Companies should develop talent from within
As good talent is hard to find, developing the workforce is a crucial task that both employers and employees have a part to play in.
Companies need to focus on building talent from within, said panellists at a discussion on human capital development yesterday.
The Straits Times-organised session was moderated by its manpower correspondent Toh Yong Chuan.
Mr Russell Tham, regional president for semiconductor equipment manufacturer Applied Materials South-East Asia, listed three principles of training his company follows: providing content for staff to build skills and form their own training plans; encouraging mobility within the company; and supporting staff ownership of their career development.
Mr Rajan Krishnakumar, Mastercard's Asia-Pacific vice-president for talent, said it nurtures Singaporean staff by providing them with international exposure and rotation programmes.
Meanwhile, workers should also be wary of getting too comfortable in their roles and should look out for skills gaps they need to plug.
Providing them with information on how their jobs will change due to automation and digitisation could lead to a sense of uncertainty, "so they know things will not always be the same", National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Cham Hui Fong said. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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