By DIVAGAAR SIVA
The Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports has introduced several programmes and opportunities for youths across the region. One of the most notable programmes is the Corporate Fellowship, introduced in 2019. In the Corporate Fellowship, identified youths undergo several phases of a selections and are placed into the top corporate organisations in Malaysia that develop and implement the national agenda. Some of the companies include Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Malaysia Airlines Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, AirAsia Bhd, Ernst and Young, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Telekom Malaysia, Petronas, Shell, MRCB among others.
I was one of the lucky few offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a Corporate Fellow at Axiata Group Berhad, placed under the mentorship of edotco Malaysia Managing Director Mr Wan Zainal Adileen. Initially I had little knowledge about edotco since it is a business-to-business company, and not an end-user brand. As I quickly learned, edotco is the first and leading regional integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company in Asia. They specialise in end-to-end solutions in the tower services sector including co-locations, build-to-suit, energy, transmission and operations and maintenance (O&M).
In my opinion, mentorship is an invested, dynamic, and mutually beneficial professional relationship between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced mentee. Affectionally called “Wan Z”, the mentor-mentee relationship began with Mr Wan Zainal Adileen setting a clear goal to nurture me and foster success in professional endeavours. In return, I was determined to earn his trust while capitalizing on his guidance to build professional skills, connections, and establish my niche. Accepting feedback, delivering on commitments, and respecting his time earned me his trust. The clear expectations communicated and open culture fostered at edotco Malaysia enabled me to thrive.
My fellowship period in edotco Malaysia ran for three months from August to October 2019. Before the fellowship period even began, the entire team already welcomed me warmly with an invitation to join them for a go-kart endurance race. This gave me feel a sense of belonging and allowed me to bond with the people I would be working with throughout my tenure. Upon the official start, I was privileged to be assigned the “Shadow MD” of edotco Malaysia reporting to Wan Z himself and was asked to attend most of the meetings and discussions with him.
My fellowship coincided with edotco’s expansion into the Philippines. I attended the Weekly Management Committee meetings which are only attended by the Board of Directors. This gave me priceless insight into corporate and business planning as I observed how different ideas are taken into consideration to make the most informed decision.
Attending meetings and discussions at the Group level allowed me to meet the highest levels of management and learn the protocol and decorum of such occasions. During my time in edotco as a Corporate Fellow, they had their business planning for 2020 and again I was allowed to be involved in the workshop. As a person who has no telecommunication industry background, these activities helped me understand the intricacies of the business and the integral role infrastructure plays in enabling connectivity. Amazingly, I was given the chance to present ideas and opinions on certain aspects in the telecommunications industry, which added purpose to my tenureship. The constant learning process inspired me to become a better version of myself.
My mentor, Wan Z, displayed exemplary leadership qualities I hope to emulate in my career. He demonstrated his words with actions. Despite a packed schedule, he always finds time to interact with all staff members, in particular via a session called “Coffee with Wan Z”. I too attended these sessions where staff had the opportunity to share updates about their work or feedback without fear of repercussion. This was a great example set by Wan Z who took time to listen to the staff’s voice, ready to take appropriate actions for shared prosperity.
Divagaar Siva in a group photo with former Minister of Communication and Multimedia Malaysia YB Tuan Gobind Singh Deo, Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Chairman Yang Berusaha Encik Al-Ishsal bin Ishak, edotco senior management and team.
To achieve growth, edotco is people-driven . During the Q3 Townhall, I was asked to be a panellist for a dialogue session with millennials – the company wanted to understand young people like me and hear our opinions! In the session, I shared the aspirations of youths to corporates. The empowering and engaging session created better understanding of the priorities and values of the younger generation who will be future leaders.
My perception that edotco truly cares for people was reinforced when I joined the edotco family for their CSR activity to feed the homeless in Kuala Lumpur. It gave me good exposure to values and made me appreciate my circumstance of birth.
This Corporate Fellowship under edotco Malaysia helped me gain a comprehensive understanding about entrepreneurship, innovation, corporate responsibility, and successful strategies in scaling ideas.
My knowledge of the corporate world and personal development grew immensely through my work in edotco. I developed crucial communication and collaboration skills by working closely with all staff and departments at edotco and by connecting with industry and government leaders. Mr Wan Zainal is a good role model with his strong business ethics and I am grateful to be given the chance to work closely with the leadership of the company to maximize exposure, guided by a mentor who inspires me every day.
This fellowship expanded my concept of corporates and its relation to development, nation building, culture and society. It gave me a framework to understand the linkage between industry and work life balance as well as how innovative thinking and social enterprises can address the root to nation building by “enabling connectivity”. It provided meaningful experiences not only in the telco industry, but about passion in making a sustainable impact where it matters most.
edotco Malaysia made effort to ensure that the Corporate Fellow attachment is both fulfilling and an unrivalled opportunity to learn and contribute. By involving me in various departments, from Engineering to Corporate Affairs, I had a fast track learning experience on the intricacy of negotiations, complexity of the telecommunications industry and technology adoption as well as how a major organisation is kept running smoothly with all cogs in place.
My Corporate Fellowship at edotco Malaysia can best be characterized as learning through research and interacting with others. edotco is a company with great office culture: forward-looking where people are expected to work hard, learn, deliver, not be afraid of challenges or change. In return, employees will reap the benefits and have lots of fun in the process.
In case any of you were wondering, I have been offered employment in edotco Malaysia as a Corporate Affairs Executive working on the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) and dealing with federal and state governments.
