SPEECH

YANG BERBAHAGIA TAN SRI MOHAMAD

ZABIDI ZAINAL

INTERACTION SESSION WITH

PARTICIPANTS OF ADVANCED

LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

PROGRAMME (ALMP) COURSE

SERIES 45, NO. 3/2014

27 NOVEMBER 2014

5.30PM, DEWAN SERI BAIDURI

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Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi

Wabarakatuh

A Very Good Evening, Salam 1Malaysia:

People First, Performance Now and

Salam Transformasi.

Thank you moderator for this session.

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Sri Dr. Sharifah

Zarah Syed Ahmad

Deputy Director-General of Public

Service (Development)

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Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Seri Zainal

Rahim Seman

Deputy Director-General of Public

Service (Operation)

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Dr. Mazlan Yusoff

Director of INTAN

Senior officers from the Public Service

Department and INTAN

Yang Berbahagia Dato'-Dato', Ladies and

Gentlemen, and participants of

Advanced Leadership and Management

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Programme (ALMP) Series 45, No.

3/2014.

OPENING REMARKS

1. Syukur Alhamdulillah, praise be to

Allah SWT for His grace that we are able

to gather for this interaction session this

evening. This interaction session is held

as part of the Advanced Leadership and

Management Programme (ALMP) Series

45, No. 3/2014 course schedule.

2. This evening session serves as an

intellectual avenue for us to exchange

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information and ideas among officers

from the top management in the civil

service, especially on the National

Transformation Agenda which aims to

realize Malaysia’s aspiration to become

a high-income developed nation by the

year 2020. This session is also an

opportunity for us to exchange views on

how we in the public service can fulfil

this aspiration, particularly in the

context of your role as top management

officials.

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HOW TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

CAN ACHIEVE THE NATIONAL

TRANSFORMATION AGENDA

Ladies and gentlemen,

3. Transformation is an inevitable

part of our journey towards realising

Vision 2020. “Inevitable” because as an

open economy in a challenging

international environment, we must

remain competitive, moderate and

dynamic to keep pace with the rest of

the world. There is a need for us to

escape the middle-income trap and take

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that quantum leap into the next level.

The National Transformation Agenda

was introduced as a means for us to

drive our nation to the next level.

4. While we transform the nation as a

whole, our Prime Minister, the

Honourable Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib bin Tun

Abdul Razak has also put credence on

the importance of transforming the civil

service; to strengthen and restructure

the organisation to remain relevant in

line with current developments. I must

stress that the core of this

transformation should be centred on the

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rakyat’s need and expectations, and

hence, we must change to remain

relevant.

5. As top management officials in the

public service, it is your responsibility to

realise the government’s National

Transformation Agenda. As such, you

must aspire to adopt the

transformational leadership concept.

The transformational leader inspires

followers to not only perform as

expected, but to exceed expectations.

Transformational leaders motivate

followers to work for goals that go

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beyond immediate self-interest, where

what is right and good becomes

important - these leaders transform the

needs, values, preferences and

aspirations of followers. They do this so

that the interest of the wider group

replaces the self-interest of individuals

within that group. Leaders and

managers that take this approach are

more focussed on the intrinsic value of

the human and the potential lying within.

6. Being a transformational leader

means willing to demonstrate

transformation in ourselves, so that

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others may follow in our footsteps. As

Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to

see.” You must be a role model that

supports transformation, and only then

will others emulate you.

PUBLIC SERVICE TRANSFORMATION

FRAMEWORK

Ladies and gentlemen,

7. My message to each and every one

of you therefore is to be ready to

introduce transformational change in

your ministries and agencies. This is

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what we are trying to do today through

the Public Service Transformation

Framework. The Framework is founded

on the principles of good governance,

patriotism, ethics, integrity, innovation

and diversity. It is built upon an enabling

eco-system that is supported by

scientific and technological

advancements.

8. As of today, all ministries have

participated in the Public Service

Transformation lab series conducted

here in INTAN. During these lab

sessions, officers from the ministries

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learned to apply the Public Service

Transformation Framework within the

context of their organisations. They then

developed strategic measures with bold

and radical strategic initiatives for

implementation in their ministries. I

hope that all of you will be actively

involved in helping to implement these

initiatives and ensure the success of the

transformation agenda in your

organisations.

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FINDINGS IN THE GLOBAL HUMAN

CAPITAL TRENDS 2014 SURVEY

Ladies and gentlemen,

9. In March this year, Deloitte

Consulting Group produced The 2014

Global Human Capital Trends report

after months of extensive global

research. A total of 2,532 business and

HR leaders in 94 countries around the

world were surveyed, thus, making this

initiative as one of the largest global

surveys of its kind in the market.

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10. Allow me to share with all of you

the findings from the survey. Companies

cited four issues as the most urgent:

leadership, retention and engagement,

reskilling of HR, and talent acquisition

and access.

11. Building global leadership is by far

the most urgent. Fully 38 percent of all

respondents rated it as “urgent,” almost

50 percent more than the percentage

rating retention and engagement as

“urgent.” Companies see the need for

leadership at all levels, in all

geographies, and across all functional

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areas. This continuous need for new and

better leaders has accelerated. In a

world where knowledge doubles every

year and skills have a half-life of 2.5 to 5

years, leaders need constant

development. This ongoing need to

develop leaders is also driven by the

changing expectations of the workforce

and the evolving challenges businesses

are facing, including two major themes

underlying this year’s trends:

globalization and the speed and extent

of technological change and innovation.

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12. The second most urgent issue

today is retention and engagement—a

topic that often has no clear owner

within HR or the organization. The

research shows that “we all own this

issue”: HR, top leadership, and at all

levels of management. organisations

should redefine their engagement

strategy to move from keeping people to

attracting them and creating a

passionate and compassionate place to

work. Further, organisations will benefit

from having a clear point of view on how

business executives, line leaders, and

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HR can more effectively work together

and address this challenge.

13. The third most urgent issue is the

reskilling of HR. The finding suggests

that the HR and talent functions are in

the midst of a transformation. HR is not

making the grade as organisations move

away from HR as people administration

to a focus on people performance. An

essential part of this change is the

upskilling, reorganization, and

transformation of HR and its relationship

with business leaders and issues.

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14. The fourth most urgent issue is

talent acquisition and access. This

continues to be one of the most

important things organisations do. In a

skills-constrained environment, a

company’s ability to find, attract, and

access highly skilled people is critical to

success. This area is going through a

significant disruption as a result of

globalization, technology, social media,

changing workforce expectations, and

the shrinking half-life of skills and

technical knowledge. Tools such as

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and others

are changing recruiting into a strategic

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function focused on marketing,

branding, and new tools and

technologies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

15. Based on the findings from the

report, it is evident that the 21st-century

leadership is different. The public

service is facing new leadership

challenges such as developing

millennials and multiple generations of

leaders, meeting the demand for leaders

with global fluency and flexibility,

building the ability to innovate and

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inspire others to perform, and acquiring

new levels of understanding of rapidly

changing technologies and new

disciplines and fields.

16. Leadership gaps are present at

every level of the organization. These

gaps can only be filled through a

sustained and systemic commitment to

leadership development that identifies

potential leaders earlier, brings young

leaders online faster, develops senior

leaders later in their careers and keeps

them on the job longer, and builds new

leadership pipelines at every level of the

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company. It is imperative that as top

management officials, you must be

committed to ensuring that leadership is

developed at all levels of your

organization.

THE HEART OF LEADERSHIP –

BECOMING A LEADER PEOPLE WANT TO

FOLLOW

Ladies and gentlemen,

17. Mark Miller, the author of the book

The Heart of Leadership (2013) puts

forward the idea that leadership

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consists of 10 percent skills and 90

percent character. Unlike skills which

can be developed through training, a

leader’s character must be cultivated.

Leaders with strong character will be

able to position themselves for greater

opportunity, influence and impact.

18. I would like to share with all of you

The Five Facets of Leadership Character

as described in the book.

a. Hunger for Wisdom. Leaders see

that personal development is one

of their highest priorities. Their

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calendar reflects the high priority

placed on the pursuit of wisdom.

They invest time on regular basis

with people who help them grow.

b. Expect the Best. Leaders are

optimistic when difficulties arise.

They demonstrate an “expect the

best” attitude. However, at the

same time, they are able to grasp

reality and maintain optimism.

c. Accept Responsibility. Leaders

accept responsibility for their

effort and outcomes. When

outcomes are not good, leaders

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look at their role in the situation

first. When outcomes are good,

they are quick to give praise.

d. Respond with Courage. Leaders

are willing to make tough

decisions. People can count on

leaders to do the right thing even

when it won’t be popular.

e. Think Others First. Leaders

consider the needs and desires of

others before their own. They

constantly look for ways to add

value to others.

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19. As leaders at organisational level,

it is critical that you are committed to

strengthening your leadership character.

By embracing the five facets of

leadership character, you can help

create a conducive working environment

where organization can produce desired

results.

CLOSING REMARKS

Ladies and gentlemen,

20. As we look forward, we see the

winds of change upon us. We are a

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public sector in transformation, with the

Public Service Department leading the

way, and there is no doubt that we need

to change in order to respond to

governance challenges. Upon returning

to your respective organisations, I would

like to see yourselves become good

leaders, with the ability to create

positive change. Think about what it is

that you can improve, and develop your

people to achieve this shared idea.

21. Last but not least, I would like to

thank INTAN for organising the ALMP

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course, and I look forward to hearing

your views and ideas after this.

Wabillahitaufik Walhidayah

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi

Wabarakatuh.

Thank you.