Sarawak Energy Berhad has a rich history spanning nearly 100 years. The company’s energy is derived predominantly from Sarawak’s abundant hydropower resources and complemented by indigenous coal and gas. With a multi-disciplinary workforce comprising more than 5,000 employees, Sarawak Energy serves close to 690,000 customers and a population of almost 3 million across Sarawak.
MAKING SARAWAK ENERGY A GREAT PLACE TO WORK
To be a top quartile utility company, Sarawak Energy focuses on its Sarawak Energy Excellence 2020 Strategic Roadmap which works on 5 Key Focus Areas namely HSE Excellence, Operational Excellence, Project Delivery Excellence, Talent Management Excellence and High Performance Culture.
People are Sarawak Energy’s greatest asset and the key to drive the company forward. Through continuous initiatives and proactive engagement with employees, Sarawak Energy was voted as one of Sarawakians’ top 3 preferred companies in the JobStreet.com Malaysia Survey 2019 for new job seekers, and the top Sarawakian company.
TALENT MANAGEMENT ECOSYSTEM
Sarawak Energy pursues its business excellence aspirations and sustainable business growth enabled by its People Strategy, ‘Let’s ADD (Acquire, Develop, and Deploy) our talent’. Sarawak Energy People Strategy covers the talent management value chain end-to-end. Put simply, the People Strategy requires the company to acquire the right talent and then developing them effectively before deploying them into roles that maximise their potential. Implementation of the People Strategy is supported by a talent management ecosystem that is made up of key components such as Talent Councils, Individual Development Plan, Subject Matter Experts and Competence Assurance Framework, Internal Open Resourcing, Structured Development Programmes, scholarship and bursary programme, Campus Ambassador Programme, Sarawak Energy People System, total remuneration, recognition programmes and others.
The Sarawak Energy Talent Council ensures that the company has a robust succession planning and healthy talent bench strength for critical positions. ‘Ready-Now’ and Ready-Later’ successors are identified for all critical positions. Structured development interventions are taken to accelerate the development of successors.
The implementation of the Individual Development Plan (IDP) for all its employees works as an enabler for employees to reach their full potential. IDP aims to generate open and honest discussions between staff and supervisor to empower the employee to achieve their professional aspirations. It is a joint responsibility between line managers and employees.
Subject Matter Experts are introduced as go-to persons for advice and guidance on their respective areas of expertise. Their roles include developing competency assurance standards and coaching young talents. Competence Assurance Framework defines the capabilities required to run the business.
An internal open resourcing facility with planned departure windows enables employees to apply for job opportunities within the company. This is a part of Sarawak Energy’s structured approach in encouraging its employees to drive their career.
Sarawak Energy’s structured development framework is put in place to accelerate the development of its talent in both functional (technical and non-technical) and leadership. For example, two cohorts of 50 people from the senior leadership team participated in the inaugural Sarawak Energy Executive Leadership Programme in partnership with Melbourne Business School. Other development programmes include collaborations with renowned organisations such as the Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre.
Acquisition of new talents begins early through Sarawak Energy bursary programmes in schools and scholarship awards as an ongoing effort to identify prospects who might become recruits for the company. Scholarships are also awarded to existing employees who wish to further their studies. Other recruitment channels such as internship placements and campus ambassador programmes help to tap into the young pool of high potential graduates. As part of Sarawak Energy’s digitalisation and enterprise modernization initiatives, the Sarawak Energy People System (SEPS) was introduced. This initiative is designed to create an effective and efficient work system by digitalising all employee information on one platform. SEPS is a one-stop centre that empowers employees, managers and human resources (HR). All HR-related activities and transactions are performed online using SEPS.
Sarawak Energy benchmarks with international and regional companies to ensure its total remuneration packages remain competitive in the job market. It is part of the retention strategy that the company applies to improve recruitment and retain employees.
Equally important, Sarawak Energy appreciates its people’s dedication and commitment to the company. It is the company’s practice to recognise the employee’s dedication by awarding the Loyalty Service Awards to employees who have been with the company for more than 10 years. The company also introduced the Sarawak Energy Alumni in 2019 whereby retired employees can reconnect and potentially contribute to the company after retirement.
The Sarawak Energy Hall of Fame recognises extraordinary performers who perform beyond the normal call of duty and demonstrate high performance behaviour and winning mindset.
INCULCATING HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE AT THE WORKPLACE
For Sarawak Energy, a high-performance culture means continuously working on the company’s Key Focus Areas and developing highly competent people, processes and systems to take the company to the next level.
As a progressive organisation, Sarawak Energy acknowledges the importance of diversity and inclusiveness in the workforce, and how this can bring unique qualities, creativity and skill sets to the business. This is reflected in the employee’s background, ethnicity and experience. Sarawak Energy practises a holistic approach by encouraging collaboration between various parts of the organisation in decision making, teamwork, providing constructive feedback and discussions.
Sarawak Energy Leading Women Network (SELWN) is a professional networking platform with the objective to develop and empower women leaders. The company encourages women employees to reach their leadership potential by providing support in their career development. Sharing sessions, forums and targeted talent management programmes help women employees to ascend to managerial and leadership positions. In the past 2.5 years, Sarawak Energy’s recruitment managed to increase the percentage of new female executive employees to 42% in the second quarter of 2019 (about 20% prior to 2017).
The company is constantly looking at challenges for working parents to remain at work as well as providing support systems. Several initiatives have been taken to improve employee welfare such as providing parking spaces for pregnant women employees and a dedicated room for nursing mothers. Taking into consideration a working parent’s struggle in juggling home and work, the company introduced its first on-site childcare centre in 2018. This centre can accommodate 50 children between three months to four years old and is located within the Sarawak Energy headquarters.
Sarawak Energy strives to make the company a great place to work. The company provides sports and recreational facilities as well as subsidies for healthy living activities.
Sarawak Energy listens to its people and takes employee engagement seriously. The leadership team reaches out to its people through a variety of engagement channels including ‘teh tarik’ sessions, ‘turun padang’ events, townhalls and the Sarawak Energy Employee Survey (SEES). Through these channels, the company can better understand employee needs, concerns and experiences. High scores of over 80% in employee engagement in the past three years (2017-2019) suggest that the company is moving in the right direction in making Sarawak Energy a great place to work.
The company continuously encourages its people to ensure sustainable development through a shared commitment. Provisions are available for employees who wish to volunteer themselves to contribute to the betterment of the community and environment.
