StanChart to beef up talent pool for expansion
StanChart human resources country head (Malaysia, Brunei and Mekong region) Rahmat R. Hashim said StanChart Malaysia currently has 1,900 permanent employees and six expatriates.
“Human capital is important for StanChart. In our human resources plan, we need to have abundant talent in line with our expansion plan up to 2011,” he said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Rahmat said StanChart Malaysia had more expatriates 10 years ago but their positions have been filled by locals.
It is on an expansion mode in the country, where StanChart Malaysia chief executive officer (CEO) Julian Wynter recently said the bank wished to open another 20 branches over the next five to eight years.
The bank has 37 branches, of which 7 per cent of them are located outside the city.
StanChart Malaysia also plans to secure an Islamic banking licence in view of the growing demand for Islamic banking products in Malaysia.
Rahmat said Malaysian talents developed by StanChart Malaysia are recognised internationally as they are employed in StanChart all over the world.
He said StanChart Group has over 200 Malaysians working at managerial level and above in the group operations across the globe.
“It is a big number for our operations … shows that StanChart recognises talent from Malaysia.
“For instance, a Malaysian CEO leads StanChart Thailand,” he said.
StanChart Group employs 6,000 people, representing 100 nationalities in a global network in over 50 countries in Asia Pacific, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, the US and the UK.
He said StanChart launched the International Graduate programme in 1999 and Banking Apprentice programme in 2005 to develop local and international graduates to be global leaders.
The two-year International Graduate Programme is open for graduates or those with maximum working experience of three years from all over the world.
During the programme, trainees will be sent to StanChart all over the world for training and short-term assignments.
He said the Banking Apprentice programme was aimed at growing local Bumiputera talents.
The one-year programme — open for fresh graduates and those with maximum two years’ experience — include on-the-job training, classroom training and cross-border short-term assignments.
For career development within the group, he said the employees can use an in-house system, PeopleWise, to search for job openings within the group and apply for the jobs.
