21 January 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Two hundred CIMB non-executives, the pilot cohort of the CIMB Accelerated Career Enhancement Programme (CIMB ACE), received their certificates of completion at a ceremony held at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) today.
CIMB ACE is a comprehensive structured upward mobility programme aimed at intensifying the development and advancement of CIMB’s non-executive employees in terms of skills, productivity, career growth opportunities and income-generation power.
The programme is in line with PR1ME (Program Majudiri 1Malaysia), a national programme launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, where government-linked companies (GLCs) commit to help non-executives grow professionally and ultimately drive the country towards becoming a high-income nation.
Commenting on the programme, Hamidah Naziadin, CIMB Group Chief People Officer said, “At CIMB, we want our people to know that we care about their career growth and we are glad that we are able to exhibit that tangibly through CIMB ACE while, at the same time, supporting our government in the fulfillment of PR1ME. At the end of the day, it is inspiring people to be their best that is the ultimate aim of all our talent development programmes, and CIMB ACE plays a key role in achieving that.”
The participants of the programme were grouped into four cohorts and each cohort went through a three-month training. The pilot cohort for non-clericals kicked off in April 2014 and was followed by the remaining three cohorts for clerical employees. The last one ended in December 2014.
The first key focus area of CIMB ACE is the training programme that was specially designed to enhance their knowledge, skills and behaviour to perform better and to take up more challenging roles. In its classroom training, CIMB conducts role-based certification programmes with emphasis on participants’ technical knowledge and skills like products and services, banking operations, regulatory, compliance, and risk management. What makes CIMB ACE special is that it also offers a more holistic development as it also covers the enhancement of soft skills like personal leadership, communication, language, time management and cross-selling skills.
Participants also underwent a 5-day attachment stint that gave them the opportunity for practical exposure and learning from an experienced “buddy” at the workplace.
Another unique feature of CIMB ACE is that its suite of learning modules is endorsed by Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) who also delivered the Structured Programme for English Enhancement and Development (SPEED). In SPEED, the participants attended classes at UNIRAZAK’s Centre for English Language, giving them the opportunity to improve on their English skills and experience a taste of university education.
Apart from the training component, CIMB ACE’s two other key focus areas are a career progression framework and an incentive plan. Based on results of assessments and available vacancies, non-executives are eligible for job upgrading opportunities if they consistently perform above average and as their capabilities for higher responsibilities grow. As for incentives, monetary awards will be offered to non-executives who have obtained higher qualifications during their own time. The monetary award is on top of the corporate sponsorship and scholarship schemes that CIMB Group is currently offering apart from CIMB ACE.
In her speech to the graduating participants, Hamidah expressed, “I would like to congratulate all of you for completing your CIMB ACE programme! Today is a proud day for you as you receive your CIMB ACE certificate that carries both the endorsement of CIMB and UNIRAZAK, but I am sure you will be even prouder when you progress in your career using the knowledge and skills learnt through CIMB ACE and other learning opportunities that CIMB provides.”
