Employee training is an essential part of any successful business. Training has positive impacts on employee satisfaction, performance and retention. By training our employees well, we enable them to reach their full potential, which makes our organisation more competitive. In a broader context, the skills we give our employees help them to find their place in Indonesia’s rapidly developing economy.

Summary of Employee Training

In 2011, 4796 participants spent 337,206 man-hours in 1301 training programmes.

In 2012, 4358 participants spent 110,060 man-hours in 713 training programmes. Each employee received an average of 70 hours of training in 2011 and 25 hours in 2012.

The comparatively higher number of training hours in 2011 over 2012 was due to increased hiring, a significant proportion of new hires that year being fresh graduates. APRIL training programmes for new or recent graduates are intensive, long-term programmes of 6 to 12 months in duration, which are required to quickly build a sound knowledge base and skill set in line with APRIL standards. There were very few new graduate hires in 2012, hence the more normalised average training hours per employee that year.

APRIL Learning Institute (ALI)

The APRIL Learning Institute (ALI), which started in Kerinci, Riau Province in 2005, is an example of the value we place on staff training and learning.

All ALI programmes are based on three Cultural Pillars – Customer Focus, Performance Driven and Proactive Teamwork. Following the establishment of ALI, another specialist institute for the forestry and plantation operations was created, the APRIL Asian Agri Learning Institute (AAALI). The two learning centres adopt a holistic approach based on competency-based methodologies.

Individual employee training needs are determined via the APRIL Assessment Centre which conducts pre-assessments of most employees to determine competency gaps. Individually tailored development programmes are then provided for employees through the Individual Development Plan.

Our programmes have the collective aim of securing a flow of talent for the Company. As such, APRIL works to develop and improve employees at all levels - from talent identification in young scholars, to skills enhancement in senior management. We achieve this through five main programmes:

Figure 56: APRIL LEARNING INSTITUTE PROGRAMMESAPRIL learning institute programmes

Programme Participation at ALI

ALI aims to build a culture of learning to boost employee morale and team spirit. The programme design has shifted from larger workshops to tailor-made sessions, as well as more participative methodologies like self-directed learning, acting in specific roles and partnerships.

Enabling Staff to Improve Our Business

Continuous staff improvement is essential to our business success. APRIL Indonesia’s strategy is to maintain our competitiveness by:

  • Leveraging individual and business team innovation
  • Motivating people to use company-wide standard frameworks and methods to maximise efficiencies
  • Creating value-add in day-to-day activities through both incremental and breakthrough improvements

In 2005, we implemented the APRIL Improvement Management System (AIMS) - a comprehensive framework to guide and monitor continuous improvement activities. AIMS enables improvement ideas through:

  • Suggestion system for simple improvement ideas by employees
  • Small group activity for medium complexity initiatives by departments
  • Task force project for complex programmes by cross-functional teams

In 2006, a dedicated Business Continuous Improvement Department (BCID) was set up to promote this mind-set and implement all improvement projects and activities throughout the organisation.

The BCID team also organises annual competitions between business units to select the “best-of-the-best” improvement projects and initiatives.

In 2007, the BCID team launched a Total Productive Maintenance programme, which ran till 2012. Following an evaluation process, six new pilot projects were launched in 2012, covering Work Area Management and Autonomous Maintenance.

BCID is also involved in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and works closely with all business units on risk evaluation, preparedness and business continuity.

Masters Scholarship Programme

A key component of APRIL’s employee development is a Masters Scholarship programme aimed at developing the next generation of pulp and paper professionals. Every year, we sponsor about four employees for graduate studies overseas under this programme.

Since 2007, APRIL has selected top performing employees to attend leading Indonesian or overseas universities specialising in pulp and paper or agriculture technology.

To date, 26 scholars have attended the Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand and 60 scholars have attended the Academy of Pulp and Paper Technology (ATPK) in Bandung, Indonesia.

In 2012, an event occurred that exemplifies our commitment to our people. Three APRIL scholars were in the last term of their Masters degrees at Thailand’s Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) when major floods occurred, destroying university laboratories and equipment.

The three expected a premature end to their studies, however we worked with AIT in order to secure an alternative university to host them. The scholars subsequently completed their research towards their respective Masters in Engineering degrees at Canada’s highly-regarded University of British Columbia (UBC).

One of these scholars, Zulfauzein Nadra, is now APRIL’s Mill Environmental Officer in Kerinci.

Zulfauzein Nadra

 

“The chance to complete our research at UBC was a blessing. Canada is one of the most advanced countries for pulp and paper and UBC’s R&D activity is amongst the best. We have been exposed to the most advanced thinking and practises in the field and we will apply this experience at APRIL.”

-Zulfauzein Nadra, Mill Environmental Officer, Kerinci.