Shell Malaysia celebrated another milestone in its long-standing local capability development programme at a dinner graced by Dato’ Sri Richard Riot anak Jaem, Malaysia’s Minister of Human Resource on 21 April 2014. The event was hosted by Chok Chee Tsong, general manager Sarawak Shell Berhad.
The dinner, held at a leading hotel, marked the completion of the 2014 operations technicians training programme as well as a leadership course for supervisors. Both progammes are two of a large suite of training and development courses that Shell offers for staff, as part of its ongoing talent and human resource development programme.
During his speech, Riot said that Sarawak needs more skilled workforce to power the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) under the economic transformation programme (ETP). “The total skilled workers in this country are currently at 28% or 3.8 million out of 13.8 million workers. However, Malaysia is still behind compared to other high income nations,” he added, linking the increased demand for a highly skilled workforce following the positive economic growth.
Riot commended Shell’s efforts in developing local capabilities, particularly in Sarawak where Shell first began operating in the upstream oil and gas sector. He urged other corporations to invest in skills training and leadership development programmes for their workforce, in response to the country’s ever-changing manpower requirements, and to complement national efforts.
In his speech, Chok said he was pleased that Shell was able to play a role in complementing Sarawak’s efforts to produce more technical skilled workers and the development of technical education. “As a responsible operator, this is part of our ongoing commitment to deliver long-term benefits to the country and its people,” said Chok.
Chok said, “We are proud of Shell’s role in Sarawak’s talent development since we began operations here in 1910.”
Shell Malaysia’s multi-skilling operation technician development programme is part of this, and was first started in the early 90s in Miri. The operations technicians who undergo the programme are Malaysians from Sarawak or Sabah.
Other local capability development initiatives include opening the Asia Pacific Wells Learning Hub in Miri in 2013. This is for staff and the community who need to enhance their competency in the wells discipline.
Community capacity building programmes include ProjekLINK to produce competent welders for the oil and gas sector and heavy industry. “Shell works to help meet the world’s growing demand for energy in a responsible way. This means operating safely, reducing our impact on the environment and sharing benefits with the communities who are our neighbours,” he elaborated.
The Operation Technician (OT) programme is developed on the bedrock concept of ‘Jack of all trades, master of one’, with 70% hands-on training at work sites and 30% classroom or e-learning and workshop activities. The trainees who completed the Shell OT training programme are conferred with Advanced Diploma, which is externally accredited by the Business and Technical Education Council and EDEXCEL from United Kingdom. The Leader of Teams (LoT) is an in-house programme to develop effective leaders, equipped with the right knowledge, skills and behaviours.
