Sime Darby develops industry-ready graduates via SL1M

Sime Darby Bhd has launched its Skim Latihan 1 Malaysia (SL1M) 2015 programme as part of its commitment towards enhancing employability and reducing unemployment among graduates.

Of the 450 trainees participating in the programme, 250 are undergoing a four-week classroom training while the remaining 200 are attending on-the-job training at various departments across the Group’s diverse business divisions starting yesterday.

Sime Darby has been a firm supporter of SL1M since the government-led initiative was introduced in 2011.

In a statement here, its president and Group chief executive, Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh said the programme had benefitted 1,595 trainees so far, of which about 80 percent of them had secured employment either with Sime Darby or other organisations even before completing it.

The 12-month SL1M Sime Darby programme comprises a four-week classroom training, where trainees hone their personal and leadership skills to prepare them for life in the actual business environment.

"During training, the trainees are instilled with Sime Darby’s core values of integrity, respect and responsibility, excellence and enterprise," he said.

Another 11 months of training involves job placements to enable the trainees to work alongside Sime Darby industry specialists and experts.

Mohd Bakke said the programme provided an enriching holistic learning experience to the trainees.

"By the end of the programme, the trainees would have developed personal mastery, learned Sime Darby’s best work practices and gained essential skills and experience that may provide them better career prospects to compete in the increasingly challenging employment market," he said.