Not long ago, on a flight between Doha and Dubai, I was seated beside the CEO of a leading company in the region and we struck up conversation on leading in the GCC. As our conversation progressed, I asked this experienced CEO what he was doing to build his national workforce.
I was startled to hear him say, "Nationalisation is nothing more than a tax to do business here in the region. Just as we work to minimise the tax consequences in the UK and other Western countries, here we work to reduce the tax we pay in the form of nationalisation."
Obviously he has a mistaken perspective and is ignoring a significant part of the vision of the GCC, which is to build the capability of Gulf nationals. The topic of nationalisation has always been a perplexing topic to me as it is easy to understand the government's desire for more nationals to work in the private sector, but what I do not understand is the sector's reaction.
Too often, leaders in the private sector respond unenthusiastically toward nationalisation yet, if they were operating in their home countries they would not dare absorb the risks of importing talent unless it was the last resort. The idea of building a workforce from local talent has been an innate part of industry from the earliest of business days.
So, why here do leaders revolt against the standard practice of hiring local talent straight from university and developing the employees corporate skills, attitudes and behaviours?
Unfounded excuses
The excuses from the leaders as to why they do not invest in nationalisation are prevalent but mainly unfounded; for example, the demand for high salaries, unrealistic expectations related to promotions, and high turnover rates.
Each of the above excuses for not approaching nationalisation as a strategy is ill-founded as the excuses are not limited to nationals. Spend time listening to expats and you will hear the same excuses — I do not know of expats who are not expecting higher salaries, have inflated career ambitions, and change jobs more rapidly than they would in their home markets.
So, what needs to be done to approach nationalisation as a strategy instead of an obligation.
Responsibility
First, leaders need to accept that it is their responsibility to invest in building a local workforce and not limit themselves by rumours or possibly past experiences. Leaders need to believe in the nationals joining the workforce and that they can succeed.
Leaders and managers need to adopt the global practices in the local market of looking for employees with talent and potential and then investing in them.
Second, leaders need to see reality and look short-term with a focus on building the nationals core capabilities for success in their organisation. This may require reworking graduate/trainee programmes, building managers and leaders to serve as active mentors adopting a patriarchal view.
Finally, leaders need to think and act for the long-term. Although leaders are faced with pressures for the short-term and are on time-limited contracts, they need to have the best interest of the company and country at heart and make decisions about their workforce in the same fashion that they would in their home markets.
The writer is Vice-President, Leadership Solutions, Kenexa. This is from the series entitled ‘Ten tips for leading in the GCC'.
