KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 14): Malaysian businesses should upskill existing employees and adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and technology to enhance the companies’ values, rather than just focusing on the cost-reduction method to improve bottom-line performance, said experts.
Willis Towers Watson executive director and head of talent and rewards business in Malaysia, Dr Tan Juan Jim, said such a move could dispel common fear among workers that the adoption of digitalisation or automation could lead to more job losses.
The employers should educate and make employees understand the direction of the companies, he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Power Talk, held at the Security Commission Malaysia here yesterday.
Asked if the awareness level of adopting digitalisation or the Internet of Things (IoT) was strong enough among the local businesses, Tan said they were “getting there” in terms of awareness but have yet to know how to gain value from the knowledge.
Meanwhile, Willis Towers Watson’s managing director rewards business-Asia Pacific, Shai Ganu said the company’s recent survey on the future of work suggested that for enterprises to be successful in the digital era, there should be less contention on technology and should focus on the people instead.
“In the past, people were focusing on the labour or manual intensive roles, but now, the key responsibilities of the board and management team are to ensure that the people are being upskilled and reskilled, so that they can take on bigger, better and more digital roles,” he said.
When asked how the government could improve the situation, Shai cited the Singapore government as an example.
“The government is essentially looking at developing or identifying the skills that are required by the industries for the future, and it (the Singapore government) has come up with three steps, namely manpower planning, skills inventory and training to upskill and reskill the employees,” he said.
Power Talk was organised by the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM), and Shai Ganu was one of the speakers at the event.
Credit to: edgeprop