The 8th edition of the annual HR Tech MENA Summit brought together more than 400 industry professionals for two days to reassess the current trends in the world of HR and take a holistic approach to improve employee well-being.
To keep up with the rapidly evolving changes taking place in the HR Industry, leveraging technology, and embracing a digital-first mindset is extremely important. It’s essential to emphasize the ‘human’ aspect of human resources and instill the right technology into one’s business strategy while also empowering employees to boost their productivity and quality of work.
Andrew Stocker, Head of Employee Benefits from MetLife Gulf, said, “In today’s post-pandemic world, where work-life norms have changed, supporting employees’ well-being is becoming an integral part of a company’s culture. Employers offering help and support through the different employee benefits programs will find that their employees have become more engaged, resilient, and trust leadership. Ultimately, it's a win-win for everyone.”
On Day 1, the opening keynote was by Jason Averbrook, the CEO of Leapgen. Speaking about reimagining possibilities, Jason spoke about highlighting HR priorities with the business agenda as well as leveraging HR Tech to transform the employee experience.
Commenting on its participation at the HR Tech MENA summit, Zeina Fakhry – HR Director, UAE and Saudi Arabia of Microsoft, said, “It’s always important to share best practices and experiences with your peers and given that we are now in a period of history that has been defined by mass disruption, that need becomes even more pronounced. Technology is already permeating every industry and will affect workers in every imaginable workplace, and platforms like the HR Tech MENA Summit help to foster more innovative, inclusive workplaces that empower employees and prepare organisations for the future of work.”
The acceleration in the world of technology had its influence on the workplace culture as well. Prasad Rajappan, the Founder and MD of Zing HR says, "While evolving technologies in the HR domain are digitizing and automating HR processes, human interaction has not become obsolete. The pandemic has accelerated the need for HR to balance personal touch coupled with technology - digital onboarding, virtual engagement etc. CHROs are being tasked to create a balanced environment of human interaction combined with technology to deliver Board level outcomes such as top line increases, EBITA margin improvements, ESG Compliance. The HR Tech MENA Summit offers a unique opportunity for CHROs to learn about cutting-edge technologies & tactics that make an impact on tangible business outcomes.”
Day 2 of the Summit had two parallel sessions, occurring simultaneously. Parallel Track 1 focused on Employee Experience, Benefits and Wellbeing whereas Parallel Track 2 include Digital Transformation, Analytics and Digital Learning.
Striking a balance between employee wellbeing and exploring digital learning ecosystems and implementing it into one’s analytics strategy is a tricky yet extremely essential task. Nancy Mourad, Managing Director, Gulf LifeSpeak Inc. shared the trends in the future of work- “Two key trends I see and believe are impacting humanity’s mental health & way of living in unprecedented ways: flexibility to work from anywhere and the increasing focus on empathy in the workplace. When we think of how life looked a few years back, where the corporate world was a place people go to and abide by rather stricter rules with much less focus on how a human feels, that tells you how much progress we have made in terms of rights to lead happier lives collectively.”
The HR Tech MENA Summit urges HR Leaders to harness the true potential of one’s human capital, curate experiences as well as provide opportunities to leverage technology to make the best of the resources given to them.
