SHAH ALAM - Long serving employees possess valuable business knowledge, work experience, and problem-solving perspective that are hard to replace.
If and when they quit, organisations would lose all the tacit understanding that they carry away along with them.
Sinar Harian (SH) which celebrates its 16th anniversary today was determined to be a platform for reforms in the country in domestic and global challenges.
Three employees with a long history with the company shared similar sentiments about the publication, where they felt the strongest sense of community and affinity for their coworkers.
Advertising department general manager Airol Fadley Limin, who has served the company for almost 17 years said it was the company’s goal to bring about changes amidst the economic crisis and climate change issues affecting the people.
"Focus is also necessary on the nation's unrest, and SH intends to use its platforms to help restore the country to its former splendour," he said in conjunction with the newspaper's 16th anniversary.
Airol who was a fresh graduate when he joined SH in 2005 said the competition in the digital platform required traditional news organisations to diversify their content and presentation methods.
"Back then everything was in print, but now it has shifted to digital. Why digital? Because we have to keep up from time to time.
"Digital publishing offers the opportunity to diversify the distribution by using different channels.
"This, in turn, results in multiple revenue streams. Some of the popular ones are subscription models, digital advertisement and affiliate marketing.
"In addition, the excess cost of distribution and publishing gets eliminated, resulting in increase of profits,” he said.
Airol who started as a sales and advertising executive said he discovered career growth as well as equal opportunities at SH despite going through ups and down with the company.
He added that in SH, everyone was like family.
"I love it here,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sales Servicing Advertising senior group manager Hilmon Abd Majid who entered her 25-year mark with the company said she had stayed with the company as she loved her job.
As a person who loves challenges, she said she had always wanted to to better in what she does.
"I started working here since 1996. I was 26 years old at that time and started as a sales and advertising executive.
"I took the position because I wanted to challenge myself and I believe that I am contributing to the company," she said.
Hilmon said SH aimed at continuing to develop the nation, acting as a check and balance, and fostering robust democracy based on the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara.
She said the rise of fake news has also highlighted the importance of the role of news organisations such as SH.
"SH has established itself as a go-to resource for the community in obtaining reliable news and information thanks to our accurate and authentic reporting.
"However, this needs to be strengthened to broaden the material," she added.
Ruzy Adila Idris, the digital executive editor who has been with the company for 15 years said SH’s "sharp” reports on current as well as political issues have given readers confidence and remained supportive of the newspaper.
She said through its special reports, many revelations were made which caught the attention of authorities.
Ruzy who started in SH in Aug 2007 said the publication was one of the first conventional media to switch from print to digital around ten years ago.
Despite dealing with a variety of practical and technological difficulties, she said SH has consistently claimed the top spot in the annual digital media list and was among the five top digital media in Malaysia until now.
She said programmes such as Wacana, Berani Semuka, Sinar Live and Bersama Tan Sri Johan Jaafar have earned a reputation as one of the pioneer media to continuously cover local concerns, politics, and public figures.
In recent times, SH has been increasingly proactive in creating news content for social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
This, she said was to make sure that news would successfully spread broadly within the community.
Ruzy started as a cadet journalist when she entered SH. She said throughout her career with the company, she had the most valuable experiences.
"Covering from the Parliament building to the nooks and crannies of villages, made me a very critical journalist in news writing and I have trained myself to be a brave person,” she said.