NSI’s new CEO vows to boost staff’s morale

at the National Sports Institute (NSI) has been low, and for newly appointed CEO, Ahmad Faedzal Md Ramli, his first order of business is to get his house in order.

Faedzal said yesterday he hopes to boost NSI staff ’s morale which has taken a hit following the layoffs which affected both local and foreign employees at the end of last year.

“The pace has been quick since I started (Monday). Today we have already had a board meeting as we look to address the fundamentals,” said Faedzal yesterday.

“Last year was a challenging one due to the various issues with the Podium Programme and others, but I believe we will achieve a new dimension this year with a new spirit and leadership.

“The short-term focus will be on improving the management of NSI itself in terms of improved internal governance, procedures and human resource. We are still a relatively new agency and from time to time we need a revamp.

“I believe that when we have a happy workforce, the morale will return and this will then have a positive impact on our clients which are the athletes. We have experts in many disciplines and we need to take care of them. I feel that personnel are the most important part of any agency.

“Our staff take care of the athletes welfare but we also have to look into their (staff) welfare. I will be conducting a special, personalised session with the staff here to understand where we can improve.”

Only 169 of the 303 local staff, whose contracts ended at the end of last year, have been retained though some have been reassigned to the National Sports Council (NSC).

The 41-year-old made it clear that NSI are happy to depend on local expertise rather than hire foreigners as was the case in the past.

“One of the reasons we have not taken in any new foreigners is due to the high cost. At the moment there are only seven compared to the 35 previously.

“Our local experts have learnt a lot from their foreign counterparts over the past three years and have improved their own personal capacity.”

Following the Sports Ministry’s decision to move the Podium Programme back to NSC, Faedzal made it clear that NSI are happy to play a supporting role as like before.

“It’s a big task when NSI was given the lead for the Podium Programme in 2016. There were, however, a few issues and missed KPIs such as finishing top-10 at the 2018 Commonwealth and 2018 Asian Games.