6 theSun | TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2009

news without borders

‘Critical to manage communication in diverse workforce’

by Meena L. Ramadas.
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Employers have to
handle the differences in communi-
cation style and attitudes towards
rewards to cater to the needs of the
Malaysian workforce.
According to a survey by global
workforce solutions leader Kelly
Services released on Thursday, the
workforce’s three main generations:
Gen Y, aged 18 to 29; Gen X, aged 30
to 47 and baby boomers, aged 48 to
65; have different communication
methods and preferred rewards.
The survey indicated that Gen Y
employees increasingly use instant
messaging to communicate with col-
leagues and co-workers as they have
been exposed to technology and the
digital world from an early age. How-
ever, all groups prefer face-to-face
communication at the workplace.
Meanwhile, 70% of the respond-
ents prefer monetary rewards such as
bonuses and promotions rather than
non-traditional rewards such as time
or days off and training opportunities.
The survey also found that 50% of
Malaysian respondents feel the dif-
ferences between Gen Y, Gen X and
baby boomers make the workplace
more productive. However, 33% of the
respondents feel that the differences
interfere with productivity while 9%
feel it does not make a difference.
A total of 100,000 people in 34
countries including almost 2,000 in
Malaysia were surveyed in the Kelly
Global Workforce Index.
Other key findings of the survey
include:
» Gen X respondents believe they un-
derstand the generational differences
better as compared to Gen Y or baby
boomers,
» Baby boomers are the most pessi-
mistic about the productivity benefits
flowing from diverse age groups in the
workplace,
» 52% say they have experienced
intergenerational conflicts in their
workplace, and;
» 80% say they adapt their communi-
cation style in dealing with colleagues
from a different generation.
Kelly Services vice president and
country general manager Melissa
Norman said: “When the differences
between the age groups are har-
nessed effectively, they can provide
a powerful stimulus to creativity and
productivity.”
She added that it is crucial that
employers gauge and manage the dif-
ferences properly because when the
first wave of baby boomers retire, their
positions will be filled by generations
X and Y.

UPM invents
fungal
infection
detection kit
KUALA LUMPUR: University Putra Malay-
sia (UPM) has come out with a “rapid detec-
tion kit for life-threatening fungal infections”
which takes only five hours instead of three
to seven days to get results.
Assoc Prof Dr Chong Pei Pei of UPM’s
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
said the method she and her team devised
could provide rapid detection and was highly
sensitive and specific, thus reducing the time
of diagnosis.
“Usually, it will take three to seven days to
detect the type of fungus infecting the patient
and the test is not accurate. But by using this
kit the time is cut to a mere five hours and
the specific fungus can be determined,” she
said here yesterday.
She said the early detection would greatly
reduce the mortality rate of patients who are
at risk since the right drug could be prescribed
on time for effective treatment, based on the
results obtained from the detection kit.
Chong said the kit was able to detect the
‘candida’ species which causes life-threaten-
ing infections in humans.
“The candida infections commonly occur
in individuals with weak immune systems
such as cancer patients, patients with blood
disorders, post-surgery patients, HIV-positive
and AIDS patients, premature newborns and
elderly patients,” she added.
She said the fungus could cause infection
in skin, nails, oral area, vagina and also
cause nappy rash in babies.
“The worst infection is the one that in-
volves internal organs and the bloodstream.
In patients with weak immune system, the
candida species has the potential to invade
all host organs,” Chong said, adding that the
research started three years ago.
“A Malaysian patent has been filed and
this invention has won the bronze award in
the UPM R&D Expo. We are now looking for
an investor to market the kit which I believe
can be applied in hospitals and private medi-
cal laboratories, not just in Malaysia but also
worldwide,” she said. – Bernama
Measures to curb H1N1 spread
during Raya season
by Karen Arukesamy
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: With the festive sea-
son upon us and millions of Malaysians
preparing to “balik kampung,” the Health
Ministry has laid out four phases that
need to be implemented to prevent the
spread of the Influenza A(H1N1) virus in
the country.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Liow Tiong
Liow Lai said the four phases covered steps
encourages to prevent infection before returning to
a bus hometowns and villages; during the jour-
passenger ney; while in hometowns and villages
to wear a and after returning.
mask at the “As Hari Raya Aidilfitri is just
Jalan Duta around the corner, many would
bus terminal leave the city for their home-
yesterday.
towns and it is very important for
them to travel with a H1N1 kit for per-
sonal safety and hygiene,” Liow told a
press conference yesterday after launch-
ing the ‘Celebrate Hari Raya without
H1N1’ campaign.
The minister also distributed H1N1
kits – comprising free face masks, hand
sanitisers and pamphlets on H1N1 pre-
vention steps – to bus operators at the
Jalan Duta Bus Terminal to ensure that
passengers travelling to their hometowns
are adequately protected.
Liow said transport companies must
provide hand sanitisers to all passengers
and face masks for passengers with influ-
enza-like-illness (ILI) symptoms.
“The bus
operators should try, as much as possi-
ble, to segregate the passengers and shift
those with ILI symptoms further from
those who are healthy or do not show
symptoms,” he said.
He said all individuals with flu symp-
toms, if possible, should use their own
vehicles and refrain from taking public
transport to reduce the spread of ILI in
the community. However, if they have
no choice, they should use face masks
at all times.
Liow also advised against people with
flu symptoms attending open houses and
functions during the festive season as the
virus spreads faster in crowded places.
“They should also avoid being in close
contact with those in the high risk group
and avoid hugging them as this would
increase risk of being infected,” he said.
Explaining that the ministry did not
intend for the celebrations to be disrupted
by unwarranted events, Liow said he is
confident that if the Health Ministry’s
preventive steps are followed, “we can
reduce and control the spread of Influ-
enza A(H1N1)”.
Liow also announced that there were
no deaths registered due to H1N1 as of
9am yesterday. A total of 48 new ILI cases
were admitted into hospitals nationwide
while 126 patients have been discharged,
he added. Nine-hundred and seventy
patients are currently being treated in 102
hospitals including 14 private hospitals
nationwide, of which only 193 patients are
positive cases. From the 193 confirmed
cases, 41 are being treated in intensive
care units (ICU) with 33 of them from the
high risk group,” he said.
They comprise 13 patients with
chronic diseases, four with chronic respi-
ratory illness, eight obese patients, seven
children below five and one pregnant
woman.