One of these challenges was forming a ‘core team’ of 250 experienced “wafer fabricators” at all levels. They were to participate in a 3-6 month technology transfer program in Oregon, USA. This involved a world-wide talent acquisition drive within an eight month timeline; it was tight. We also had to look at acquiring Malaysian fresh graduates from both domestic and international universities as well as local technical colleges, to understudy the leaders in the “core team”. It was important to nurture a water fabrication savvy workforce that would cater for the industry. All of this, also necessitated the establishment of robust HR policies and procedures as well as a Job Grading and Compensation and Benefits Structure.

We started with an Implementation Roadmap. It was divided into four phases : Start-Up, Technology Transfer, Installation and Operations. At the onset, the leadership team unanimously agreed that only premium talent be hired to ensure a fail-proof implementation of the project.

MY GENERAL MANAGEMENT STYLE
I lead by employing a Participative style as it affords me the means to enable empowerment and people development, by cross-sharing ideas and information. I passionately believe that everyone wants to do a good job, and promote problem-solving within this premise.

ON PROMOTING A HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE
I am a strong advocate of “high performance culture”. In this respect, one must have a holistic point of view of the readiness of an organisation to embrace a high performance culture, as all of the required elements and infrastructure must be addressed to ensure its success. It is relatively “easier” to mould a high performance culture in a start-up organisation than in a matured one. Then again, in either situation, one critical element must be in place, and that is the support of the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team.

CREATING AN EXCELLENT WORKING ENVIRONMENT – MY TOP 5 MEASURES
1. Competency based performance measure
2. Team and individual goals incorporated in both the Quantitative and Qualitative goals
3. Improvements on elements in Employee or Engagement Surveys
4. Deliverables on project basis
5. All goals are determined on their link to Business Drivers

AFFECTING CHANGE OR CONSISTENCY OF APPROACH IN YOUR PEOPLE’S MINDSET
Instill an environment of constant change and feed into people’s desire to better themselves by nurturing and providing the environment that encourages the following values and constantly practises them:

• Respect for others
• Inculcating the spirit of continuous learning
• Giving without asking
• Unselfish sharing
• Conformance to agreed processes and procedures
• Unbiased and non-discriminating
• Teaming as second nature.

TURNING A PRACTICE INTO A HABIT, DEVELOPING A METHODOLOGY FOR ALL TO FOLLOW
You have to walk the talk and engage in consistent and continuous communication.

ON BEING INNOVATIVE OR TRANSFORMATIVE
I tend to always encourage renewal and changes that benefit the organisation. Listen to ideas no matter how small or trivial and make an effort to address them. Do not ridicule or embarrass people that make mistakes. This will eventually lay a foundation for creativity and innovation to flourish.

I find that when you plan for people development which includes the opportunity for people to broaden their scope through lateral growth (not just vertical growth), they will learn to accept change and adapt to a new environment quicker.

HR IMPACTING ON DRIVING INNOVATION
I see HR as having a very high impact in driving innovation. Innovation is about people. The implementation of creative people processes, positive reinforcement and strong support from management to these processes will undeniably be catalytic to the innovative prowess that emerges from the organisation.

MECHANISMS TO EXTEND THE HUMAN CAPITAL BASE OF YOUR ORGANISATION
There are many mechanisms, some of the more relevant ones which have been implemented include :-

• A Graduate Internship Program - to help expose students to the state-of-the-art equipment and processes
• A Lecturer Induction Program - to get the teaching fraternity familiar with the technology and processes available
• A Graduate Hiring Scheme - to bring in new blood and be developed as future expert “fabricators” and leaders
• A Subject Matter Experts Program - to capitalise on internal expertise, to train and develop colleagues and also teach at local universities
• Various competency acquisition programs - designed to motivate colleagues to grow within the career paths

APPROACHING HR IN YOUNG DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS
Managing HR in this sort of environment requires a lot of stamina and focused attention towards the behavioral patterns at all levels. There is a distinct restlessness that exists within this organisation that challenges HR to a constant balancing act to ensure that both the business and people needs are fairly addressed. To help manage this environment, a robust and efficient HRIS must be in place to manage the diversity.