Talent Management

Talent management is about attracting the right talent, engaging them and providing the right training and development opportunities to ensure they feel engaged and professionally fulfilled. By managing our talent efficiently, we are able to nurture a productive workforce who are competent and capable, driven to achieve our corporate goals. Today, as we seek to reinvent Boustead, talent management is critical, and has been identified as one of our top priorities.

Talent management at Boustead is driven by the Executive Committee (EXCO), reflecting the seriousness of the matter. It is supported by a Talent Management Framework which encompasses Recruitment and Selection Policy, Learning & Development Policy, Performance Management Policy, Rewards and Remuneration Policy, Talent and Succession Policy, Promotion Policy and Mobility Policy.

We introduced a Talent Review Council in 2020 to address talent management issues within the Group while ensuring accountability and transparency. Among others, the Council oversees our succession planning, leadership management, talent development and mobility, promotions and performance improvement.

Meanwhile, to align our people strategies, we also set up a Group Human Resources Council with representatives from all five of the Group’s Divisions. In 2021, the Council reviewed various Human Resources (HR) policies while also undertaking a strategic remuneration review. In addition, it ensured the smooth continuation of the Work-From-Home (WFH) Policy introduced in response to the pandemic in 2020.

Talent Management Framework

In 2021, we reviewed our Talent Management Framework to focus on Bousteador 300 (B300), a programme to identify and grow 300 talents from across the organisation who will drive the 50 initiatives outlined under Reinventing Boustead. The Framework comprises four pillars, as depicted below:

Within the first quarter of the year our Group HR Council, which oversees the Talent Management Framework, assessed employees across the Group and identified our B300 based on their performance and potential. These talents then embarked on accelerated personal development plans which include cross-functional assignments. We are also in the pipeline of embarking into mentoring and coaching programmes. All talent within B300 also engage constantly with each other to share knowledge, experience and expertise.

Select talent are also appointed to lead key reinventing initiatives, assuming a CEO-like role in managing the initiative and sitting within the centre of all activities. This mini-CEO programme provides a training ground for the young leaders to grow their project management, business acumen, technical and soft skills, while enhancing their market orientation.

As we are investing heavily in B300, we seek to ensure they stay within Boustead. To retain these talent, we have developed a Talent Reachout and Connect (TRAC) Programme through which we engage with them on a one-to-one basis to get to know them better, and provide more personalised support to help them fulfil their professional ambitions.

Our Talent Management Framework also supports succession planning as, with greater clarity of our three-to-five year goals, we are able to:

Identify our human capital capacity and capability needs
Define the experience, competencies and traits required for critical positions
Identify potential successors to these positions, and assess their readiness
Develop each successor according to his/her individual plans

Employee Learning and Development

In line with Reinventing Boustead, our current focus is to equip Bousteadors with the digital skills required to fulfil our aspirations. In 2021, based on preliminary assessments, we identified 1,000 employees to be retrained and upskilled in order to contribute more meaningfully to our transformation into a digitally-driven and sustainability focused organisation.

Internal and external training are conducted via various channels including online courses and classroom sessions. Programmes planned for the employees includes the following:

Corporate induction for executives and non-executives
Leadership development programmes
Upskilling programmes
Modular development programmes
Continuous learning programmes

In addition, a new type of bite-sized learning and knowledge sharing was introduced on the BEEP2 platform to cater to the B300 programme. Through this informal learning channel, talent within B300 will have access to articles, podcasts and videos on topics such as leadership, digitalisation and technology, creativity and innovation, business and awareness, among others. The content is packaged in a manner that is dynamic, relevant, concise and aligned to current needs. The idea is to help ensure our future leaders are ready for the ever-changing corporate world.

Hours spent on formal training and development

2021:

hours

2020: 148,195 hours

Allocation for formal training and development

2021:

million

2020 RM2.3 million

Performance Appraisal

We conduct an annual performance and career development appraisal where we review individual performance, based on agreed quantifiable targets as determined by line managers. The appraisal serves as an important two-way communication channel between management and employees. It helps to build a more open employee-management relationship, while providing an avenue to exchange feedback and ideas as well as identify individual requirements in terms of training and development. To encourage a high-performance culture, we provide merit-based bonuses and promotions, grounded on the results of individual performance reviews.

Moving forward, we will adopt a hybrid performance appraisal process, combining the usual balanced scorecard approach with collaborative goal-setting methodology.

Benefits

We are committed to offering fair and competitive compensation in order to attract and retain high-quality employees. Our salaries and benefits are continuously reviewed to be competitive.

At the same time, our Culture Transformation Programme specifies the components of a high-performance as well as safe and respectful work culture to inspire Bousteadors to deliver results against the backdrop of our core values. Among some of the key benefits offered to Bousteadors include:

Leave: annual, study, marriage, paternity, maternity, compassionate, calamities, hajj and quarantine leaves
Medical: medical and dental insurance, health screening
Others: education subsidy for children, private retirement scheme, housing loan scheme

COVID-19 Benefits

We cover the cost of COVID-19 swab tests for employees required to be on-site.
We have implemented Work From Home (WFH), flexible and staggered working hours, as well as rotational teams.
We allow employees to carry forward unutilised annual leave due to WFH arrangements.

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is key to building a sense of belonging and connectedness with the organisation. Accordingly, we have always placed emphasis on constant communication with our employees via various platforms, from emails, newsletters, townhalls and turun padang sessions to more informal forums with senior management including our Group Managing Director and Heads of Division.

In addition, we have launched a number of social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, complementing these social engagements with festive celebrations. We also organise talks on topics of interest such as financial literacy, health and lifestyle. Meanwhile, to demonstrate our appreciation, we recognise Bousteadors for long service, best attendance at work, and exceptional customer service, among others.

In 2021, we created a name for all our employees – Bousteadors – in order to strengthen the camaraderie across the Group, as well as to enhance a sense of cohesion. This was further supported by the development of our own online communication platform, BEEP2, through which all Bousteadors can stay in contact easily with one another.

Meanwhile, at our Plantation Division, a centralised Careline Unit has been developed where employees can voice their concerns and suggestions, in the effort to retain our skilled and experienced harvesters.

Since the pandemic, we have transitioned most of our engagement initiatives online.