The greatest asset any organisation has is its human capital. Staff’s knowledge and expertise, creativity as well as their diversity certainly make a big difference in determining the success of an organisation. Similar to other learning organisations, the Bank is also characterised by ongoing improvement and advancement through the adoption and deployment of new ideas, new knowledge, and new findings.

Recognising that learning is one of the most critical strategic drivers for performance excellence – providing the best learning opportunities to staff has been one of the Bank’s utmost priorities. The Bank’s substantial investment in learning reflects its commitment to develop human capital. Given the mandate to invest strategically in learning, the Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC) has successfully implemented several expenditure saving techniques to reduce costs in line with the Bank’s Cost Conscious Culture (CCC) initiatives. In the second half of 2006, HRDC implemented the following initiatives to save costs:

  • Reducing the number and downscaling of learning-related official functions;

  • Reducing the number of guests invited for learning-related official functions;

  • Utilising more of the Bank’s premises instead of hotels for learning-related official functions; &

  • Leveraging on overseas facilitators’ visit to Bank Negara Malaysia or to the region.

How to increase value in learning investment?

As CCC also promotes efficient and effective utilisation of resources, in managing the Bank’s investment in learning, every effort must be taken to ensure that returns from such investments support human capital development at every stage of the learning event. Besides carrying out learning needs analysis, the staff’s supervisor and departmental training manager also need to consider the following criteria at pre-learning stage:

  • The relevancy of the course in meeting the needs of the staff and department;

  • The cost and benefits analysis of sending the staff;

  • Similar courses attended by other staff previously;

  • If it is an overseas course, the availability of similar course locally; and

  • The option of engaging overseas speakers for in-house training.

As an example, Jabatan Analisis dan Strategi Monetari (JASM) had successfully organised a local technical course by engaging renowned speakers from abroad. Instead of incurring huge sum for overseas training, JASM collaborated with the Bank of England by inviting a resource person to Kuala Lumpur. JASM also worked with George Washington University to engage its resource person for another departmental project on Enhancing Monetary Surveillance as a speaker.

The responsibility to plan one’s learning must not be the sole responsibility of the training managers or supervisors as staff are encouraged to be accountable for their own learning. The responsibility to plan one’s learning should fall on the shoulder of each staff in planning their career progression and personal development. Value for investment in any learning sessions can be achieved if staff can plan their learning by adopting the following best practices:

  • Identify areas that need improvement;

  • Search for available learning solutions (classroom learning, e-learning, attachments, books);

  • Select the most appropriate learning solution;

  • Discuss the learning objectives with immediate supervisor; and

  • Passionately embark on the learning journey and consistently track one’s learning progress.

  • Staff can also collaborate with their respective supervisors to prioritise their learning needs.

To achieve greater learning value, it is vital for staff and their immediate supervisor to meet and agree on the learning objectives. In doing so, the staff would know beforehand exactly what is expected of them with regards to their learning. This would assist them in staying focus on the agreed objectives during the training. The staff would also be able to ensure that the learning facilitator focuses more on the topic, or areas that is critical to the staff.

To ensure that maximum benefit is gained during the learning events, staff is encouraged to not only obtain foundation knowledge on the topic which will be covered but also participate actively during the learning session to ensure that the assimilation of new knowledge will be easier and faster. Subsequently, after the completion of the learning session, supervisor must provide an opportunity for the staff to apply the newly obtained knowledge and skills at the workplace.

Conclusion

By being cost-conscious at each stage of the learning process, the Bank hopes to ensure that the returns on investment from learning will constantly be at its highest value. The key responsibility of every staff is to ensure that each learning opportunity given to them by the Bank is fully optimised.

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence” – Abigail Adams