Malaysian flag carrier flies ahead by enabling workforce to become future-ready

Having navigated through many storms, Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the parent company that manages Malaysia Airlines, saw the global pandemic as another challenge to overcome. This time, MAG looked to apply Digital Culture to its greatest asset—its workforce. A people-centered program trained existing workers for new roles, equipping them with the right mindsets and technology skills that accelerated the company’s digitalisation. Amidst an industry turmoil, the airline retained all of its staff and increased employee engagement in the process.

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Malaysia’s flag carrier is no stranger to challenges. What has always steered Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), parent company of Malaysia Airlines, is the value they place on people. With its headquarters located about 60km from the city centre, retaining and attracting new talents prove to be a challenge as the long commute seems to take a toll on its workforce. In mid-2019, the company introduced remote working once a week for its back-office workforce, leveraging on Microsoft Teams to promote flexible working hours without compromising on productivity. Microsoft Teams became the main platform that connected the internal working team, ensuring efficiency across the organization.

When COVID-19 hit in 2020 and lockdowns imposed all over the world, the MAG workforce was well prepared in the new way of working. However, with the grounding of fleet and significant reduction of flights, majority of its people in operations found themselves idle. Unlike many in the industry, though, the company decided to buckle down and keep its workforce. “We did not go through the track of firing,” begins Dato' Mohd Khalis Abdul Rahim, Group Chief Human Capital Officer of MAG. "Instead, we began on a journey with Microsoft, allowing our people to change, re-skill, and demonstrate their creative selves."

People before processes

Recognizing people's potential, the company breaks down barriers by giving learning flexibility to everyone. "We scheduled a number of learning and sharing conferences and webinars for our people," explains Dato’ Mohd Khalis. "We also developed a digital learning and development environment employing many enabling technologies with the help of Microsoft specialists at Adoptio, our learning partner."

Many of MAG's cabin and flight crews were quickly deployed to work at the corporate site," recalls Dato’ Mohd Khalis, "This may entail upskilling and learning new ways of working for some." By giving training to all staff, the organisation made the changeover as smooth and painless as possible.

Cultivating a growth mindset

Many of the training and awareness programmes offered were taken up by MAG’s nearly 12,000 employees. The last training round saw over 2,000 staff attend 40 virtual training modules on various topics. These training sessions are held online. “Most of our trainings are run as Microsoft Teams Live Events,” explains Dr. Esther Loo Chee Hong, Head of Organizational Design and Effectiveness at MAG. “In fact, our first live event was on embracing remote work. That was where we taught people about maximising Teams and improving communications among people. We also had several live events where invited guests came and shared their thoughts about leadership and collaboration in the digital age.

MAG also provides technical training sessions through technology partner Adoptio. Microsoft specialists delivered targeted learning programmes on a suite of productivity tools. Beyond Microsoft 365 training, MAG also organises programmes that upskill staff on Microsoft Azure. It even has a separate stream for its more technical people, giving them the opportunity to learn Azure DevOps.

MAG further reinforced its Digital Culture by building a Culture of Respect and Unity among its employees. This was amplified via MHRangers, MAG's flagship initiative, which comprises volunteers from around the organisation who stepped up and aided devastated areas in the nation by contributing their time and energy.

Pockets of selflessness and care begin to show themselves within the organisation where the people are empowered to go beyond their roles. Stories of cabin crews building applications and engineers going green by recycling materials begin to emerge.

Thanks to a strengthened and united organisation, we are seeing cross-functional teams reaching to each other virtually for ideas collaboration and sharing. Empowered by stories from other areas, digital acceleration happens.

“Everyone just wants to support the organization,” Dr. Esther affirms. Incorporating a positive people culture has helped MAG fast-track its digital transformation in the middle of an industry slowdown.

Transparent communications at the core

Even with the best programmes in place, riding through transition is not easy. To help build employee morale and positive engagement, MAG kept internal communication channels open.

“Our top management became the most prominent agent of change, using Microsoft Teams and Live Events to organise townhalls and cascade information to everybody,” says Philip See, CEO of Firefly. During the virtual sessions, the company's top executives openly discussed the difficulties the company faced during the pandemic, addressed all questions raised by staff and it was a very effective two-way communication. Some staff took the opportunity to also contribute ideas via MS team platform to help sustain the business.”

Again, technology was the differentiation and great enabler in MAG’s efforts. “Using Microsoft Teams has helped us to stay united and motivated by creating continuous transparent communication with everyone in the organization,” Dato Mohd Khalis shares.

The strategy of transparent and constant communication worked. Using mobile and web apps to track employee engagement, MAG’s engagement levels rose by 31% 2020, bringing it to 80% from 59% in 2019.

Helping people fly

Digitalisation is the backbone of Malaysia Airlines’ bid to retain employees. Sharmini shares that when we talk about digitising, people think it's all about systems, systems, systems. “What they don't see is that there are a lot of human elements behind digitilisation. It’s more than just the technology, it’s the wealth of opportunities offered to our people across MAG.”

With a workforce that has proven its resilience and adaptability, MAG looks ready to take to the skies once again. “MAG continues to build on its position in the industry and strengthen its digital workforce capabilities to ensure that it is ready for the future,” Dato Mohd Khalis concludes. “The journey ahead is challenging, but the spirit of Malaysian hospitality will continue to soar.”

“MAG continues to strengthen its digital workforce capabilities to ensure that it’s ready for the future. The journey ahead is challenging but the spirit of Malaysian Hospitality will continue to soar.”

Dato' Mohd Khalis Abdul Rahim, Group Chief Human Capital Officer, MAG