Are you jumping out of bed to get to work? Do you feel fulfilled and fully engaged in your job? Do you feel you contribute to your company’s mission? If your answer is “no” to any of the questions above, then maybe it’s time to reassess your work experience!

With most of us spending 80% of our time at work, it’s essential to recognize our happiness in and outside of the work place. A 2012 Gallup survey of MENA workers found that 55% of MENA Region’s employees are “Not Engaged” and 35% of Employees are “Actively Disengaged”.

Gallup defines Engaged vs Not Engaged vs Actively Disengaged employees as:

ENGAGED

Employees who work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.

NOT ENGAGED

Employees who are essentially “checked out”. They’re sleepwalking through their workday, putting time – but not energy or passion – into their work.

ACTIVELY DISENGAGED

Employees who aren’t just unhappy at work, they are busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day these employees undermine what their engaged co-workers accomplish.

It’s a universal belief most people just want to be happy in their lives. Extensive studies and over twenty years of research within the science of happiness and positive psychology suggest that there are actually tangible ways to increase the level of happiness in our lives.

Happiness is also very profitable for business. Outcomes of increased levels of happiness of employees at work directly correlate to increased efficiency including:

• 300% more innovation [HBR]
• 37% increase in sales [Martin Seligman]
• 31% increase in productivity [Greenberg & Arawaka]

and decreasing everything that you don’t want including:
• 125 less burnout [HBR]
• 66% fewer sick leaves [Forbes]
• 51% less turnover [Gallup]

According to Rabea S Nawaz, Chief Evangelist at The Happiness Fitt, happiness at work is a total win-win. Content, engaged employees are healthier, more productive, innovative, likely to go above and beyond their responsibilities and be team players. In turn, happy employees help create a positive atmosphere at work, which in essence is the foundation of the culture of an organization. Work culture isn’t just that fluffy, feel good stuff that happens at company outings or team building events, it is the root of your business that impacts the bottom line. In the United States alone unhappy employees result in $500 billion dollars of loss in productivity (Gallup 2012).

Creating a culture of happiness where employees can thrive must be equally prioritized with building a profitable company and a recognized brand. Companies that adopt a happiness business model understand that Happy Employees = Happy Customers = More Profits!!

We are very fortunate to be living in a country where our leaders value and promote the concept of Happiness. His Highness Sheikh Mohammad’s goal for 2021 is: to be ranked in the top 5 countries in the Happiness Index with the UAE considered a “City of Happy, Creative & Empowered People”. In February 2016, UAE appointed its’first Happiness Minister, Her Excellency Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, whose mandate is Corporate Happiness Culture at Workplaces and Happy Positive Staff.

If you would like to know how to engage your employees and create happiness in the workplace contact us at marketing@peoplefirstme.com

PeopleFirst HR Consultancy is working in collaboration with The Happiness Fit to make people happy, for more information visit thehappinessfitt.com

Article Credits to Rabea S Nawaz, Chief Evangelist at The Happiness Fitt

The New Year brings new beginnings, new goals, new resolutions, new plans and new dreams! Here are People First’s top 5 New Year’s “work” resolutions:

1) Be happy and do your best every day
Instead of focusing on what keeps you up at night, look at what motivates and makes you happy at work every day.

How?
Here are 3 questions that we suggest you ask yourself to help you stay on track to having a happy, motivating, productive work experience:

• Do I know what is expected of me at work?
• Do I have the materials and equipment I need to complete my work?
• Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?

People who can positively answer these questions are more likely to be happy and productive at work.

2) Network and make professional contacts
Look up colleagues with whom you have lost touch and meet other professionals within your industry. Make sure you attend at least one professional meeting each month, you will benefit from the relationships you develop from these meetings. It is not enough just to join, you need to actively participate in reaping the rewards from professional collaboration.

How?
Look up these local HR & business networking groups in Dubai and sign up:

• CIPD Middle East
• The British Business Group
• GCC Business Council
• The Human Resource Forum

3) Stimulate your mind every day
It is easy to get stuck in a routine doing the same thing – read to continue to learn and grow.

How?
Read news and articles related to your industry
Debate ways of working with your colleagues
Research what your competitors are doing
Read business books or periodicals on a monthly basis

4) Take up a new hobby or activity this year
As managers or business professionals, it’s easy to get caught up in helping and supporting others throughout the day. Set time aside for yourself every day, it could be to exercise, or to go for a walk, write in a journal or event take up a hobby. Engaging in a new hobby provides a great outlet for releasing stress. By focusing on a non-work-related task, you’re giving your mind something else to focus on.

How?
Here’s a list to help you get started: https://www.meetup.com/cities/ae/dubai/hobbies-crafts/

5) Get organised
Track your to-do list, daily engagements and life goals; whether you choose a paper method or an electronic method, tracking your daily activities against your most important goals is critical so that you ensure you accomplish your most important priorities.

How?
Use a planner, whether in Microsoft Office Outlook, Google Calendar or on your smartphone – it will allow you to empty much of the daily detail from your mind. Clearing your mind will give you more room for critical thinking.

Tis the season to be…well informed. We all love Christmas, but how much do any of us actually know about why Christmas is the way it is? Here are 20 facts about Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and Rudolph that you (probably) didn’t know. Smarten up!

1. Santa Claus comes from St. Nicholas, a Christian bishop living in (what is now) Turkey in the fourth century AD. St. Nicholas had inherited a great deal of wealth and was known for giving it away to help the needy. When sainted, he became the protector of children.

2. After his death, the legend of St. Nicholas spread. St. Nick’s name became Sint-Nicolaas in Dutch, or Sinter Klaas for short. Which is only a hop, skip, and jump to Santa Claus.

3. Santa Claus delivering presents comes from Holland’s celebration of St. Nicholas’ feast day on December 6th. Children would leave shoes out the night before and, in the morning, would find little gifts that St. Nicholas would leave them. One of the reasons we leave milk and cookies for Santa is because Dutch kids would leave food and drink for St. Nicholas on his feast day.

4. Though Santa Claus has worn blue and white and green in the past, his traditional red suit came from a 1930s ad by Coca Cola.

5. And the image of him Santa Claus flying in a sleigh started in 1819…and was dreamt up by the same author who created the Headless Horseman, Washington Irving.

6. Germans are thought to be the first to bring “Christmas trees” into their homes at the holidays and decorate them with cookies and lights. The Christmas tree made its way to America in the 1830s but wasn’t popular until 1846, after Germany’s Prince Albert brought it to England when he married Queen Victoria. The two were sketched in front of a Christmas tree and the tradition instantly became popular. (Royal fever was real even back then!)

7. Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

8. There are approximately 21,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States. In 2008, nearly 45 million Christmas trees were planted, adding to the existing 400 million trees.

9. Approximately 30-35 million real (living) Christmas trees are sold each year in the U.S.

10. The well-known reason we give presents at Christmas is to symbolize the gifts given to baby Jesus by the three wise men.

11. During the Christmas season, nearly 28 sets of LEGO are sold every second.

12. And stockings come from this story: A poor man with three daughters couldn’t afford the dowry to have them married. One night, St. Nicholas dropped a bag of gold down the man’s chimney so that his oldest daughter would be able to get married, and the bag fell into a stocking that was drying by the fire.

13. Rudolph was actually conceived by a department store, Montgomery Ward, as a marketing gimmick to get kids to buy holiday coloring books.

14. Rudolph was almost named Rollo or Reginald. Reginald the Red-Nosed Reindeer doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

15. According to data analyzed from Facebook posts, two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular times for couples to break up. However, Christmas Day is the least favorite day for breakups.
16. Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” which is derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter “X” in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and “Xmas” has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the mid-1500s.

17. In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ, although historical records indicate that Christ’s birth was probably around springtime in March.

18. Ancient people, considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die.

19. “Silent Night” is the most recorded Christmas song in history, with over 733 different versions copyrighted since 1978. Legend has it that “Silent Night” was written by a Father Joseph Mohr in Austria, who was determined to have music at his Christmas service after his organ broke. In reality, a priest wrote it while stationed at a pilgrim church in Austria.

20. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is considered to be the most popular Christmas song now. In the music video, Santa is played by Mariah’s then-husband, Tommy Mottola and the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Jim Carrey version.

Last month PeopleFirst HR Consultancy conducted Performance Management training for one of its Oman-based clients. After reviewing the client’s performance management framework, a bespoke training programme was developed to address the findings of the review and train employees and managers with the right skills and knowledge to effectively manage performance across the organisation.

Over the course of two months, PeopleFirst has delivered eight bespoke training sessions which included both employee town-hall sessions and a full day programme for senior managers.

Employee development is a key factor that contributes to increased organisational performance and therefore organisations should continuously strive to increase their employees’ skills and capabilities through ongoing development and training programmes

If you want to find out more on how we can help your organisation to improve performance and enhance the skills and capabilities of your employees please contact us at marketing@peoplefirstme.com

Why is job evaluation & grading important?

Job evaluation and grading is a systematic process which helps to determine the size and value or worth of a job role in relation to other job roles in the organisation. It can help an organisation with the following important aspects of managing its people in line with best practices.

Job evaluation and grading provides:

• A structured approach to rank each job in an organisation in order of hierarchy/size
• A logical approach for creating a grading structure in which all job roles in the organisation can be plotted based on their hierarchy/size
• A logical basis on which to make decisions related to pay and benefits
• A structured approach on which to create a compensation and benefits framework and/or policy
• A basis on which to compare a jobs internally and externally
• The basis on which to benchmark compensation and benefits to the market
• The basis on which to create a structured titling nomenclature
• Details on how employees can progress through the different levels of the organisation

How can we help you?

The first step to job evaluation and grading is to develop comprehensive job descriptions that can be used to evaluate the size/scope of each role. PeopleFirst has extensive experience in developing job descriptions for a wide range of industry sectors and provides training to managers and HR teams on how to develop and maintain up to date job descriptions.

Our experience in conducting job evaluation and developing grading structures includes small, medium and large organisations across a diverse range of industry sectors. We conduct salary benchmarking for government, semi government and  private sector organisations across the GCC & wider Middle East region and have experience of successfully working with organisations to develop strategies to attract and retain talent.

If you have questions about job evaluation and grading, contact us:

T: +971 4 4475210
www.peoplefirstme.com
info@peoplefirstme.com

Recommendations on how to shift your HR department from a reactive to a proactive HR Function in 2017

As we settle into 2017, many businesses will be gearing up for new opportunities and challenges. Be it growth, diversification or consolidation, whatever your business strategy, take time to ask yourself this: Is my HR function ready and able to deliver what the business needs?

Even in 2017, many HR functions will continue to do what they have done historically for many years and focus on activities that are centred around day to day employee administration such as payroll, policy administration, leave and attendance and so on; they will respond to new requests, such as recruitment, only as and when the need arises rather than take a proactive approach in anticipation of what the business needs. This is what I would describe as a ‘reactive HR’ function that is likely to be process driven as opposed to driving policy and culture or supporting delivery of the business strategy. It is unlikely that HR professionals performing in this way will think about, or even question, how they are doing things, or even ask if what they are doing really adds value to the business. They are unlikely to take a lead in finding more efficient or cost effective ways of doing things. In today’s business environment, isn’t this the expectation of every business?

So what do HR professionals need to think about to gear up for 2017?

To really ‘earn’ a seat around the leadership table, which many HR professionals believe they should have anyway, we need to think about what value we will add by having a place at the leadership table. What value will this bring for everyone else around the table i.e. the rest of the business? Let’s ask ourselves what are we doing? Are we driving change? Are we identifying new ways of working to reduce costs or introducing new policies or initiatives that will help to engage and motivate employees and ultimately improve performance and productivity? Or, are we merely saying yes when we are asked to do something as and when it is needed? And finally, we must ask ourselves, are we measuring how well we are doing whatever it is we are doing?

I recall an experience a few years ago when I was acting as the HR Director of an organisation with 3,500 employees. The attendance policy was not effective but when I talked about changing the policy there was no appetite for any change from the rest of the business. I therefore I took it upon myself to carry out a detailed review of attendance and punctuality across the organisation. I gathered data for two consecutive months to see how many ‘man days’ had been lost due to unauthorised absences and lateness. The results were staggering. When I presented these facts to the leadership team they certainly sat up and wanted to listen to what I had to say. This resulted in implementing a new attendance policy which was very quickly signed off by all stakeholders around the table who previously didn’t see the need for change.

This is a simple example of how the HR function influenced the business to drive change by using data that was readily available. By translating the impact of this issue into financial terms, a language of numbers which the business clearly understood, and which could be measured, I was able to create the support and appetite for change.

In today’s VUCA environment there is an increase in pressure on all businesses to reduce and operate more effectively and thus there has never been a greater need for HR to be more proactive in looking at how to bring value to the business. Be it by reducing costs or increasing productivity, 2017 in my opinion, is a year in which HR professionals across the region need to review what they are doing and ask ‘what can we do better or what can we differently to improve the way we work and make a bigger contribution to the business?’
As HR professionals, we should ask ourselves, have we understood the business strategy and do we know what our role is in delivering that strategy? Or will we be reactive and wait to be told what to do?

My recommendation for 2017 is for HR professionals to be proactive in reviewing their HR policies and practices in order to streamline processes to drive efficiencies and improve the way of working. A good example of this is the recent shift we have seen in how some companies are now managing the annual performance management processes. Some organisations have replaced the traditional annual performance management process with more regular informal reviews that focus on an employee’s strength and potential rather than the development areas being the main focus of the discussion. The traditional annual review process was seen as time consuming with little or no value addition so this is now being replaced by a different approach. The new approach is still being tried and tested but what is important to note, is that the companies that made the change, replaced the traditional method because it wasn’t working for them.

Looking at efficiencies internally within the HR function is a good place to start. In 2017, it will be important to collate data and use HR analytics to drive prudent business decisions. We should start by measuring costs of key HR activities such as recruitment, attrition, absenteeism and ROI of training and development as an example. Let’s consider a scenario in which a company is reducing budgets or cutting costs. Quite often the training and development budgets are usually the first to be cut but in doing this what is the longer term business impact of such a decision? Are these decisions purely based on short term cost savings without considering the impact on employee retention, engagement, motivation and capability development? Are the long term costs to the business greater than the short term saving? This is where HR needs to provide inputs and insights to the business so that decisions are taken in an informed manner with a view on the bigger picture. HR has a role to play in influencing such key business decisions not just in implementing the decisions once they are made. It is HR’s ability to assess these scenarios that will give us a voice at the Leadership table and allow us to influence using a language that carries weight through the rest of the business.

The difference between reactive and proactive HR essentially comes down to two things – foresight and timing. Proactive HR practices involves the planning and implementation of programmes based on analysis of data and trends that help drive the business agenda or at the very least strategically support it. Ensuring compliance with policies and procedures, timely payroll runs, and administering daily attendance for example, are all necessary activities however these are reactive HR practices that form part of the operational running costs without adding any strategic value or impact.

Is your HR department proactive or reactive? The following questions should help you to assess your current situation and steer you into a proactive direction giving HR professionals something to think about in 2017?

Ask yourself:

• When was the last review of the company’s HR policies? Are HR policies up to date with legal requirements and market/HR best practices?
• Does my organization have a succession plan in place for all critical jobs / top levels jobs in the organisation?
• Has the 2016 performance cycle been completed?
• Has the organisation set and cascaded the business objectives for 2017? Are all employees working towards the business strategy?
• Which function/department has the highest productivity return?
• Which function/department had the highest increase in productivity return over the past 24 months?
• Are the 2017 pay increases and bonus payments linked to 2016 performance?
• What was the company employee engagement score in 2016? What is the ‘mood’ in the business?
• What is the HR budget for 2017 (training budget, salary budget, restructuring budget etc…)
• Is there a link between the current organisation structure and business objectives?

If you have questions or need help with transforming your HR department from a reactive to proactive function that is aligned to your business needs, contact us:

T: +971 4 4475210
www.peoplefirstme.com
info@peoplefirstme.com

There are many drivers that can trigger an organisation review or restructure however the biggest driver of late, seems to be the drive to reduce costs. 2016 was no doubt a difficult year for many organisations and in particular some specific industry sectors.  The impact of lower oil prices and fast paced technology developments has driven many organisations to rethink the way things have traditionally been done and prompted a review on how the organisation is structured and ultimately operates i.e. the organisation design. This is an important issue that many organisations do not place enough emphasis on when times are good. More often than not, this becomes the first area of focus when times are tough and therefore this approach in itself, is probably one of the main factors that contributes to a fear of job losses when the topic of restructuring is being discussed. It goes without saying, therefore, that organisation restructuring is a very sensitive issue for everyone concerned.

The pressure to protect margins especially in a difficult economic climate can force organisations to rationalise costs through headcount reductions and explore more efficient ways of working. Organisation restructuring is still very often, something that is managed from within closed doors and without the involvement of the broader management team yet we could argue that all managers should be responsible for optimising margins and managing costs regardless of external market conditions. In fact, once could argue that organisation restructuring / design should be reviewed as part of an organisations ongoing continuous improvement process. Regardless of the drivers, here are some things you should think about when reviewing or restructuring your organisation:

• How will the strategy be delivered through the organisation design/structure?
• How is value created and/or delivered to the customer?
• How is accountability delegated through the organisation structure?
• Are the required skills and competencies available to make the organisation effective?
• How is authority delegated through the organisation?
• What processes/mechanisms are needed to ensure all parts of the organisation structure work together?
• What is the cost impact of restructuring?

How an organisation is designed and structured can have a direct impact how it performs. An effective organisation design integrates the structure, its people, the processes, the systems and interdepartmental linkages whilst taking into consideration the external environment in which it operates. Whether an organisation is preparing for growth or rightsizing it is important not to lose sight of the overall organisational design and structure of the organisation to ensure it operates effectively.

How we can help you?

At PeopleFirst we have a proven track record of developing organisational design solutions that are aligned to specific operating environments and best practices. We have extensive experience in this area having designed and restructured large and small organisations across a wide range of industries within the government, semi government and the private sector as well as start- up companies.

If you have questions about organisation design or restructuring, contact us:
T: +971 4 4475210
www.peoplefirstme.com
info@peoplefirstme.com

This article looks at pay trends across the UAE in 2016 and makes recommendations on what employers should be thinking about for 2017.

While 2016 may not have been the best year in terms of pay trends, it was also not all doom and gloom for employees working in the UAE in 2016. The GDP growth was slow yet stable in 2016 and inflation rose from 3.0% to 3.4%. There may have been some cause for caution and uncertainty, but the good news is that the economy is not headed towards a recession.

Basic Salary

The trends in salary increases in 2015-2016 are summarized in the figure on the right. While 65% of the employees, did in fact, receive a pay increase, most of these salary increases were based on merit which resulted in pay increases averaging around 3.0% in those companies that implemented a pay review, with individual employees typically receiving between 0% and 6% linked to performance.  Combining the 35% “no review” with the 65% “yes review”, means that in 2016, the overall trend for increases in basic salary was about 2.0% which brings us to the question; were the pay trends stable at all job levels, grades and across all industry sectors?

The tables below summarizes the growing differences in pay trends during 2016 at different job levels and across industry sectors. While senior management and management level employees enjoyed pay rises between 2.0% to 2.7%, increases for clerical roles were as low as 0.8%. Moreover, significant discrepancies were seen in the pay trends across industries, where on the one hand healthcare, FMCG, technology and automotive industries enjoyed an increase of up to 7.0%, the oil and gas industry experienced a decrease in salary of up to -2.0%

Table 1

Table 2

Similarly, the gap between salaries of Nationals and Expatriates also grew, with Nationals being paid 40% to 60% higher on guaranteed cash.  The minimum gap of around AED 2,500 per month was seen at lower level roles and a maximum of about AED 9,000 per month at higher levels of management.

Allowances

While the trends for basic salary indicated an overall 2.0% increase, guaranteed fixed cash was also at 2.0%.  In the UAE, allowances remained at the 60:40 split, and housing allowances were as good as being frozen as housing rental costs dropped by 8.0% in the period 2015-2016.

Bonus Payment

Actual bonus payments in early-2016 were at about 90% of On-Target which was down from 95% of On-Target from the previous year. The overall impact of this, puts the increase of total cash earnings at about 1.9% compared to basic salary and guaranteed cash which were at 2.0%.

Benefits

The overall total remuneration packages rose by about 2.2% as a result of an increase in benefits which rose by 5.0% to 7.0%.  Average school fees went up by 3.0% to 5.0% and average medical insurance costs increased by 6.0% to 9.0%. This resulted in the cost of healthcare and education benefits becoming a cause for major concern as the limits were not in line with the actual expenditure.  This means that education allowances are now sitting at an average reimbursement of 70% to 75% of the actual costs and is often now referred to as a subsidy.

In conclusion, after studying the pay trends from 2012 to 2016, and analyzing the forecasts for 2017, we believe that we might see pay trends increase slightly from 2.0% in 2016 to 3.0% in 2017.  However, if we look at this in terms of real increases (after the impact of inflation), we think that pay increases will not keep pace with inflation in 2017, just like 2016, as caution continues to prevail in 2017.

What Should You Be Doing in 2017?

Market pay movements might continue to be lower than usual in 2017 again, but we think things will pick up in 2018 as Expo approaches.  Companies now should be reviewing their HR policies, especially their Compensation & Benefits practices, and ensuring that they will be ready to react if and when the market picks up and the war for talent resumes.  So what should you be doing?

• You should be reviewing your organization structure / design (OD) to make sure you have designed your organization optimally, and ensure that jobs are described properly and that KRAs and KPIs can be established for all jobs, to build and enhance your performance culture.
• You should be reviewing your grade structure to ensure that jobs are correctly graded and that you have the right number of grades to implement future talent management programmes to attract and retain key talent, and manage your career progression curves for top-performing employees. Whilst the 1990s-2000s saw a trend to reduce the number of grades, the trend now is back in the other direction, as many companies now are realizing that fewer grades means it is harder to control costs and harder to offer employees reasonably fast career progression.  So getting your grade structure right is a crucial step for future success.
• You should be reviewing your pay strategy and reviewing your salary payscales and allowances to ensure that you are competitive with the market on guaranteed cash.
• You should be reviewing your bonus and incentive arrangements, both the core company-wide (excluding sales) annual bonus plan that should be linked to company results and employee performance, and the specific SIPs (sales incentive plans) for your sales force that should be geared to gross-margin (or revenue if gross margin cannot be measured) to ensure you are focusing your employees on results and ensure you are getting optimal motivation and performance from your variable pay practices.
• You should be reviewing the costs of your benefits plans, especially focusing on education allowances and medical insurance premium costs, and transitioning these from full-coverage to subsidies as you grapple with rising costs.

We at People First believe we are in a great position to help you with your journey in 2017, so if you want to discuss anything in this article, or if you want assistance and support with any of the recommendation above that you should be doing in 2017, then we would love to hear from you.

Definitions:
Guaranteed Cash refers to basic salary plus allowances such as housing and transport
Total Cash refers to Guaranteed Cash plus bonuses and incentives
Total Remuneration refers to Total Cash plus the costs of benefits provided by the employer

Earlier this month PeopleFirst HR Consultancy attended a forum hosted by the DBWC, University of Wollongong and the UNDP addressing the gender gap in the workplace.

HE Dr Raja Al Gurg, President, DWBC, gave the opening remarks:
“The UAE is a nation committed to providing equal opportunities to enable women to play a lead role in contributing to the country’s development. It is only when the contributions of both men and women valued equally that we can achieve a brighter future, full of ideas with input from across society,”

The panellists spoke about how women can be more proactive in creating their own opportunities and encouraged women not to wait for others to set the path for their leadership.

The forum shed light on the UAE’s proven success in inclusive organisational cultures, but it also pointed to severe inequality and a pay gap within the international labour market. The World Economic Forum estimates it will take 117 years to close the gender gap, and globally women are paid 24% less than men.

Frode Mauring, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator & UNDP Resident Representative said:
“Gender equality is a human right and the world cannot afford not to get talent from 50 per cent of its population,”

From focusing on the cultural values that empower women, to advocating gender parity, and highlighting the importance of women’s empowerment in national progress, the forum called on business and society to challenge gender distinctions in every-day life.

At the end of last year, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced that 2017 would be The Year of Giving with three main themes, Strengthening social responsibility in the private sector, Promoting a spirit of volunteering and Strengthening the concept of serving the nation in new generations of Emiratis and expatriates.

In support of the second theme – promoting a spirit of volunteering – PeopleFirst has decided to reach out to universities in the UAE to deliver a series of guest lectures which will be delivered by our Managing Director Asma Bajawa. The intention is to give back to students by providing them with real life case studies and an understanding of how the theory they are studying in the classroom is implemented in real life. These presentations will be delivered to undergraduate and graduate students highlighting how effective HR functions can uplift and unlock the value of human capital.

If you want to find out more, contact us at marketing@peoplefirstme.com