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At MCMC, employee experience is “the sum of all interactions an employee has with the Commission across all stages of their journey,” says Dr Murugappan Subramaniam, Chief Human Resource Officer.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is a regulatory body with a people-first approach to transformation. At the heart of its employee experience (EX) strategy is a commitment to creating meaningful, personalised journeys for every individual, across all stages of their time at the organisation.
The team at MCMC defines EX as the total of every touchpoint an employee experiences, from onboarding and career development, to leadership engagement, well-being, and even the transition beyond the organisation. This philosophy is brought to life through a structured EX framework, supported by flexible work policies, digital innovation, and a strong emphasis on feedback and inclusion.
This human-centered strategy helped MCMC take home multiple accolades at the Employee Experience Awards 2025, Malaysia:
- Gold for Best Rewards and Recognition Programme
- Silver for Best Holistic Leadership Development Strategy,
- Silver for Best Talent Mobility Programme
- Silver for Best Employee Advocacy Programme
- Bronze for Best Management Training Programme
- Bronze for Best In-House Certification Programme
- Bronze for Best Learning and Development Programme
- Most Innovative Leadership Development Programme
In this interview, Dr Murugappan Subramaniam, Chief Human Resource Officer, shares how initiatives such as the metaverse-driven onboarding platform, MetaHRise, enhanced total rewards, and a focus on cross-functional growth are shaping a resilient, agile, and engaged workforce at MCMC.
Q How does your team define "employee experience", and what aspects do you prioritise most?
At the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), employee experience is seen as the sum of all interactions an employee has with the commission across all stages of their journey from onboarding, career development, to leadership engagement and personal wellbeing. It is about creating a culture where employees feel valued, empowered, and inspired to contribute meaningfully while achieving personal and professional growth.
We place our people at the centre of our organisational transformation, guided by our Employee Experience Framework, a holistic approach that captures every key touchpoint in an employee’s lifecycle with us.
The framework is structured around five key stages, which are also the aspects that we prioritise most, as ensuring a positive end-to-end employee journey at MCMC is crucial:
1. ATTRACT
We strengthen our talent pipeline through compelling employer branding and a clearly defined Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to attract and hire top talents, positioning MCMC as an employer of choice strengthening our talent acquisition strategy.
MCMC Employee Value Proposition
2. LAUNCH
To successfully LAUNCH a new talent into Life@MCMC, a seamless onboarding experience has been put in place, clearly outlined by MCMC Onboarding Framework.
The framework outlines four critical phases that every newly joined talent experiences, with structured support at each step. From a comprehensive onboarding journey anchored by MetaHRise—a virtual, experiential platform introducing MCMC’s roles, functions, and culture to in-person induction sessions, team building activities, and timely check-ins, we ensure our people feel welcomed, engaged, and set up for success from day one.
3. DISCOVER
At the DISCOVER stage, talents are immersed in Life@MCMC through purposeful engagement and our holistic total rewards strategy. Centered on Work-Value Pay (WVP), it aligns compensation, benefits, and recognition with each employee’s contributions and impact. Our strategy offers competitive pay, above-market leave entitlements, inclusive benefits for life milestones, and flexible work arrangements. Designed to support all life stages, it promotes well-being, balance, and personal growth.
This experience is further enriched by active staff involvement in employee engagement activities, including cross-departmental initiatives and programs championed by the MCMC sports and welfare club, fostering camaraderie, collaboration, and a vibrant workplace culture. This integrated approach reinforces MCMC’s commitment to empowering a future-ready workforce where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to thrive in both their careers and personal lives.
4. ACHIEVE
With a stable foundation in Life@MCMC, employees are now ready to grow and drive their own performance. MCMC drives performance and capability-building through a structured approach to career progression and talent mobility. Our total talent mobility framework encompasses vertical growth, such as promotions and fast-track programmes, alongside strategic lateral transfers to foster agility and cross-functional development.
With over 30% of employees mobilised internally in 2024 (a substantial increase from 13% in 2023), we actively cultivate a resilient workforce aligned with organisational goals.
Employees are encouraged to explore new roles beyond five years in the same position, reinforcing continuous learning.
5. AHEAD
After reaching key milestones, employees enter the AHEAD stage, where MCMC ensures a positive and respectful exit experience, whether through resignation or retirement. Our retirement programme supports employees’ transition beyond MCMC, while structured exit interviews gather insights for continuous improvement. We strongly recognise dedication through long service awards, honouring lasting contributions. By prioritising dignity, appreciation, and knowledge transfer, AHEAD reinforces MCMC’s commitment to positive transitions and sustained organisational connections.
Throughout the whole journey, we champion cross-functional opportunities and provide platforms for employee feedback and dialogue, recognising that employees’ voice are powerful levers for innovation, engagement, and retention.
This philosophy is reflected in award-winning initiatives such as MetaHRise, Malaysia’s first metaverse-driven onboarding programme, our MCMC CARE well-being framework, progressive flexible work policies, and ongoing HR digital transformation. Together, these initiatives underscore our commitment to building a thriving employee experience that supports MCMC’s mission to be a high-performing, agile, and people-centred organisation.
Employee engagements
Q Can you walk us through your most high-impact EX initiative that led to your success at the awards this year? What business need did it solve, and how was success measured?
One of our most impactful Employee Experience (EX) initiatives this year was the strategic enhancement of our total rewards and benefits framework, forming a core part of our EVP. We upgraded 13 existing benefits and introduced two new ones: a commuting allowance and an inclusive care and support allowance, designed to better support the evolving needs of a multigenerational and diverse workforce.
This initiative was driven by valuable insights from our 2024 Employee Engagement Survey (EES), where 86% of employees were found to be sustainably engaged and 69% expressed their intention to stay with MCMC. The survey also highlighted that the remuneration and benefits package remain a key factor in talent attraction, engagement, and retention — especially as MCMC continues to compete for high-calibre digital and regulatory talent in Malaysia’s fast-evolving communications and multimedia sector.
This enhancement addressed a strategic business need: to continuously attract, develop, and retain top digital talent critical to driving Malaysia’s digital economy and ensuring MCMC remains a future-ready, people-centric organisation.
Success is measured through both qualitative and quantitative outcomes:
- Ongoing employee feedback gathered during and post-implementation;
- Improved scores in our year-end Employee Engagement Survey;
- Monitoring talent retention trends and internal mobility;
- Tracking participation rates and utilisation of the newly enhanced benefits.
Through this initiative, MCMC continues to demonstrate that employee experience is a living, evolving journey that adapts in response to employee voices, market dynamics, and our aspiration to be an employer of choice within the public sector and beyond.
Q How do you balance personalised employee needs with scalable EX programmes?
At MCMC, balancing personalised employee needs with scalable Employee Experience (EX) programmes is driven by a core philosophy: design flexible frameworks that can adapt to individual needs while maintaining consistency and scale across the organisation.
We achieve this through the following approaches:
1. Career development framework
Anchored by MCMC’s Employee Development Framework, employees are empowered to co-own their development through clearly mapped career pathways. This structured approach ensures scalability, while personal coaching by managers allows the journey to be tailored to individual aspirations.
2. Digital onboarding (MetaHRise)
MetaHRise, Malaysia’s first multiplayer metaverse onboarding programme, offers an immersive, gamified experience that brings new hires through MCMC’s mission, values and culture. The digital platform provides scalable delivery to all new hires while allowing personalisation through self-paced learning, avatar-based interactions, and interactive modules.
3. Technology-enabled customisation
Through digital learning platforms and LMS, employees can explore a broad range of online content, from technical to leadership to wellness by allowing individual needs to be met at scale. We also use engagement data and feedback loops to continuously tailor offerings.
4. Wellbeing and mental health support
Wellness initiatives, such as well-being expression session and EAP are available across MCMC. Employees can self-select offerings that fit their personal needs, while the framework remains scalable and inclusive for the entire workforce.
5. Flexible work arrangements
MCMC’s Flexible Work Arrangement policy gives employees autonomy to customise work patterns, while ensuring fairness and equity through consistent frameworks.
Impact: These approaches are validated through strong employee sentiment from the 2024 Employee Engagement Survey, demonstrating that employees feel seen as individuals, supported through scalable and human-centred EX design.
Wellbeing and mental health support
MCMC Leap (Learning Management System)
Q What are some underappreciated drivers of employee engagement that you think deserve more attention?
While strategic initiatives matter, true employee engagement often depends on subtle, underappreciated drivers. Three key ones are:
- Inspiration through purpose: When employees connect to a meaningful mission, not just business goals, they tap into intrinsic motivation that fuels passion and effort.
- Trust, beyond transparency: Engagement grows when leaders act with integrity and empathy, building genuine trust that fosters loyalty and openness.
- Change management as a human process: Rather than just procedures, effective change management involves addressing employee concerns and guiding them through transitions, maintaining engagement amid uncertainty.
Though less visible in metrics, inspiration, trust, and human-centred change are the hidden engines of lasting engagement. When employees feel inspired, trusted, and supported through change, they become truly invested not just engaged.
Q Finally, what is the most important message that you'd like to share with your team as you plan ahead?
To the team:
Our progress isn’t just measured by awards or programmes, but by the real impact we make on people’s lives at work. Thank you for believing in our shared vision and for constantly pushing the boundaries of what great employee experience can be.
As we look ahead, let’s continue listening, evolving, and designing with heart. The future of work demands both empathy and innovation and we are capable of leading with both. Digitalisation will be central to this journey. By thoughtfully leveraging tools like AI, automation, and data insights, we can create more personalised, agile, and meaningful HR experiences. This is not about technology for its own sake but it’s about empowering people, enhancing how we work, and enabling a truly human-centred workplace.
Together, we’re not just transforming systems — we’re shaping a culture where every employee can grow, lead, and belong.
To greater heights we climb, together.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
Photo: Provided
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