Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, 61, a Malaysian, was appointed Chief Human Resources Officer of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDP) on 21 November 2017 following the de-merger of Sime Darby Group and the listing of SDP. He has more than 25 years of experience across the full spectrum of human resources disciplines.
Following the merger of Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad and Sime Darby Berhad in November 2007, Zulkifli was appointed as Head of Human Resources, Plantation & Agri-business Division. He was subsequently promoted as Group Head, Group Human Resources in October 2009 and on 1 July 2011 he was appointed as Executive Vice President - Group Human Resources, the post he held until the demerger. Zulkifli played an instrumental part in the Sime Darby Group’s merger and demerger exercises in 2007 and 2017 respectively. Over the last decade, he steered several strategic transformation programmes across the Sime Darby Group, covering areas such as culture, environmental, social and governance (ESG), performance management, strategic talent and succession management.
He holds a Master's degree in International Affairs as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Ohio University, United States of America (USA). He has also completed the Senior Management Development Programmes at Harvard Business School and Peter F. Drucker School of Management, Claremont California, USA.