Forging Partnerships To Accelerate Workplace Transformation

IAL also welcomes 21 new enterprises to the Learning Enterprise Alliance.

The Institute for Adult Learning (IAL), an autonomous institute of the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), today signed Memoranda  of Understanding (MOUs) with six leading partners from both private and public sectors  to catalyse enterprise transformation through the upgrading of workforce capabilities. 

Minister for Education, Mr Chan Chun Sing, was present at the signing ceremony, held  at Marriot Tang Plaza Hotel, as the Guest-of-Honour. The event was held in conjunction  with IAL’s Learning Enterprise Alliance (LEA) Awards Ceremony 2022. 

The MOUs strive to bolster workforce capabilities and drive sustainable growth through  industry linkages that leverage IAL’s workplace learning expertise to address the partners’  needs. Through this partnership, which will last for an average of three to five years, IAL  and its partners will collaboratively develop tailor-fit workplace learning solutions and  employee-driven initiatives focusing on maximising organisational productivity to  accelerate business transformation.  

Spanning multiple sectors, including and not limited to food and beverage, health and  wellness, as well as lifestyle and travel services, five of these enterprise partners are  dnata Singapore Pte Ltd, Far East Flora Holdings Pte Ltd, Fei Siong Food Management  Pte Ltd, Fullerton Healthcare Group Pte Ltd and Spa Esprit Group Pte Ltd. 

Representing IAL as a signatory of the MOUs, Professor Lee Wing On, Executive Director  of IAL, said, “A rapidly-evolving workforce demands businesses to not only keep up with  these changes but also equip themselves with the necessary capabilities to deal with  future challenges. As a learning institution, we at IAL strongly believe that partnerships  and collaborations are critical to furthering sustainable competitive advantage, and  involved parties can grow by learning and tapping into each other’s expertise. As such,  IAL is excited to work with our new enterprise partners because these partnerships align  with our capability development philosophy and workplace transformation efforts. We look  forward to jointly discovering growth opportunities to help them succeed.” 

Enhancing military training and development capabilities

IAL has also signed an MOU with the Singapore Armed Forces, Institute for Military  Learning (SAF-IML), to enrich the exposure, knowledge and skills of the SAF Training  Development and Instructional (SAF TD&I) Community. Both parties will collaborate in  professional exchanges to benchmark SAF-IML courses to the national skills framework 

and best practices in the Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector, ensure professional  recognition of personnel in the SAF TD&I Community, develop and manage curated  programmes, build research and consultancy skills to keep abreast with industry trends,  foster a Community of Practice for sharing of best practices, and facilitate events and  programmes for the SAF to participate in. 

Highlighting the importance of this MOU, Dean of IML Colonel (Retired) Lim Seng Hock  said, “This MOU underscores the strong and long-standing partnership between SAF IML and IAL. MINDEF/SAF recognises the importance of working with key partners like  IAL to strengthen cooperation in areas of learning and performance to enhance the SAF  TD&I Community.” 

Fostering enterprise alliances to drive workplace learning

IAL’s Learning Enterprise Alliance also welcomed 21 new members this year. Launched  in 2018, the LEA is an initiative under IAL’s Centre for Workplace Learning and  Performance (CWLP) that aims to facilitate a vibrant culture of knowledge sharing  between enterprises of diverse sectors and Training and Adult Education (TAE)  practitioners. Furthermore, it creates new touchpoints for networking and collaboration in  driving workplace learning among its close to a hundred enterprise members. 

The new LEA members submitted their proposals on workplace learning and  transformation between November 2021 to February 2022 and were selected through a  blind judging exercise.  

“Challenges in the workplace are seen in multiple touchpoints – from job redesign to  employee professionalisation and digitalisation to operation efficiency, and enterprises  want to overcome them. Through the LEA, we hope to support our new and existing  members in their workplace transformation journey so they can improve performance and  drive business growth,” Professor Lee added.