Skills and Development

Essential Tips for IT Professionals on Successful Remote Working​In response to the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak in Malaysia, many companies are requiring all of their employees to work from home.​If you are an IT professional, working remotely does provide some advantages such as saving time and money by eliminating commuting, but it can also increase stress levels. ​Although some IT roles in theory can be executed at home, for many, this is an unexpected development they may be unprepared for.​Working remotely can be challenging under normal circumstances—but for those doing so for the first time or adjusting to sharing their home office with children, spouses or roommates—it is important to create structure and expectations. This applies to your colleagues and also within your home.​Potential challenges you can face working remotely:​Lack of colleagues and managers to collaborate with and stay on taskWorking too many hours as a result of an increased workload to support colleagues with technologies to work from homeManaging work/life balance and establishing boundaries to limit distractionsLack of face-to-face interaction, increased feelings of isolation and decreased motivation and trustPotential for miscommunication, especially with less tech savvy colleagues due to lack of non-verbal cues​​Essential Tips for IT Professionals on Successful Remote Working​In addition to any best practices your company will share relative to specific requirements for your technology and cybersecurity, the following tips enable optimal productivity:​​1. Prepare for SuccessCreate your workspace. Establish a dedicated work environment that is free from distractions. ​Consider logging out of all social accounts during work (unless necessary for your job). If sharing a space with others, lay ground rules and expectations for noise levels and break times.​Evaluate and upgrade your home technology if possible. Consider increasing or boosting your Internet bandwidth especially if you have multiple people accessing your network at the same time. ​Avoid burnouts and establish set working hours. Develop a routine where you “start (and end) your work day.” ​Potentially schedule a recurring meeting each morning to ensure you start your day on time. ​Similarly, log out and log off at the end of your work day.​2. Stay ConnectedHold daily check-ins with your team mates. Maintain open and frequent communication with your manager, colleagues and those who report to you. ​If you are a manager or a team lead, hold regular meetings with team members. Establish expectations for response times to emails and phone calls while utilizing out of office reminders or notifications if you will be away from your desk for extended periods of time.​Leverage multiple technology platforms. Phone, email and chat are likely standard in your work life. ​Using video conferencing may enable feeling more connected and decrease isolation.​Be productive and proactive. Plan to deliver the same productivity that you do when you are in the office. Have your manager or colleagues hold you accountable. ​Alert colleagues if you anticipate delays in your work or if you are collaborating on a group project.​Be strategic in your time allocation for troubleshooting especially if you are working in your company’s IT support desk.​Understand that most of your colleagues are likely to have questions and troubleshooting requirements. ​Prioritize addressing show stoppers and get directions from your leadership on the current company focus areas.​​3. Manage Your TimePractice effective time management. As you adjust to your new environment, you will establish peak performance times such as early morning before other family members are awake. Find the times that work best for you to maximize your productivity.​Build in time for the unexpected. If you build in extra time for unanticipated work demands, you will be less stressed if and when this happens. Set aside time and you can always reallocate it to get ahead on a project if no emergencies pop up.​Take breaks. Step away from your work area for 10-15 minute breaks every two hours. Take a short walk, read a quick article, check in with your family members or other friends working remotely. This shift in your focus will make you more productive when you return to work.​Be flexible and patient. This is even more essential now that you are working from home. As your company is responding to properly equip the newly remote workforce, there may be delays in responses from colleagues or a lag in technology.​​6 April 2020Posted by:Mohammad Kashif - Senior Marketing Executive​

​How To Stay Relevant in the Digital Economy​When the world is constantly changing, naturally you face a challenge of staying relevant in the job market. ​Day in, day out, articles online speak about robots taking over and AI replacing humans in the workplace. Companies and countries alike are looking into ways to develop their workforce and equip them with skills of the future. ​The fundamental reason is that similarly as the world is changing, so are our future employer. They have unmistakably more diversions, decisions, openings, and approaches to convey on how exactly how solid the point of staying relevant in this digital presence to get the job that can increase your long term income potential.​Ways to stay relevant professionally​1. Take control of your educationEmployers feel that the content and quality of local university education do not satisfactorily plan students for the workforce. 90 percent of all organizations over-viewed feel that universities ought to give students increasingly reasonable preparing, while 80 percent imagine that universities ought to consider changing university educational programs to mirror the realities of the labour market. ​We are now in a society which many jobs and careers require additional education or training beyond formal education. We have to move away from an idea that students finish learning when their formal education ends and they enter the work world. Instead, working individuals have to update their skills, continuously learning and adapting to stay relevant in the digital economy. 2. Keeping your skills set current, updating your resume​Highlight ongoing skills development. Include a separate section in the resume to detail courses you’ve recently completed or another way you’ve shown initiative in acquiring new skills. You can also update your online platforms, like LinkedIn, with details of courses you’ve recently completed, certifications achieved, and otherlearning initiatives. ​Remaining current in your field will require a solid blend of hard skills, for example, computer programs and the specialized ability expected to carry out your job, and soft-skills abilities, for example, general industry learning and communications skills.  3. Build a network​Based on the research by McKinsey Global Institute, more than 1.5 billion people around the world have an account on a social networking site. It is observed by that 72 percent of companies are having strong social presence and is even expecting every employee to stay relevant in social networks. ​Make friends across generation. Making friends with people who aren’t in your age group can help you communicate with a wider variety of people. Many organisations are looking to hire candidates who bring a strong network with them. ​It’s also useful to have a network you can tap into to help you understand and solve problems and to support you in learning new skills. Proactive about linking skills development to promotions. As a conclusion, adapting yourself with relevant skills can help you to be more competent than others. As mentioned in Economic Report 2018 by Ministry of Finance Malaysia, the demand for skilled and multi-skilled employees will continue to rise in the coming years with the increase in automation and introduction of latest technologies. ​Building your network by enhancing your social skills to talk with a various group can help you to excel in communication skills. If you want to get a promotion, linking all your skills development to the correct skillset of that position can help you get promoted thus, strive in this current digital economy.

​IT jobs such as Software Developers, Computer Network Professionals, System Analysts, and Application Programmers have appeared in every Critical Occupation List (COL) since 2015. ​The COL, published by Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA) and TalentCorp Malaysia, shows occupations that are skilled, sought-after, and strategic across 18 sectors in Malaysia. ​It also identifies shortages in occupations that are sought-after by employers. Occupations such as for Mathematicians Actuaries & Statisticians (with job titles such as data analysts, data scientists and big data analysts) point to a shift in Malaysia’s needs towards jobs required to meet Industrial Revolution 4.0.​In the News Straits Times newspaper article titled ‘Jobs of the future: Top five emerging careers’, Geh Thuan Hooi, The Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management human resource adviser had said “With the advent of Industry 4.0 where artificial intelligence (AI) will replace many present jobs, anything related to data analytics, information technology and robotics are good fields to venture into”. ​He also said that, “Jobs requiring a high sense of creativity and decisiveness will be much sought after. Those with a strong mind-set, who are persistent and not afraid to fail, as well as team players will make it in the future”.​Moreover, Malaysia’s top five emerging jobs were all related to the tech industry as reported by LinkedIn in its report titled 2019 Emerging Jobs in Malaysia. ​It analysed “millions” of job titles by LinkedIn users in Malaysia in 2013 and 2017 and then grouped them into common job roles and counted how frequently a particular job role appeared in 2013 versus 2017.​The report identified five future jobs in Malaysia which are Data Scientist, Full Stack Engineer, Drive Test Engineer, User Experience (UX) designer and Content Writer. ​Knowing what the market demands now and in the coming couple of years, will help you upskill to remain relevant in the workforce. ​Here are the 5 jobs identified by LinkedIn:​Data Scientist​Data Scientists analyse and interpret data of a business. They can help local companies innovate with data and build Malaysia into a global hub for data analytics.​Full Stack Engineer​Some might argue that a full stack engineer is quite similar to a UX designer. However at the core, a UX designer might not even touch a single line of code. A full stack engineer on the other hand has the skills to convert processes and design ideas into functional applications. ​He or she helps businesses to go digital from start to finish, including creating apps and websites. Increasingly it is expected of them to have soft skills to facilitate communication and project management. ​Drive Test Engineer​For drive test engineers, the emergence of mobile and broadband is increasing their demand in the market. Companies need help to troubleshoot problems and improve network coverage based on the data gathered from telco networks. ​UX Designer​As many businesses move their operation online, UX designers will fulfill business needs to develop processes, and in many cases layouts, for applications. UX designers need to be up to date on the latest user behaviors and optimise applications for a great user experience.​Content Writer​The popularity of social media is great for content writers as they can use their journalism and publishing backgrounds to create compelling and engaging content. ​To conclude, keep yourself updated on the latest market developments and the skills that are in demand to stay releveant for your current or potential employers. ​Remember, the tech world is constantly evolving. What is in demand today, might no longer be needed tomorrow. Therefore one of the key skills you want to nurture is your constant ability to learn and adapt to changing circumstances. ​

​Digitization and automation are forcing businesses to innovate and transform the way they work. Organizations don’t always know the skills they will need now and in the future as new skills emerge and others become obsolete. Those companies that are slow to bring in digital age savvy leaders are also slow to create an environment where they can operate, innovate and thrive in the new dynamics of the digital age.To achieve and continuously develop a Digital Workforce Transformation (DWT), organizations must create a culture that embraces innovation and embeds continuous change capabilities that accelerate and sustain their digital transformation, maximizing their short and longer term ROI. To understand the impact of digital transformation, employees should trust their leaders that they can drive organizational success and enable innovation efforts. Continually learn to stay relevant and adapt your skill sets as circumstances change. Try our Learnability Quotient (or LQ) a web-based visual assessment to identifyyour learning style and provides resources to help you improve your learnability.To indicate your readiness to lead a digital workforce transformation, try our DigiQuotient. As new technologies and innovations are changing the Future of Work – your DigiQuotient reflects your desire and ability to grow and lead within this ever changing digital landscape. You will receive guidance on how to leverage your strengthsand recognize and mitigate derailing behaviours.Mixing roles, skill sets and work in teams can flourish your curiosity. It can enable you to develop yourself to investigate new ideas, roles, skills, technologies and methods. To accelerate your digital era career, ManpowerGroup career coaches can provide you with the insights and training opportunities you need to ensure that your skills are in demand.We leverage our deep understanding of the global job market and world of work trends to match you to a career.