Etisalat Academy's Assessment and Development Centres show 'key to success' in employee competency

Under the patronage of HE Eng. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori

Dubai, May 9 2006: Under the patronage of HE Eng. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Development Government sector, and with the presence of Mohamed Hassan Omran Chairman Etisalat and Mohamed Al Qamzi Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Academy successfully concluded the first day of the two day event about the first regional Assessment and Development Centre. The theme of the event for this year is 'Key to success'.

The opening speech praising the Assessment and Development initiative was delivered by HE Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori. He said, "The Ministry appreciates the strategic role that eCompetency plays in the development of Human Resources which depends on the use of applications that aim at reinforcing transparency, democracy and efficiency improvement. Where the aim is to reach an optimal level of investing in human capital by adopting a non-centralized concept. He also added, "We appreciate and thank all the efforts of the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, represented by Etisalat Academy for this initiative."

Mohammed Hassan Omran, Chairman of Etisalat said: "The conference has earned its importance since it discusses the latest applications and provides insights into implementing them efficiently. This is crucial for enabling business leaders and decision makers take control over their businesses successfully. It is as important to the young leaders to utilize these applications to develop their skills and define clear path for their future career in coming years."

Dr. Doaa Fares, General Manager Etisalat Academy, said: "The Etisalat Academy is always proud to present new and advanced approaches to assessment and development especially on this professional level. The career building processes discussed focus on developments in measuring competency and the latest in training systems."

Mariam Mohamed eCompetency Manager, Etisalat Academy said, "There was an excellent response from the participants from all over the region, signifying the importance of this event. Through the discussions delivered today, participants, regional and international governmental and private departments and companies, were shown that if the results and recommendations from the assessment applications were incorporated into their practices then the effect is inevitably beneficial."

The first day discussions were lead by Kevin Kerrigan, Regional Manager, SHL Group (UK). His topic was 'Factors leading towards superior performance at work.' A review of the factors affecting the performance of people, how this impacts on the organization and an examination of the key factors in the complex relationship between people, superior performance in their job and organizational performance are discussed. He also discussed 'Identifying real talent.' Objective techniques can make a real and enduring difference to the performance of individuals and in turn the organization. How to harness these techniques remains a key question. The ten golden rules of assessment are identified, how to sell the benefits to your organization and how SHL expertise can be accessed through Etisalat Academy.

Discussions progressed through the day by key speakers of the SHL Group, James Bywater, Head of Psychologists, talked about 'Assessment rule in driving HR strategy' and Jo Nocolson, Business Development Director, discussed 'Aligning people with business objectives - Introduction to Competencies.' The day concluded with a panel discussion highlighting the role of assessment and development of any organization and answering the participants questions.

The Etisalat Academy is considered a regional representative of many vocational and professional corporations from the United States and Europe. It has been rated as the first regional center in the Middle East according to engineers and experts of "IT Security" after receiving international vocational certificates from the 'International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium' - ISC². In addition, these tests are also held at the Academy twice every year and specialists attending are from Europe, Middle East and the Gulf Region as well as many other international corporations that participate in the development of vocational cadres.

-Ends-

Press release issued by Corporate Communications Department - Etisalat

For further media information, please contact:
Ahmed Bin Ali, Manager Corporate Communications
Tel: 02 6182173
Fax: 02 6334448
PRD@etisalat.ae