This is a summary of the Q&A section of our Q3 Town Hall! If you have more feedback or questions, do let us know in the feedback link below!

Q: M&E (Design, System & Utilities) is the largest department in YTL Construction and now we have a new department, M&E – Facilities (FMG). My department’s level (21-2) is too crowded and does not have enough space and seats for new staff or transferred staff from the site. How do we solve this problem?

A: It is already in the working process, where the management is looking for space in Starhill to house everybody. As the company grows, there will be more great talent and it’s a great opportunity for everyone to learn new skills and do new things.  Growth is good — having less space sometimes is a good sign as opposed to having too many empty tables. Let’s hang in there.

 

Q: Our department is currently facing a lack of manpower. However, the top management doesn’t want to hire more people. Therefore, how can we achieve our goals?

A: During the pandemic, the company fought very hard despite the state of the economy and the industry. The company is fortunate to have the Gemas-JB project and that the management has given the mandate to take care of staff first. As known, the construction industry goes through peaks and troughs. The company policy is to not hire people just for the peak period and not make people redundant in the troughs. It’s not fair to the employees or to the company. The company gets stronger if everyone has the mentality to contribute better. As a result, this puts the company in a better position to come out of these cycles, maintaining our people with the right culture.

 

Q: ​​How can the company ensure better mental health while we are working six days a week and on public holidays?

A: Mental health is a very important issue, especially during the pandemic when most of us are stuck in one place. Seeing that, the company has launched free mental health sessions and it is open to everyone. The company sends out emails with slots available on a monthly basis. We hope it will help you by speaking to a professional. It is challenging as the company is in a fast-paced and demanding industry, but as long as we work together and enjoy what we do, working becomes much more enjoyable. If you’re feeling mentally unwell, overstretched or stressed, please speak to your HODs. Everyone will try to find a solution to help each other out. 

 

Q: With the number of Indian staff growing, please consider including Deepavali as a gazetted company holiday. By the way, great effort by the Directors to engage with all levels of staff on a regular basis. ?

A: There are eleven designated holidays for the site staff. The designated days have changed over the years due to the changing nature of the industry. The management is adapting to the needs of the sites individually and HODs are assigned to manage it. Nevertheless, feel free to take annual leave during Deepavali without issue.

 

Q: Will there be gym membership benefits? Or can staff use the hotel facilities nearby?

A: The company had plans for a recreational club but due to MCO, all of that was hindered. Not specifically gym perhaps, but there will be many sports-related activities. At the moment, the company is organising a variety of exercises online, so join those classes!

 

Q: The current admin systems that we have (e.g. WRS, e-Boss for e-leave, ESS for payslips) are all separate systems that need their own passwords. Are we able to have a centralised system of only one account that can access all of them? Too many passwords need to be created and always need to be reset because we tend to forget them.

A: The IT team is trying to create an intranet with a single sign-on using SharePoint. This means that we key in our username and password and all our services will be there on one landing page. ID and password will be aligned to the Office 365’s ID and password. This ensures convenience for everyone as the list of URLs for the systems will be available on SharePoint.

 

Q: We would like to request flexible working hours due to heavy traffic and it not being safe to travel by public transportation due to the pandemic. It would be great if you can consider this requisition.

A: During this time, the management has allowed the HODs a little flexibility in organising the work. It is written in the Town Hall guide and memo that anyone who is commuting can come to work an hour earlier as well as leave an hour earlier to avoid the traffic. Your safety is our priority so please speak to your HODs about it.

 

Q: How do we know what opportunities are being offered for the Solar and Kulai Young projects?

A: The project is still in its infancy, being in the design and authority liaison stages. There’s certainly some scope if you are coming from the Stakeholder Department. Beyond that, there’s a huge amount to learn design-wise, especially on the M&E side. While in the Solar department, it’ll be starting from scratch. If you’re interested, it is highly encouraged for you to sign up. It will be the first time to have a 275 kV PMU and SSU for this project. It is very seldom to have an industrial park with such a high capacity. On a side note, do check the internal recruitment site on our BTRT website for the available positions.

 

Q: Any chance the company will continue the WFH policy post-COVID? I’ve found myself happier and dare I say, more productive when I work from home.

A: There has been discussion about this and from the analysis, the collective productivity of the departments remains the top priority. Please understand that individuals may work more productively at home, but the department might not. Additionally, everyone’s home environment is different where some may work better from home, others may have the opposite problem. Therefore, it will have to be done in a holistic way that allows the entire company to thrive.

 

Q: SPYTL started with constructing small roads and over the years became a huge building contractor. With new markets coming, greatness and international recognition will be for big players with heavy infrastructure projects that will benefit the whole population. Any insight for midterm projects such as MRT 3, Pan Borneo, and HSR? What is SPYTL intending to do?

A: These are major public infrastructure projects and discussed in the news a lot. The company is working hard to be a part of it as these projects are possibilities to take on. The management has to take into consideration both the state of the economy and what the government really wants to do. The Gemas-JB project is a testament to the fact that we can build it on time and with quality. At the same time, the company is generating new internal projects such as data centre in the interim.

 

Q: Recently I found out that YTL UK Developments is hiring a Planner for the Bristol Filton project. I am interested in the project and would like to be given an opportunity to be part of the project, permanently in the UK, as part of my own transformation. Is there any possibility that I could transfer to the project after the warehouse project?

A: The company is likely to go to main contractors for this project. There is a huge scope for us to learn from in the UK, such as strong project management. Due to higher costs, they cannot afford the inefficiencies that perhaps we can do here. This project is being managed by our team and for this reason, there are more opportunities for us to work on it, though not physically in the UK.

 

Q: Another request on behalf of the M&E staff, can female riders be allowed to park their motorbikes in our building? Motorbike parking at Starhill (B4) is always flooded during heavy rain.

A: We will look into this and see what can be done to cater to our female riders.

 

Q: Since we migrated to Microsoft 365, our laptop performance has drastically fallen. Any solution to this?

A: The IT team is encouraging people to reach out to them to resolve the issues. In the meantime, rebooting your laptop every morning, keeping fewer tabs open, and closing applications that are not currently used will help. We will send out email tips on how to improve laptop performance.