Employees in Malaysia are "desperate" for training

Despite business leaders worldwide acknowledging the importance of corporate training in fostering organisational growth, bosses in Malaysia are still not harnessing the full potential of learning and development in their companies.

According to a 2015 survey by Cegos, there was year-on-year drop in the number of employees trained in the country - from 93% in 2014 to 85% in 2015.

Surveying 2,424 respondents across APAC, the report highlighted Malaysia seemed to be out of sync with developments in other Asia Pacific countries in terms of the amount of corporate training provided to organisations.

An insufficiency of training in the current job was highlighted as the main motivator for training in the country. This was followed by employees wishing to keep their jobs. and to remain more employable.

"The employee also remains the main instigator of training - more out of desperation than anything else - and traditional forms of training, such as compliance and company training, lead the way in Malaysia," the report stated.

ALSO READ: Demand for niche skills to drive pay rises in Malaysia

On the whole, there was a slight rise in the number of employees being trained in the region. An average of 85.2% of employees will be trained in 2015, compared to 81.2% in the 2014 survey.

Singapore was also highlighted as one of the countries making the most progress, with a 4% increase in employees trained, increased engagement between learning professionals and learners and an collaborative and encouraging learning culture.

In China, "a mixed picture" was seen, where despite the continued commitment to management and leadership skills, less people were trained possibly due to a lower economic growth.

"As human capital is more and more captured on the balance sheet, it has become the key battleground for organisational success – not just in terms of recruitment and retention, but for competitive advantage, organisational growth and a motivated workforce," said Jeremy Blain, APAC regional managing director of Cegos.

"This survey indicates that the focus is well and truly back on people development – in a big way."

Image: Shutterstock