Good response in Sabah for employee skills program

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Ghazali (front row, fifth right) and Wong (front row, seventh left) with the Sabah HDRF and CAL team as well as the 48 graduates of the 1Malaysia Grip Program at CAL Computer Learning Centre.

Ghazali (front row, fifth right) and Wong (front row, seventh left) with the Sabah HDRF and CAL team as well as the 48 graduates of the 1Malaysia Grip Program at CAL Computer Learning Centre.

KOTA KINABALU: There is still room for growth in the government’s Malaysia Globally Recognized Industry and Professional Certification (1MALAYSIAGRIP) among employers in Sabah.

Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) Chief Special Purpose Vehicle (CSPV) Officer Muhammad Ghazali Abdul Aziz said the 774 registered employers in Sabah and Labuan had thus far responded quite well to the employee skills upgrading certification program.

“We need the certification program as it provides added value to employees,” said Ghazali when met after the HDRF 1MALAYSIAGRIP program graduation ceremony for CAL Computer Learning Centre.

“Sabah is quite good because of the statistics. We see employers are quite active but more could be done,” he added.

According to Ghazali, HRDF has 16,000 employers and 1.8 million workers under its wings nationwide.

So far, the RM200 million allocated program (RM100 million from the government and HDRF each), had approved 870 certification programs and seen about 19,000 participants.

There are more than 300 or 400 HRDF registered companies in Sabah alone. Since the program’s 2015 rollout, 260 employees participated in the programs, he said.

Thus far, around six to seven training providers have been appointed to provide programs under HDRF.

“We hope more and more training providers in Sabah will participate in programs such as this because we need these good programs to train the employees in Sabah,” urged Ghazali.

HRDF Human Resources Development Levy payments have been contributed by specific groups of employers in Sabah for the purpose of talent training and skills upgrading, he said

“There is still room. That is why our branch office engages a lot with employers’ association so they can further utilize the levy more effectively,” Ghazali said.

“Under the 1MALAYSIAGRIP, I see employers are mostly involved in high-end computer skills, management and also those related to productivity in Sabah,” added the CSPV Officer at the graduation ceremony.

According to CAL general manager Karen Wong, CAL collaborated with the Malaysia Principal of the International Association of Outsourcing Professional (IAOP) that is Global Talent Academy under the program.

CAL is appointed to conduct three professional certification programs, namely in human resource management, finance and accounting, as well as marketing and sales.

In yesterday’s graduation ceremony, a total of 48 participants from 11 HRDF registered employers completed its seven-day certification programs, she said.

The participating organizations were Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd, Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd, Cement Industries, BTC Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd, Angkatan Hebat Sdn Bhd, Nippon Paint (S) Sdn Bhd, Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu, Hyatt Regency Kinabalu, CT Forwarding and Transport Sdn Bhd, Megah Marine Agencies Sdn Bhd and Bersatu Freight and Shipping Sdn Bhd, added Wong.