The annual U Future Leaders Summit (UFLS) attracted some 1,500 participants at The Star Theatre on 4 October 2018. Themed “Seize the Future through Digital Reinvention”, the event featured sessions where leaders shared how the workforce could ride the digital wave.
The NTUC U Future Leaders Programme, comprising UFLS and U Future Leaders Exchange (UFLX), has reached out to over 26,000 workers since 2013. The UFLX, which has benefitted close to 4,000 professionals, managers and executives since its launch last year, provides unlimited access to micro-learning sessions such as bite-sized workshops, networking events and learning journeys for time-strapped professionals to learn on the go.
The programme is one of NTUC’s many efforts to prepare leaders for the challenges and opportunities that Industry 4.0 will bring. At UFLS 2018, Guest-of-Honour and NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Ng Chee Meng highlighted the importance for everyone to become Worker 4.0.
SG Ng explained: “What is a Worker 4.0? He is one who is adept at navigating changes, asking the right questions and finding new solutions to complex problems. Worker 4.0 requires a combination of adaptive, technology and deep technical skills so that he will be relevant to new circumstances and new jobs; resilient; and ready to find new ways of working and seize opportunities.
“If we can deepen the skills of our workers and employers can adopt technologies in the workplace, our productivity levels will go up. As companies become more profitable, Singapore will find her way forward to forge a good, robust economy so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy economic growth.”
According to SG Ng, NTUC will jointly develop a Future-Fluency Diagnostic Tool with Center for Creative Leadership to help unionised companies assess their levels of future-readiness. Companies can then tap on NTUC’s training programmes to plug the skills-gaps of their workers.
There will also be joint research to find out from thought leaders what it takes to be future-ready leaders. It aims to help Asian organisations map out targeted talent development programmes. This comes on the back of a wide-ranging study on Worker 4.0 announced last month to learn how Singapore's workers can be matched to future jobs.
At this year’s UFLS, 228 human resource (HR) professionals were conferred the Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP) certification, a tripartite initiative set up in 2016 to implement and drive the adoption of a national skills framework for HR. In total, over 700 have been certified so far.
Through the U Human Resource Community, NTUC reaches out to more than 600 HR professionals. Its programmes focus on helping HR professionals value-add to their roles by being strategic business partners of their organisations.
Moving forward, NTUC will work with IHRP to provide more training opportunities for HR professionals to deepen their skills and professionalise the HR role.
