Capital Club presents lunch forum by leading Gallup consultant

Dubai, 10th March 2013 - What are the key features of a successful leadership succession plan? How can MENA-based organisations mitigate against the risks while enhancing the returns of the region's predominantly expatriate focussed workforce s and harness the talents or Emiratis in the workplace

These were some of the questions that were explored by Dr Ehssan Abdallah a Senior Practice Consultant at Gallup, the world leaders in strategic consulting, during a lunch forum hosted by Capital Club Dubai, the region's premier private business club and a member of the ENSHAA group of companies. Based on Gallup's extensive research and consultancy work in leadership development, Dr Abdallah's explored the latest findings on what it takes to ensure leadership sustainability for organisations in the MENA region.

In his presentation titled 'Developing Leaders of Tomorrow', Dr Abdallah discussed how shifting a company's focus to talent and strengths based leadership can provide organisations with concrete modus operandi to ensure that they have the best possible leadership in place. He emphasised that the challenge of developing and evolving an organisation's leadership capability is often a major obstacle that can stifle future growth. He also remarked that, despite the vital importance of securing effecting leadership, many organisations worldwide often overlook designing and implementing a robust succession plan, a factor that, especially in light of the recent economic upheavals and global instability is more relevant than ever.

Dr Abdallah further noted that issue of leadership and especially leadership succession tends to be a major concern in the MENA region, as the high number of expatriates employed throughout all tiers of most organisations lead to an exceptionally high employee turnover. Yet, despite being aware of the strong probability of regular changes in leadership, many companies in this region still continuously tackle this issue reactively without a strategy that incorporates scientific and objective methods.

During the presentation, he highlighted that research has shown that selecting and promoting leaders with a focus based primarily on their talents and strengths consistently provides leaders who operate within the top quartile of an organisation's performance. He also noted that the turnover amongst these leaders tend to be much lower than among those who had been promoted or appointed to positions that do not allow them to play to their talents and strengths.

Focussing on the situation in the UAE with regards to Emiratization specifically, Dr Abdallah remarked that recent studies, which looked at candidates with similar backgrounds and levels of education over a period of time, had shown that the Emirati candidates who had been employed in positions in which they had the opportunity to capitalise on their talent were amongst the top performers in their companies. While candidates who's natural talents were not compatible with their position, were either performing poorly or left the company within a year or two.

A native of Melbourne, Australia, Ehssan Abdallah, Ph.D. earned his undergraduate degrees in economics and international studies, his honours degree (first class) in communication, and his doctorate in international trade from Deakin University in Melbourne. He is responsible for consulting and developing solutions for Gallup's clients worldwide. As a Senior Practice Consultant at Gallup, his mission is to build capacity within client organisations to improve bottom- and top-line performance. He contributes his expertise to clients in the telecommunications, technology, hospitality, energy, health, education, automotive, and banking and financial services sectors.

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About The Capital Club:
The Capital Club is exclusively designed to meet the demands of those among the top echelons of business, finance and government in the region, in other words those high flyers who are powering the region's growth and turning Dubai into the business hub of the Middle East.

The Capital Club is Dubai's premier private business club offering an elegant and welcoming ambience in which to mix and meet, to exchange ideas and to entertain guests. The Club is committed to the highest levels of comfort and cuisine, exceptional events and an unmatched level of personal service, at home and abroad.

The leading cities of the world have outstanding private clubs where leaders in business and government meet and entertain. Now Dubai has an exclusive Club that compares with the best.

The Capital Club is owned by Capital Club Limited, a single-purpose company registered under the DIFC.

The major shareholder of the company is Signature Clubs International, which is responsible for the development and operation of the Club.

For more information, please contact:
Farah Ahmed
SAHARA Communications
Tel: 00971-4-3298996
Fax: 00971-4-3298995
Mob: 00971503323158
Email: farah@saharagcc.com
www.saharagcc.com

© Press Release 2013