investment. It’s something that they would rather avoid.
“But adopting technology into your business should not be seen as an immediate expense and rather, a long-term investment.”
Teh admits that one of the biggest nitpicks of small companies is the inability to secure financing to “move to the next level.”
“Many small firms complain that financial institutions demand a lot of unnecessary documents and information that is difficult to be fulfilled. So they get stuck and are not able to move forward.”
Teh says there needs to be more Government involvement so that support from financial institutions can be improved.
Branding
Branding Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Eric Chong says branding is extremely important for business organisations, regardless of the size of the organisation.
“Big and medium-sized businesses usually understand the importance of branding. They would not be where they are had they not understood and practised the art of branding along the way.
“Small businesses, however, usually struggle tremendously in this area. It is a chicken and egg situation for these small guys - should they make money and maximise profits first, or invest in their brands from day one?”
Chong adds that what a lot of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) operators fail to understand is that branding isn’t just about spending money on advertising.
“While advertising is an essential part of branding, it takes much more than just splashing money around if one wishes to brand something properly. It is just like gardening - you need to sow the seeds and nurture the plants with consistency. A beautiful garden reflects the absolute commitment of the gardener; similarly, a good brand reflects the absolute commitment of the CEO and his team.
“It is about finding the right brand positioning, creating the right image, building a great brand culture, ensuring superb customer experience, communicate effectively with the market, etc. So is branding essential for SMEs? Yes, it lays the foundation and paves the way for a small entity to, someday, become a respectable player in the market.”
Talents
Leaderonomics chief executive officer Roshan Thiran notes that for many SMEs, leaders want growth but do not want to invest their time or energy to grow their people.
“This ultimately results in their company not growing either. Every company, even SMEs, are limited by the growth of their people. So, as long as your people are not learning and growing, don’t expect your organisation to grow exponentially either.
“As the business world changes, even small companies have become more attractive to young talents. Many start-ups can attract great talents in spite of their size or funds.”
Roshan says that many youths view working at start-ups more attractive than multinational companies.
“SMEs need to leverage this by their own personal inspirational leadership. People are attracted to work in an SME not because you pay well or have a big reputation.
“Instead, it is because of the leader. A great way to attract talent to your organisation is for the leaders and the leadership team to develop their own leadership skills. If you become an inspirational leader, the likelihood of you attracting talent rises significantly.”
Training
Peoplelogy group founder and chief executive officer Allen Lee says many small firms first complain that they have “no time” for training.
“Whenever they say they have no time, I always tell them to ‘make time lor.”
The next complaint, says Lee, is “what if I send them for training and they leave?”
“My response to them is always what if you don’t send them for training and they stay! If this is the case, how could these employees help small business to improve productivity and efficiency, cost savings and customer retention, for example? This also means that you will not have a chance to improve on your sales, cost efficiency, profitability and even your competitive edge.”
Lee believes most companies spend 60% to 70% of their money on people’s salary.
“And yet, they spend less than 1% of their total budget to develop the people. And most companies, in fact, spend more time and money on maintaining their buildings and equipment than they do on maintaining and developing people.
“If people get results, then it certainly makes good sense to invest in people. People are an asset to organisation anyway, regardless if it’s a big or small business.
Diversification
Established in 1974, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd initially offered only customs brokerage services - but is now providing total logistics services.
PKT group chief executive and managing director Datuk Michael Tio believes that diversification was they key to how the company transformed itself into the total logistics provider it is today.
“As we started to diversify our services, our revenue grew. So the first step of growth was to continue to diversify services within the logistics industry by providing more services.
W started off as a custom agent, then subsequently expanded to freight forwarding, haulage, warehousing and so forth.”
Tio says the next step was to look for foreign partners to grow the business.“We found Japanese and Korean partners.
The Japanese provided us with a cushion during the currency crisis and the Korean partnership gave us entry into the automotive logistics sector.”
He adds that PKT started to observe how other multinational logistics companies expanded their revenue.
“We ended up competing with them in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment because 60% of the industry, or RM2bil, were controlled by them.
We had to overcome several challenges in order to compete with these companies, namely know-how, acquiring new technology, modern infrastructure and most importantly, moving up the value chain.”
Friday, December 21, 2012
How to ask for a pay rise and get a bonus?
Successful ways to get an increment or bonus - Do not be boastful about your achievements or downplay the role of your colleagues
IT'S now December and year-end is just round the corner. It's also time for reflection about what you have achieved in your current job and what your plans are for next year in terms of your career path.
Taking some time to make such plans is a great way to ensure that you have set yourself in the right direction and how a well-crafted road map can lead you to your outcomes or objectives.
As with every plan, you need to give yourself some private time to set your thoughts in the right direction. Start with choosing a quiet place and give yourself ample time to relax and focus on how the current year has been and what lies ahead that you wish to see happening. Let's look at how you can successfully ask for a pay rise from your bosses if you had met and exceeded your targets and agreed KPIs.
b. It can be a group project or one which you did individually
b. List down your role in the project e.g. principal driver or customer liaison person, risk analyst planner (your actual role in the group)
b. It could even be completed in a few days time
c. If there were cost investment required which is beyond the time spent on carrying out this programme, place the cost into the column e.g. marketing budget of RM12,000.
b. What were the challenges or issues that were required to be resolved?
c. What was the sales target in terms of revenue that needed to be realised?
b. List down the measurable results to be effective e.g.
i. If time was an essence, completion within or earlier than the duration expected or given
ii. If revenue was the outcome, place the amount/value into your outcomes
iii. If cost savings was involved, list down the amount /value saved
What is very important is that the information in that list must be real and a true reflection of what was achieved. Do not list down information which you cannot prove or which is untrue. Be mindful that it's not about having a long grocery list but a list which is impactful in terms of outcomes and results. If there was nothing significant in that month, go to the next month and only list the effective and efficient details in your list.
If your company does not have a performance review/appraisal fixed for year-end, set an appointment with your immediate boss to have that discussion. Be proactive in your approach.
During the discussion, have an open mind that your list may be challenged. Approach your discussion with your boss on a professional manner and never argue your points.
Be diplomatic and highlight the points that you have in your list. Reaffirm your points with facts and in some cases, walk your boss through how it was achieved and the process that was involved.
You may not be the only subordinate your boss has, so, he may not recall each and every project of all his subordinates or the results attached to it. It is advisable to have the discussion with a state of mind that you are showcasing your achievements and not out to prove your boss wrong or to boast of your achievements.
If you know that you have achieved many milestones and have been a star performer, always be humble in your demeanour. Do not be boastful about your achievements or downplay the role of your colleagues on any group projects.
Group projects are always achievable as a result of teamwork no matter how small a role someone else plays. It would be good to share credit on some of the successes by naming some colleagues who had played a critical part in your project list. This reflects your maturity and openness to share credit where it's due. It also shows that you have leadership qualities and values teamwork.
When you ask for a pay rise, you also need to be mindful of the company's performance for the year. Ask yourself if the company has achieved better performance results compared to last year as a benchmark or if your company has achieved the performance results/profits that was targeted at the start of the year based on your CEO/management's direction for the year.
Look internally at your achievement and do a quick Conclusion (as per the list requirements above) on your progress month on month and if possible, compare that with last year's progress. If your company has suffered losses this year, generally it is advisable not to ask for a pay rise. Employees who show loyalty to a company during challenging times will be valued and there are also other ways to measure how the company and its management treat you beyond the pay rise; rewards and recognition (extra annual leave, awards),
good health plan, training and development programme which provided upskilling and personal growth.
Do some research on salary ranges before asking for a pay rise as your pay rise needs to be realistic and based on market rate. Never ask for a pay rise that is unreasonable or which you know the company cannot agree to. Be willing to accept a compromise during the discussion and open yourself to different solutions offered by the company.
As much as we wish to have what our heart desires, there are times we have to face the reality of rejection. If you are successful in getting that pay rise, congratulations but to those who are not successful, do not accept it as a failure or an end to a means.
Things happen for a reason and it may be a call for you to take charge of your own achievements, on your skill sets and, at times, it may be reasons beyond your control such as the company's poor performance as a whole.
IT'S now December and year-end is just round the corner. It's also time for reflection about what you have achieved in your current job and what your plans are for next year in terms of your career path.
Taking some time to make such plans is a great way to ensure that you have set yourself in the right direction and how a well-crafted road map can lead you to your outcomes or objectives.
As with every plan, you need to give yourself some private time to set your thoughts in the right direction. Start with choosing a quiet place and give yourself ample time to relax and focus on how the current year has been and what lies ahead that you wish to see happening. Let's look at how you can successfully ask for a pay rise from your bosses if you had met and exceeded your targets and agreed KPIs.
- >Current year reflection is a measure of your achievements
- >Crafting the list of achievements for the year
- >Month
- >Projects and assignment
b. It can be a group project or one which you did individually
- >People involved
b. List down your role in the project e.g. principal driver or customer liaison person, risk analyst planner (your actual role in the group)
- >Timelines/cost involved
b. It could even be completed in a few days time
c. If there were cost investment required which is beyond the time spent on carrying out this programme, place the cost into the column e.g. marketing budget of RM12,000.
- >Objective of the project and assignment
b. What were the challenges or issues that were required to be resolved?
c. What was the sales target in terms of revenue that needed to be realised?
- >Outcome/results achieved
b. List down the measurable results to be effective e.g.
i. If time was an essence, completion within or earlier than the duration expected or given
ii. If revenue was the outcome, place the amount/value into your outcomes
iii. If cost savings was involved, list down the amount /value saved
- >Conclusion
What is very important is that the information in that list must be real and a true reflection of what was achieved. Do not list down information which you cannot prove or which is untrue. Be mindful that it's not about having a long grocery list but a list which is impactful in terms of outcomes and results. If there was nothing significant in that month, go to the next month and only list the effective and efficient details in your list.
If your company does not have a performance review/appraisal fixed for year-end, set an appointment with your immediate boss to have that discussion. Be proactive in your approach.
During the discussion, have an open mind that your list may be challenged. Approach your discussion with your boss on a professional manner and never argue your points.
Be diplomatic and highlight the points that you have in your list. Reaffirm your points with facts and in some cases, walk your boss through how it was achieved and the process that was involved.
You may not be the only subordinate your boss has, so, he may not recall each and every project of all his subordinates or the results attached to it. It is advisable to have the discussion with a state of mind that you are showcasing your achievements and not out to prove your boss wrong or to boast of your achievements.
If you know that you have achieved many milestones and have been a star performer, always be humble in your demeanour. Do not be boastful about your achievements or downplay the role of your colleagues on any group projects.
Group projects are always achievable as a result of teamwork no matter how small a role someone else plays. It would be good to share credit on some of the successes by naming some colleagues who had played a critical part in your project list. This reflects your maturity and openness to share credit where it's due. It also shows that you have leadership qualities and values teamwork.
When you ask for a pay rise, you also need to be mindful of the company's performance for the year. Ask yourself if the company has achieved better performance results compared to last year as a benchmark or if your company has achieved the performance results/profits that was targeted at the start of the year based on your CEO/management's direction for the year.
Look internally at your achievement and do a quick Conclusion (as per the list requirements above) on your progress month on month and if possible, compare that with last year's progress. If your company has suffered losses this year, generally it is advisable not to ask for a pay rise. Employees who show loyalty to a company during challenging times will be valued and there are also other ways to measure how the company and its management treat you beyond the pay rise; rewards and recognition (extra annual leave, awards),
good health plan, training and development programme which provided upskilling and personal growth.
Do some research on salary ranges before asking for a pay rise as your pay rise needs to be realistic and based on market rate. Never ask for a pay rise that is unreasonable or which you know the company cannot agree to. Be willing to accept a compromise during the discussion and open yourself to different solutions offered by the company.
As much as we wish to have what our heart desires, there are times we have to face the reality of rejection. If you are successful in getting that pay rise, congratulations but to those who are not successful, do not accept it as a failure or an end to a means.
Things happen for a reason and it may be a call for you to take charge of your own achievements, on your skill sets and, at times, it may be reasons beyond your control such as the company's poor performance as a whole.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Team building is a balancing act in an organization
It is important to remember that there are no bad competencies or bad profiles
BUILDING teams in an organisation is becoming an increasingly complex and challenging task.
Many organisations are employing the use of assessment tools to give another perspective of the individuals being considered for the purpose of recruitment or even succession planning, which is often an integral part of building a cohesive team. As an executive search consultant and coach, I have found such tools to be very insightful in many instances. One of the biggest lessons for me as a result of using such assessment tools is that bringing together diverse groups of competencies often result in stronger teams.
Most people would choose to work with people who are like themselves. It is a common perception that people with similar personality types will likely be on the same wavelength and get along well together. However, I had the opportunity to work closely with a colleague who is very frank and direct in her communication and work style. My personal style of communication is almost a direct opposite of hers whereby I gravitate to being a lot more diplomatic. Both of us work well together because we can bridge the gaps in each other's work style and cover a lot more ground when collaborating on projects. In most cases when dealing with savvy clients, they want to know the truth but the tactful delivery of facts are also equally important.
As a leader, I am not keen on finding someone exactly like me, as I know I am not perfect and having clones of myself would only magnify my faults. By understanding my own personality profile better, I am able to surround myself with people who are able to bring other competencies to the table and by working together, we would be able to support each other to produce better results and more holistic solutions and better results.
I have noticed that more and more leaders are becoming aware of the need for diversity in their workspace. A decade or two ago my clients often wanted me to look for people who were almost identical to themselves or someone within their organisation. “Just find me someone like John,” or “Don't you have any candidates like my deputy?”
However, employers and leaders are now becoming savvier when it comes to building teams. They are realising that by building diverse teams they are able to address more of their customers' needs and reduce their blind spots. Even clients who have not been exposed to any psychometric assessment tools are able to splice together a profile by using terminology that they are familiar with. For example, I spoke with a client who wanted me to find him a chief operating officer who could think strategically like his head of corporate strategy but the individual also needed to be literate with numbers like his finance director and able to deep-dive to fix problems. Whilst this may seem like a tall order, this description was able to provide another perspective and added another dimension to the job description, which in most cases is only a two-dimensional document. Hence, it became a lot easier to understand the client's requirements from that point onwards.
The results of an assessment project can sometimes be an eye-opener and a driver for change. One such organisation, a multinational company in the manufacturing sector, discovered through an assessment project that the majority of their managers were classified as innovators. Being innovative is a highly desired skill in many organizations, especially in leadership roles. On the other hand, innovators are generally out-of-the-box thinkers and are not very likely to analyse pitfalls well or they may be less detail oriented when it comes to implementation. Faced with the study results, their top management embarked on a development program to build up the other competencies their managers were lacking in. At the same time, they also made a conscious effort to hire more detail-oriented managers who could be more effective on areas of the business that called for more precision. They also created a role for a risk manager to mitigate potential risks that the innovative managers may have missed in their eagerness to try new and different approaches.
I have also come across leaders who have the misconception that their subordinates cannot be better qualified than the leaders themselves. These were usually leaders who enjoyed having their own “kingdoms” and didn't want to “rock the boat.” They tend to hire “yes” men who would carry out instructions without questioning or offer any kind of resistance. As a result, the organisation is likely to stagnate at some point, as there will usually be a bottleneck when it comes to making decisions. The calibre of the managers hired would be of a lower level, as the leader would not want to have subordinates that may outshine them as leaders. As such most decision-making will have to be directed to the top management, as these managers would not be empowered to make decisions.
Although it is not ideal, the leader preferred this approach and this might even work well until the business grows beyond the tipping point whereby the leader will eventually need to empower some capable managers to take on more of the decision-making tasks. As an employee and team member, it is useful to know what our competencies are as this will pave the way for us to develop ourselves in areas that we may not be as proficient in. We can align ourselves to mentors who may have a profile that complements ours or who can help us develop these competencies. It is also handy to know your colleagues' profiles where possible so that we can use the right communication style to get our message across.
For instance, some people prefer receiving emails as this gives them time to craft an appropriate response whilst others may want to have a face-to-face discussion so that they can obtain immediate feedback. At times, this information also tells us why we are unable to get along with certain people in our organisations.
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that there are no bad competencies or bad profiles. Nobody is perfect. We all possess competencies; some are similar and some different from the people we work with. It is more important to know what our competencies are and to what degree they influence our communication with others. It is not just the truth but knowing the truth that makes the difference, as this is the starting point for building effective teams.
Many organisations are employing the use of assessment tools to give another perspective of the individuals being considered for the purpose of recruitment or even succession planning, which is often an integral part of building a cohesive team. As an executive search consultant and coach, I have found such tools to be very insightful in many instances. One of the biggest lessons for me as a result of using such assessment tools is that bringing together diverse groups of competencies often result in stronger teams.
Most people would choose to work with people who are like themselves. It is a common perception that people with similar personality types will likely be on the same wavelength and get along well together. However, I had the opportunity to work closely with a colleague who is very frank and direct in her communication and work style. My personal style of communication is almost a direct opposite of hers whereby I gravitate to being a lot more diplomatic. Both of us work well together because we can bridge the gaps in each other's work style and cover a lot more ground when collaborating on projects. In most cases when dealing with savvy clients, they want to know the truth but the tactful delivery of facts are also equally important.
As a leader, I am not keen on finding someone exactly like me, as I know I am not perfect and having clones of myself would only magnify my faults. By understanding my own personality profile better, I am able to surround myself with people who are able to bring other competencies to the table and by working together, we would be able to support each other to produce better results and more holistic solutions and better results.
I have noticed that more and more leaders are becoming aware of the need for diversity in their workspace. A decade or two ago my clients often wanted me to look for people who were almost identical to themselves or someone within their organisation. “Just find me someone like John,” or “Don't you have any candidates like my deputy?”
However, employers and leaders are now becoming savvier when it comes to building teams. They are realising that by building diverse teams they are able to address more of their customers' needs and reduce their blind spots. Even clients who have not been exposed to any psychometric assessment tools are able to splice together a profile by using terminology that they are familiar with. For example, I spoke with a client who wanted me to find him a chief operating officer who could think strategically like his head of corporate strategy but the individual also needed to be literate with numbers like his finance director and able to deep-dive to fix problems. Whilst this may seem like a tall order, this description was able to provide another perspective and added another dimension to the job description, which in most cases is only a two-dimensional document. Hence, it became a lot easier to understand the client's requirements from that point onwards.
The results of an assessment project can sometimes be an eye-opener and a driver for change. One such organisation, a multinational company in the manufacturing sector, discovered through an assessment project that the majority of their managers were classified as innovators. Being innovative is a highly desired skill in many organizations, especially in leadership roles. On the other hand, innovators are generally out-of-the-box thinkers and are not very likely to analyse pitfalls well or they may be less detail oriented when it comes to implementation. Faced with the study results, their top management embarked on a development program to build up the other competencies their managers were lacking in. At the same time, they also made a conscious effort to hire more detail-oriented managers who could be more effective on areas of the business that called for more precision. They also created a role for a risk manager to mitigate potential risks that the innovative managers may have missed in their eagerness to try new and different approaches.
I have also come across leaders who have the misconception that their subordinates cannot be better qualified than the leaders themselves. These were usually leaders who enjoyed having their own “kingdoms” and didn't want to “rock the boat.” They tend to hire “yes” men who would carry out instructions without questioning or offer any kind of resistance. As a result, the organisation is likely to stagnate at some point, as there will usually be a bottleneck when it comes to making decisions. The calibre of the managers hired would be of a lower level, as the leader would not want to have subordinates that may outshine them as leaders. As such most decision-making will have to be directed to the top management, as these managers would not be empowered to make decisions.
Although it is not ideal, the leader preferred this approach and this might even work well until the business grows beyond the tipping point whereby the leader will eventually need to empower some capable managers to take on more of the decision-making tasks. As an employee and team member, it is useful to know what our competencies are as this will pave the way for us to develop ourselves in areas that we may not be as proficient in. We can align ourselves to mentors who may have a profile that complements ours or who can help us develop these competencies. It is also handy to know your colleagues' profiles where possible so that we can use the right communication style to get our message across.
For instance, some people prefer receiving emails as this gives them time to craft an appropriate response whilst others may want to have a face-to-face discussion so that they can obtain immediate feedback. At times, this information also tells us why we are unable to get along with certain people in our organisations.
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that there are no bad competencies or bad profiles. Nobody is perfect. We all possess competencies; some are similar and some different from the people we work with. It is more important to know what our competencies are and to what degree they influence our communication with others. It is not just the truth but knowing the truth that makes the difference, as this is the starting point for building effective teams.
by Talking Hr with Pauline Ng
Pauline Ng is the consulting director and head of BTI Consultants. She believes that we need to understand what makes a person tick so that we can build more effective teams
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