Savola Re-launches Management Trainees Program to Create Future Executives in Savola

Jeddah, December 29, 2012: Demonstrating its commitment to develop future leaders within The Savola Group, a Communications Workshop was organized attracting 40 Management Trainees who have joined Savola in 2012 and are being groomed and developed to become future leaders and executives within the Group as part of the Company's Management Trainees Program.

Led by Dr. Abdulraouf Mannaa, Group Managing Director, who opened the Workshop, attendees included the three core sectors: the Food Sector (oils, sugar and pasta), the Retail Sector (Azizia Panda hypermarkets and supermarkets), the Plastics Sector, and headquarters.

In his inspiring opening note, Dr. Mannaa said, "This is one of the happiest days of my life, seeing young, energetic faces that are the future of Savola."  He went on to say, "We wanted to bring you together on this special day to enhance communications amongst Savola team members to provide and encourage interaction and dialogue between the Management Trainees and Savola Management."

Addressing the Management Trainees, Dr. Mannaa continued, "There are so many lessons we can benefit from and the greatest of them all is the journey of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH.)  Every day in our life we live by the teachings of the Prophet (PBUH) and hope that we can make a significant impact in our community by following his teachings."  Dr. Mannaa continued, "At Savola we have taken these teachings and created what we call our ethics and our values, which represent our modus operandi, or the way we operate and I ask you to take these values and apply them in everything you do."

"Always have an objective and work towards achieving that objective because the objectives you set will prepare you for tomorrow and help you achieve your purpose in life.  At Savola we aim to expand your horizons, build your skills and thinking, after all, this is why we are here today," he stressed. 

Key executives from the Savola Group's various sectors have also attended the workshop.  These are executives who have ascended the corporate structure within Savola having started as Management Trainees within the Company.

In the first interactive session, Savola Management Trainees described their first experience when joining Savola, citing their excitement and appreciation.  In this session, participants were asked to comment and share experiences on situations that will involve their career progression and interaction in the workplace.

Nouf Halawani, a Management Trainee in Savola HQ in the CSR Department, beamed, "I set my sights quite high after college and wanted to join Savola.  I knew it was the place for me and when I applied and got the job, I felt like I fulfilled my destiny.  Now that I am there and am challenged every day to learn and develop the necessary skills to build a career."

"Getting into Savola is no easy matter, since the standards and qualifications are set high, but once in the Group the possibilities for advancement are limitless for anyone with the drive and aspirations to follow a career path to success, aided and encouraged by Management Trainees Programs such as this," said Fahad Faisal Alfi, a Management Trainee in Azizia Panda. 

Raed Fahad Al-Tayyar, a Management Trainee from Savola Foods Arabia highlighted the importance of teamwork in Savola stating that this is the most important quality that differentiates a company from another.  "At Savola we are one team, one entity, and one family."

Sixteen year veteran in Savola Foods, Engineer Mazen Badawood, who started as a Management Trainee in United Sugar Company and became Senior Vice President of Savola Foods Saudi Arabia, spoke about a different experience, "For me it was all about the challenge.  As a Chemical Engineer, I wanted to show that Saudis are capable of learning and developing the necessary skills to take on more responsibilities and management positions within the Company."

Commenting on the value and benefit of the Workshop, Hani Al-Ghamdi, a Management Trainee at Azizia Panda said, "The most significant highlight of the full-day workshop is the interaction session with the Group MD, which was full of energy, interaction and transparency and conducted using a very professional method of communication.  I believe that this will drive all of the Management Trainees to work harder and excel in their fields."

Adel Al-Salmi, a Management Trainee from Savola Foods shared his experience, "The Management Trainees Workshop was full of energy enthusiasm and innovation and was a great opportunity for we trainees to interact with the Group MD and the executives.  What represented a greater opportunity is being allowed to ask questions and receive first hand feedback from the executives.  Truly it was a wonderful and very professional experience".

The Workshop featured "Brainwave," a special group interactive session dividing the participants in groups and tasking them to come up with as many as ideas and concepts as possible to improve communications in the workplace as well as enhancing communications within Savola Group.

With an allotted time of 15 minutes for the exercise, the participants raced against time to come up with worktable concepts.  More than 55 concepts were generated by the Management Trainees.

Expressing his delight from the outcome of the exercise, Mahmoud Abdul Ghaffar, Chief of Corporate Affairs and Board Secretary, challenged some of the concepts and assured that all of the concepts will be further studied and implemented as part of the internal communications strategy of the Group.

"It was very refreshing and inspiring to receive a new and fresh perspective from the Management Trainees, said Mahmoud Abdul Ghaffar. "I started as a Management Trainee myself and worked in various sectors including Operations, Human Resources, and then Corporate Affairs and the position of Board Secretary in a journey , that was 25 years ago." 

Abdul Ghaffar continued, "This is a special organization and truly its assets are its human capital.  As program champion, I will dedicate all the time and energy required to make sure the Management Trainees do not just achieve, but excel in their tasks and responsibilities."

The last session of the Workshop featured a special presentation by Abdulghani Abdullah, VP of Human Resources, who shared updates and highlights on the Savola Management Trainees Program, allowing the participants to inquire about the program and ask any questions.

The Savola Group Management Trainees Program is a forward thinking program that takes fresh university graduates and trains them in preparation to become future leaders and executives within the Group. The program is managed and supervised by Savola's HR team and is overseen directly by The Savola Group Managing Director.  The Group HR Team designed the program based on world class standards and internationally recognized benchmarks, providing a strong foundation for Savola's growth and expansion both locally and internationally.

Aimed at giving the trainees in-depth knowledge and expertise about The Savola Group and its various subsidiaries, the one-year program entails soft skills in various management disciplines and technical skills. Components include training, coaching, job shadowing, mentoring and job rotation as well as an introduction on The Savola Group Culture comprising its ethics and values program.  The Management Trainees are assessed at the end of the program based on professional pre-determined key performance indicators.

Built on four key pillars, the MT Program includes 30 training modules broken down into a Management Training Module and a Technical Training Module.  The 90-day program includes induction, seminars, assessment, evaluation and quarterly feedback, as well as a 21-week period for on- the- job training and is supported with tools to aid the learning process including a special Training Pack consisting of a Management Trainee booklet and other materials supplemented by an e-learning portal with a series of assessment programs and tools.  

Workshop attendees included Mahmoud Abdul Ghaffar who is currently the Chief of Corporate Affairs and Board Secretary, Mohammed Al Klaiby, CEO of Savola Foods Arabia, Mazen Badawood who is Senior Vice President Savola Foods Saudi Arabia, and Ahmad Munshi, Chief Marketing Officer of Azizia Panda, all of whom are living proof of the success of the Management Trainees program, which was launched more than 20 years ago.  Demonstrating support to their Trainees, Abderrahim Amaaraf, CEO of Savola Foods and Muwaffaq M. Jamal, CEO of Azizia Panda, Ahmed Al Guthmi Vice President Human Resources at Savola Packaging Company and Faten Al Yafi Senior Executive Director for Corporate Social Responsibility also attended the workshop.

About The Savola Group:
The Savola Group operates in three core sectors: the Food Sector, which includes edible oils, sugar and pasta, the Retail Sector through Azizia Panda supermarkets and hypermarkets, and the Plastics Sector, which manufactures both rigid and flexible plastic products.  In addition, the Group has a diversified portfolio of strategic investments in which it owns 36.6% of Al-Marai fresh dairy company, 49% of Herfy foods and restaurant chain, and 29.9% of Kinan International Real Estate. The Savola Group is also one of the founders of Knowledge Economic City in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah.   The Group previously declared a record net profit from operations for  2011, amounting to more than one billion riyals, an increase of 35% over the previous year, as well as announcing its forecast of net income of 1.32 billion riyals (before capital gains) for the year ending 2012.

© Press Release 2013