Introduction
Training and development has become an important part of human resource development in any organization. In the public sector, training and development is important because it helps in maintaining and improving the capability and capacity of the sector’s workforce in delivering services. Right now, Malaysia is strategizing on achieving the goals, vision, and objectives that are stated in the country’s macro policies and development document. For this reason, the public sector is supposed to play a vital role in ensuring that it acts as the pace setter, regulator, strategic integrator, and facilitator in achieving the requirements of the macro policies and development plans (Ping & Nee, 2007).
The Selangor District department is one area where training and development of its employees is required most. Though Selangor has the largest GDP in Malaysia, there are several areas that employees in various sectors of this district needs training and development in. One of the areas is how to handle huge population when delivering services. This is because Selangor district is the most populous in Malaysia. Regions such as Gombak district of Selangor are highly affected by traffic congestions and housing problems. Environmental pollution is also experienced in Gombak’s industrial areas where tires are burnt in open. Traffic and street lights regularly break down. Cultural difference is also another problem in Selangor district department (Menon, 2013). Employees need training and development to handle these problems. Trainings should be conducted on constant basis because new challenges keep arising every now and then. The National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) is the government agency in Malaysia that that can train and develop employees in Selangor district department. The agency has its main offices in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. The Agency was established in 1959 with the name Training Centre for Civil Servants. To facilitate training of the employees in the public sector, INTAN has several campuses country wide (intanbk.intan.my).
This paper will conduct a literature review of training and development program for the private sector in one of the ASEAN countries. This country is Singapore. After conducting the literature review, the paper will compare the findings of the literatures with the problems in the Selangor district department and how the department can solve the problems using the literature review. Later conclusions and recommendations will be made on how the Selangor district department of Malaysia can improve training and development to overcome the challenges.
Literature Review
Tzannatos and Johnes (1997) began their study by saying that training and development was one of the greatest contributors to the rapid industrialization of Eastern Asia countries including Singapore. Besides many policies that government had established in training and development, the private sector played a vital role as well. Tzannatos and Johnes (1997) discussed of the private sector and its role to the industrialization of Singapore with respect to training and development. The scholars revealed that in Singapore, there were private sector specialists who offered training where the cost was low and demand was high. According to Tzannatos and Johnes, the private sector training involved languages, IT, and management courses. Another thing that Tzannatos and Johnes discussed was the issue of private sector employers association setting up educational assistance funds for training their employees. These employers also had an arranged training programs, and examinations. From Tzannatos and Johnes study, it is clear that training and development in the private sector played a vital role in the industrialization of Singapore.
De Silva (1997) said one role of training of employees in a private sector is to influence national policies and programs. The scholar said that this influence can result from the government identifying the employers training needs and feedback from the employers when formulating the national policies. De Silva quoted the Singapore National Employers’ Federation as one of the bodies that can influence the government’s skills training schemes and policies.
On the other hand, Witt (2013) says that the Singapore’s government is encouraging the private sector to impart vocational skills through training. Employees in the Singapore’s private sector can receive vocational training through the government programs, or their employers can pay a payroll levy to what is referred to as the Skills Development Fund. The programs are normally directed to companies in Singapore (Witt, 2013). Witt continued to say that employees in the private sector can receive training from company-based training centers that the Singapore government has been encouraging. Such training centers are in both Singaporean firms and multinational corporations, and both are in the private sector. The training centers in multinational corporations provide employee training for both nationals and the wider region. Singapore has an agency that is referred to as the Productivity Standards Board. This agency is responsible for identifying opportunities to improve employees’ productivity. After these opportunities are identified, private firms are directed to the appropriate institutions that are involved in skills training (Dana, 1999).
Baharim (2008) conducted a survey on methods used to train and develop leadership at country clubs in Singapore. The scholar said that it was important for club leaders to structure hospitality training program blueprint that would allow these clubs to make steps forward in improving the development of manpower. Furthermore, leadership training program blueprint can be used to get the employees’ feedback, training need, influences, training design, and evaluate training results and actions (Baharim, 2008). According to Baharim, recommendations on how to develop a hospitality training program can be obtained from employee survey, personal communication with the hospitality leaders, journals and books, and the internet. In regard to the structure of this program, it should have training design, delivery of this training, and evaluation of training results. A good hospitality training program should cater for the need of individuals, departments, organizational, and those of the club members.
Osman-Gani (2004) cited Singapore as a country that has no natural resources but a developed country due to its emphasize on training and development at both in the public sector and in the private sector. Training and development improves employees’ productivity. As Osman-Gani stated in his work, Singapore’s workers are the best in the world in terms of the relative productivity. Another thing that Osman-Gani (2004) revealed in his study is that Singaporean workforce is one of the most competitive in the world. According to Osman-Gani, private sector has contributed a lot in these positive statistics because of the value they give their employees that is the reason the sector emphasizes on the human capital development (HCD). Together with the public sector, the private sector regard their employees as the most important strategic capital through which investment should be made so as to yield the desired returns in terms of performance improvement (Osman-Gani, 2004).
Discussion
Some of the problems facing the workforce in the Selangor district department include: Huge population that brings many problems especially in Gombak district. Such problems are traffic congestion, housing problems, environmental pollution because of tires being burnt in open, traffic and street lights braking down on regular basis. Cultural differences also pose a problem when it comes to the delivery of service. It is worth noting that Selangor state is composed of Malays, Chinese, and Indians among other ethnic groups (Menon, 2013). Training and development of employees across all he sectors and departments of Selangor can help in overcoming the stated problems. Training and development of the employees will also speed up the achievement of the goals, vision, and objectives that are stated in the country’s macro policies and development plan. As we have seen in the literature review, Selangor district department can borrow a lot form the Singapore’s private sector in terms of developing and training of its employees. INTAN can play a vital role on this duty.
Osman-Gani (2004) revealed two important things that training and development of employees can bring. The two are improved productivity and competitiveness. The Selangor district department should facilitate training so that the employees can overcome the stated problems and be productive. Being productive in this case means that there is the delivery of high quality services, which can only be achieved after the mentioned challenges have been dealt with. Just like Osman-Gani said in his work, Selangor district department should regard its employees as the greatest assets and embark on programs that can train and develop their skills.
The other importance of training and development to employees was revealed by Tzannatos & Johnes (1997). The scholars said that training and development speeds up the process of industrialization. If the employees in the Selangor district department are to be trained and developed so that the mentioned challenges are overwhelmed, then delivery of services can be improved and rapid development will be realized, leading to industrialization. Influence of national policies and programs is the other importance of training and development as De Silva (1997). The Malaysian government can formulate its policies based on the training need of Selangor district department.
As seen in the literature review, Witt (2013) said that the Government of Singapore has been encouraging the private sector to establish training centers in their businesses. In the case of Malaysia, the government has established INTAN which can facilitate training of employees in the Selangor district department (Philips, 2003). INTAN should establish courses that are associated overcoming the stated problems. This will enable employees to offer quality services to the public in and help in the achievement of development goals.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Some recommendations that can be made include:
Selangor district department should involve INTAN in training and developing of its employees. The department should start by of identifying opportunities to improve employees’ productivity just like the Productivity Standards Board of Singapore does (Dana, 1999). After identifying opportunities, the department should refer the employees to the necessary courses at INTAN campuses.
Selangor district department should involve the private sector when training and developing its employees so as to accomplish the requirements in the Malaysia’s macro policies and development plan.
The department should set aside some funds for training and developing its employees (Tzannatos & Johnes, 1997).
The department should establish training centers in different work places for continuous training. These training centers should have their syllabuses contents reviewed on constant basis.
The department should establish leadership training program blueprint can be used to get the employees’ feedback, training need, influences, training design, and evaluate training results and actions (Baharim, 2008).
References
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Baharim, S. B. (2008). The influence of knowledge sharing on motivation to transfer training: a Malaysian public sector context (Doctoral dissertation, Victoria University Melbourne, Australia).
Dana, L. P. (1999). Entrepreneurship i Pacific Asia: Past, present and future. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co.
De Silva, S. (n.d.). DEVELOPING THE TRAINING ROLE OF AN EMPLOYERS' ORGANIZATION. Retrieved April 16, 2016, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actemp/downloads/publications/srsdevel.pdf
Menon, P. (2013). Residents concerned over badly planned developments in Gombak. Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://www.thestar.com.my/news/community/2013/04/09/residents-concerned-over-badly-planned-developments-in-gombak/
Osman-Gani, A. M. (2004). Human capital development in Singapore: An analysis of national policy perspectives. Advances in developing human resources, 6(3), 276-287.
Phillips, P. P. (2003). Training evaluation in the public sector.ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 215-215 p.
Ping, G. Y., & Nee, T. C. (2007, August).Malaysian Economy. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.harwaimun.com/hrd.html
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Witt, M. A. (2013). The Oxford handbook of Asian business systems. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press.
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