Cross Fertilisation / Cross Assignment Handover to Talent Corp Malaysia

Bismillaahir rahmaanir rahim

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, Salam Sejahtera dan Salam 1Malaysia.

Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Abu Bakar Haji Abdullah, Ketua Pengarah Perkhidmatan Awam

Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’ Azman Mokhtar, Pengarah Urusan Khazanah Nasional Berhad

Encik Johan Mahmood Merican, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Talent Corporation

Ketua Setiausaha-Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian dan Ketua-Ketua Jabatan

Ketua-Ketua GLC

Y. Bhg. Tan Sri, Dato’ Sri-Dato’ Sri, Datuk-Dato’, Datin-Datin, Tuan-Tuan dan Puan-Puan

Para hadirin yang dihormati sekalian.

Terlebih dahulu marilah kita memanjatkan kesyukuran ke hadrat Allah SWT, atas limpah rahmat dan izin Nya jua kita dapat bersama-sama di dalam majlis pada petang ini.

2. I am indeed delighted to be here today on this momentous occasion. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all present a Happy New Year, which is quite appropriate given today, we are coincidentally about halfway between the 1st of January, the New Year for the Gregorian calendar and the upcoming Chinese New Year. One could say that the Gregorian and Chinese calendars represent two approaches, two alternative realities, if you will, to record the passage of time, without it being the case that one is right and the other wrong. Each has its own merits.

3. Today, we celebrate the Cross Fertilisation / Cross Assignment Programme with 53 participants, who have completed the Programme. It involves the public sector and also GLCs from the private sector. Again, the public and private sectors represent two realities, each with its own approach – clearly, it is not the case that either is superior; but certainly, there is much to learn from each other.

Colleagues,

4. Learning, as Peter Drucker observed, is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task, he says, is to teach people how to learn. Motivated by this question of “how best to learn”, especially in the context of the middle management, the inaugural Leadership Development Circle, comprising 20 CEOs from Khazanah Nasional and top GLCs, met in 2007 and mooted the idea of the Cross Assignment Programme.

5. The Cross Assignment Programme provides selected high performers in GLCs with greater exposure and leadership developmental roles via an exchange programme between GLCs. Aimed to build a new cadre of high performing business leaders, the Programme which runs for 1 to 2 years, provides them with a broader range of work experiences to promote a continuous transfer of knowledge and expertise.

6. While it is common to hear of employees given cross-assignments in different departments within a particular company for broader work experiences, it was unheard of then to assign employees from one company to another so that they could develop their leadership skills and gain new experiences and knowledge.

7. In fact, touted as the “first of its kind”, I understand that this innovative programme has even served as a focal point of a case study by the Institute of Management Development in Switzerland. I commend Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the Programme Secretariat, for growing the Programme from a fledging seed of an idea to its current strength.

8. From a humble beginning with 15 cross assignees across 10 companies, the Programme, which is in its fourth cycle, has to date attracted a total participation of 129 cross assignees across 19 companies and government agencies.

9. A key element in the growth and evolution of the programme was the inclusion of the Civil Service through a Government-GLC Cross Fertilisation exercise in September 2009. Credit must be duly accorded to our Prime Minister for this. I can still recall YAB Dato’ Sri Najib speaking to me about his vision for Government transformation. An important feature would be fostering openness to change, new ideas and perspectives. YAB Dato’ Sri therefore asked for greater flexibility to be introduced into the Public Service, particularly in terms of movement between different streams of Government service, such as from the military into the Administrative and Diplomatic Service, or PTD; and in terms of exchanges between Government and the private sector, allowing for lateral entry into the service. That idea is today a reality.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

10. I strongly believe that facilitating cross fertilisation between the public and private sectors is important, both at an individual level and at a systemic level. The public and private sectors are akin to two different realities. For the individual potential leader, being assigned from the public sector to the private sector or vice versa, exposes one to a new environment, providing not just awareness of a new reality and new learnings, but placing the individual outside one’s comfort zone. It is a developmental experience to challenge one to succeed in unknown territory.

11. At the same time, for the country, it is about bridging the two realities, the public and private sectors. Indeed the public and private sectors may represent different realities, but they are in fact linked realities, symbiotic realities. Clearly, the success of our nation rests on public sector and business leaders forging better understanding and closer cooperation. Further, as leaders of the public and private sectors, we must each advance our respective domains, but such advancement must be aligned to national goals and not at the expense of the other.

12. Coincidentally, it was about a year ago, on 27 January 2011 speaking on public sector reform that I quoted from the science fiction movie “Matrix”. Allow me to use the movie again as an analogy for the Cross Fertilisation Programme. In the movie “Matrix”, there are in fact two realities, a beautiful virtual reality which most humans believe they’re in and a more brutal reality which most are unaware of, due to being suspended in a dream state. Early in the movie, the character, Morpheus offers Neo the choice on whether he wants to learn of the new reality: “You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

13. It is a choice that we as leaders must take, whether to live in our own reality, potentially in blissful ignorance or to be made aware of another reality, with potentially ugly truths. Through the Cross Fertilisation Programme, we are making available a choice by raising awareness of alternative realities.

14. To all of you who have completed the Programme, I hope that your experience being in a different environment, whether at a GLC or Ministry, has truly challenged you and opened up your mind and heart to new work and learning experiences. As I have repeatedly said before, the Cross Fertilisation Programme is potentially as good as pursuing an MBA at any top university in the world. Whether it is really as good, depends very much on how you respond to the opportunity. The Programme is development anchored on real experience, a journey driven by each of you.

15. Having completed the Programme, the journey has not ended; indeed, it has just begun. You have taken the proverbial red pill and with it, you have been provided a greater awareness of realities that present themselves. What are you going to do now? Attempt to return to past realities or embrace the complexity of alternative realities and work towards being an agent of change? It is for you to improve your own organization; and at the same time, help to further bridge the public and private sectors. Again, the choice is yours to make.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

16. In addition to commemorating the completion of the Programme, I am also pleased to announce today, that the management of the Programme will be handed over from Khazanah Nasional Berhad to Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad. Talent Corporation will now take on the mantle of Secretariat of the Programme, in continuing to manage it in partnership with the Public Service Department, JPA.

17. The introduction of Talent Corporation is in line with transforming the Programme to the next level. The next cycle of the Programme will be extended in terms of private sector participation, beyond just GLCs to also include multinational companies (MNCs) and leading Malaysian corporations. This would create a greater diversity of experience and opportunities for high performers to develop themselves, in addition to reinforcing the spirit of building stronger bridges between the public and private sectors, in our country.

18. Leveraging on Talent Corporation’s growing network of collaboration with employers in priority economic sectors of the NKEA, this new synergy also dovetails with Talent Corporation’s commitment to facilitate initiatives to attract, retain and nurture talents to enable Malaysia to reach our aspiration of an advanced economy by 2020.

19. Beyond expanding the reach of the Programme, I am confident that Talent Corporation and the Public Service Department will further enhance the Programme, particularly to ensure a better fit between participating employers and assignees. The focus must remain on enhancing the developmental experience of Programme participants and supporting the objective of bridging the realities of the public and private sectors. The Programme should also not end with the completion of the assignment, but should continue with tracking the progress of past participants of the Programme.

20. The next cycle of the Cross Fertilisation Programme, both expanded and enhanced, is targeted to commence in June 2012. A mentorship component involving senior management of participating companies and ministries will also be introduced. This is an important component and I am confident the benefits will accrue to both mentors and mentees. We live in fast changing and challenging times. Hence, we need to leverage on both the experience of age and the exuberance of youth, the knowledge of precedents and freshness of new perspectives. As a Chinese proverb says: “Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand”.

21. In fact, for us to make our dreams a reality, it is imperative for us to continue pushing harder to drive transformation and progress. As Inayat Khan, the Sufi master, observed: “Failure in life does not matter, the greatest misfortune is standing still”. If I may add, it would be a misfortune if we hold ourselves back and not push ourselves to the point that failure is likely. If we are to transform, we must discard our fear of failure. Indeed, we must embrace it. It is this spirit which should drive the development experience for future Cross Fertilisation participants, and also, the drivers of the Programme – Talent Corporation and the Public Service Department.

Colleagues,

22. I would like to close with a light anecdote by Neil Gaiman, the award-winning author of short fiction and graphic novels, who made a list of things that he did not learn in school. These included how to love someone or be famous; nor does one learn how to be rich or how to be poor; much less how to know what’s on someone else’s mind and what to say to someone who is dying. In short, he surmised, school doesn’t teach us anything worth knowing. Of course, I would urge you not to share this secret with your children or in my case, grandchildren. On a more serious note, Neil Gaiman’s list highlights the importance of experience. Through the Programme, we hope you will emerge enriched with new experiences.

23. On that note, Ladies and Gentlemen of today’s commemoration, I congratulate you on the completion of your assignments, and wish you all the best as you chart yet another episode in your journey. As Morpheus said to Neo in Matrix, “I’m trying to free your mind. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it.”

Thank you.

Wabilahittaufik walhidayah
Wassalamualaikum warahamatullahi wabarakaatuh.