Career growth gains attention

In early February, more than 120 Emirati university students and graduates shared their fears, thoughts and challenges on entering the professional world at the Emiratisation Summit, a part of Tawdheef, the annual recruitment fair that connects Emirati jobseekers with employers. The ninth edition had a record 7,500 positions on offer at 75 firms and attracted nearly 12,000 visitors. 

Successful young Emiratis became role models when they spoke about their career development at the Emirati Youth Forum — a part of the same event that brought together senior human resources executives from ministries, public and private corporate sectors and universities — to discuss challenges in the nationalisation process and the best solutions. Topics included Emirati leadership development, preparing for 2020, linking education with Emiratisation, rewards and retention, employee engagement, and coaching and mentoring. 

An increase in Emiratis willing to work in private sector companies lowered the unemployment rate in 2013 to 2.6 per cent, but experts believe there is a dearth of industry-specific training for workers early in their careers — and this is the main cause of Emiratis leaving well-paid private sector jobs after a brief stint. 

Eisa Al Mulla, Executive Director at the Emirates Nationals Development Programme (ENDP), says job-hopping underlines lack of specialised industry training. 

“We are focusing on advocacy to change the way companies look >

at Emiratis,” Al Mulla said at the  event. “They are potential assets, not liabilities, so it is in companies’ long-term interests to invest in mentoring and supporting Emirati career growth.” 

Right approach

Al Mulla says the future of Emiratisation can be bright, with the right approach to growth. “We can see from projections of the education system by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) that more than 55,000 Emiratis are expected to enter the workforce from schools and colleges — so we cannot be complacent about things,” he said. 

“We are focusing on retention programmes to drive unemployment below the 2013 level, and if we consider that Expo 2020 will create around 280,000 jobs, we are looking at a good proportion of these to be taken up by Emiratis.” 

A live poll conducted at the event revealed that despite increasing private sector employment among Emiratis, 67 per cent of participants find it challenging due to strong competition, low job security and multiple cultural influences. In comparison, only 52 per cent found public sector jobs challenging — mainly because of monotony and lack of growth opportunities. 

Almost 53 per cent said their starting salary expectation is Dh25,000 or more a month, while a mere 2 per cent were willing to accept jobs that offer less than Dh10,000. They listed Mubadala, etisalat, Emirates Group, Adnoc and Etihad Airways as their preferred private sector employers.  

Coincidentally, a few days later, Etihad Airways reiterated its commitment to Emiratisation by welcoming Mohammad Al Mansouri as its 2,000th Emirati member of staff. Ray Gammell, Chief People and Performance Officer at Etihad Airways, explained, “As the national airline of the UAE, we are committed to growing and developing a highly qualified cadre of UAE nationals and empowering them to play an even greater role.” 

Emiratis currently rank as the largest nationality group within the company. Through its Graduate Finance Development Programme, the airline plans to accelerate Emirati employment. 

“We are looking forward to embarking on our plans to welcome more than 6,000 UAE nationals to the airline by 2020,” says Gammell.

Training programmes

Clearly defined targets are helping both private and public sector organisations as well as associations and industry bodies achieve their national agendas of Emiratisation. For instance, The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) collaborated with The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business (IMA Middle East) last month to address recruiters, employers and educational institutions about the importance of professional qualifications in supporting Emiratisation. 

Lindsay Degouve De Nuncques, Head of ACCA in the UAE, says the commitment to promote professional qualifications among Emiratis will reduce the number of financial functions that are being outsourced. “The hope is that practical advice from this forum, along with more role models, will translate into an action plan for promoting Emiratisation within the private sector and also highlight the importance of training local talent,” she adds. 

The UAE Ministry of Economy has set a target of 100 Emirati chartered accountants in the UAE by 2021.

Around the same time, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) received the Human Resources Development Award in the UAE’s banking sector for its outstanding human resources policies and initiatives, especially Emiratisation. Developed by the National Human Resources Development (NHRD) and run by the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS), the award is the most prestigious for firms in the UAE’s financial and banking sectors.

EIBFS’ National Career Exhibition 2015 — held in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council and Tanmia in the first week of this month — provided a platform for more than 800 jobseekers as well as employers looking to recruit talented Emiratis. 

Noor Bank, another active propagator of employing emerging Emirati talent in the banking sector, said participation at the event was a deep-rooted commitment towards the empowerment of UAE nationals. 

Hussain Al Qemzi, Chairman of EIBFS and CEO of Noor Bank, says, “Platforms like EIBFS National Career Exhibition open up a world of interesting opportunities for Emiratis to participate in the country’s banking industry. Through Noor’s industry-specific training, coaching and mentoring programmes, we can eventually enable UAE nationals to occupy the most senior positions in the industry — something that is still lacking today.” 

Since inception in 2008, Noor Bank has maintained a ratio of more than 40 per cent Emiratis in its workforce, in line with the country’s Emiratisation strategy. The bank aims to increase its investments to provide UAE nationals with sustained leadership training towards preparing them for strategic positions in the future. 

Investing in the future

The link between education, employment and empowerment for Emiratis is being addressed at all levels, including the highest. 

Speaking at last month’s Government Summit in Dubai, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, applauded the services of the UAE Armed Forces in securing the country, before he linked Emirati youth to education: “Our daughters and our sons make us proud, and they are the real wealth of our country. 

“Our young generation should know the struggles of our founding fathers and what they went through to unite the people and build a nation. 

“Building the nation is not the duty of the government alone, it is the obligation of every citizen and resident of this country.”

Highlighting the stalwart stewardship of the UAE’s President, he said: “Shaikh Khalifa is guiding us on developing human resources. Education is his priority, and we need to invest and put all our resources in education. 

“Fifty years from now, we may not have the resources of oil and gas, and that is when we will realise how important the investment in education was.”

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Ports last week announced it has assembled the UAE’s first team of nationals that can carry out the entire circle of port operations, according to the national news agency WAM. 

“This marks a major breakthrough and confirms our role in supporting young Emirati talent while putting the directives of our leadership into action,” Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Ports, was quoted saying. n