We need skilled workers and soon, according to the Human Resources Ministry. Bernama agency recently quoted its minister Datuk. Dr. S. Subramaniam as saying that.
We need skilled workers to compete with high-income Asian nations like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.
He said since about 3.3 million new jobs would be created under the Economic Transformation Programme (of which 60% would be in the high-skill category), there was an urgent need for skilled workers.
"Unfortunately, of the 9.8 million total workforce in the country, only 28% are employed in high-skilled jobs. Achieving the status of a developed nation requires the support of highly skilled and a competent workforce," he was quoted as saying in that report.
Dr Subramaniam said as an incentive for employers to send their employees for training under the 1Malaysia Training programme, the Government would reimburse 20% of the course fee into employers' levy accounts after completion of their training.
He said the Government had allocated RM500mil for upgrading skills of workers under the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015).
On the same note, he said the National Minimum Wage Consultative Council Act would be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting.
The council would be able to coordinate the salary of workers in the private sector once the Act comes into force.
Here you are, in this social function, lots of people around, they’re all mingling, chatting, making small talk, business talk and the occasional golf talk. Suddenly at the corner of your eye, you see this sharp looking gentleman but you weren’t looking at him because he’s smart or good looking, you’re looking at him because “GASP!” His woo ying (“fly” in Cantonese) is open.
You’re just next to him. What do you do? Should you tell him and be the one who embarrasses him? Should you say something? How do say it to him? Do you pull him aside now? But he’s busy talking with the president of Tanzania.
It’s easier not to say anything isn’t it? So silence is golden, or is it?
It’s always difficult to talk to people when something goes wrong, when something is embarrassing or when someone has screwed up. This happens because we don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, we don’t want to embarrass someone, we don’t want to be the one to be the one who upsets people. It’s always easy to talk to people when things are going really well, when things are smooth or when there is good news. But when challenges happen or when bad news is present, it is exactly then that a conversation becomes vitally important. So we talk well when things are good when talking is not vital and we talk badly when things turn sour when talk is vital.
It can be difficult to deal with the employee who’s always late, it can be difficult to deal with the boss who keeps saying something and doing another and it can be difficult to give candid performance feedback. So the question becomes, how do we tell people that their fly is open without causing too much embarrassment? Three tips
1.Be discreet, tell him and only him. Don’t loudly proclaim to the whole room that his fly is open, pull him aside and away from the president of Tanzania, then whisper into his ear “Pssst, your fly is open”. It’s the same in the office, deal with ugly matters only with the person involved, help him save face. He will be grateful.
2.Be quick. If my fly is open, please tell me now before I introduce myself to the whole room on stage during my speech. It will save me a lot of blushes. So like in the office, when you see behavior that may be a problem, deal with it quickly when it happens. You’ll have a much higher chance in affecting change and preventing more problems in the future.
3.Say it nicely. Don’t go “hey, didn’t your father teach you how to zip up your pants?” It sounds absolutely unlikely that anyone would do this, but have you witnessed a bad boss say “didn’t you learn anything in university?” I have and it is very demotivating. Instead, your colleagues need to know that you’re saying these things because you truly have their well-being in mind. For a late colleague, don’t say “you’re late again” say “Patrick, you seem to be coming late a lot recently and I’m concerned”.
Edmond just wants to make a difference. He runs Education Republic as a way to make lasting social impact via public training, corporate skills training and business development coaching. He has insane amounts of fun in the process.
International Labour Organization prepared a report on gender equality in Asia
Asian countries have a window of opportunity to tackle gender inequality in their labour markets and support sustainable crisis recovery, according to a new report prepared jointly by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The report, Women and Labour Markets in Asia: Rebalancing for Gender Equality, says that although Asia is helping to lead the global economy, recovery of the labour market from the recent global economic and financial crisis has not kept pace. In some developing countries, particularly in East Asia, job growth is back, but the quality of jobs being created is a major concern. In particular, 45 per cent of the vast productive potential of Asian women remains untapped, compared to just 19 per cent for Asian men.
Even before the crisis, Asia was estimated to be losing US$42-$47 billion a year because of limits on women’s access to employment opportunities and another US$16-$30 billion a year as a result of gender gaps in education, according to estimates by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Although the region’s economic growth of 6.2 per cent in 2000-2007 greatly exceeded the global average of 4.2 per cent, average growth in women’s employment was just 1.7 per cent- below the world average of 2 per cent.
These deficits are likely to have increased during the crisis, the report says, because women disproportionately shouldered the impact due to pre-existing gender inequalities. They include discrimination throughout the region’s labour markets, inequality rooted in social-cultural norms and national policy and institutional frameworks that shape the employment opportunities of Asia’s 734 million female workers.
The report says that “there is now a window of opportunity to address systematic gender inequalities as well as the symptoms thrown up by the crisis, and achieve full labour market recovery and successful rebalancing.” It adds that “the policy goal should not be to return to the ‘normal’ pre-crisis situation…but to re-balance towards a new development trajectory that is job-rich, just, sustainable and inclusive”.
“Asia faces both old and new challenges and it needs to address both if it is to reap the social and economic benefits of gender equality,” said Sachiko Yamamoto, ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. “The drive to rebalance towards more sustainable, fairer development must not distract policy-makers from dealing with ingrained gender inequalities. One cannot succeed without the other and the social and economic costs of missing this opportunity will be felt for decades. The ILO stands ready to help with this, an important step towards the goal of decent work for all”.
The report points out that poor quality jobs are a greater labour market challenge for women than unemployment. A large proportion of women in Asia toils in low-productivity, vulnerable and low-paid informal work. In addition, female youth unemployment is high and women remain largely perceived as a buffer workforce or secondary earners next to men.
Suggested policies include support for women entrepreneurs; assisting women working in agriculture to boost productivity; reducing Asia’s over-reliance on the informal sector; promoting equal access to quality education and training; gender-responsive social protection; ensuring equality in representation and decision-making; and following a rights-based approach.
Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB’s Vice President of Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, said that “ADB is firmly committed to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment through our operations. We believe that ADB has a responsibility to set a positive example for the region in tackling gender inequality. This timely report sheds further light on the negative impacts of gender discrimination in the labour force, and provides a new chance for governments and societies to increase quality employment options for women”.
The report is a joint undertaking by the ADB and the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, reflecting the high-level commitment of both organizations to gender equality as an economic and social investment that will generate enormous dividends for sustainable development in the region.
The ILO is the UN specialized agency concerned with work and workplace issues and related rights and standards. Its overarching goal is to achieve decent work for all so everyone benefits from working conditions that offer freedom, equity, security and human dignity. It has 33 member states in Asia Pacific and more than 180 worldwide.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2010, ADB approvals, including co-financing, totaled $17.51 billion. In addition, ADB's ongoing Trade Finance Program supported $2.8 billion in trade.
Have you heard of the 'Halo Effect'? The Halo Effect is the assumption that because a person is good at a technical skill e.g. designing, he will be good as a project manager. Many of you may already be 'accidental project managers' who perform tasks such as planning, scheduling, budgeting but view it as simply 'getting things done' whilst recognizing that you also rely heavily on luck, perseverance and strength of will.
While there is no magic formula for ensuring that a project is successful, most of project management is common sense. One should not feel daunted at taking on their first project - project management is not a 'black art', nor does it need to be a minefield of jargon and bureaucracy but there is a set of skills that every project manager should aim to master.
So what is the project management skill set?
1. Be a Leader and a Manager When leaders share and communicate a common vision, they gain consensus for strategic goals, establish direction and inspire and motivate the team. Managers are results driven and focus on getting work done against agreed requirements. A good project manager will constantly switch from a leader to a manager as the situation requires.
2. Be a Team Builder and a Team Leader In many projects, team members may not have worked together before. Therefore, it is up to the project manager to set the "tone" of the team, and to lead them through the various team development phases to the point where they perform as a team. Often the team members have their own line manager, and so the project manager has no implied authority - yet still needs to motivate the individual.
3. Be a Problem Solver This is a skill that can be learned, it just needs a little "detective" work up-front! You will want to first identify the possible "causes" that lead to the problem "symptoms." Now, causes can come from a variety of sources, some are:
Interpersonal problems
Internal sources
External sources
Technical sources
Management sources
Communication
Opinions or perceptions
...and so on. The next step after having found the root causes is to analyze possible options and alternatives, and determine the best course of action to take. Make sure all your stakeholders agree on what "best" really means here!
4. Be a Negotiator and Influencer Negotiation skills are essential as the project manager needs to negotiate various aspects like scope of the project, the schedule, cost, team structure that is needed to complete the project successfully. Influencing skills go hand in hand with negotiation skills. Influencing is convincing the other party on the choice that project manager thinks is better than the other. For example, getting the team to work late on Friday to meet a deadline when they would prefer to meet their friends at the nearest ‘mamak’ stall. Influencing requires an understanding of the formal and informal structure of all organization involved in the project.
5. Be an Excellent Communicator Project managers spend up to 90% of their time communicating. You will have to deal with both written and oral communications in the form of documents, meetings, reviews, reports, and assessments. A good mental guideline is "who needs this information, who gathers and delivers it, when or how often do they need it, and in what form will I give it to them." To summarize, all communications on your project should be timely, relevant, clear and complete.
6. Be a Good Organizer Project managers have project documentation, minutes of meetings, project reports etc. They need to organize information well, organize meetings, put together teams and at times also organize media release schedules depending on the project. It's almost impossible to stay organized without having time management skills, so add this to your list!
7. Be a Competent and Consistent Planner If you fail to plan, then plan to fail! The skill of planning can't be underestimated, and neither can estimating! As a project manager you will certainly own the project plan, but there may be others depending upon the project. Two aspects need to be mentioned here: a. Plans are always documents, don't fall into the trap of thinking that, for example, a Gantt chart is a plan - it’s only a schedule diagram. b. Successful projects are delivered by successful teams. Always use the team to help create the plan unless, rarely, there is a good reason why not, such as commercial confidentiality, or contractual conditions.
8. Set-up and Manage Budgets At the heart of this is the skill of estimating, particularly cost estimates. The project manager will need knowledge of financial techniques and systems along with accounting principles. Normally accounting and project management tools will help, but remember the garbage in = garbage out rule! Well, that just about summarizes the main areas. If you are new to project management, don't be too confused by all this. There are well understood methodologies, tools, guidelines, and procedures to help you on your way to developing the important life-skill of project management.
