KUALA LUMPUR – Whether it is kick-starting businesses for vulnerable groups or preparing job placements for ex-convicts, the recently-launched Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) will no longer be known exclusively as a funding agency for training the nation’s workforce.
Following the recent rebranding of the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), it shall now serve as a multi-faceted catalyst to enhance the national employment ecosystem.
HRD Corp chief operating officer Datuk Ariff Farhan Doss said the agency’s rebranding will allow the government to better streamline the challenges of upskilling and reskilling the nation’s workers, as well as take on newer roles to improve the sector.
For example, HRD Corp is working alongside the Skills Development Fund Corporation – another agency under the ministry – in a new initiative called Jana’Preneur to help people generate income.
The initiative involves a B2B platform that connects buyers and sellers, helping to promote products and services. Additionally, the portal also connects sellers with e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, and Carousell for the mass B2C market.
“Jana’Preneur is different from Shoppe and Lazada because it is primarily a B2B platform, but with B2C capabilities because it is integrated with Shopee and Lazada,” he told The Vibes when met recently.
“The product you see on Jana’Preneur, you will also see on Lazada and Shopee. So while Lazada and Shopee focus more on B2C, we are focusing on B2B.”
He explained that HRD Corp can promote products and services to employers who are registered with the agency since its time as HRDF.
Ariff said Jana’Preneur’s function does not stop at being a platform, it also provides capital support of up to RM50,000 for sellers.
“If a seller has a confirmed purchase order, we will fund the purchase order so that he will be able to produce and sell. The moment the buyer makes the payment, we will collect our shares without interest so that they can be given to somebody else,” he said.
This would be a step up, something not done before and we are trying it out.”
During the official launch of the rebranding last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said that HRD Corp – which falls under the purview of the Human Resources Ministry – is set to assume significant responsibility as the central agency for all human capital development programmes for Malaysians.
He also said that it will feature a platform where Malaysians can join upskilling and reskilling programmes offered by the government. Called Upskill Malaysia, it will in time host about 5,000 courses offered by multiple agencies.
Ismail said HRD Corp will further expand the scope of HRDF, which has been at the forefront of developing Malaysia’s high-skilled and knowledge-based workforce over the last three decades.
New identity and expanded roles
Over the years, the need for HRDF’s transformation grew in tandem with the changing demands of the market and economic landscape. Hence, the move to rebrand it as HRD Corp.
“There is a need to rebrand as a corporate body rather than a funding agency as we are able to approach challenges involved in a more professional, organised, structural manner,” Ariff said.
I think it (rebranding) is timely after 28 years of existence. While HRDF has done a lot good in the past, we feel that this gives a new lease of life where we would be given space to be able to innovate and not be pigeonholed with what we have done in the last 28 years.”
The HRDF label carried the connotation that it was merely a funding agency, due to its long-held reputation for collecting annual fees from companies for training purposes.
He said due to the newer and expanded roles, the agency needed to carry a new identity.
“We felt there was a need to rebrand ourselves because society looks at us as performing a specific role,” he said.
“We did this in order to allow them to understand that we are doing more than before.”
Ariff explained that HRDF was legally registered as Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Bhd. It started as a council, and began collecting levies since the enactment of the HRDF Act in 1992, with the aim of providing learning and development opportunities for the workforce. It became known as HRDF the following year.
The levies, he said, are based on a formula whereby employers are required to pay up to 1% of the total wages of their employees.
Prior to March 2021, HRD Corp covered three sectors, namely manufacturing, mining and quarrying, as well as the services sector, involving some 33,000 companies and 2.5 million employees.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the HRDF Act was widened this year to cover almost all sectors, except government bodies and non-governmental organisations which are charitable in nature.
“We have given certain exemptions as some of those newly brought on sectors will start paying from January (2022) onwards,” he said.
He added that the sectors included finance and banking, as well as professional services and construction.
This means that an estimated 150,000 companies will be registered by the end of 2022, covering a total of six million employees in Malaysia.
Training convicts for a better future
Ahead of the current government’s 100 days “report card” in line with the prime minister’s Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia (AKM) goals, Ariff said HRD Corp will be showcasing its achievement in providing former convicts with employment training and job placements under its Second Chances and Opportunities for People to Excel (Scope) programme.
“There are nine agencies under the (human resources) ministry, so we each contribute to one KPI. And for HRD Corp, the KPI is in the Scope programme, so we have achieved our KPI within 100 days,” he said.
We managed to train and place 1,000 ex-convicts, so that is going to be our showcase for Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia. And then, of course, the minister (Datuk Seri M. Saravanan), he’s got other KPIs through other agencies.”
“So for us (HRD Corp), I’m happy to announce that the minister, based on his direction to us, has reached his KPI in the sense that 1,000 (ex-convicts) have been trained in three months, which is no easy feat.”
Ariff also said that HRD Corp and the ministry hope to hold the International Human Resources Conference, featuring 15 ministers from around the Asia Pacific region who will discuss five pivotal issues about the workforce, in March next year.
He said the theme would be “HR 5.0”, which focuses on humanising technology, especially in the wake of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, and the roll-out of 5G technology.
Ariff noted that the conference would also look to address income disparity, working arrangements, talent mobility, and social security.
“And it is our hope that there will be a guiding document produced from this conference which these governments can then look towards in developing their policies for the next five years, for example,” he said.
“So this is a very important project because regionally, we have all sorts of conferences.” – The Vibes, December 9, 2021
Catch the transcript of The Vibes’ interview with HRD Corp chief operating officer Datuk Ariff Farhan Doss tomorrow
