K-Pintar: Are You Focused On The Problem Or The Solution?

Today’s fast-evolving corporate landscape has as much to offer in terms of challenges as in opportunities for businesses across the globe. Chief executive officers (CEOs), human resource (HR) leaders and other captains of industries today often cite HR issues such as generational divides, leadership challenges and employee retention as recurring internal hurdles.

Externally, an increasingly fickle consumer marketplace, greater industry competition and managing supply chains present their own set of problems.

Rather than dwell on the negatives and fuss over the constant change of pace, the best leaders know how to pre-empt potential issues, develop contingency plans and, ultimately, use the advantages of a globalised and digitised business environment to their advantage.

It takes a forward-looking personnel development strategy to meet the challenge, but with the help of industry experts and the right training approach, companies can stay ahead of the competition.

This might interest you: K Pintar: ‘Smart’ Way To Stay In The Game

Recognising the need for executive education

Businesses seeking to propel themselves into a digitised and automated environment, and ultimately, attain Industry 4.0 status, must embrace a mindset of constant upskilling and re-skilling to stay ahead.

In a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) environment, businesses require both forward-thinking leadership and agile, competent teams to adapt. It is overwhelming, to say the least. Having a strategic human resource plan for equipping teams with the necessary business skills to remain relevant and competitive is critical to thriving in a VUCA world.

“Executive education is aimed at developing the skills and competencies of middle and senior executive positions in an organisation. C-level executives who have immersed and updated themselves with global best practices acquire a powerful combination of new knowledge and skills,“ says Thiagaraja.

Here, he emphasises the need for leaders to subscribe to the principles of lifelong learning (Learn, Unlearn and Relearn) and development for strategic decision-making and to enhance leadership effectiveness.

“It is through exposure on a global scale that companies such as those in Malaysia can keep up with technological advancements within each sector. Executive education isn’t just a way for C-level leaders to gain current knowledge; it is also a place for them to share and understand the challenges faced by peers elsewhere,” Thiagaraja adds.

A global meeting of minds

The need to share expertise and depend on each other is stronger than ever. One such opportunity is K-Pintar’s upcoming Cranfield Global Leadership Programme.

Now in its fifth year running, this programme is a platform that will see top business minds from various ASEAN countries in Bedfordshire, UK for one week to gain a critical appraisal of how their businesses can be run more effectively. Cranfield University, established for more than 60 years now, has been ranked by the Financial Times as one of the Top 10 business schools worldwide.

Running this year from May 7 to 13, the 5th Cranfield Global Leadership Programme will see top Cranfield faculty and industry leaders delivering a series of talks and workshops and leading group exercises to enable leaders to solve some of the biggest problems facing companies globally today.

Fully HRDF-claimable for Malaysian companies, the course will guide attendees to develop solutions to a range of problems faced by leaders today. Esteemed Cranfield University faculty and expert guest speakers will spend the week leading hands-on sessions tackling Successful Cross Cultural Management, Creating Customer Value, Strategy Innovation and many more such topics.

Later in the year, K-Pintar will collaborate with the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), to present the 3rd ESMT Smart Business Leaders Programme this Sept 17 to 22 in Berlin, Germany.

Once again, this programme is anticipated to forge dynamic synergies between the famed efficiency of German business systems and the booming, cutting-edge industries of Malaysia.

“Cranfield and ESMT are reputable post-graduate and post-experience business schools. The Cranfield Global Leadership Programme and ESMT Smart Business Leaders Programme are the most prestigious business leadership programmes of their kind and it is always fascinating for us to see such eclectic groups of leaders coming together in one place with a common objective,” says Thiagaraja.

“Who knows which future household names will make an appearance at this year’s challenges? I, for one, cannot wait to find out.”

Enriching the talent pool

With great ideas, vision and renewed vigour for new business ventures among top executives comes the question of succession — who will ultimately be the one to take up the baton?

“Succession planning is the key to ensuring that newfound long-term strategies by top executives and business owners are passed on to capable hands,” says Thiagaraja.

In today’s competitive job market, professionals with internationally-accredited qualifications are increasingly commonplace. At the end of the day, what sets a candidate apart comes down to the calibre of the certifying institution’s programme design.

As the only licensed provider of the highly prestigious Future CEO® Program in the country, K-Pintar offers HR decision-makers a comprehensive solution for grooming their organisation’s high-potential talent.

With everything from designing business models and managing a brand to handling office conflicts and optimising employee performance, the Australia-based Future CEO® Program has become the industry standard in readying the next generation of leaders to take the reins.

K-Pintar also works alongside the Executive Education Centre at Murdoch University, Australia to offer mid-level leaders internationally-recognised executive masters in leadership, strategy and innovation.

K-Pintar CEO R A Thiagaraja with programme director of Dr. Jens Weinmann and Jörg Rocholl, president of the European School of Management and Technology, Berlin

This might interest you: Investing The Right Talent

Investing in people for the long term

Thiagaraja is passionate about the importance of organisations recognising the value in training their own existing workforce in order to boost internal morale, reward employees and reduce costs on expensive hires from overseas.
“There are the employees who have been unquestionably loyal to their country and to their companies, but are burdened with high costs of living,” he says.

“What are we doing for them? How can we support their economic growth? Seventy-eight percent of our existing workforce falls under the scope of unskilled labour.”

Strategic-minded employers see the importance of investing in their employees, even when the results may not be as immediate as with other forms of business investments.

“Fifteen years ago, employers were not willing to spend money on getting their employees certified because they were worried that the employee would leave and take their new expertise with them or that the employee would stay and demand a higher salary,” Thiagaraja recalls.

“These employers would spend money training their employees with the technical skills they need for their job, but no more than that.

“Over the years, we have helped many such employers to come around and realise the value of developing personnel for the long-term. Today, the proof lies in the people we’ve had the privilege to help develop, and the companies that thrive because of them.”

Reserve your spot today

K-Pintar continues to develop world-class talent within Malaysia and abroad thanks to their extensive range of programmes designed to help the modern leader tackle contemporary business challenges.

They have spent the last 15 years providing quality, internationally-recognised certification programmes, thanks to their affiliations with top industry bodies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.

K-Pintar’s goal of “enhancing capability” takes a holistic approach in developing human capital and bringing out the best in each trainee. To learn more about K-Pintar, visit kpintaracademy.com

Registration is now open for the following:

5th Cranfield Global Leadership Programme
3rd European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) Smart Business Leaders Programme

For both the above, the full programme package costs include hotel stay and meals, and is fully HRDF claimable under the SMETAP Scheme.