KUALA LUMPUR: Several successful women have taken on mentoring roles under a six-month programme to train selected Malaysian women executives to go further in their respective careers.
The programme, called Women in Leadership (WIL), is a joint collaboration between ICAEW and TalentCorp.
ICAEW is a global professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports over 142,000 chartered accountants worldwide.
TalentCorp is a unit established under the Prime Minister’s Department with the aim of addressing the availability of talent in line with the needs of the country’s economic transformation.
Seventeen women leaders are mentoring 25 professionals in the six-month programme.
One of the mentors, Datin Joan Hoi Lai Ping, board member of an insurance company, said she and her mentee Anita Devasahayam learnt from each other by sharing ideas and discussing problems.
She even made the learning process easy for Anita by making a point to meet up at places near the latter’s office in Petaling Jaya.
Anita is the country brand and communications manager for IBM Malaysia.
Anita praised Hoi as a sharp mentor who is like a “crystal ball”.
“My mentor provided me with a lot of clarity when I am in doubt,” said Anita during the panel discussion at the WIL graduation yesterday.
TalentCorp CEO Johan Mahmood Merican said the programme provided the necessary breakthrough for the mentees to push themselves further in their career despite juggling work and their family responsibilities.
“Based on a survey of 130 public listed companies last year, 31% of these companies have no women on boards while 19% have no women in top management,” he said.
British High Commissioner to Malaysia Vicki Treadell, the guest of honour at the event, encouraged women to be more confident and approachable by their colleagues in the workplace.
