Wednesday July 2, 2014
By NISHA
PENANG: In collaboration with Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp), the Northern Region Women’s Summit 2014, organised by Agilent Technologies, AMD, Dell, and Intel, brought together career women, leading employers, and top human resources (HR) leaders in the region, to discuss the various issues that are impacting the advancement of women in the workforce.
Among the topics discussed were how work-life integration and talent retention can be improved by encouraging flexible work arrangements and implementing best practices such as a parent-friendly work environment.
The event held in the Equatorial Hotel, Penang, was graced in presence by TalentCorp’s diversity advocates in the northern region, who are Jenny Ooi, senior HR director, Agilent Technologies; Shankar Nagalingam, HR director, South Asia and ANZ, Dell; Dr. Florance Sinniah, HR director, AMD Malaysia, and Vimaleswari Ramasamy, HR shared service director, Intel Malaysia.
In the event, the diversity advocates reached out to foster partnerships with the many leading companies present at the event, as well as facilitated discussions which encouraged women to take charge of their careers.
“We are pleased to welcome private sector partnerships in advocating gender diversity and work-life practices. We are optimistic that more can be achieved with employers coming together to collaborate on various initiatives to retain women in the workforce,” said Johan Mahmood Merican, chief executive officer of TalentCorp, who attended the event alongside keynote speaker Low Ngai Yuen, head of Kakiseni.
Johan Merican, CEO of TalentCorp giving his opening speech.
Sharing sessions saw career women and HR leaders exchanging and deliberating ideas and best practices among themselves.
Panel discussions and breakout sessions with HR leaders were held in the Summit, allowing career women and managers to get together to network, engage, share and deliberate ideas and best practices to get women to excel in the workforce.
One such discussion, entitled “You’re in the driver’s seat: Charting a course for a successful career”, discussed the concept of women ‘leaning in’ to achieve professional advancement, and questioned whether this was wholly a woman’s choice.
This particular discussion was moderated by moderated by TalentCorp diversity advocate Pun Tian Pouw, Principal, Korn/Ferry International as well as featured panellists Azlin Arshad, group CEO, ECM Libra Financial Group; Boonsiri Somchit-Ong, corporate vice president, AMD Global Services Malaysia; and Sugunah Verumandy, HR director, GE Malaysia.
For further information on diversity in the workplace and best practices, please visit www.flexworklife.my.