Al-Futtaim Group, which oversees a number of car, retail and technology brands, recently launched a management development programme to fast track its most promising Emirati employees. Zuhair Al Haj, the company's head of human resources, explains why the company launched the scheme and how it works.
Al-Futtaim employs more 20,000 people in the region. How many are Emirati?
We have 480 Emiratis. But we employ a lot of construction workers and [there are] other jobs like this. At the end of the day, you can't find an Emirati who is going to be a carpenter or [do] this sort of general job. Without these jobs, Emiratis make about 8 per cent of the workforce.
Your employee development programme is called Intilaq. What does this word mean?
It is an Arabic term which means start - but start with speed. You do not walk with intilaq. You use this term to describe a team running or racing a car.
Why launch this scheme now?
We know that there are a lot of new graduates coming out of the universities in the Emirates. Eight months ago we started visiting many of the universities, asking for their support and to get the CVs of Emiratis who are scoring high in their final year. We hope they can be put into high managerial levels at the end of this programme.
Only 20 graduates get accepted into the programme. What does their 18-month programme entail?
Each graduate spends six months in two different departments. The trainee selects the third division where they want to develop [for the final] six months.
So the graduates get to decide which one of Al-Futtaim's divisions they get to work in?
We have a talent development manager who is exclusively assigned to the graduates and helps them decide which division they eventually work in. We have seven divisions: automotive, electronics, engineering and technologies, retail, financial services, general services, real estate. The graduates are then assigned to senior managers in the division itself to give them fast-track delivery of knowledge. It's really up to them to select where they go.
Was your scheme created in response to the Government's renewed push to employ a higher number of young Emiratis?
We are not following a government quota. They are giving companies the freedom to employ Emiratis as an option. We now have Emirati students who are coming every year from the UAE, Canada, the US, the UK and Europe that are all well educated.
Is the private sector becoming more attractive to Emiratis?
The government sector is fully loaded with Emiratis and the problem is that getting a promotion or a challenging position is becoming difficult. The private sector is the new sector for graduates because they can develop their career faster. If they want to move to the government sector after that, I'm sure there will be opportunity.
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How Beautiful this world is!
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
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- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
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From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
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