4^th FEBRUARY 2016 – With the rise of the Millennials, a generation defined as young talents below the age of 30, both employers and parents concerned, would begin to see their ‘Young Ones’ flooding the marketplace, looking for jobs and starting new businesses, which would carry our economic landscape and social fabric forward into the next phase of the 21^st Century. However, one of the biggest challenges facing these Millennials, would be their ‘Ability to be Entrepreneurial and Adapt’ towards the fast-changing world, despite having garnered a reputation of being ‘The Most Protected or Spoilt’ generation, where the Millennials’ needs have already been taken care of by their parents and seniors, who had suffered through harsh times of the economic slumps and regional conflicts in the 1970s to early 2000s.

Thriving Talents Pte. Ltd.,  a Malaysian-based talent development company, assembled a team of experts in organizing the GREAT Escape, a specialized programme dedicated to Groom Resourceful Empowered Appreciative Talents (G.R.E.A.T.) who will be able to meet the demands of the changing 21^st century workplace.

The 2-Days intensive workshop, saw 50 teenagers aged between 13 to 17 years old, join the workshop, designed like an ‘Urban Retreat’ for the weekend, in the new campus, belonging to one of Malaysia’s leading private universities – Sunway University.

Speaking to the Founder & Lead Director of Thriving Talents, Mr. Michael Teoh, he added that Thriving Talents’ 4 years of track record and accomplishments in the corporate training, public seminars and the consulting industry had given his team, an edge into developing these young talents during the GREAT Escape.

‘We know what high-paying and highly demanding employers want from their future talents. We hear so much complaints from employers about the quality of our graduates being inadequate for employment, and that the younger generations are being spoilt as they live in comfort, often shielded away by life’s harsh challenges by their parents. Nothing wrong with that, except, these employers who had complained to us, are those whom we work with – The Fortune 500s, who often form the ‘Best Employers’ and the ‘Best Paymasters’ in the workforce. When you are young, you better be gearing up to want to work with them to start off your career!’ said a dynamic Michael Teoh, who has led Thriving Talents to service clients across 39 countries since 2012, providing high-impact corporate training in the fields of leadership and personal mastery.

Over the course of the two days, these teenagers, now named the ‘Young Stars’ of the GREAT Escape, undergone simulation-led training and self-discovery modules, where 90% of their learning experience came from ‘Experimentation, High-Impact Gaming Experiences and Interactions with the Coaches & Mentors.’ Only 10% of their training relied on lectures, which the organisers deemed as ‘Still Needed’ to inspire and evoke the ‘Know How’ of the teenagers to learn.

‘We believe that our unique training and educational experience for the participants, would get them to ‘Discover, Reflect and Remember’ on the lessons which they have learnt. We have experimented many learning concepts and approaches while working with CEOs, Managers and University Students throughout our work with Thriving Talents, and we find that the most interactive activities and the ‘Gamification’ experience of our knowledge delivery would catch the participants’ imagination and interest to learn! We are just so excited to be bringing our trademarked ‘Thriving Talents Experience’ for our Young Stars today!’ said Mallory Loone, the GREAT Escape Co-Curator and a Director of Thriving Talents.

One particular young star who was changed by the event through the session ‘thankful’ said that for her birthday this year instead of hosting a large party she will instead go out to Kuala Lumpur Centre and conduct 10 random acts of kindness. According to the Young Star who wants to remain anonymous, she would be distributing food to the homeless together with her friends as her ‘Birthday Present’ this year. When asked about her sudden change, she shared about her experience of discovering her ‘Greater Purpose’ through the GREAT Escape and that the simulations and games really opened up her mind to learn, and her heart to give!

One of the Young Stars’ parents, who is a Senior Vice President of a local bank in Malaysia, expressed her ‘Pleasant Surprise!’ to see how her 13 years old son, was so eager to attend the GREAT Escape after Day 1 had concluded, that he wanted her to pay for his entire class to attend the programme on Day 2. We came to learn that the mother of three kids, had a hard time convincing her son to attend the GREAT Escape on Day 1 in the morning, as he thought the programme was the ‘Old School’ type of teaching experience – Something which many teenagers living in the urban cities of Malaysia, had been accustomed to.

‘We want to innovate new ways of teaching human skills to teenagers. We believe that gamification, high-impact scenario role-plays & simulations and thought provoking exercises which guide a person to reflect, review and decide on their course of actions, should be the way we educate and inspire our youths’ commented Alvin Teh, who was previously a lecturer in a top university in the USA, majoring in Statistics and now the GREAT Escape Co-Curator and Research & Development Director of Thriving Talents.

With three superstar trainers –Michael Teoh, Mallory Loone and Alvin Teh, this GREAT adventure on the 30th and 31st of January has functioned as an educational tool to inspire young stars to reach out and find their purpose, to equip them with the necessary mindset as well as tools to pursue their passion, and become ‘Contributors’ to the growth of the economy and in their lives.

The GREAT Escape was a success and Thriving Talents have already received ‘Bids’ from universities and high schools throughout Malaysia for them to host the next GREAT Escape in the compounds of their campuses. As for Thriving Talents, the company would be taking a short break, to plan out the Season 2 of the GREAT Escape, while focusing their efforts on corporate training. ‘The GREAT Escape will be back soon! There are hints that we will be bringing this programme to the north of Malaysia soon, as we have an eager university, wanting to host us there. For now, we will be concentrating our efforts in delivering value through our corporate training and employee development services to our clients,’ said Mallory Loone, who is optimistic to roll out the GREAT Escape internationally as well.

About Thriving Talents:

Thriving Talents Sdn. Bhd. (Pte. Ltd.) is a Talent Development company focusing on Consulting, Training & Educational Events Production, aimed to Enhance the Capabilities and Development of Your Workforce.

We dedicate our efforts and expertise to assist you in Understanding & Developing the abilities and potential of your workforce through ‘Bridging Generational Gaps, Entrepreneurial Thinking, Leadership, Communication, Sales & Thinking Skills’ competency training and project design.

Fortune 500 companies in the fields of Investment Banking, Retailing, Consumer Products, I.T. Services, Insurance (Life & General) and Governments have enlisted our support to co-design and co-develop ‘Learning & Developmental’ programmes for their workforce, since 2012.

For more information about the event of about Thriving Talents in general:
Elisha Yeo
elisha@thrivingtalents.com