Wednesday, December 3, 2008, Bahrain: Tamkeen (Labour Fund) has announced that it is partnering with Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting firm, for the Hewitt Best Employers in the Middle East study. 

Designed to be the largest and most comprehensive study of HR trends in the region, the Hewitt Best Employers in Middle East study is an employee research project that aims to provide key insights for participating organisations for attracting and retaining talent in this region. It will help participants understand what characteristics are required by an organisation to become a Best Employer in Middle East.

"Bahrain has always had a strong reputation for HR excellence and pioneering new standards," said Tamkeen's Chief Executive Mr. Abdulellah Al Qassimi, "This study matches our work in developing the larger picture of the workplace of the future and in building a rich, scientific database of trends and requirements of employees and employers alike. We believe that this study will help all stakeholders to understand the future and plan for it and urge companies to register with Hewitt Associates in this eye-opening study."

The study is part of Tamkeen's efforts to build knowledge about workplace trends, based on scientifically-conducted studies and surveys and plan training and business development initiatives based on factual trend-tracking. Tamkeen is also currently running a Skills Gaps Survey which is believed to be the largest and most detailed study of the Bahrain employment market ever undertaken.

Debabrat Mishra, Middle East Consulting Business Leader, Hewitt Associates said: "We are delighted to have Tamkeen lend its support for our flagship study. We have had a terrific level of interest from the market and under the patronage of Tamkeen, we know that the scope of this Study will be enhanced further in Bahrain. Tamkeen is dedicated to seeing growth and development of talent in Bahrain, and all of us at Hewitt are committed to the vision of this Study, which is to help all participants understand where they are relative to the market, and what they need to focus on to be seen as a Best Employer."

Hewitt launched its inaugural study in September, and is accepting registrations till December 20th. All participants will get four complementary reports that will provide insights about their own organisation, as well as benchmark them externally to the rest of the market.

Participation in the study is confidential and only the final list of Best Employers will be publicly shared. Judging for the final list will be conducted on a blind basis where the Judging Panel will be given coded data and they will not know which organisation is associated with which set of data, until they have picked the Best Employers.

Other study partners for this initiative include the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, the Corporate Research Center in Dubai Knowledge Village, Oryx Advertising and United Media Services.

For more information, please visit: www.hewitt.com/bestemployersmiddleeast.  

-Ends-
 
About Tamkeen (Labour Fund)
Tamkeen (Labour Fund) is a semi-autonomous yet independent authority which formulates strategic and operational plans to use the fees collected by the LMRA in order to enhance the overall prosperity of Bahrain by investing in Bahraini employability, job creation, and social support. Hence, the Tamkeen (Labour Fund)'s main objectives are to support Bahrainis to become the employees of choice, and (ii) to support high quality private sector job creation and helping the private sector cope with the impact of labour market reform.

About Hewitt Associates
For more than 65 years, Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) has provided clients with best-in-class human resources consulting and outsourcing services. Hewitt consults with more than 3,000 large and mid-size companies around the globe to develop and implement HR business strategies covering retirement, financial and health management; compensation and total rewards; and performance, talent and change management. As a market leader in benefits administration, Hewitt delivers health care and retirement programs to millions of participants and retirees, on behalf of more than 300 organizations worldwide. In addition, more than 30 clients rely on Hewitt to provide a broader range of human resources business process outsourcing services to nearly a million client employees. Located in 33 countries, Hewitt employs approximately 23,000 associates. For more information, please visit www.hewitt.com.
?
For Media Enquiries, you may contact: 
Marketing Communications Department
Tamkeen (Labour Fund)
Kingdom of Bahrain
Tel 17383335/17383327
Fax: 17382352
email info@tamkeen.bh
Website : www.tamkeen.bh

© Press Release 2008