Owners of SMEs urged to send family members for training

Owners of SMEs urged to send family members for training
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The Star, Tue, July 3, 2007

KEPALA BATAS: Owners of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) should send their family members and relatives who are involved in the business for training to enhance their skills and knowledge.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said most SMEs were family-run businesses, and so it would be ideal to begin training within the family unit.

This way, the relatives can set a good example to other workers to remain loyal to the companies and not to job-hop after attending such courses.

“Family members are unlikely to leave the company after attending skills training courses. They can be good role models to the other employees to remain loyal to the company,” he told newsmen after opening the SME Training Fair 2007 at Dewan Milenium here on Tuesday.

He said many companies shied away from organising such courses or send their workers for training, fearing that their employees would seek better jobs elsewhere.

Dr Fong said the Government had last month allocated RM3.5mil towards the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) to enable Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB), which managed the fund, to continue its training incentive scheme for SMEs.

Under the scheme, the Government would pay an incentive of RM1 for every RM1 spent by employers in retraining and upgrading the skills of their employees.

It is open to all SMEs in the manufacturing and service sectors with a minimum of 10 to 49 employees and with a paid-up capital of less than RM2.5mil.

Source: The Star Online, Tuesday July 3, 2007

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/3/business/20070703180818&sec=business