HUMAN CAPITAL

THE NEW ORDER

HUMAN CAPITAL:

THE NEW
ORDER

42 > QATAR TODAY >APRIL 2015

TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT
AND INNOVATION ARE NOT
THE ONLY KEY WORDS
IN HUMAN RESOURCES.
UNDERSTANDING
CULTURE IS ANOTHER
IMPORTANT FACET,
ESPECIALLY IN QATAR.
QATAR'S HR SECTOR MOVES AWAY FROM THE
NORM AND PLAYS A FAR WIDER, THOUGH UNIQUE,
ROLE SPECIFIC TO THE CULTURAL FABRIC OF
THE COUNTRY IN AN EFFORT TO INTEGRATE AND
UNDERSTAND THE DIVERSE WORKFORCE.

By Sindhu Nair

QATAR TODAY > APRIL 2015 > 43

THE NEW ORDER

uman Resources
(HR) management is
growing beyond what
it was meant to be.
Today HR has become
a strategic business
partner with the
company itself. They
work closely with the top executive departments to help the company reach bottom-line results. This is accomplished by
targeted recruiting, focusing on retention
and developing employee talents and skills.

MERE NUMBERS CAN BE MISLEADING, AS THEY MAY NOT

POINT TO THE EXPECTED RESULTS, SUCH AS ENHANCING
THE EMERGENCE OF A CRITICAL MASS OF COMPETENT
AND COMPETITIVE LOCAL LEADERS, MANAGERS AND
ENTREPRENEURS. QUALITY IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO DEFINE
AND MEASURE, BUT IS MUCH BETTER ADAPTED TO THE PURSUIT
OF SUCH GOALS.
BRUNO LANVIN

Executive Director of Global Indices

INSEAD

In Qatar, HR took a longer time to develop and be acknowledged as an important

pillar in the success of organisations. But
the time taken does in no way reflect the
values some companies are keeping to or
aim to follow while there still are others
that do not keep to any standards.
44 > QATAR TODAY >APRIL 2015

From gestures like Sheroes, an event

organised by Ooredoo Qatar to commemorate the real women heroes in life and at
their organisation, to Vodafone becoming
one of the first organisations in the world
to introduce a mandatory minimum global
maternity policy, and the most revolutionary cultural guidelines for workspaces that
will soon be launched by Commercial Bank
of Qatar to make it easier to work across
cultural barriers, Qatars corporates have
moved beyond the norm to take an active
interest in human capital development.
The Talent Index
But the big question that seemed to worry
most corporates is the shortage of skilled
talent the right person for the right job.
INSEAD, an international business
school, released the 2014 edition of its annual Global Talent Competitiveness Index
(GTCI) that measures a nations competitiveness based on the quality of talent it can
produce, attract and retain.
The index ranked Qatar 25th globally and
second in the Middle East, behind the United Arab Emirates (22nd) and ahead of Saudi
Arabia (32nd).
These three countries combine a high
degree of external openness (UAE ranked
3rd in the world, Qatar 4th and KSA 9th)
with a high level of performance on talent
and business enablers, underlined Bruno
Lanvin, Executive Director of Global Indices at INSEAD, and co-author of the report,
noting that,
All three countries share the same
approach by which their respective governments have given priority to making
life easier for business and more attractive for external talents. This is proving a
successful combination.
Qatar (ranked 34th in 2013) sits particularly high on the Attract pillar, reflecting
the governments efforts to diversifying its
resource-based economy.
As part of its clear drive towards becoming a knowledge economy, the government has taken steps to attract foreign
talent and expertise. This is evidenced
by the countrys performance in areas of
External Openness (4th) with top ranks

on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

and Technology Transfer (4th). Qatar is heavily biased towards the Input
sub-index (20th).
Challenges differ
Sahiba Singh, Head of Leadership Consulting, Aon Hewitt Middle East, feels the
challenges in the region are different as,
unlike other countries, the dependence on
outside workforce is greater in Qatar and
other Middle East countries. In general,
where government policies support a more
flexible approach to talent immigration,
employment practices and the provision of
social welfare, the countries are able to better attract and retain a talent supply critical to businesses, she says echoing Lanvins
observations.
Currently no metropolitan from the
Middle East features in the top ten cities
with lowest risk on Aon Hewitts annual
People Risk Index that is based on indepth
research augmented by the assessment
of Aon Hewitts local and regional human
resources experts from around the world.
The 138 cities selected were based on population size, rate of population growth, level of business investment and geographic
spread.
From APAC, only Singapore and Hong
Kong make the cut. However, four cities
(Tripoli, Libya; Baghdad, Iraq; Sanaa, Yemen; and Damascus, Syria) from the region
feature in the top 10 high-risk cities. Qatar
is placed 31st in the overall ranking falling
between two cities in the US.
Singh touches on aspects that are most
important for the Middle East countries to
feature high on this index.
Leadership pipeline build up, succession planning and improving talent attraction and retention are some of the aspects
that should feature high on the agenda of
the regional HR leaders, says Singh. With
most first-generation employees in Middle
Eastern organisations retired or close to retirement, the necessity to immediately fill
up the gaps at top and middle management
levels is being viewed as critical to business
continuity.
She adds that organisations are looking

GLOBAL TALENT COMPETITIVENESS INDEX RANKINGS (MENA COUNTRIES)

Country

Overall Rank 2014 Overall Rank 2013

United Arab Emirates

22

19

Qatar

25

34

Saudi Arabia

32

42

Lebanon

57

48

Egypt, Arab Rep.

80

89

Morocco

85

90

Algeria

91

103

Yemen

93

Kuwait

60

Jordan

62

LEADERSHIP PIPELINE BUILD UP, SUCCESSION PLANNING AND

IMPROVING TALENT ATTRACTION AND RETENTION ARE SOME
OF THE ASPECTS THAT FEATURE HIGH ON THE AGENDA OF THE
REGIONAL HR LEADERS.
SAHIBA SINGH

Head of Leadership Consulting

Aon Hewitt Middle East

at both proactively building a leadership

pipeline (future-oriented view) as well as
planning for known successions. High
mobility amongst both the national and
QATAR TODAY > APRIL 2015 > 45

THE NEW ORDER

CROSSING CULTURAL
BOUNDARIES
Sharoq Al Malki, Chief Human Capital Officer, Commercial Bank of Qatar,
believes that finding and retaining the best candidates is a continual
challenge and must be tackled with a varied approach.

THE KEY CHALLENGE WE

FACE AS AN ORGANISATION IS
SOURCING CANDIDATES WHO
HAVE THE RIGHT BALANCE
OF SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND
BEHAVIOUR THAT FIT OUR
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE.
LOCAL CANDIDATES MAY HAVE
A LIMITED FINANCIAL SERVICES
PERSPECTIVE IN SOME AREAS
OF THE BUSINESS, WHILE
EXPATS WHO HAVE NOT
WORKED IN THE GULF CAN
STRUGGLE TO INTEGRATE INTO
THE CULTURE."
SHAROQ AL MALKI

Chief Human Capital Officer

Commercial Bank of Qatar

n some cases we need

a readymade solution,
someone who can take
on the job from day one,
she says about the challenge of finding the right
talent when justifying the need to recruit
externally. The financial sector is a small

and competitive market and so it is often

difficult to recruit experienced Qatari candidates who have been exposed to similar
challenges. Our competitors are well known
and limited in number, so we can look to our
competitors to find Qataris for these positions but even then a shortage of experienced Qataris makes us opt for expats.

expatriate workforce further augments the

need to continuously attract and retain talent to fuel business growth, says Singh.
Is there a talent crunch?
According to INSEAD, a countrys interest
in attracting and retaining talent (locally or
externally grown) generally corresponds
to a long-term vision by which the country
aims at seeing talent stay and contribute to
creating value and jobs locally.
Whether it is about attracting or retaining talent, countries have a set of potential
tools in their hands, which will be more or
46 > QATAR TODAY >APRIL 2015

Al Malki feels that Qatars oil and gas sector has now matured with experienced Qataris who have been at the helm for over 20
years, yet the financial sector by contrast is
in its relative infancy with new recruits still
being trained for managerial positions.
Commercial Bank is compensating hiring expats by taking in large numbers of
new Qatari graduates each year through
its Graduate Development Programme,
which places heavy emphasis on training
and gaining hands on experience through
rotational placements.

less critically important depending whether the targets of their efforts are individuals
or companies, says Lanvin. To attract and
retain individual talent, economic instruments (level of compensation, tax incentives) remain important, but other more
qualitative elements matter more and
more, which relate to quality of life (security, cultural activity, presence of other talents). Since a large proportion of the talent
that can be attracted and retained are employees of foreign companies, critical tools
to be considered relate to the ease of doing
business, investment climate and fiscal re-

Commercial Bank recruits many

Qatari graduates who have sufficient
knowledge but who need time and training develop the right skill sets, says
Al Malki.
Need for expats
Despite a preference for training Qatari
graduates and external Qatari hires, there
is still a large gap which can be filled only
through hiring expats. Al Malki explains:
The reality is that the Qatari working population is very small and we need expatriates to provide expertise in a large organisation such as Commercial Bank. Recruiting
quality Qatari employees should also never
be compromised, even when meeting our
Qatarisation obligations.
With a diverse set of employees, hiring
people with interpersonal skills is vital, says
Al Malki.
The global setting of multiple nationalities and different age groups who form
the workforce, together with young and inexperienced nationals paired with mature
and technically efficient expats, is a circumstance that is unique to the GCC countries
and good ethical and interpersonal skills
are an imperative prerequisite. We need
people to understand the culture of the
country and act accordingly, she says.
Al Malki, with her passion for people and
wide expertise across the oil and gas, government services and financial sectors, has
developed an innovative idea, that when
implemented, will make it easier for the
workforce to work in harmony.
Al Malki has used her expertise and insight into HR culture, supplemented by
strong research findings through surveys
conducted across different sectors, to author a book identifying the challenges that
the Qatari community faces while working
across cultures. This book will be published
gime.
Looking at the parameters, it is easy
to comprehend why Qatar and even the
rest of the ME countries rank high. But
thats while talking about the country as
a whole and how it attracts talent. The
Middle East countries face a unique challenge: the lack or a shortage of local talent
and hence the dependency on an outside
work force.
Recent World Bank estimates show that
the MENA region as a whole will need to
create 200 million jobs by 2050 in order to
fulfil its development needs and also to pre-

and made available to Qatari organisations

as part of Commercial Banks CSR programme.
There will be workshops as part of the
books findings, explaining cultural gaps and
showing how to tackle them in the workplace. For example, finding the easiest way
for Qatari talent to mingle with non-Qatari
talent and communicate, the challenge of
working with Qataris and other nationalities, understanding their weaknesses, their
working styles and ways to motivate and
empower them, she says.
Understanding cultures
Solving HR issues in Qatar regularly requires an understanding of both Qatari and
Western cultures and Al Malki uses the example of workplace policies.
Western expats are often comfortable
in a workplace culture based on strict rules
and policies as practiced in their home
countries. The culture is different here and
people are used to doing things a different
way. Qatari society runs on social relations
and human interactions.
Al Malki continues: From a generation
that didnt have any policies in place, we
have now changed into a generation that
is making policies. Qatar is undergoing
change, and this transformation takes a
long time when it comes to perceptions or
mindset change. It should also be done with
utmost care so as not to destroy the fabric of
the society, maintains Al Malki.
She advises that Qataris should be understood through their unique ethos: Utilise their networking skills, their personal
skills, and their strong family bonds.
Being a Qatari HR leader with the intrinsic quality of empathising with employees from different cultures makes Al
Malki a true blue HR professional. One
saying Al Malki often quotes goes: You (the

employee) look after the company and I

(HR) will look after you well. This saying is
taken very seriously by Commercial Banks
HR team headed by Al Malki.
Commercial Bank recently went through
a remuneration restructuring exercise
where both Qatari and non-Qatari salaries
were reviewed on an intra-organisational
level and with respect to global standards.
After review, new benefits and policies were
put in place and every employees pay scale
was adjusted to reflect best practices, industrial standards and individual capabilities.
Al Malki takes each case personally and if
ever there was the situation of an employee coming to her with a complaint about
reward or compensation, she feels she has
failed them. I make sure that I recognise
the work put in by an employee, and even
before he or she comes to me I make sure
that they have been rewarded as per their
capabilities.
Healthcare
Healthcare is another important facet within HR that has not been given enough attention and this is something Al Malki wants to
change. Healthcare is an important part of
HR. Wellness, work-life balance, and mental health are all important issues that need
to be addressed as we are, after all, human
beings not machines, she says.
The Biggest Loser is a weight loss challenge that is being launched by Commercial
Bank, she mentions.
From detection of health issues such as
free cancer screening, to advice and motivation, Al Malki takes an interest in each
and every employee that goes beyond the
standard scope of HR.
You cannot just do a job in HR; you have
to love what you do, feel for people, understand them and work for their welfare, Al
Malki adds.

vent unemployment from rising, especially

among younger generations.
The situation of countries with small
local populations is quite specific in this
respect, since they face an immediate
challenge to provide their nationals with
growth opportunities (and hence develop
the local entrepreneurship and leadership
that their sustainable development will
require in the decades to come) while continuing to attract foreign talent to address
the various skills gaps resulting from fast
economic growth combined with a small
local population, according to Lanvin.
QATAR TODAY > APRIL 2015 > 47

THE NEW ORDER

I DONT BELIEVE IN
THE QUOTA SYSTEM
Ooredoo Qatar had recently organised an event to
commemorate their female employees.

HR LEADERS SHOULD SIT

TOGETHER AND BRAINSTORM
ON THE OTHER FACETS THAT
HR CAN GENERATE BEYOND
THE ONES HERE, AND PUT IT
TO USE.
BOTHAINA AL ANSARI
Senior Director, HR
Ooredoo Qatar

he setting in the ballroom at

Sheraton Convention Centre was immaculately white;
the flowers, the cutlery and
the table setting were all in
perfect coordination, and
Qatari women, clad in black Abayas, were
moving around animated, their excitement
highly-infectious. Spearheading this yearly event entitled "Women in Focus", was
Bothaina Al Ansari, Senior Director, HR,
Ooredoo Qatar, who was the busiest person
around, meeting and personally greeting all
women employees.
If this reads like a corporate gig, it is not
meant to be. On the contrary, it highlights
the necessity of small gestures, as inconsequential as it may seem, to put focus on thw
employees and acknowledge their efforts.
Bothaina Al Ansari sits down with Qatar
Today to discuss the HR issues plaguing the
country. She debunks the theory of a lack
of able talent, saying that Ooredoo, being
a global telecom company is the employer of choice, and has never faced issues of

48 > QATAR TODAY >APRIL 2015

finding talent.
The theme now for Ooredoo is innovation, and for ideas we need motivated and
talented people, says Al Ansari, a motivational speaker, who is known for taking on
the cause of women in the work place. She
is the founder and manager of Qatariat, a
company that specialises in helping Qatari
women advance in the workforce.
Qatar is implementing the National
Vision 2030 and Ooredoo is intent on investing in human capital and empowering
women, two important pillars within the
QNV 2030.
Women dominate
The percentage of women enrolled in universities in Qatar is nearly twice as much
as the males, and nearly two-thirds of all
graduates are women, according to official
figures released a year back by the Ministry
of Development, Planning and Statistics.
But while expat and Qatari females are
more likely to enroll in and graduate with
university degrees here, their male coun-

terparts still outperform them when it

comes to success in business.
Touching on this fact, Al Ansari says that
Ooredoo is trying to enhance the capabilities of these graduating women so that they
become suitable for managerial positions
in the company. Al Jiwana is a one-year programme that has three levels which women
can enroll in, depending on their capabilities. This programme started in 2010 and
initially had just six to eight women. Their
numbers have gone up to 64 now, says
Al Ansari.
We have developed many programmes
for fresh graduates that make it easier for
them to understand the culture and working of a global telecom company and also to
put emphasis on the role of the individual
in the company. Later on, once the employment is confirmed, the next development
programme called Masari ("My Path") is
started. It is a collaborative programme
with three important people the HR, the
business unit head and the employee. It
gives a full insight into the employee and
his or her core capabilities.
Retaining talent
Al Ansari has a completely new take on
retaining talent. She feels that employees
should be developed, their capabilities
should be built to meet the job at hand and
finally, their compensations should match
their capabilities while keeping to global
standards. After all this is done, if the employee still feels that they have to move on,
they should be free to do so.

At Ooredoo, I offer the best care as per

global standards and also help in developing the employees but the final choice of
continuing with the company is still with
them, says Al Ansari. The employee has
the freedom to make the move. I dont want
to own them. It is always good to have new
blood which will bring in innovation and
new thought.
There has been a marked increase in the
number of women in senior positions in
Ooredoo and Al Ansaris role in developing
their capabilities is not to be ignored. Al
Ansari doesnt believe in the quota system
as an answer to the gap of women in the
workforce or even for Qatarisation. Instead
she works on building capabilities and improving skill sets so that employees are fit
for the job at hand.
There are two facets to the context of
Qatarisation, says Al Ansari. We cannot
ignore the fact that we need Qataris in important roles as they have to be part of the
countrys success.
She says: In Ooredoo, we have touched
41% in Qatarisation and I am proud to say
that 98% of these 41% of Qataris are in
(level 2) secondary positions. We need to
have Qataris in important decision-making
roles and that is what we have achieved.
I agree that we should promote Qataris
but I dont think we should build our strategy based on Qatarisation, she says quite
specifically.
She says that the telecom sector as
such has no HR challenges except when it
comes to the people-issue, as HR is all
about understanding each ones needs and
it is not humanely possible to keep every
employee happy.
HR is about recruitment, manpower
planning, talent sourcing, Qatarisation,
compensation, employee services, says Al
Ansari.
HR leaders should sit together and
brainstorm on the other facets that they
can generate beyond the ones present and
put them to use with all these capabilities
in place.
If I am good at building capabilities,
why not use my resources to build on the
resources of those outside the company,
she asks and this is one of the dreams that
Al Ansari has for Ooredoo. And the process
is in the works and will be revealed soon if
approved.
Thats not the end of it. Al Ansari who
is constantly thinking out of the box, has
another idea in her kitty of innovations.
Since we are all about people, why not
have an HR clinic?

Another HR expert, Elizabeth Fleming,

Managing Director of Qatar Development
and Consultancy Centre, who has over 20
years of international human resources
and business solutions experience, feels
the constraints that the Middle East faces
is part of a global phenomenon, as countries across the world are faced with similar
challenges to attract the right talent and at
the same time develop their populations
skills and technical knowledge.
Countries throughout the Middle East,
such as Qatar, can attract the right talent because of career opportunities and
growth, but we often see a disconnect
when it comes to retaining that talent,
she says. Todays world is an increasingly global one and employees are much
more inclined to move countries for a new
job and to further develop their career.
There is a larger focus on short-term career growth rather than long-term career
development.
When we took this same question to corporates, to understand their limitations
and challenges, Sharoq Al Malki, Chief Human Capital Officer of Commercial Bank
of Qatar, explains: The key challenge we
face as an organisation is sourcing candidates who have the right balance of skills,

knowledge and behaviour that fit our organisational culture," she says.
"Local candidates may have a limited
financial services perspective in some areas of the business, while expats who have
not worked in the Gulf can struggle as far
as cultural assimilation is concerned. We
hire about one fifth of our workforce from
outside of Qatar," she says about the national versus the expat equation in their
workplace.
One of the companies within the ambit of Industries Qatar, a major player in
Qatars diversification process, QAPCO,
has a different story to tell. According to
Eng. Abdulla Ahmed Naji, Learning and
Development Manager, QAPCO was established in 1974 and pioneered petrochemical production in the Middle East. At that
time, no one in the GCC had had any experience in operating a petrochemical plant.
We then embarked upon a recruitment
drive and hired international and local
talents. Envisioning the workforce of the
future and to equip its employees with the
most advanced technical skills to operate a
complex petrochemical plant, the company
focused strongly on training. Many Qataris participated in those intense coaching
and development courses and went on to

ENVISIONING THE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE AND TO EQUIP

EMPLOYEES WITH THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNICAL SKILLS TO
OPERATE A COMPLEX PETROCHEMICAL PLANT, QAPCO FOCUSED
STRONGLY ON TRAINING. MANY QATARIS PARTICIPATED IN THOSE
INTENSE COACHING AND DEVELOPMENT COURSES, BECOMING
THE FIRST GENERATION OF QATARI PETROCHEMICAL EXPERTS."
ABDULLA AHMED NAJI

Learning and Development Manager

QAPCO

QATAR TODAY > APRIL 2015 > 49

THE NEW ORDER

"TODAYS YOUTH PUT A LOT OF TRUST IN

COMPANY LEADERSHIP AND THIS LOYALTY GOES
BOTH WAYS. IF THE YOUNG EMPLOYEES DONT
HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE LEADERSHIP AND IF
MANAGEMENT DOESNT DEMONSTRATE FAITH
IN EMPLOYEES, IT CREATES AN ENDLESS CYCLE
WHERE PEOPLE ARE NOT MOTIVATED OR READY
TO GET THINGS DONE."
ELIZABETH FLEMING

Managing Director
Qatar Development and Consultancy Centre

10

LOWEST
RISK
CITIES

become the first generation of Qatari petrochemical experts.

The oil and gas sector, which had an early start compared to
other emerging companies in Qatar, seems to have given due
importance to development and training.
Forty years after our inception, we can proudly say that thanks
to our focus on training we have built local capacity, developed
downstream skills and shaped an extremely talented pool of local
petrochemical experts, says Naji.
The telecommunication sector though, faces some challenges. According to Anita Tomany, Head of Centers of Expertise,
Vodafone, there is a challenge in attracting local talent to join
Vodafone Qatar.
Tomany says that Qatar has an excellent young and motivated workforce and she believes that as a leading global organisation Vodafone can bring best practice to Qatar but there seems
to be a road block.
Tomany is positive that Vodafone being a fast-paced exciting
company, with great opportunities to learn and grow, will provide the right mix for young Qataris to enjoy a highly vibrant
corporate career. She continues listing the attributes of the
forward thinking telcom: A friendly and dynamic open-plan
office with regular access to our CEO and Executive Team. Our
learning and development support is fantastic plus we offer a
generous employee benefits package irrespective of gender.
Another strong-edged player in the telecommunication sector, Ooredoo, meanwhile faces no talent crunch. According to
Bothaina Al Ansari, Senior Director HR, There is no talent
crunch. Ooredoo, being a global telecom company, is the "employer of choice' and has never faced issues of finding talent.
Nationalisation is not about numbers
One factor brought up during the Women in Energy conference
organised by Gulf Intelligence was the need for a quota system
for women to increase the number of women in boardrooms.
The survey taken indicated that there was still no strong argument against or for it. Looking at the nationalisation pol-

1
NEW YORK

70

67

6
MONTREAL

ZURICH

50 > QATAR TODAY >APRIL 2015

74

HONG KONG

76

10
BOSTON

77

73

COPENHAGEN

10

LONDON

72

LOS
ANGELES

73

RANKING
CITY
RATING

TORONTO

SINGAPORE

10
CHICAGO

78

76

VANCOUVER

78

78

icies though, there are no doubts as to the

importance of having these in place.
Lanvin looks at this thus: For many of
the reasons already discussed, competitive
and innovative countries will be on the side
of those that encourage openness, fluidity
and diversity in their labour markets, he
says. This is a context in which nationalisation policies (understood as maintaining
critical levels of national presence in specific layers of the labour markets) need to
be handled delicately. Mere numbers can
be misleading, as they may not point to the
expected results, such as enhancing the
emergence of a critical mass of competent
and competitive local leaders, managers
and entrepreneurs. Quality is much more
difficult to define and measure, but is much
better adapted to the pursuit of such goals.
When it comes to Qatarisation, numbers or quantity should not be the main
focus. Fleming too feels strongly about
this. While a quantity quota is still going
to continue being a key metric of Qatarisation, it is not indicative of the quality of the
Qatarisation.
Instead, she feels: What supports Qatarisation programmes and, most importantly, Qatari nationals, is the learning and
development that occurs. A learning and
development metric considers the change
(a measurable output) that occurs through
a wide variety of learning mediums.
Some view the nationalisation policy as a
numbers game with Qataris recruited just

GTCI INPUT SUB-INDEX RANKINGS

Country

Enablers
Rank
(Regulatory,
Market and
Business
Landscape)

Attract
Rank
(External
and
Internal
Openness)

Grow Rank
(Formal
Education,
Lifelong
Learning
and Access
to Growth
Opportunities)

Retain Rank
(Sustainability
and Lifestyle)

Labour &
Vocational
Rank
(Employable
Skills and
Labour
Productivity)

Global
Knowledge
Rank (Higher
Skills,
Competencies
and Talent
Impact)

United
Arab
Emirates

11

24

32

31

52

Qatar

12

25

41

30

59

Saudi
Arabia

27

34

42

26

43

35

Lebanon

72

74

40

56

61

47

Egypt,
Arab Rep.

86

92

88

43

62

67

Morocco

82

83

89

74

82

88

Algeria

92

90

92

67

91

87

for the sake of maintaining the requirement. A demotivated Qatari national, who
did not want her name to be revealed, mentioned that while she was recruited as soon
as she finished graduation, she was not
assigned any work since there were others
taking on her responsibilities.
Fleming stresses that money is not the
only thing that todays youth desire as they
also want to feel as if their work matters and
really counts for something. When there
are too many unnecessary rules and limitations put in place in the name of inculcating

129
LAGOS

DHAKA

179

130

132
TRIPOLI

180

133

180

181

136

190

LUANDA

186

137
ADDIS
ABABA

PORT
MORESBY

186

RANKING
CITY
RATING

138
SANAA

191

HIGHEST
RISK
CITIES

133
BAGHDAD

KARACHI

135

10

130

DAMASCUS

198

204

Out of 138 cities worldwide

in People Risk Index 2013 by
Aon Hewitt
Based on a rating of 30
factors across 5 categories
of risk
QATAR TODAY > APRIL 2015 > 51

THE NEW ORDER

discipline that neither benefits the company nor the employee, then employees start
to feel hindered and demotivated. Also, in
every organisation no matter what the industry, there has to be proper communication among employees, as well as between
employees and the leadership, Fleming
says.
Todays youth put a lot of trust in company leadership and this loyalty goes both
ways. If young employees dont have confidence in the leadership and if management
doesnt demonstrate faith in the employees, it creates an endless cycle where people are not motivated or ready to get things
done, according to her.
QAPCO registers a high rate of Qatarisation: Today, as evidence of our success, we
register a Qatarisation rate of 30%, which is
higher than the national average in the oil
and gas sector.
This also comes with development as
required by the nature of the oil and gas
business that needs strong technical and
physical skills alongside an unwavering
appreciation for safety and responsibility. Naji says: For us, human capital is our
greatest asset and we have never ceased
to invest in the learning and development of our employees. For example, last

AS A PERFORMANCE-BASED ORGANISATION, WE KNOW THAT

WE ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. PUBLIC SECTOR ROLES, FOR
EXAMPLE, MAY OFFER GREATER STABILITY, SHORTER HOURS AND
MORE PREDICTABILITY BUT A PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANY LIKE
VODAFONE OPERATES ON MERIT. WE BELIEVE THAT PROMOTIONS
TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND GREATER RESPONSIBILITY SHOULD NOT
BE AUTOMATIC BUT GIVEN AS A REWARD TO THOSE WHO REALLY
WORK HARD AND PROVE THEMSELVES. WE WANT TO ATTRACT
THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE FANTASTIC AND HELP THEM ACHIEVE
THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.
ANITA TOMANY

Head of Centres of Expertise

Vodafone Qatar
52 > QATAR TODAY >APRIL 2015

year we provided over 20% more training

hours than ever before. Building skills and
strengthening our employees capacity is
essential for our long-term success. Many
of our training courses are technically
specific and time-intensive and ensure
that our teams stay abreast of the latest
advancements within the industry.
Organisations must focus on what, how
and when employees need to learn the required skills in order to advance confidently and competently within an organisation,
Fleming maintains.
Fleming has founded a platform for Qatari nationals Launch to start to rethink
on how they are being developed. Launch
offers a series of learning events, all focused on exploring and developing Qatari
nationals within their current organisations.
Most of the companies do look at the nationalisation policy as a tool to develop, retain and build a strong leadership of Qataris
and invest in this for the best results.
Commercial Bank of Qatar has grown its
talent through graduate development programmes and augments the experienced
talent through a variety of development
programmes. The key to supporting our
national talent is the identification of their
strengths and capabilities to ensure that
they are in suitable career paths. We continuously assess our programmes to ensure
that they meet the current and future objectives for both employees and organisation,
says Al Malki.
Just as Fleming mentioned, the programmes developed have a direct relation
with the employee capability. As our employee capability develops so must our
programmes to reflect this. Our intent is
not only to create best-in-class initiatives
but to also upgrade them in line with the
growth of both our talent and our organisation, says Al Malki.
Vodafone Qatar is also increasing recruitment of young Qataris. We are currently looking for 10 new graduates, 34 new
Al Johara sales staff and 34 new staff for
Retail. In addition, we are increasing our
University Scholarship programme from 10
to 25, says Tomany.
Talent retention
Sahiba Singh explains who an engaged
employee is: We call employees engaged
when they speak positively about the organisation (say), have a desire to be a part
of the organisation (stay), and are willing
to make extra effort to contribute to the organisations success (strive).

According to Aon Hewitts global

research, engaged employees deliver better
performance, which is essential for business success. They understand their role in
the business strategy, have a strong connection and commitment to the company, and
strive to go above and beyond in their jobs.
Our engagement studies show that the
average employee engagement globally
hovers around 58%. However, our flagship
research study Qudurat tells us that, compared to the rest of the world, employee engagement in the GCC is among the lowest at
49.5%. A much graver issue is that engagement levels for the regions workforce have
been declining, she says.
The key to retaining good talent is to understand what drives them and to provide
them with opportunities that are challenging and foster them to grow, take initiative
and be innovative. Global research and engagement data often points to the underlying relationship between a manager and an
employee that can lead to employees leaving an organisation.
Al Malki feels that though this can be
true in some instances a key factor that
leads employees to leave an organisation is
lack of organisational fit or developmental
opportunities.
QAPCO, meanwhile seems to have a
very good track record. Despite our successes, employee retention is a recognised
challenge for every company. In 2013, we
increased our retention rate while also increasing our overall employment. We are
proud to celebrate that more than 500 of
our employees have achieved the 10-year
employment anniversary. This means that
more than 40% of our employees have ten
years of experience at QAPCO, a clear indicator of our success in retaining employees
by providing challenging and rewarding
employment opportunities, says Naji.
This was achieved through stimulating
career opportunities and growth evolution
within QAPCO. We also have in place a
number of fast-track programmes and
training solutions such as our award-winning LEAD development programme to
ensure our employees can realise their professional ambitions. We also strongly support the pursuit of postgraduate education
within our teams, says Naji.
Rewarding talent is embedded within
QAPCOS corporate culture. Strengthening employee engagement through rewarding packages and a multitude of employee
benefits, combined with an array of stimulating CSR initiatives focusing on our employees and their families welfare, are also

playing an important role in talent retention, he continues.

Lanvin from INSEAD feels that talent
motivation has to take on new forms as
our economies have moved from mining,
agricultural and manufacturing to service
societies, and companies have become less
dependent on physical location and assets.
All companies, big or small, must accept
that their key resource will be their human
resource, and that this is a highly fluid asset which may join or leave the company at
any point in time. Companies like IBM or
General Electric have become well known
for their ability to grow talent internally.
More recently, companies like Google have
shown how they could attract the best talents. Others have shown how employee
loyalty could become a key competitive asset. Companies will need to develop imaginative and innovative ways to grow, attract
and retain talent. Encouraging diversity
(of background, experience, cultures, gender, age) will be a critical way of doing it, as
will be the development of attractive global
brands, he says.
At Vodafone Qatar, diversity is seen as an
asset that brings people closer within work

LEVERAGING ADVANCED ANALYTICS, AON HEWITT FIND THAT THE TOP

THREE DRIVERS FOR IMPROVING ENGAGEMENT IN THE REGION ARE:
Building stronger confidence in leadership: There is a greater need for leaders to invest time in
communication with their employees. Leaders need to increase their channels for open, genuine
formal and informal communication. Human resource teams also must ensure that any peoplerelated projects, policies and practices are actively supported by the organisational leadership in
order to achieve a larger impact.

Enhancing Learning & Development: A key measure to accelerate and amplify learning and
development is to provide more ongoing coaching and mentoring to employees across all levels
within the organisation. Focus is shifting towards applied learning versus classroom training,
which is more prevalent in the region. By emphasising action-oriented learning such as job
rotations and cross-functional projects, organisations may be able to nurture and groom their
nationals for senior positions.

Managing Career Growth Expectations: It is critical to set and communicate tangible goals
for employees and to tie these objectives to actual performance, so that employees hold more
realistic expectations for their career growth.

spaces.We love the diversity in Qatar and

we aim at reflecting that in Vodafone Qatar
with our 46 nationalities and a healthy mix
of men and women (around 28% of our staff
are females). Diversity brings new ideas,
different ways of working, and of course
allows us to reflect our customer base. It
also provides a fantastic environment to
work alongside many different national
cultures. It is a great way to learn about the
world and learn new perspectives, Anita
Tomany adds
QATAR TODAY > APRIL 2015 > 53