It's a wrap!
It’s almost the end of the year and before we wrap the year up, BusinessToday would like to thank all our readers, both existing and new. We revamped our direction this year, taking on a new vision and reinforced old ones.
We also reaffirmed our commitment to the business community particularly for startups and SMEs and aim to continue supporting all business players and the country’s economic growth in 2021. There are big plans ahead in store for the magazine and we hope to continue receiving your support for the coming year.
We look forward to seeing all of you next year!
Top 10 BT articles of the year
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin’s two week Movement Restriction Order (MRO) in order to curb further outbreak of the Covid-19 virus will have severe impacts on businesses and on the country’s economy, economists say.
In a three-part series, Business Today Malaysia explores the struggles and challenges the country’s F&B industry is currently going through amid the ongoing pandemic.
The property sector for one has also felt the brunt of the outbreak, with different segments across the sector facing different levels of impacts. The sector which was already facing its own number of challenges prior to the outbreak, soon saw the challenges amplified as a result of the movement restriction that was imposed on March 18.
Cities have and will always be an integral part in bringing societies across the world together, and to do so successfully, most cities have adapted to the changing circumstances brought along by changing times. The Covid-19 pandemic, the latest in a series of challenges the world is facing, is also impacting cities in a way that has required many to question and rethink the way they are being build.
In light of recent news reports, PAS secretary-general and de-facto law minister, Takiyuddin Hassan announced that all MPs who do not presently hold positions in the government will be made heads of government-linked companies (GLCs).
This was rightfully met with criticisms from both the opposition and critics in the country.
BusinessToday speaks to Jeffrey Cheah, Founder of the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation on its milestones, plans in store for the future and what he plans to with an endowment fund that was recently announced.
BusinessToday speaks to Idham Nawawi, Celcom’s Chief Executive Officer on his journey with the company, the changes the telco player has undergone and what is in store for the company.
Dzuleira Abu Bakar, Chief Executive Officer of MaGIC talks about MaGIC’s milestones and value creation since its inception having achieved a value creation RM409 million, organised 294 programmes, accelerated 189 startups and created 690 jobs.
Founded in mid-2018, Yap Sue Yii’s social enterprise, Komuniti Tukang Jahit (KTJ) is a platform that builds and empowers a community of B40 women by providing upskill training and sewing job opportunities. In an interview with Business Today, the founder and chief executive officer shares the journey her enterprise went through during the outbreak, how the challenge made her team stronger and sturdier and the importance of awareness.
PNS looks to provide Franchise Financing support for franchise business and entrepreneurs catering for all franchise business needs including capital expenditure and working capital requirements.
What has 2020 been like for business leaders ?
Eric Quah, Country Manager, Red Hat Malaysia
This year has proven to be a challenging one that forced many of us to reevaluate our business priorities and strategies. It was also a year of adaptation, with organizations pivoting to a remote workforce, ensuring sufficient safety precautions for essential workers, and digitizing business processes in order to continue working collaboratively.
More than two-thirds of Malaysian companies having experienced some form of disruption[1] during the various Movement Control Orders. In July, a joint Harvard Business Review and Red Hat survey found that 95% of APAC executives said digital transformation has become more important over the past 18 months. In addition, results from Red Hat’s 2021 Global Tech Outlook showed 65% of surveyed executives said that they are well into the “transforming” phase of their digital transformation plans.
Digital transformation is clearly no longer just an aspiration, it’s become business-critical.
Earlier in the year, many organizations in Malaysia turned to Red Hat as their strategic technology partner to further transform, modernize, optimize, and quickly adapt to changing digital demands. Two examples I can share of digitization accelerating through COVID-19 are AmBank and Social Security Organization (PERKESO), two of Red Hat’s APAC Innovation Award winners this year.
AmBank engaged with Red Hat Open Innovation Labs and Red Hat OpenShift to build new agile application projects and deliver better mobile banking services. Red Hat worked with AmBank to automate compliance processes such as credit, risk and company checks while reducing the complexity of onboarding. In doing so, AmBank is able to deliver a better customer experience by digitizing the onboarding process to lower customer churn and increase customer retention.
Meanwhile SOSCO, otherwise known as PERKESO, collaborated with Red Hat to transform its services as a provider for crucial social security provisions and administration for workers in Malaysia.
By deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux to run its servers and developing new modular applications integrated with Red Hat Fuse, PERKESO reduced their operational costs while extending the availability of its social security provisions to over 450,000 active employers and 6.86 million active workers in the nation.
Annie Weckesser, Chief Marketing Officer + People, Uniphore
2020 has proven to organizations and their customers that businesses can not only survive but thrive with a remote workforce. Today’s workforce will not go back to working solely from an office.
Come 2021, Uniphore predicts employee engagement will continue to evolve, especially as hybrid working begins where some employees are in the office and some are working remotely.
Technology adoption will see amplification. Leaders will have to be more accessible and conduct regular checks on the health and wellbeing of employees. Empathy and connection will be at the forefront of conversations to ensure a motivated, productive team with a shared vision.
Laying down of clear KRAs will take center stage. Acknowledging significant work will reinforce employees’ worth, lift attitudes, and make them feel valued. Strong, highly engaged cultures will be a competitive differentiators.
Most importantly, enterprises will have to rise to the challenge of ensuring all employees understand the company’s vision, strategy, processes, and culture no matter the space they work from.
The future of the workforce in 2021 will move towards the hybrid model – which, when done right, will allow to recruit good talent, achieve innovation, and create value for all stakeholders. It will be more flexible, family- oriented, digital, and purposeful.
Ben Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Employment Hero
Commenting on The Economic Outlook 2021 released by the Ministry of Finance, Ben Thompson, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of people management platform Employment Hero, said the findings called for Malaysian SMEs to remain resilient and prioritise agility by improving their technological capabilities.
“SMEs will need to constantly adapt and equip their workforce and operations with the tools and avenues to remain competitive if they are to emerge stronger beyond the pandemic. In our 2021 Employment and Recruitment Trends for Malaysian SMEs report, we found that employees are up to the challenge, with the majority (82%) saying they feel ready to face upcoming changes in 2021[1].”
“However, SME employers cannot take this for granted and must prepare for anticipated challenges in the coming year. For example, a significant proportion of the workforce will still be working remotely and to maximize the utility of this virtual model, SMEs must ensure they have the right digital solutions in place that can facilitate not only productivity, but engagement and communication amidst employees.
The Employment Hero platform, for example, is reframing traditional workplaces by enabling integrated and effective management of recruitment, HR and employee activities from anywhere around the world. The ensuing connectivity and inclusiveness between employer and employee is critical to fuel resilience and positively impact overall business performance in the year ahead,” said Thompson.
Till our next newsletter in 2021, stay safe and take care!
Best,
Raj, Deputy Editor (BusinessToday Malaysia)