TalentCorp positive on effort to improve M’sia’s human capital
KUALA LLUMPUR: Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp) is positive on the government’s efforts to improve the development of Malaysia’s human capital, particularly its move to empower the women workforce.
It welcomed the government’s announcement Budget 2018, which puts special emphasis on human capital development, particularly women, and its plans toward nation building.
“We remain focused in developing Malaysia’s talent landscape through attracting, nurturing and retaining skilled talent in the country,” said TalentCorp’s chief executive officer Shareen Shariza Dato’ Abdul Ghani.
Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced a slew of initiatives to improve Malaysia’s workforce including announcing efforts to boost talents and careers under TN50.
To identify best talents, the government would create a ‘talent file’ programme National Leaders Circle under the TalentCorp and this programme is expected to identify and shortlist suitable and credible candidates to fill critical and senior posts
“We welcome the government’s announcement to introduce the National Leaders’ Circle programme to be spearheaded by TalentCorp.
“Malaysia is not short of leadership talent, it is short of people in leadership roles. Through the National Leaders’ Circle programme, we will work with governmentlinked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) to develop future leaders and facilitate sharing of best practices and knowledge transfer within the companies to solve national-level issues.
“The National Leaders’ Circle will enhance the nurturing and retention of Malaysia’s top talent to drive national economic growth for the country by 2050,” said Shareen Shariza.
2018 has also been announced as ‘Women Empowerment Year’.
“We support the announcement that 2018 is the year of Women Empowerment, as part of the government’s effort to enhance the contribution of women in the workforce,” said Shareen Shariza.
She also pointed out that the announcement of individual income tax exemption on income earned within 12 months for women’s reentry into the workforce is in line with TalentCorp’s Career Comeback Programme.
“This will be a strong contributor to the nation’s Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) target of 59 per cent by 2020,” she added.
Aside from that, Budget 2018 also encouraged the private sector to expand the mandatory maternity leave to 90 days, from 60 days.
She noted that this could bode well for the flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and Diversity and Inclusion agenda advocated by TalentCorp.
“We are pleased to see that more is done to increase FWAs, flexible benefits, childcare centre in main offices and ease of working hours for pregnant women for GLC employees.
“Benefits of FWAs include: worklife integration, where employees can balance professional and personal commitments, provide support to parents working at home, motivate employees to work to their fullest capability, and retain valuable employees; reduce tardiness and absenteeism, while keeping costs managed,” she said.
According to TalentCorp, there are already more than 60 companies in Malaysia that have implemented FWAs since TalentCorp launched its FWAs efforts.
“We will continue working closely with employers on offering FWAs as a key strategy to attract and retain talent in the workforce,” Shareen Shariza added.
All in, she commented, “We are positive that Budget 2018 is a progressive undertaking that will help in TalentCorp’s efforts to prepare the nation for the future of work.”
We remain focused in developing Malaysia’s talent landscape through attracting, nurturing and retaining skilled talent in the country. Shareen Shariza Dato’Abdul Ghani,TalentCorp chief executive officer