Imagine stepping into a virtual realm where pixels blend seamlessly with reality, and avatars replace conference rooms. The MetaHRise programme by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) challenges you to do so, by leveraging metaverse technology to immerse new employees in a dynamic and interactive environment.

In this future-facing case study, you can enjoy the following takeaways:

• How to design & execute a metaverse-based induction programme to replace the inadequacy of traditional onboarding methods.
• Infusing engagement, interactivity, and personalisation in team building programmes, to support virtual or geographically dispersed teams.
• Real-time walkthrough: A sneak peek into how to embrace immersive solutions to revolutionise how we work, collaborate, and learn in the digital age.

Despite concerted efforts within the educational system, fresh graduates are notably lacking skills employability. This leaves employers struggling with handling the transition of fresh graduates and entry-level professionals into their organisation.

In this session, let’s identify what employers can do better in bridge the skills gaps in amongst the youth. Key takeaways include:

• Tackling the crux of the disparity.
• What you can control vs. what you can’t – Maximising employability via industry collaboration before entering the market.
• Closing the gap between skills demand and supply through targeted onboarding and learning interventions.
• Strong collaboration between L&D & TA – Identify the right talent persona and the downtime it will take for them to be productive.

The lines between job functions are being blurred — sales teams now are required to be well-versed in data analytics, and HR professionals are expected to have knowledge of finance. Tasks that were once manual or repetitive are now being automated, leading to the evolution of job functions and the emergence of new roles.

As the adoption of AI is undeniably reshaping traditional roles across industries, we explore:

• Setting off on the right foot — How organisations are preparing their talent pool for roles that require extensive exposure to emerging technologies like AI, ML, and big data.
• Creating a learning culture as evolving job roles require employees to possess a broader skill set beyond their traditional roles.
• Are specialists still necessary or do workers require a more versatile skill set?
• Managing the interaction between humans and AI.

What possibly hurts more than a break-up? Losing your best employee.

This situation perfectly encapsulates the dangers of a ‘talent hoarding’ mentality, where managers want to hold on to someone on their team who is reliable and competent, at the cost of slowing their overall development and derailing the company’s objectives.

In this session, let us challenge the talent hoarding mentality by exploring strategies to encourage mobility among top performers.

Here are some key takeaways from the session:

• Address the challenge of talent mobility by breaking the mindset of top performers & exploring strategies to shift from hoarding talent to facilitating internal mobility.
• Learn how to position leaders as talent magnets such that talented individuals are attracted to work in their team and consider it an important milestone in their careers.
• Build an internal talent marketplace, which lets leaders embrace turnover as an opportunity for new talent infusion and skill diversification.

Let’s get down to some friendly competition post lunch! We will have some trivia questions, carefully curated to reflect your conversations. This will serve as both a fun challenge and an opportunity to refresh & recharge for the afternoon ahead. Get clicking – fastest fingers comes first!

In this session, we will explore the theme of performance management, where we’ll uncover strategies for implementing robust systems that not only allow leaders to set SMART goals but also foster continuous growth for their team.

Discover the power of agile performance management, where traditional yearly conversations make way for quarterly check-ins, empowering managers to adapt swiftly to changing needs and drive optimal performance.

Let’s redefine the future of performance management through these takeaways:

• Embracing the mantra, “You are the CEO of your own career,” emphasising the importance of personal accountability in setting both short-term and long-term development goals.
• Designing performance management plans that transcend traditional metrics, integrating not just goals and KPIs, but also the knowledge and skill sets necessary for better performance in current roles.
• Exploring a culture that rewards excellence, where managers respond swiftly to evolving needs and foster continuous improvement.

Middle managers are in an unenviable position – as the connector between strategy and execution, they are uniquely placed between top management and employees, facing pressures from all fronts.

While they are tasked to be the accelerators for their team’s performance, they actually spend much of their time handling administrative work and navigating organisational bureaucracy, instead of developing their talent.

In this session, we create an action plan for middle management:

• Exploring the evolving role, identity, and competency framework for middle managers.
• Equipping them to conduct a more real-time training needs analysis (TNA) via conversations & communication vs annual calendars.
• Training middle managers on how to manage workload of teams, show care, and build psychological safety.
• Harnessing middle managers’ unique position to cascade vision, facilitate collaboration, and implement strategic initiatives effectively.

Why do people come to the office? And how can leaders make that time as meaningful and productive as possible? These questions are more urgent than ever with Malaysia’s Employment Act Amendments mandating better processes around flexible working arrangements.

What’s more important than making policies, however, is ensuring that employees and employers alike have a compelling reason to invest in the commute, in other words, the conscious aspects of recreating the workplace experience.

In this thought-provoking session, let’s relook at the value proposition of the workplace:

• The importance of reevaluating the role of the office and finding innovative ways to make in-person work both valuable and desirable for employees.
• Optimising the ‘why’ behind the workforce coming together: Strategies for deeper connection, collaboration, creativity, and culture.
• Coaching leaders & people managers on how to be much more intentional about creating a workplace philosophy that shapes their culture.

Imagine a workplace where every employee is not just informed about upcoming business imperatives, but actively understands the implications of change. Let’s make this dream a reality through the takeaways from this session:

• Creating curiosity: Educating employees about the importance of change management and fostering a culture of innovation & learning.
• Setting the tone: Strategies to build agility and nimbleness in leadership, as well as to change mindsets, to prepare the workforce for transformation.
• Out of the comfort zone: Equipping the workforce with the tools to embrace change as an opportunity for growth rather than a disruption.