As a business owner and employer, I am always looking for good talent but finding talented people with the right skills, qualifications and attitude isn’t always easy. What I have learnt over 33 years of experience is never to recruit someone in a hurry, as you are likely to make mistakes and overlook things and that can be costly. Not only can it be expensive to hire the wrong person but it can have a disruptive effect on the team if people come and go because they are the wrong fit or don’t have the right skills.

Applying for jobs can be easy, nowadays; just upload your CV and click ‘send’ or ‘submit’ and the job is done; but is that enough? Applying for a job and marketing yourself in the right way must be taken seriously and can take time and due consideration. It takes effort, commitment and creativity in today’s competitive world; at least that’s what I expect to see as a prospective employer.

So, if your CV is at the bottom of huge pile of other CVs and you are one of a dozen other candidates to be interviewed, how are you going to stand out and make a positive lasting impression?

Step 1 – Imagine yourself in this job

Marketing yourself starts from the point that you are thinking of applying for a job. When you see a job advertised that you think is suitable, straight away you will start to think about whether or not this is the right role for you. One aspect of this is thinking about the company and the job role and if this is what you are looking for. The other, equally important aspect, is thinking about whether or not you are a good fit for this role and what you have to offer so that you can present yourself as the best person for this job. You may ask yourself: do I have the skills? can I do the job? do I have the relevant experience? All of these are the right questions to set yourself in the right direction of marketing yourself in a positive way.

Step 2 – Introducing yourself through your CV

Your CV is the first impression; it’s how you introduce yourself to a prospective employer without having the opportunity to see them face to face or verbally talk to them. Whether you are presenting yourself on paper, through a traditional CV, or through a video application, think about what you want to say and what the employer is looking for. Some simple tips:

• Your CV should be easy to read; keep it to a maximum of 2-3 pages
• Structure your CV it in a way so that it is logical and the most important information is on the first page
• Customise your CV to the job role you are applying for so it highlights your suitability for the role
• When detailing your experience think about what you achieved in each role and highlight this rather than just listing tasks
• Make sure the information is correct e.g. dates of employment
• Check your contact information is correct and up to date
• Presentation is important so pay attention to detail, the layout of the CV, formatting and of course the spelling!

If you are building an online CV through a job portal or company website make sure you give yourself enough time to do this. Think about the search engine used to screen your CV and what words might be used to filter CVs. It is important to tailor your CV / application to make it relevant to the vacancy. If you make the recruiters job easy by presenting your CV in a reader friendly manner they are less likely to put your CV aside because it too lengthy or difficult to read.

Step 3 – Preparing for the Interview

If you have been invited for an interview this is great news because the prospective employer thinks you can do the job. It’s unlikely that anyone is going to waste their time interviewing candidates that they don’t think are suitable. It’s natural to be nervous and a little anxious but try and channel this nervous energy in a positive way. Don’t find reasons to tell yourself why you won’t get the job e.g. I’m too young or too old, instead focus on what you have to offer and how you are going to use the interview to communicate what the interviewer wants to know about you.

Good preparation is the key to marketing yourself in the right way and ultimately a successful interview.  Most interviewers will ask some standard questions like ‘tell me about yourself’ or ‘why should I hire you’. These are your golden opportunities to really sell yourself. Think about what you have to offer and prepare a response that highlights why you should be hired and what you have to offer. If you are unprepared for these types of questions you may lose valuable time in the interview thinking of what to say and the likelihood is you will forget the most important things. Take time to think about how you will respond to these type of questions and don’t be afraid to practice. Remember your response to a question like this should be concise and hard hitting so try not to waffle and make sure you bring out the skills and experience relevant to the job vacancy.

If you take time to prepare and think about the interview you should come up with a list of questions that the interviewer is likely to ask you, so all you have to do is be ready with your answers. In doing this, think about examples you can use if you are asked questions like ‘tell me about a time’ ‘give me an example of when’  ‘have you ever had a situation’. It’s hard to remember good examples on the spot so take time to recall your experiences so that you can share this in the interview and demonstrate how you dealt with similar experiences or situations in the past. This demonstrates what you have done in the past and that you are likely you do again in the future; using hypothetical examples are less convincing.

Whist you are preparing don’t forget to think about what questions you would like to ask. Most interviews will ask you if you have any questions at the end of the interview so don’t be afraid to say ‘yes I do have some questions I have prepared’. It’s ok to have them written down so you don’t forget them. Again it demonstrates you are taking this seriously and you are well prepared. Avoid asking questions related to salary (in particular during the first interview).  Some examples of questions you may wish to ask:

• What are the opportunities for growth in the company?
• What is the interviewer’s experience of working in the company?
• What is the work environment or organisational culture like?
• Could you explain your organisational structure?
• What do you most enjoy about your organisation?

So now you are ready for your interview and all you need to do is ‘look the part’ so make sure you think about your dress code and appearance. Its always better to be more formally dressed than under dressed for an interview. This is all part and parcel of how you market yourself.

Step 4  – Handling the Interview

The interview is your ‘stage’ and your opportunity to really promote and market yourself. The only challenge is that you have a limited time slot to convey the messages you want by answering the questions that are posed to you. This is where your preparation will be helpful. If you know what you want to say, use the questions as opportunities to highlight these things. In doing this it is important to listen to the questions and make sure you answer these fully, however the focus should be on highlighting your skills and experience. All of this, in a genuine, warm and friendly manner. If this is your first job interview then draw on examples of your academic career where possible otherwise your personal life.  One important thing to remember is always be honest during the interview otherwise you are likely to get caught out.

‘So how did you prepare for this interview?’ This is a question I always ask in a face to face interview and I am always surprised when some candidates proudly tell me they didn’t prepare! It’s almost as if they are telling me they didn’t need to prepare! What I want to hear is that someone has taken the time to consider the job role, researched the company and then thought about how they were going to promote themselves and impress me enough to be offered a job. It’s important to demonstrate that you have taken the time to prepare and this says a lot about how you approach things.

Remember, the interviewer has limited time in which to get to know you, understand your experience and then make a decision on whether or not to hire you, so make sure you use this opportunity in the best way possible. The interviewer may not know anything about you so they will be relying on the information you give them during the interview.

Finally, during the interview (particular the first interview) try and avoid asking questions related to the salary and focus using this opportunity to ask questions to understand more about the company and demonstrate that you have done your research.

Step 5 – After the Interview

Make sure you send a thank you email to the interviewer. If you missed something really important in the interview that you want to include, you could do this in the follow up email however, you must keep this brief.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Mention volunteering experience (if any)
• Mention your accomplishments
• Make sure the start and end dates for previous work history are correct
• Make sure there are no spelling and grammatical errors in your CV
• Mention your contact details
• Be prepared

Don’ts

• Don’t be dishonest or over exaggerate your experience or qualifications
• Don’t be late for the interview
• Don’t talk negatively about your current employer
• Don’t use someone’s name when giving examples

Recent headlines about performance management suggest that something significant is happening. Headlines such as “Companies Getting Rid of Performance Appraisals” and “Performance Management is Not Performing” seem to be dominating the HR world. Are you confused about what this all means and what you should be doing going forward? Well you are not alone. Many business leaders, managers and HR professionals alike are unsure of what this means. This article seeks to answer some of the questions about the recent changes and trends in performance management and provides guidance to managers and HR professionals on what they should be thinking about in respect of their performance management practices.

Question: Is performance management redundant and now a thing of the past?

Answer: No. Performance management is still very much alive and needed.  However, the process of how organisations manage the performance of their people is starting to change. The aim of performance management is still very valid and strives to improve individual performance in order to enhance the overall performance of an organisation. However, the ‘how we do this’ is where the key changes are happening.

Question: What has changed and why?

Answer: In summary, recent changes are leaning towards simplifying the performance management process making it more agile and relevant to the business needs.

Delving more deeply, we have identified two (2) key things that are changing in the performance management process. Firstly, the ‘annual performance review’ or the ‘annual appraisal’ that traditionally takes place at the end of the year is being replaced by more regular informal reviews. Organisations have begun to question if the traditional approach of a ‘once a year appraisal’, which is seen as an administrative and burdensome task, is adding value, and are realizing that the value added does not reflect the time and effort spent.

The second change is the focus of the performance management discussion. Traditionally, the focus of the discussion has been to review progress against each objective and competency, and provide feedback on what was achieved during the last year. In other words the discussion is focused retrospectively on past performance.

New thinking is shifting towards a greater focus on what an individual needs to do to achieve the desired results for the upcoming weeks/months rather than what happened in the past. The focus is on communication, coaching and support.

In addition to the above, new technology tools are supporting these changes in helping companies to make their performance management system more agile through setting and sharing goals and providing feedback in real time.

Question: Is objective setting still important?

Answer: Yes. Objective setting is still important as this process helps organisations break down and cascade the strategy into specific objectives which provides clarity and direction for employees. However, the traditional approach to setting objectives only once a year is no longer seen to be fit for purpose and organisations are shifting towards setting objectives more frequently throughout the year to meet the dynamics of the business e.g. monthly or quarterly.

New approaches are emerging such as the “MSC” approach. This is summarised below:

• M – What must an individual do this month
• S – What should an individual do this month
• C – What extra could an individual do this month

The approach allows managers to adapt more easily to constant changes in their business demands and environment.

Question: Are performance ratings alive?

Answer: Yes. Performance ratings are alive and still being used by organisations to differentiate performance for reward and pay decisions.

Although some major players such as Microsoft have removed ratings, this is still being tried and tested. Some organisations have found this to be a successful strategy but more organisations have reported that this has not been successful. Without ratings managers find it hard to explain to employees how they are performing and employees find it hard to understand their level of performance. For this strategy to work it requires significant investment to ensure that managers have the capability to implement the change.

Question: Is calibration still practiced?

Answer: Yes. Calibration remains a key driver for performance management success. Through the process, companies ensure fairness and consistency in how managers rate employees’ performance which is important as promotions, career and compensation decisions are all based on the performance evaluation. Even in a no rating environment, organizations are still making performance based pay decisions through a combination of business metrics and calibration committees.

Question: Is forced distribution still practiced?

Answer: No. Forced distribution is becoming unpopular and companies are avoiding using it. Forced distribution describes a comparison measure where managers are obliged to rate their employees according to a set distribution. It generates negative employee reactions and managers feel they have not been able to evaluate their teams fairly.

Question: How can I ensure my performance management framework is effective?  

Establishing an effective approach to performance management is a challenge. Is your company taking steps to address the problem? Contact us to find out how PeopleFirst can help you revamp your performance management system.

Whilst reviewing the recent changes in the world of performance management, two companies that are pioneering the process caught our attention. We would like to share their new practices with you.

Booking.com

Booking.com have re-defined their performance management system and are no longer relying on a once-a-year performance appraisal. The company is now using a technology tool to conduct regular 360 degree feedback where employees give and receive instant feedback using their smartphone. Through the data collected, the responses are weighted in real time which allows for a complete picture of how people are performing from different perspectives.

Deloitte

Deloitte has shifted their performance assessment from evaluating past results to evaluating future performance. At the end of projects, Deloitte is now asking its team leaders to respond to statements about their employees which are future focused e.g. “Given what I know of this person’s performance, I would always want him or her on my team [measures ability to work well with others on the same five-point scale]”. The company has implemented this change to bring consistency in their rating system.

Talk by Founder & Managing Director, PeopleFirst Middle East, Asma Bajawa @ The Future Summit

In our November newsletter we published an article titled ‘The Future Summit’, which detailed our Managing Director, Asma Bajawa’s talk on Generation Z at The Future Summit which was held in Karachi, Pakistan. The summit focused on the digital era and explored how leadership is likely to develop in the years to come.

As one of the guest speakers and panel members, Asma spoke about Generation Z (people born between 1995 – 2010) and how this future workforce is shaping up in Pakistan. The focus of Asma’s session was to help employers prepare for this upcoming generation of employees.

Building on our collaboration with the American University in Dubai (AUD), PeopleFirst’s Managing Director had the privilege of working with Dr. Raj Kapoor, Professor of HRM at AUD to assess Sheikha Meera Hazza’s HRM project. Sheikha Meera Hazza delivered a project on ‘Job Design’ however expanded her research to cover both the UAE and USA to understand and compare what future employees across both countries expect from an ideal job and how employers can attract and retain this new generation. A summary of Sheikha Meera Hazza’s project is presented below:

Working Hours

“Young adults are more likely to choose jobs that offer flexible work options.” Sheikha Meera Hazza explored various flexible working options such as flexible working hours and flexible working methods like telecommuting.

Sheikha Meera Hazza’s research found that respondents in UAE showed a higher preference for flexible working hours, while respondents from both countries had a very low preference for flexible working methods such as telecommuting.

Exploring this further, Sheikha Meera Hazza asked the respondents to describe themselves as either introverts or extroverts to see if this had any correlation to their preferences. 71% of the respondents described themselves as extroverts which may explain why telecommuting is not a preferred option for this generation. Further research suggests that telecommuting may inhibit creativity and teamwork.

Job Autonomy

“Millennials are motivated in an environment that grants them freedom and trust.”

The results from the UAE showed a preference for working in organizations with an informal structure that enables autonomy and allows people the freedom to make decisions. On the other hand, the respondents in USA were more inclined towards working in organisations with a formal structure as they seem to prefer guidance and direction from their leaders. This is illustrated in the diagrams above. Sheikha Meera Hazza feels that this difference could be attributed to the entrepreneurial mindset of people in UAE which may influence the younger generation.

Job Responsibility and Accountability

The results below show that respondents in both UAE and USA would like to take responsibility and be accountable for their work.

Jobholder Expectations

The chart below illustrates what the young generation in the UAE and USA expect from their future jobs:

The most important concern for the young generation in the UAE and USA seems to be ‘giving back to the environment’ with 63% of the respondents choosing it as one of the most important aspects of their job. Second to that is the opportunity for career growth, while monetary rewards are the least important for most respondents. Based on the research Sheikha Meera Hazza recommends that employers focus on CSR activities and providing opportunities for career growth to the young employees in their organizations in order to attract and retain young talent.

Corporate Culture and Atmosphere

All respondents showed a clear preference for working in organisations that promote friendly work relationships. Sheikha Meera Hazza further explored the culture of a globally recognized employer ‘Google’ and found that Google has taken measures to ensure that employees get time and opportunities to socialize with one another in the workplace, which Google believes promotes creativity. Sheikha Meera Hazza recommends that a friendly and collaborative working environment should become the foundation of any company’s work culture.

We found that Sheikha Meera Hazza’s research was aligned with the research conducted by other students at AUD last year. Therefore, we recommend that employers take advantage of these findings to update their HR frameworks which in turn will help them to attract and retain young talent.

Developing effective, efficient and compliant HR policies can be a difficult and time-consuming task and we are happy to announce that our ‘HR Essentials’ pack is now here to help. Developed by PeopleFirst, our ‘HR Essentials’ pack includes a comprehensive ready to use HR Policy Handbook that can help companies manage the HR requirements for their organization in an efficient and compliant manner. The ‘HR Essentials’ pack is ideal for startup organizations and SME’s that would like to ensure their HR practices are aligned to the regulatory requirements, administered effectively, and provide a foundation for their HR practices to support the business.

WHAT ARE THE KEY BENEFITS?

➤ Ready to use immediately
➤ Ensures compliance with UAE legislation and regulatory standards
➤ Provide clear guidelines on how to deal with all contractual HR related matters
➤ Branded to your company requirements
➤ Provides a point of reference for managers and employees
➤ Clearly outlines the responsibilities of both the employer and the employee in the employment relationship

WHAT DOES THE HR ESSENTIALS KIT INCLUDE?

◉ A Contractual HR Policy Handbook

The HR policy handbook is fully aligned and compliant to UAE legal regulations. The handbook covers all contractual elements as required by law (detailed in figure 1 below)

◉ HR Forms & Templates

The HR forms and templates support the full employee lifecycle from joining right through to separation from the company

◉ An Employment Contract Template

The ready to use legally compliant employment contract template ensures that the contractual relationship between the employer and the employee(s) is clearly defined

◉ Complimentary HR Advisory Services

Benefit from complementary HR technical expertise across all areas of HR to support the requirements of your business

“We will never understand complex systems unless we develop a deep understanding of the networks behind them.” Albert László Barabási, Harvard

Not surprisingly, the constant urge to adapt motivates organisations to reorganize and continuously rebuild themselves with organisations of the future by restructuring their hierarchical system into a network of teams.

In every organisation there are two simultaneous structures:

◉ Artificial
◉ Organic

Planned and constructed structures are artificial. These include the organisation’s hierarchy, supply chains and project teams. Conventionally, these are designed by the organisation’s leaders and owners.

Organic structures are formed by the members of the community (e.g. employers and employees). These two networks generate reality together. Thus, the future challenge is to synchronize these networks according to the needs of the digital age.

Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) can visualize organic structures, creating the opportunity for synchronization.

Organisation Network Analysis

ONA examines relationships between members (people, groups, communities) of an organisation. Unlike traditional analyses which explains behaviours according to personal attributes, ONA concentrates on connections between members of the organisation. Everyone has an impression or an opinion about how they connect to each other. Nevertheless, according to direct research even in smaller communities, they cannot precisely identify and see the network of their relationships. Biological researchers have found that we can only see the complete network of relationships in a community with up to 7 members and cannot grasp more than 150 relationships simultaneously.

During ONA we analyse the patterns of different types of connections (communication, work cooperation, trust, etc.). The result is then mapped. It visualizes the relationships and key people providing a map of our thoughts about the company.

By applying this modern approach, you gain entirely new insights into the social mechanisms, communication and cooperation at all levels. The social network map of your company supports you in understanding, predicting and controlling the complex system within your company.

Organisational Network Analysis can answer the following questions:

◉ Who are the key people in the organisation?
◉ How does information flow within the organisation?
◉ What is cooperation like between entities?
◉ Who could form am innovative team?
◉ Who are the real talents worth investing in?
◉ Which employees may leave the organisation soon and who might follow?

To familiarise ourselves with the aspect of social network analysis, let’s see an example:

We analysed two different small groups of people within varying structures of a network. Each node represents a person; each line represents a potential channel for interpersonal communication.

Question: Which small group of people can solve problems with the highest speed and accuracy? Each group received the same problem. Each can only communicate with the designated others.

Answer: The less centralized group (left) outperformed the centralized structure (right). But when we gave a task instead of a problem (tasks are completed, while problem require ideas to solve them), then hierarchy structures performed better.

“The efficiency of communities depends on the participants’ interactional network as much or more than it depends on everything else, such as combined knowledge with experiences, with IQ, with skills, etc.” – Alex Pentland, MIT

Organisational Network Analysis is a unique option to understand the company and its operation better. Why is ONA useful? First, we need to clarify what useful means. Useful is what:
◉ makes our decisions easier
◉ improves efficiency
◉ boosts the speed of change and makes it easier to achieve

Makes our decisions easier

ONA simplifies decision making because it measures behaviour and provides facts.

Question: We have three candidates for a manager position. Who is the most suitable?

Answer: BondWeaver Systems identifies the person who has the same or the most similar relationship network compared to the expected relationship network, who has more respect among employees and who is better integrated into the leader community.

Question: Why are group decisions slow?

Answer: When a decision is made in a group, it usually gets stuck at the first question, ‘What is the situation?’. ONA provides a map with data so the group can proceed to the most important question: ‘What shall we do?’.

Improves efficiency

Companies pursue stronger internal and external cooperation. They try to achieve this through forcing cooperation in many ways, for example, by applying matrix systems or other formal mechanisms. However, employees often find faster and more appropriate connections which don’t match artificial (formal) mechanisms.

Question: Why does information disappear?

Answer: The affected groups are often in silos. The connection between leadership hierarchy levels or organisational groups is not properly developed. They have to identify relationships that should be established to integrate diverse communities.

Boosts the speed of change and makes it easier to achieve

Question: How can we improve the acceptance of a new idea or behaviour?

Answer: Change can be adopted more quickly and pervasively through appropriate recognition and management of key employees. This helps eliminate risk and limit costly disruption simultaneously aligning the organisation with its business strategy.

BondWeaver Systems identifies key individuals and brokers who can help spread ideas and behaviours. It also reveals disconnected functions and individuals who need to be brought into communities.

If you would like more information about BondWeaver or about Organisational Network Analysis (ONA), please contact us at info@peoplefirstme.com

Six competencies critical for future success in the workplace

We are living in a time of constant change which is reshaping the future landscape of work. The workforce in the next 20 years will look very different to the workforce of today. Over the next decade, new technologies will enter every domain of the workplace replacing humans, the jobs that we do and transforming the way we work. Globalization will continue to create greater cultural diversity and broaden the values and the set of beliefs held by organisations today. By 2030, four generations will be in the workplace simultaneously, each with unique attitudes, behaviours, strengths and weaknesses that will need to be recognized and managed coherently.

The new age will require a range of different skills in the workplace and skills that are considered important in today’s workforce will change. Therefore, it is important that organisations prepare for the future of work and align the skill set and capabilities of their employees to the challenges that will arise over the coming decades.

Future work skills

Looking ahead, we have identified six competencies that we believe are imperative in a digital age and define the threshold levels required to succeed in the workplace.

1. Innovation

Definition: The ability to find and apply new and creative approaches to work  

Companies are increasingly confronted with shifts in industry transformation which have major implications on the skills employees need to succeed in their organisation. As business environments are becoming more complex, this requires employees to derive new solutions and approaches to navigate through this volatility and uncertainty. The employee of the next decade will have to be innovative to develop new ideas and new ways of working and combine this with an approach of continuous improvement to ensure that they are positively contributing to the success of the company.

2. Emotional intelligence

Definition: The ability to read and perceive emotions and adapt behavior accordingly

Emotionally intelligent employees are able to quickly assess the emotions of those around them and adapt their words, tone of voice, body language and gestures accordingly. This has always been a key skill for employees who need to collaborate and build relationships, however, it is now even more important as we are entering an era where we will be working with an increasingly diverse group of people from different cultures, backgrounds and generations. Furthermore, as artificial intelligence continues to change the landscape of work, emotional intelligence will continue be one of the vital assets that gives employees a competitive advantage over robots, machine and automation.

3. Adaptability

Definition: The ability to adapt and respond well to change

The ability to respond to unique and unexpected circumstances will be highly valued over the next decade. As jobs across all occupations are constantly changing and automation continues to gain traction, organisations are under pressure to adapt quickly to both the internal and external changing environments. Adaptable employees can make the necessary adjustments needed in a given timeframe to acknowledge, accept and respond to any changes that are occurring. In the future, employees will need to be open to new ideas and respond effectively to upcoming challenges, seizing any opportunities that can contribute towards a successful result or output.

4. Critical thinking

Definition: The ability to critically analyse and evaluate information, considering the facts from different perspectives

Critical thinking is often referred to as the most valued skill of the 21^st century. Employees that can ‘critically think’ are able to filter and assimilate complex information in a manner that facilitates problem solving and ultimately enhances the decision-making process. Critical thinking is emerging as an important skill as companies need to balance and combine the use of data and analytics with objective reasoning for the purposes of informed decision making. Critical thinkers ask the right questions and recognise the right opportunities, ensuring that the company makes logical and successful business decisions.

5. Diversity

Definition: The ability to understand, practice and operate in different cultural settings

Organisations are increasingly viewing diversity as a driver of innovation, bringing different ways of thinking, skills and experiences together. As diversity in the workplace grows, it will become a pre-requisite for all organisations as they seek to represent and mirror the customers and communities that they serve. All employees, and not just the ones that operate in diverse geographical environments will need to be able to work effectively across different teams, understanding the breadth and depth of different working styles and cultural perspectives. The ability to understand and leverage those cultural differences will be essential in achieving organisational goals.

6. Managing change

Definition: The ability to manage, lead, enable and embed the process of change and transition

The old paradigm “the only thing that is constant is change” is very much true for today’s working environment when ideas, plans and processes can become redundant nearly overnight. This will cause an increasing demand for change management skills in the future. The ability to anticipate, adapt to and implement change will be pivotal. Every business and industry will require change management whether the company changes a policy, procedure, technology, process, service or product; businesses themselves need to continuously manage change as the habits of their customers and their consumers constantly change.  Employees will have to be highly competent in managing change and well versed with change acceleration processes to oversee a period of continuous transition over the coming years.

What does this mean for your business?

Companies need to continuously adapt to the changing environment in which they operate. This requires strategic workforce planning and the development and implementation of talent management strategies to ensure that the workforce is equipped with the necessary skills to ensure future organisation success.

If you would like more information of how we can help your organisation prepare for the future, please contact us at info@peoplefirstme.com

“We are in a dilemma: What to do with our education? Where to work? A number of girls get their diplomas but are lost afterwards due to the lack of job opportunities for women.” – Head of a women’s welfare association in Jeddah.

This is not an uncommon sentiment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) where women represent only 16% of the total workforce. The low representation of women in the workforce is not entirely surprising in a country that does not allow women to open a bank account or control their finances without the permission of their male guardian.

But not for long.

KSA has embarked on an ambitious journey to modernize the Kingdom through its Vision 2030. This vision includes the empowerment of women and the materialization of their potential through a series of endeavours that will likely bring massive changes to the way the female workforce is perceived in the region.

We can already see how the government’s efforts to provide flexibility to women has positively impacted the participation of women in the workforce. For instance, allowing women to work in a wider range of jobs has resulted in a 130% increase in the employment of women in the private sector between 2012 and 2016. While women make up only 16% of the total workforce right now, the government aims to increase this to 30% by 2030. Meeting this target could add 12% to the size of the total OECD economy by 2030. (AT. Kearney Middle East).

What’s more? The government seems to be advocating this vision strongly through its progressive actions like lifting the ban on driving for women.

With all these advancements, more and more women will soon enter the workplace and businesses in Saudi Arabia will find themselves asking the question: ‘Are we prepared to welcome the changes that will result from the inclusion of women in the workplace?’

We understand that the answer to this question may not be simple, therefore, PeopleFirst is taking this opportunity to present a series of three articles to help businesses explore the ways in which they can prepare themselves for the inevitable change. Each article in the series will focus on the most important aspects of business that need to be addressed and are illustrated on the right:

In part one, we will look at how the work environment of an organization may need to adapt to facilitate the inclusion of women in the workplace. Before we begin, however, it is important to note that businesses in Saudi Arabia must truly embrace the idea of inclusion of women in the workplace before they can begin to make any changes to the way they work. It takes courage to let go of the familiar and embrace the new, and if new ideas are advocated from the top management, change will be cascaded to the departmental and individual levels more seamlessly.

Strategy

Women make up 50% of the consumer population in KSA. Wouldn’t it be great to know a woman’s perspective when it comes to making business decisions that could affect business growth?

A critical starting point for any business that wants to include women in the workplace is to have a holistic strategy. Before they can develop a strategy, decision makers must ask themselves how including more women into their workplace will contribute to their business objectives. For instance, with women now being able to drive, there is potential for more women to purchase cars and an auto dealership may benefit from hiring female sales staff for their showroom to assist female customers.

Once the business strategy is in place, businesses may need to devise a diversity plan that will aim to drive gender balance across the organizational hierarchy. The diversity plan should provide equal opportunity to women in terms of time, space and resources across the business.

The strategy and diversity plan will then feed into all other aspects of the work environment, culture and day to day operations, opening doors for equal opportunities and gender sensitivity in the workplace.

Research suggests that companies that promote gender diversity and provide equal opportunities make a huge difference in employee satisfaction, productivity, and overall company success. So it’s no surprise that the list of companies with female leaders continues to grow. General Motors, PepsiCo, Xeroxx and IBM are just a few examples of companies with female CEOs.

HR Policies

HR policies provide a concrete foundation for businesses to operate at a strategic and operational level in a way that is legally compliant and in line with best practice. Therefore, in order to incorporate the diversity plan into the company’s day to day HR practices and develop a gender sensitive workplace, businesses will need to review and update their HR policies. Policies that promote equal opportunities, fair work practices and gender balance will certainly allow companies to be more successful in achieving their ultimate goals.

Fairygodboss (a site where women can review their employers) reports that nearly 43% of women have experienced some type of harassment in the workplace. The website highlights that the majority of workplace harassment is perpetrated by a colleague (57%), rather than a boss (36%) or manager (25%). Such practices will not be phased out of the workplace unless companies adopt strong policies and practices of reporting and punishing the perpetrators.

Needless to say, businesses will need to start thinking about developing and implementing other policies that include but are not limited to the following:

• Offering flexible working hours and adapting leave policies to facilitate women in managing work life balance
• Work ethics may need to be redefined to ensure women are treated with respect and professionalism at the workplace, and that they are able to voice any grievances with the confidence of a fair and objective resolution
• Offering competitive and equitable pay structures
• Providing women with the opportunity for training and career development

This may help businesses attract and retain female talent in support of the Kingdom’s vision.

While the company can decide which HR policies to change and when, there will be certain policies & practices that will definitely have to change before women can be introduced to the workplace. For instance, keeping in mind the religious and social obligations, unrelated men and women are expected to maintain distance and limit their interaction with each other. Which is why, as a minimum requirement of the Shariah law, companies will be expected to prepare separate work spaces for men and women. This will include the separation of at least the following:

• Work stations
• Office entrance
• Office elevators
• Lunch and prayer room
• Restrooms in the workplace

Having separate work spaces will not only meet the legal requirements but it will also provide a comfortable work environment for both men and women, allowing them to work in an environment that is perceived as familiar and culturally acceptable. Having a comfortable space to work in can also result in higher engagement levels for women as explained in the next section.

Employee Engagement

It is widely known that engaged employees are productive employees, and companies that wish to build an engaged workforce need to foster the right work environment. HR can ensure that the newly hired women as well as the existing men in the workplace are engaged and motivated by encouraging open communication, opportunities for idea-sharing, employee support / resource groups and mentorship programmes. In addition, welcoming new employees with a well-rounded induction plan can go a long way in allowing them to integrate seamlessly into the organization and helping them to eventually grow.

PeopleFirst is ideally positioned to help your organization optimize the workplace environment, improve employee engagement and refine employee development. If your aim is to position your organization to reap the benefits of inclusion of women in the workplace then get in touch with PeopleFirst today.

Ten years ago, when I set up PeopleFirst, I had no idea where our first piece of work was going to come from; I took a leap of faith and trusted my instincts!

Ten years on, PeopleFirst has established itself as a trusted brand that is now one of the leading HR consultancies in the region and has recently been recognized as ‘Highly Commended’ by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) in the category for Best HR Consultancy in the 2017 People Management Awards. This accolade is a dream come true and has been achieved through hard work, commitment and a shared passion ‘to be the best’ by everyone that has been part of our team over the past ten years. Therefore, I would like to start by thanking everyone who has contributed to PeopleFirst since its inception. Each of you has made a unique and significant contribution to our journey of achievement, success and continuous development, and I am confident that this experience would have contributed equally to your journey of personal and professional growth.

I would like to also reflect and thank every client we have worked with so far. As a boutique consultancy we have exceeded all expectations and have had the privilege of working with many high-profile clients on significant benchmark projects giving us unparalleled exposure to build our brand reputation. A special word must go out to some of our very first clients like Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies and Omantel who placed trust in us and took somewhat of a risk in working with us as a new start up. I am pleased to say that this trust has paid off resulting in positive results for our clients and a platform for PeopleFirst to demonstrate its passion, technical expertise and unique approach; something that sets us apart from our competitors even today. I would like to celebrate the diversity of clients we have worked with and the success we have attained in key projects like AMMROC, Oman Airports, Saudi Electricity and KEF Holdings just to name a few.

Despite the very challenging, ‘roller-coaster’, economic landscape and competitive environment of the past decade, PeopleFirst has remained steadfast and has emerged as a trusted, reliable, long term business partner for its clients, which come from a very diverse range of industry sectors. Over the past ten years we have gained extensive knowledge and insights into multiple industries, having worked with large and small clients in government, semi government and the private sector. This exposure and our continuous endeavor to develop innovative HR solutions will undoubtedly support PeopleFirst over the next decade as we further embrace technology to enhance the employee proposition and partner with our clients to increase their bottom line by focusing on putting their ‘people first’.

I would also like to mention the extensive network of business partners and acquaintances that have supported PeopleFirst and encouraged me personally. It has been such an honour to engage with so many well-wishers and of course, being selected as a a finalist for Emirates Woman of the year in the visionaries’ category was the icing on the cake as PeopleFirst was my vision!

I look forward to the next decade and our contribution to the development of HR skills in the region and beyond. Going forward, I hope to strengthen our focus on supporting communities around us through exclusive programmes like ‘Leaders for Tomorrow’ which is our way of giving back to society.

Remember, it pays to put people first!

In celebrating our ten-year anniversary, we are pleased to share with you case studies of HR projects that PeopleFirst delivered for three high-profile clients. The case studies are presented in short videos and can be viewed here:

by American University in Dubai (AUD)

In line with our continuous endeavours to support upcoming graduates in gaining essential HR skills, PeopleFirst once again collaborated with the American University in Dubai (AUD) to develop and evaluate an HR project for students who enrolled on the Human Resources Management module.

The students were required to select a topic from a set of six (6) options and apply their theoretical knowledge to develop practical solutions that can be used by employers and HR teams. The topics were career development, job design, onboarding, performance management, compensation and benefits and recruitment.

The winning team chose the topic of ‘performance management’. The team was asked to recommend an approach to performance management that will attract and retain talent from the Centennial Generation. The project team; Iman Zahid Hafeez, Neha Fatima and Yasmeen Al Oran demonstrated a sound understanding of performance management, how it is delivered and its importance in an organisation. They presented robust recommendations on how companies can use performance management to effectively manage and improve organisational performance.

To recommend the most suitable performance appraisal method for centennials, the team conducted a survey which captured over 100 responses. Key findings showed that centennials prefer regular feedback in person and are interested in work assignments that are challenging. In terms of performance related rewards, the survey showed that centennials place an importance on bonuses and monetary incentives to increase morale and productivity. The findings presented were in line with previous research conducted and further information can be found here:

Is-your-organisation-ready-for-the-centennial-workforce
The-future-summit

The team conducted thorough research to support their ideas that bridged theoretical knowledge with practical application. The approach recommended by the team moved from the traditional approach which focuses heavily on objective setting to an approach that emphasised the importance of competencies (which included teamwork, collaboration, interpersonal skills, communication and confidence) as an essential component of performance management. The team further moved away from the traditional cycle of mid-year and annual reviews and placed an emphasis on more frequent and continuous feedback to improve workplace engagement and productivity.

The team’s presentation was well structured, well-articulated and delivered in a professional manner. The delivery of the presentation enabled the audience to engage with the presenters and they were also well placed to answer all questions that were raised in a comprehensive manner which further highlighted their understanding of the topic.

We enjoyed the time spent with the students and would like to thank AUD for inviting us to participate in this initiate.