Greater need to inculcate Sejahtera values for young graduates

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29, 2018 – There probably many young graduates from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) who have been selected to undergo the Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (SL1M) series in preparation for their career opportunities. The government is seriously addressing this acute problems of graduates leaving universities who are still finding it difficulty to secure suitable employment, especially in the private sector. SL1M programs sponsored by leading government-linked companies (GLCs) and conglomerates are likely to produce the desired result to narrow and over a period of time eliminate the existing gap between scholastic and academic outcomes of the universities and business expectations of industries, bankers or employers.

Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) has invested a one-year SL1M for Batch 29th attended by almost 100 trainees who were selected young graduates from various universities in Malaysia. These trainees need to undergo one-month (01-31March} soft-skill training at PNB Darby Park coordinated by Focus Learning Consulting. It will be followed with another one-month technical and competency training prior to these trainees enter into a structured and intensive on-the-job-training (OJT) with PNB and its subsidiaries. For this project, PNB is rewarding every successful trainee with SL1M allowance of RM2,000 per month.

Dr. Haji Zulkifly Baharom, CEO of Sejahtera Leadership Initiative (SLI) was invited and given a slot with SL1M-PNB project to engage the trainees on the greater need to inculcate Sejahtera values entitled ‘THE WAKE-UP CALL: Jumping to the Next level – How Today’s SLIM trainees Become High Flyers’. Sejahtera values must be preserved and nurtured to act as a real shield against the various social ills plaguing society. The bottom-line message of this presentation was striking a balance between their life and career development.

Inspiring these trainees, Dr. Zul shared life and career experience of over four decades serving James Hardy Co. Toyobo Co., Petronas, Malaysia Airlines, Malaysian Institute of Management, International Council of Islamic Finance Educators, World Union of Small and Medium Enterprises and concurrently teaching as adjunct faculty with several known universities. He is the Past President of Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management and Chair of Federation of Alumni Associations of the Asian Institute of Management. He also sits in the Board of several companies and served as Secretary of the Malaysia Philippines Business Council.

In fielding a barrage of questions from the enthusiastic trainees, Dr. Zul in a nutshell said, “If you want to be a high flyer in this era of the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0), you must all the time outstandingly strive to perform your daily career responsibilities and whatever you do in life with unconditional excellence. Yes, you must seize all chances being bold flying high exceeding excellence. As starters, you must continue to learn in order to be creative and innovative professional. So, find and set your vision in life, always think BIG bur humble, ignore naysayers, work hard but smart and give something back to your parents, community, our country and planet. Above all, inculcate Sejahtera Leadership.”