Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Disclaimer
The information contained herein is for the sole
purpose of information, guidance and education,
which was produced based on Benchmarking
Study conducted in 2009 and 2010.
This booklet present a guidelines on trainings
best practices which can be adopted by Small and
Medium Enterprises in Malaysia. PSMB reserves
the right to modify this booklet and/or amend
and delete the information published, at any time
without notice.
While every effort has been made to ensure the
accuracy of information presented as factual,
errors or omissions might still exist. PSMB bears
no responsibility for damages of any kind resulting
from the use of the information contained herein.
First Edition
March 2012
Forward
Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) are important agents of
growth in most countries. They
tend to employ a lot of workers, are
owned by citizens and contribute
to their nations economy and
industry. In Malaysia, about 99%
of all business establishments are
SMEs and in 2010, it was estimated
that they accounted for more than
32% of Malaysias GDP. That is the
reason for the governments policy
to assist in SME development.
As the development policy is shifting
more towards a high-income
and knowledge-based economy
under the New Economic Model, it
necessitates that SMEs embrace
greater knowledge, innovation,
technology and creativity. To
achieve this aspiration, SMEs need
to develop their competitiveness
and increase the productivity of
their workforce.
ii
PSMB,
being
the
premier
governmental institution that is
being charged with the management
of the training, has produced this
publication in the hope that it will
further stimulate the use of training
facilities by SMEs.
This publication seeks to provide
the rationale for SMEs to undertake
training in all of its forms, whether
formal or informal. It also examines
the economic reasons why the
majority of the SMEs had failed
to carry out any training, and
examines why those reasoning
are faulty. A key feature of this
document is the findings of a study
by the PSMB that had focussed on
the best training practices found in
Malaysia. The findings were also
validated by a continuing study in
three other countries, i.e. Australia,
Singapore and Taiwan.
Another important element of this
publication is the documentation of
the training incentives and facilities
that are provided by government
that can be availed by all SMEs and
their employees.
iii
Chief Executive
Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad
March 2012
Acknowledgement
iv
Table
of
Content
Chapter 1
Introduction
Chapter 2
5
5
7
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
31
Government Programmes
4.1 Government Training Programmes for
SMEs
31
Chapter 5
35
8
8
35
35
37
37
37
38
vi
Introduction
Chapter 1
What is an SME?
An enterprise is considered an SME in each of the respective sectors based
on the Annual Sales Turnover or Number of Full-Time Employees as shown
in the table below.
Manufacturing,
ManufacturingRelated
Services and
Agro-based
industries
Micro
enterprise
Small
enterprise
Medium
enterprise
Sales turnover
of less than
RM250,000
OR full time
employess
less than 5
Sales turnover
between
RM250,000
and less than
RM10 million
OR full time
employees
between
5 and 50
Sales turnover
between
RM10 million
and
RM25 million
OR full time
employees
between
51 and 150
Sales turnover
between
RM0.2 million
and RM1 million
OR full time
employees
between
5 and 19
Sales turnover
between
RM1 million
and RM5
million OR full
time employees
between
20 and 50
Understanding The
Challenges in Training
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
on
SME
10
11
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
12
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
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13
Best Practice # 1:
14
Best Practice # 2:
Heads of Department / Managers should be actively involved in training
Description:
Managers should also act as positive role models to sustain the learning
culture. Some of the positive behaviours include personally conducting
training, identifying department needs, sharing knowledge from trainings
attended, tracking attendance records, and observing internal trainings.
15
Best Practice # 3:
Training is linked to the business plan and continuous improvement
Description:
Todays organisations can only survive and succeed through continuous
improvement. Innovation may not be applicable to all, but continuous
improvement is a must for all organisations. Continuous improvement will
not take place without continuous learning. Training has a critical role to
play in ensuring continuous learning by all employees and also giving the
employees the right continuous improvement tools.
In addition to addressing operational issues, training must ultimately support
the effective execution of the business plan. The role of training must be
clearly identified once the business plan is completed. The training budget
comes from the company and the company must be the ultimate beneficiary
of the training.
16
Best Practice # 4:
Dedicated training personnel to
provide customised and targeted
training
Description:
Having a dedicated training person
can provide better focus and it
will improve the overall training
effectiveness. It also communicates
the importance of training in the
organisation.
However, this best practise is
not suitable for the small firm as
the amount of training would be
extremely limited.
Best Practice # 5:
Flexible budgeting approach
Description:
The
training
budget
should
vary according to needs rather
than working backwards from a
predetermined figure. Training
should be treated as an investment
in people rather than a cost item. A
flexible approach will ensure that the
right trainings are conducted. If the
cost is high, then prioritising training
needs will solve this problem.
17
Best Practice # 6:
Take advantage of the levy and
Government financial support
Description:
It is important that companies plan
relevant trainings to fully utilise the
levy contribution rather than always
carrying forward the levy balance.
Some companies treat it as a tax
payment and the money lies idle.
As the levy is contributed by the
company, the money belongs to the
company and hence it must fully
utilise it to build the capability of its
employees.
Best Practice # 7:
Annual Training Plan (ATP)
Description:
Rather than doing training on an
ad-hoc basis or based on requests
from managers as and when
necessary, it is important that the
preparation of ATP is treated as a
performance requirement. This will
make administration of trainings
easier and also proper planning will
lead to better results. Failing to plan
is planning to fail.
The ATP should include the schedule
/ time table, target audience, course
outline, and cost. The plan must
closely follow the business cycle so
that it does not affect the operations.
Benchmarking Training Best Practices
Of Malaysia SMEs
18
Best Practice # 8:
Ensure new recruits complete
mandatory training programmes
before confirmation
Description:
Description:
Best Practice # 9:
Develop a culture of learning, i.e.
a training culture and system
Description:
Training culture was highlighted as
an important difference between the
countries, and this is certainly true
in the case of Taiwan and Australia.
Developing a training culture and
system is important for employers
and employees to learn and improve
themselves continuously.
Certainly, a learning culture means
that there is continual search for
improvement and accounts for the
fact that lifelong learning has been
widely accepted.
19
20
21
22
23
24
Description:
Description:
Reference
checking
is
an
established practice in the hiring
process as it allows the company
to obtain a second opinion about
the candidate. The same applies to
training. It is quite likely that HR /
Training people know each other in
the industry. Doing reference checks
might give accurate and reliable
information about the trainers.
Description:
Description:
26
coaching
and
Description
Description:
27
28
29
30
Government Programmes
4.1 Government Training
Programmes for SMEs
Chapter 4
31
(iii)
e nhancing
financing.
access
to
Establishment of a Central
Coordinating Agency for SME
Development, which was realised
through the transformation of the
Small and Medium Industries
Development
Corporation
(SMIDEC) into SME Corporation
Malaysia (SME Corp. Malaysia)
in order to streamline the
coordination,
monitoring,
and assessment of all SME
development initiatives.
32
33
34
Chapter 5
5.1 Introduction
There are great financial benefits for firms
if their employees are competent in their
jobs. To achieve this goal, training is an
important activity. Therefore, it is important
to know how to implement and monitor the
right training which is vital to any SME
business. All aspects of training should be
taken into account, especially as it relates
to the cost and time involved.
This guide has explained why training is
so important to SMEs, what best practices
could be applied to improve core skills
and how it can fit into business strategy,
and training programmes provided by the
government.
5.2 The Business Benefits of
Improving Your Staffs Skills
Successfully trained employees and staff
can significantly improve the chances of
success and business growth. If they can
be equipped with the right competencies
and skills, then businesses can see:
increased productivity and better quality
of work;
increased overall profits;
improved employee motivation;
35
36
37
recognised
training,
38
Appendix
Programme
Objective
Ministry /
Agencies
Manufacturing
Skills Upgrading
Programme
SME Corp
Capacity Building,
Training in Productivity
& Quality
Malaysia
Productivity
Corporation
(MPC)
Best Practices
Programmes
MPC
Technopreneur
Development and
Management
Ministry of
Science,
Technology
& Innovation
(MOSTI)
Services
Homestay
Entrepreneur Training
Ministry of
Tourism
Malaysia
(MOTOUR)
Malaysian
Handicraft
Development
Corporation
39
Ministry of
Plantation
Industries and
Commodities
(MPIC)
MPIC
MPIC
Capacity Development
Programme
MPC
Strategic Productivity
& Performance
Measurement
Programme
MPC
Management
Information System
& ICT Application
Programme
MPC
Ministry
of Human
Resources
(MOHR)
Self-Development
Module
Ministry
of Higher
Education
(MOHE)
MOHR
MRRD
General Skills
Halal Industry
Development
Corporation
(HDC)
40
REFERENCES
MALAYSIA PRODUCTIVITIY
CORPORATION (MPC)
Enterprise Innovation Department,
Lorong Produktiviti, Off Jalan Sultan,
46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel : +603-7955 7266 / 03-7951 2391
Fax : 03-79551824 / 79606264
Toll Free Line : 1-800-88-1140
Website : www.mpc.gov.my
41
5.02, Level 5,
KPMG Tower, First Avenue,
Persiaran Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia.
Tel:+603 - 7965 5555
Fax:+603 - 7965 5500
Website: http://www.hdcglobal.com
42
Published by
HRDF
MALAYSIA