Companies the world over are grappling with the fact that graduates are simply not equipped for the demands of the workplace as they enter it.
The problem is exacerbated in the UAE because young professionals are taking on responsibilities beyond their ability and experience levels. Consequently, companies have no choice but to allocate funds towards staff training. Individuals also spend money to develop themselves in a competitive environment.
Meanwhile universities, facing demands from industry for tailored, highly specialised courses, are competing with existing professional training providers and establishing their own continuing education centres.
Ill-equipped
"This is a very high growth market and everything that happens has to happen quickly and companies are always desperate for talent to take on positions. [But] the young market is not terribly experienced and this puts a real burden on them," says Dr Gil McWilliam, Strategy and Capabilities at Duke Corporate Education.
The body is a branch of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, which offers programmes in Dubai, and is set up like a professional services company — a direction that several universities in the country have taken.
Despite having a good theoretical education in school and university, neither has prepared professionals to take on challenges in the workplace, which include being team players, knowing their leadership style, project management, coping with ambiguity, handling crises and navigating work politics. "That's where we come along," says McWilliam.
"Universities are failing miserably," Managing Director, Spearhead Training UAE managing director Michael Lorrigan said.
The organisation is part of a UK group that has been offering training courses to the public as well as in-company training in the UAE for 14 years.
Most programmes are between one to five days and range average at Dh1,800 per day and Dh12,000 per day for in-company training for 16 delegates.
"When students leave secondary school, they don't have numeracy and English literacy skills and then universities have to provide foundation programmes. There's a huge disconnect and it's costing the economy — the job market should determine what's being taught in universities not the other way around."
Universities have responded to the shortage of various skills and demand from the job market by setting up training centres that tailor programmes for the public and private according to their needs.
Due to the global econ-omic downturn, the last two years have witnessed a decrease in demand for professional development products across the board.
"However, as we move into the recovery phase, demand is increasing again as both employers and employees seek a competitive edge in a growing market," said Professor John Grainger, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Murdoch University, which has a campus in Dubai.
Most of these centres are not for profit with funds being ploughed back into the university. "It's not for revenue generation but to address a genuine corporate need. Business schools are really incentivised to create new knowledge and that's exactly as it should be," said McWilliam.
The university training centres work with a full range of people who are two or three years out of university and also people who are mid-career in their 30s and senior executives.
"The needs are different but we are still very focused on how to help them navigate for the future," said McWilliam.
Among those universities that have dedicated professional development centres are the University of Dubai (UD), University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), American University in Dubai (AUD), Middlesex University Dubai, University of Sharjah (UOS), British University in Dubai, Murdoch University Dubai and Zayed University (ZU).
No degree required
UD president Dr Omar Hefni said its centre for management and professional development are targeted for practising managers and who don't necessarily have to hold a previous degree.
"We get requests from people from different countries for workshops from seven days to ten days who want exposure to the way we do business in this country in terms of the culture and we arrange meetings with lecturers and prominent people in the private and public sector."
Tailor-made programmes are often requested, especially for finance, logistics, accounting, and marketing Hefni said.
Dr Shadi Abu Zeid, who works at AUD's Centre for Executive Programs and Professional Services (CEPPS), said organisations looking to university training programmes is becoming more of an option.
He said it is a cheaper option and instead of spending money on entertainment and hotels for activities, companies bring their staff to university to get the right professional development at a cheaper price.
"For the past couple of years, organisations have been moving from regular training providers — training organisations are plenty in the market here in the UAE and are more for the public — to universities that have dedicated training programmes."
Lorrigan, who oversees a private commercial training organisation, acknowledges that any new training programmes offered will take away their market share. He adds, however, that he has a "fundamental disrespect for theoretical learning".
"We've worked with over 2,000 companies in 14 years from multinationals to SMEs and the most important lesson we've learned is one size does not fit all. Our teaching is highly relevant and not theoretical from PhDs." Lorrigan believes courses offered by universities focuses too much on academic theory by people who have very little experience in the working world and perpetuate myths about management to graduates.
"What higher education should be teaching is time management, organisation, customer focus, being pro active, problem solving and decision making."
No substitute for MBA
Further training is essential to do one's job better but academics agree it is no substitute for a full-fledged graduate business degree.
"Is it advisable to take short courses instead of a formal degree? The answer is a definite no," says Dr Bassel Soudan, Acting Director UOS's Continuing Education and Professional Development. "Short courses are not a replacement for a formal degree [under graduate or post graduate]. Most training modules do not offer the depth of knowledge delivered in a formal degree," he explained.
McWilliam tells prospective MBAs that no one knows what the future is going to be and a broad base of knowledge is needed to understand one's strengths. "MBAs around the world enable you to develop those skills, work with teams and have your ideas challenged — that's a very fundamental process for a future leader."
She said for professionals between 27 and 32 thinking about doing an MBA, it could be the perfect rounding out of their education.
Hefni says there are people from 25 to 45 who have been working in a organisation for a very long time with just a high school degree and have realised that there is no room for growth without a degree, so they come back to get MBAs.
"Previously a person with high school was fine but now the MBA is becoming very, very normal."
"In general I advise that people should get a graduate degree but I understand not everyone has the time off from work to do that," said Dr Chris Shove, Executive Director of Institute for Community Engagement at ZU.
Options are aplenty but professionals Gulf News spoke with are not convinced of the value of all the programmes on offer.
"I've done several internal and external training courses though the main issue is that, as a whole, a lot of companies have flown in giving off-the-shelf programmes without researching the culture and job market," says Souzanne Mahmoud, a business development manager with a large real estate, media and education company.
She admits that none of the courses she has done, which varied from $3,000 (Dh11,017) to $6,000, were very helpful in her day-to-day duties at work.
"These hit-and-run programmes paint a really nice picture of what they offer and then they leave - I don't think there is a long-term commitment from the suppliers; they don't contribute any value."
Souzanne said she took courses that were enjoyable, but after completing them there was little that she learned.
UAE national and brand manager at Enoc, Basma Eisa agrees. "Honestly, in my opinion I've never believed in them because you complete the course and in four weeks you can barely remember what you've studied. It's often not related to your actual work."
However, a recent 18-month programme she completed with her company has somewhat altered her view. Basma was selected to complete the Mawaheb (meaning talent) programme for UAE nationals at Zayed University in collaboration with an external organisation and she found it was integrated and directly related to her job.
"It was quite useful. We junior managers looked at the role of the organisation, the role of management and things that wouldn't cross your mind on a normal day."
Needs
Souzanne said unless a course was very tailored and customised to her needs, the organisation understood her job and the sector she was in, then it was not worth her time.
And when it comes to a preference for courses offered by private companies or universities, she is indifferent. "I wouldn't have an issue with either option. It just depends on which one gives me better value. It also depends on the person - some care about image and where they do their programmes while others just want a quality course."
Basma said she felt quality programmes are essential because many employees are not in a position to give up two years of their lives to take on a graduate degree but they are still eager to develop their skills.
Ragi Hamdan, 27, has completed a few courses with Spearhead Training UAE and is very positive about the skills he gained in sales training and management. However he is still looking at the broader picture and is currently enrolled for an MBA with a marketing specialisation.
"All my training courses had some benefits. Everyone needs to get new experience to add to their knowledge and the workplace."
Have your say
Do you think colleges and universities need to step up and make professional training part of their degree curriculum? Have you attended a professional training course? How helpful was it in equipping you to meet the demands of the workplace?
Viewpoint:
Staff training benefits are hit and miss
