Managing the New Normal

By Mel Sim

Part of dealing with the challenges of COVID-19 is protecting its people and the community Hartalega serves. Here’s how.

Keeping everyone safe
With the COVID-19 outbreak worsening since March, Hartalega has taken proactive measures to ensure Hartanians’s safety is top priority. A team comprising of key employees from various departments were involved in setting up a proper response for the pandemic. Some initiatives that have been established include:

  • Hartalega Precautionary Investigations (HPI), Hartalega’s own procedures to determine Person Under Investigation to identify necessary action.
  • Team segregation to ensure no cross contact among Hartanians in the same department.
  • PPE distribution whereby Hartanians were given face masks, one bottle of hand sanitizer (refill station made available in company premises), and one box of gloves.

Empowering teams to be more agile
The whole team is united to serve its main purpose: To provide protection to all frontliners that work in a challenging environment. There were also fundamental changes in consumer behaviour, supply chains, and routes to market because of COVID-19. Responding to the pandemic has underscored the need for leaders to accelerate the adoption of agile ways of working and value chain transformation to help answer uncertainty. It was all about working to shift and adapt to the crises and to empower teams guided by purpose.

Opportunities despite challenges
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a 100 percent surge in gloves demand globally in the first few months of 2020. Currently, Malaysia produces nearly 63 percent of global supply. Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) expects the global demand to be about 345 billion pieces this year as compared to only 298 billion in 2019. Malaysia is looking to export about 65 percent or about 225 billion pieces depending on the spread and duration of COVID-19. This has been an opportunity for Hartalega as a glove manufacturer. The company will continue to empower its people to ensure that its effort to protect frontliners is sustained.

The future is in young talent
Hartalega is set to continue developing its people to further empower its talent so that it can continue to innovate and provide the best solution for the industry that it is in. Young talent are viewed as assets here for three reasons:

  • New Energy and Perspective Young talent can bring fresh perspective and a different way of thinking. Most young talent are eager to learn, build their experience, and apply their skills in the workforce. This enthusiasm is great for team building, productivity and workplace morale.
  • New Technological Adoption Millennials have grown up around technology. Their natural affinity for tech and their ability to apply and understand different technologies quickly set them apart from other generations in the workforce. Hiring young people has a positive and important impact on driving the business forward in the adoption and use of new software and technology.
  • High in Adaptability A quote from Science Daily: When unexpected circumstances arise, younger people are better equipped to respond to sudden change. This can be of great benefit in the shifting landscape of the modern-day workplaces where process, technology and priorities are constantly changing.

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