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Regional HR managers urged to optimize human capital and think out of the box

Speakers at International Human Resources Conference and Exhibition see under-utilisation of human capital and low employee engagement hampering growth of GCC organisations

UAE Vision 2021 has identified skilled human capital as a strategic enabler, says Federal Authority for Government Human Resources

Dubai, January 20, 2011: Thought leaders and experts who attended the first International Human Resources Conference and Exhibition, which concluded in Dubai today, strongly advocated a fundamental shift in leadership concepts and performance metrics to develop human capital into a truly sustainable resource and organisational asset.

Speakers at the conference, held from Jan. 19 to 20 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, also shed light on prevailing practices and trends in HR management in the Middle East, underlining areas for improvement.

The experts were unanimous in their opinion that under-utilisation of knowledge resources as well as lack of motivation and engagement were the main obstacles for human capital development in the region.

"Poor management and poor utilisation of knowledge resources are the underlying reason for the persistent gap between human capital development and performance in the GCC. Organisational reforms are imperative over and above education and training. Develop the individual; develop the organisation too," Dr Edward Kellough, Department Chair and Professor of HR at the University of Georgia (US) said while speaking in the opening plenary of the conference.

"The Gulf states have over 50 per cent of their human resources under-utilised. We need a fundamental shift in thinking about what organisations can do with their human resources. There are also no clear strategies for transferring the explicit and tacit knowledge lying within an organisation," said Dr Khalid Al Yahya, Director of Governance and Public Management Research at the Dubai School of Government.

The experts, while zeroing in on the real issues in GCC human resources, sought to dispel the notion of a skills deficit limiting entry of more nationals into the workforce. "There is no such skills deficit. GCC nationals need more opportunities. Investment patterns and stereotypes that make the public sector the preferred employer for nationals and private sector incapable of retaining them as employees should change," said Chander Mohan, Chairman of the HR Sub-group of Dubai Quality Group.

GCC organisations were also cautioned on the significantly less engagement level of national employees compared to expatriates, validated by "Qudurat," a recent study led by Aon Hewitt. UAE employee engagement levels were even lower than the GCC average, the study showed.

"Engagement is vital. A motivated, engaged employee brings disproportional value to the company," Mohamed Al Jishi, Senior HR Advisor at Saudi Aramco said.

Traditional performance appraisals and flawed assumptions on leadership also came in for strong criticism from the speakers.

"The very assumption that leaders are born is wrong. Leaders are made, when they feel strongly about current inadequacies. Leadership is neither about competency models nor copy-cat role models; it's about harnessing human energy for a better future," Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of the ICLIF Leadership and Governance Centre said adding that flawed assumptions render most of the $60 billion average annual global spend on leadership development ineffective.

Zeyad Mohamed El Kahlout, Quality and Excellence Advisor to the Dubai Government Excellence Programme pointed to the importance of integrating teamwork in the organisational culture and the role of management in leading this change.

"Teamwork is crucial. People in the Middle East are great individual workers, but poor at working together. This must change. The sum of teamwork is more than the sum of individuals. One plus one, can equal three. It's up to good leaders to impose the teamwork ethic, and drive success," said Kahlout.

Paul Sparrow, Chair and Director of the Centre for Performance-led HR at Lancaster University (UK), in his keynote address on the second day of the conference, warned that credit crunch should not be a pretext for organisations to bring talent management down their priority list.

"Globalisation, customer-centricity, and need for innovations are all current pressures that necessitate talent management," said Professor Sparrow.

The two-day conference along with the exhibition of HR-related technology and specialised services, was organised by the UAE Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) under the theme "Human Resources; the Sustainable Capital for the New Era" to encourage governments and organisations to take a hard look at the regional HR environment and enable professionals to share valuable HR knowledge.

"The UAE Vision 2021 has identified skilled human capital as one of the strategic enablers of achieving the vision, which targets to make the UAE one of the best countries in the world. Developing a comprehensive human capital is also a key priority of the UAE Strategic Plan," Nasser Al Hamli, CEO, Federal Authority for Government Human Resources said in his address on the final day of the conference

The conference and exhibition concluded with a Round Table on the Human Resource Challenge in which leading speakers from the government and the private sector, media and the academia voiced their concerns on the regional human resources landscape.

The conference was supported by the Dubai School of Government and the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR). ENOC was the platinum sponsor of the event, which will now be held every year.

-Ends-

About FAHR:
The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources was established in the UAE in accordance with a Federal Law Decree No (11) for the year 2008 regarding Human Resources issued by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. FAHR is entrusted with general powers and responsibilities related to the management of human resources in the ministries and federal Authorities, which together employ about 85,000 people all over the UAE.

The Authority exclusively handles the study and proposal of policies and legislations related to government human resources and assists the ministries in implementing HR legislations, ensuring total adherence to the provisions of the Presidential Decree on FAHR and related by-laws. The Authority also looks into the objections raised against the decisions of the Complaints Committee on government human resources, in addition to discharging other functions as mandated by the Federal Cabinet.

For further information, please contact:
Nedal Al Asaad / Nizar Aridi
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
Tel: (+971 4) 334 4550;
Fax: (+971 4) 334 4556
E-mail: n.alasaad@asdaa.com, n.aridi@asdaa.com

© Press Release 2011