Regional talent war rages
Gurus to advise 'people managers' at Middle East HR Summit
With the economies of the Middle East continuing to diversify and their multicultural workforces continuing to grow, two of the world's leading authorities in people management are to make special presentations in the region next month.
Professor Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School, and Professor Fons Trompenaars, Managing Director of the Centre for International Business Studies, are to present a special Guru Day at the 2008 Middle East HR Summit, which takes place at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, from 26-30 October.
"As economies and nations in the Middle East grow, companies are seeking HR leadership as the war for talent rages," Michelle Boyd, Executive Conference Director for the HR Summit. "Our Guru Day and, indeed the whole summit, are designed to help individuals and companies manage in an era of change."
There is a lot for regional companies to consider as Arabian Gulf countries diversify their heavily oil and gas dependent economies, Boyd added.
"Diversification is well underway," she added. "Recent studies have shown that the oil and gas sector produces almost half of the Gulf Co-operation Council countries’ gross domestic product but provides work for only 1% of the employed population. However, gross domestic product labour productivity in the GCC countries is around $1.6 million per employee for the oil and gas sector but only $9,300 per employee in construction."
In her presentation, Professor Gratton will be drawing on her extensive research with companies such as Unilever, HP, BP, Fujitsu and Goldman Sachs to show how world class human resource strategies can be developed and implemented by regional companies. Professor Gratton's latest book is "Hot Spots" - why some teams, workplaces and organisations buzz with energy and others don't.
For 20 years, Professor Trompenaars has been interviewing leaders and advising companies around the world and he will be describing during the HR Summit Guru Day on 26 October how successful leaders have developed cross-cultural competences. Professor Trompenaars is author of "Riding the Waves of Culture," which has been described as a masterpiece on intercultural management in today's global village.
The four day programme for The Middle East HR Summit in 2008 is an unrivalled regional opportunity to share insights with international and regional leaders in the field of HR practice. The intensive summit features big picture plenary sessions each morning and specialist streams on the key themes of talent management, performance management and reward management each afternoon.
There will also be Summit Master Classes tackling topical HR issues such as emotional intelligence, employee relations and situational leadership. There will also be a Middle East HR Summit Excellence Awards gala dinner to honour outstanding achievements in the management and development of human capital. The awards will be for Outstanding Contribution to HR, HR Professional of the Year, Young HR Professional of the Year, HR Initiative of the Year, and Employer of the Year.
A host of industry bodies are providing sponsorship for this year's Middle East HR Summit including FranklinCovey Middle East as diamond sponsor and the Hay Group as platinum sponsor. Premium recruitment sponsors are MonsterGulf.com. Gold sponsors are Leadership Training and Consultancy, Forum, and Zurich International Life. Silver sponsors are Recruitgulf.com, Ascent, Stanton Chase International, Naukri.com, Jerry Varghese, Careertunity.com and Focus Learning. Precision Employment Services are also a sponsor. The awards are sponsored by the Society for Human Resource Management, Hay Group and SHL Group.
For more details about the Summit and the full programme, please visit www.hrsummitme.com
