MAMEE-Double Decker (M) Sdn Bhd

Zenas Kok

Experienced senior human resources practitioner with a demonstrated scorecard in advancing people as capital across fastmoving consumer goods, ICT and consulting industries by aligning with business goals. Over 28 years, Zenas has led regional HR initiatives, including shifting unionized production plants in Thailand and Malaysia, managing culture through core values, implementing HR systems like Peoplesoft and SAP SuccessFactors and leading organization-design and job evaluation projects resulting in restructuring. Certified internal trainer for ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ and Maxwell’s leadership coaching, with a master’s in international relations and a bachelor’s in psychology.

Succession Planning is widely used to prepare senior talents ready for attrition at the top. However, this only serves to protect the senior echelon overlooks the importance of key positions and functions that create as much value for the organization besides their leadership.

At Mamee-Double Decker, we take the long view as talent management and development is a long game. Our strategy is measured in 3 to 5 years or more, for parts of the business influenced by organic growth or geographical footprint due to supply-chain considerations. While we identify critical roles, we also extrapolate roles needed in 3 to 5 years or beyond for expansion future value creation. By doing this, we plan for talent needs not in the near future but beyond, enabling us to equip and prepare key resources excel in positions which will give the most benefit to the organization when the time comes.

Here at Mamee, we also channel time, energy and investment in our young and emerging talents by formalizing a Mamee University, which incorporates a 13-months experiential learning journey coupled with classroom training. We emphasize the knowledge needed for their future leadership roles, such as critical thinking, problem solving, innovation and social intelligence. We also spotlight their leadership capabilities and frame their roles as ambassadors for the company by creating employer branding videos which are fun and creative, posting them on social media and connecting virtually with their many online networks. Besides the classroom, our Mamee University participants also learn to be frontline merchandisers in the field, serving our customers and work in production as line operators. These give them an appreciation of the hard work done by our operations frontliners and bring them closer to understanding our products and our customers.

“We channel time, energy and investment in our young and emerging talents by formalizing a mamee university, which incorporates a 13-months experiential learning journey coupled with classroom training”

With regular updates to our executive committee on our talent management and development program, and the gender equality ratio we have been tracking, with the majority of women present in Mamee University, currently in cohort 4, we are able to report that by 2033, gender equality of our senior management team will be achieved.

Preparing Diverse Talent with Strategic Vision

Mamee University initiative, we also engage our heads of functions to select candidates from diverse backgrounds as potential successors. From there, with human resources, we begin the development journey with each talent, regardless of their backgrounds, to instill the Mamee DNA and competencies needed for higher levels and through coaching, have them ready in time to take up senior roles within the company, beyond their line functions. The engagement we hold with our diverse talents also spill into various and creative ways to develop new skills and competencies.

We practice buying, reading and sharing what we learnt from books relating to key topics. We select our successors as chairpersons for the quarterly team meet-ups rather than the head of function performing that role. We encourage our Talent to give back to the community by speaking at conferences and conventions. We volunteer our Talents for projects.

Beyond the above, HR presents our annual talent review to the executive leadership team where we raise issues, opportunities and action plans for the committee’s deliberations prior to decisions being made. Each head of function is required to present their respective talents, be they successors or Mamee University participants who have graduated from cohort 1. In these review sessions, we ensure that all our diverse talents are considered equally and with facts and figures, we plan for or further confirm their career paths and corresponding individual development plans based on merit and performance.

Next-Gen Talent Management

Talent management strategies will transform significantly in the next 5 to 10 years, driven by technology, especially AI, which is developing faster than expected. We will also need to contend with demographic shifts where intergenerational differences will become apparent when managers are predominantly from Generation Y, with the workforce consisting of Generation Z and Alpha. Younger generations will expect evolved workplace conditions and flexible structures that keep them connected anywhere, with easy access to information the support of tools and technology to accomplish more quickly, in order to have leftover resources to pursue their personal interests.

Other trends reshaping our HR strategies include the gig economy and agile workforce. Gen Alphas gravitate towards running their own businesses but collaborating with established brands, freelancing for freedom of choice or taking up contract work to support an occasional-work lifestyle.

Companies will need to extend their talent web to capture these resources and judge their value in short spurts of time when they complete projects or assigned tasks. Calling these value-contributors talent is not necessarily accurate, even if their work is supreme, because they are work- focused rather than an integral to the team and its culture. Nevertheless, they are valuable and should be tracked for what they can do for the company. And in this case, the catchment area is worldwide, unlike the traditional model where employees or contractors usually reside within driving distance. So, a world-view for capturing and leading talent will be critical to future successes.