Human Capital in the Middle East: A UAE Perspective

THEME 1: Happiness and Human Capital in the UAE

The enthusiasm and keenness of the UAE Government for building happy human capital is evident from the fact that in 2016, the post of Minister of State for Happiness was established. Her Excellency Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi is the appointed Minster of State for Happiness and Wellbeing. The purpose of this ministry is to create happy and productive work environment at federal government offices, local government entities and private sector. (https://government.ae/en/about-the-uae/the-uae-government/government-of-future/happiness). UN World Happiness Report 2018 declared that the UAE is the top happiest country in the Arab world, a ranking maintained for the fourth consecutive year. Global ranking was 20th among 156 countries (http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2018/). The Government of UAE is well informed of the critical fact that the employee's happiness and engagement at workplace is directly reflected in the quality and volume of services (Amhalhal et. al, 2015; Di Paolo, 2016; Prajogo and Cooper, 2017). Happiness and wellbeing is the part of the UAE national agenda and the government uses composite indicator, 'Happiness Index', to measure and analyze the levels of individual happiness. By year 2021, the ambitious UAE government is aiming to be among top five happiest countries of the world (https://www.happy.ae/home). The evidence based research of Walsh, Boehm & Lyubomirsky (2018) proved that workplace happiness correlates with the career success and leads to improved outcomes of the employees.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1: The impact of cross-cultural training on employee performance in the UAE hospitality industry

 

Latika Varlani

 

Globalisation has led to increased cultural diversity in many industries, of which the hospitality industry stands out the most. The hospitality industry not only has a culturally diverse customer base to serve but also a very culturally diverse workforce to manage compared to other industries. This chapter aims to investigateto what extent developing cross cultural competencies in the hospitality industry through cultural training of their employees will lead to improved ability and motivation in providing good customer service and consequently competitive advantage for the hotel. Although, the previous literature shows evidence for this relationship, it is far from clear to what extent this is evident in the UAE hospitality sector. The qualitative research design is based on secondary data collected from online sources. Data was collected primarily for two international hotel chains which operate in UAE namely, Accor and Ritz Carlton. In addition, hotel industry analyst reports were used as these provided rich data on trends in human resource practices in the UAE hospitality industry. Data was thematically analysed. The findings of this research indicate that cross cultural training does have a positive and noticeable impact on the ability and motivation of individuals, especially on the ability of individuals. Hospitality industry firms recognize this link and have developed their cultural training programs to develop cross cultural competencies of their employees. Increased interaction between employees especially with senior employees with valuable cross country experience is one of the preferred strategies in this regard. The findings also show that th UAE hospitality industry also faces a number of challenges such as language issues, lack of understanding on when and what kind of training to provide. Such challenges must be overcome by adopting, if necessary, novel approach towards cross cultural training as its benefits outweighs the costs.

 

Chapter 2: Low employee engagement in the UAE: causes and solutions to the issue

 

Alia Al Nuaimi

 

The objective of this chapteris to explore the common causes of low employee engagement at the workplace in the UAE and recommendsolutions in order to minimize this issue. The UAE is one of the countries which have low employee engagement issue and can use the findings of this paper to minimize this issue. We use both secondary quantitive and qualitive data from various sources to uncover UAE specific factors that lead to low employee engageement which we relate to the vast literature on this topic.Our findings show that employee engagement is linked with other issues such as job satisfaction and turnover.  In addition, common causes of low engagement are low salary, lack of career opportunities, low work life balance, lack of training and development and lack challenging tasks. The recommended solutions include revising the compensation plan, flexible working environment, employee recognition, training and development, supportive leaders and performance system. These findings are the contribution of this paper. However, this paper is limited to the secondary data. Therefore, future research can use this thematic framework to build on the findings and validate using primary data. The results of the secondary data are used to develop a thematic framework which can be used by Human Resource managers in UAEorganizations. The previous findings and the new findings of this paper are placed in a framework in order to show the contribution of this paper.

 

Chapter 3: The impact of high employee turnover in the UAE hospitality industry

 

Amnah Qasim

 

This chapter investigates the factors that lead to the exceptionally high turnover levels for employee in the hospitality industry in the UAE. Discussions on the increased turnover rates have for a long time been on the top of the agenda for Human Resources (HR) departments and professionals. In an industry where consistency in service is key, the majority of industry players spend substanital sums of money in training and development of systems but are still affected by high turnover levels. The training that is specific to organization methodology and services approaches impact heavily on cost and time while the turnover levels have been on the increase.  The result has seen more and more organization going through the rigorous recruitment process so as to replace the employees that have left. These aspects are time consuming which limites the organization's ability to focus on the core activity of their businesses. Our analysis reveals  a three main factors as the major cause of higher employee turnover in the UAE hospital industry. These are the low state of employee motivation followed by poor wage benefits to the workers and finally the balance between work and life. These factors can be addressed within reasonable HR approaches so as to limit employee retention rate in the UAE hospitality industry. We offer several recommendations that HR professionals should consideration for future policy development as well as future avenue for research.

 

Chapter 4: The effects of employee engagement on employee engagement on employee turnover: A case study from the UAE

 

Tasleem Firdous The increasing employee turnover in the UAE has lead HR experts to reconsider the role of employee engagement. This chapter will investigate whether employee engagement has an influence on the turnover of employees in the UAE. We use a qualitative research design  to anlyse the relatinoship between employee engagement and three variables, namely culture, job tenure, and the type of industry. To better understand the proposed framework, the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) model is used to explain the various relationships. It is important to note that although previous literature  explains the relationships, there is a lack of literature aimed at industries in the UAE. Therefore, this research will help contribute to the existing literature where all variables are studied together and in the  UAE context. In terms of data analysis, secondary qualitative data is gathered from two online-based discussion forums, for four firms in the UAE - Apparel, DHL, Petrofac, and Siemens - for a period of five months starting from 1 September 2017 till 31 January 2018. The comments have been analyzed through two techniques - content and thematic analysis. Our findings show that employee engagement, indeed, affects the level of employee turnover for a firm. Furthermore, workplace culture can have an impact on the level of engagement displayed by employees. As a result, engaged employees tend to have longer job tenure with the firm. The type of industry, in which they are employed in, also seems to affect both engagement and turnover. The findings also correspond to the theory used in the research. Based on the findings, certain strategies are recommended for the management to help them create a supportive work culture in their respective industries, enhance empowerment, and reduce turnover. Nevertheless, owing to the nature of the research, there are some limitations faced, for which certain directions for future research have been specified.

 

Chapter 5: Long working hours and its impact on employee productivity in the UAE service sector

Yasmine Karim

Over the years, researchers have tried to understand how the productivity of individual employees and the company performance are affected by different factors. One of these factors has been the length of working hours, a factor known to cause both positive and negative effects on an individual and the company in general. Despite extensive research in this area, we have limited evidence for emerging countries, such as the UAE with a large labour-force in lower-skilled service sector jobs. The commonly held view is that a reduction in working hours leads to an increase in productivity. This study finds that a reduction in working hours in combination with adequate break and rest periods yields benefits  in three main areas: psychological, motivational and organizational. However, this correlation was found to be positive if weekly hours are dropped beyond a specific number of hours. To examine our findings in relation to the existing literature lower-end jobs in the service sector, we compare data from four different countries developed and developing economies. The data relates to the service sector productivity ratio has (output) and weekly working hours (input) and found the results to be congruent with the literature. In addition to the working hours, the study identified is set of other variables that impact productivity and analyzed these variables and established interlinkages between them. As a result a model that is employable for studying productivity was developed.

 

 

 

THEME 2: Employee Incentives in the UAE

Motivated and happy employees are the asset of an organization. Pervious and current researches have proved that the rewards and motivation have a positive relationship with job satisfaction (Jehanzeb, Rasheed, & Rasheed, 2012; Arokiasamy, Tat & Abdullah, 2013; Gabriel et al ,2016; Victor, & Hoole, 2017; Pang & Lu ,2018; Karadas & Karatepe, 2019). According to Herzberg, increasing rewards can result in temporary motivation; whereas, the intrinsic factors like 'achievement, recognition, responsibility and growth opportunity or career advancement' can increase motivation for longer period of time (Herzberg, 1968). UAE has diverse workforce and poses the challenge of managing rewards and incentives for both local and expatriate population.

The expatriate work force outweighs the Emirati nationals, especially in the private sector (Younies et al, 2017). According to the results of empirical analysis by Fadillah & Ismail (2018), the employees of public organizations of UAE are not satisfied with the current bonus system but believes that incentive system of the government is fair. However, the employees believe that the reward system in the Incentive Act of UAE needs further improvement because they rarely receive a reward for outstanding performance. In addition, the research revealed that most of the employees expressed the lack of information on the mechanism of the current incentive system.

In January 2019, the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) announced a unique conference," The First Workers Incentives and End of Service Benefits Conference & Exhibition "to be held on 26th Feb,2019 at Dubai. H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman Abdul Mannan Al Awar, Director General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources said: "We wish to improve the work environment for Employee Benefits and the rights of employees in the UAE. It is a vital topic for all stakeholders in the UAE and the world. UAE is a regional pioneer in following the best global practices in supporting and providing a strong foundation for a productive and fair business environment. Our goal is to increase productivity to the benefit of employers and employees, and the national economy in general" (www.fahr.gov.ae).

 

Chapter 6: How does a total reward system influence employee motivation among executive management? An analysis of the UAE real estate industry

 

Noor Al Mojahed

 

The aim of this chapter is to review the impact of a total reward system on employee's motivation among executive management in the real estate industry in the UAE. The research is conducted on the basis of a quantitative research design using a survey questionnaire that has been used to gather the opinions of employees. The survey is conducted from a sample of 250 Executive level employees who are working in real estate firms. The measurable responses are analysed on the basis of a 5-point Likert scale. Our  regression results show that monetary rewards have a positive relationship with the motivation level of the executive employees. Moreover, non-monetary rewards also have a positive relationship with the motivation of executive level employees working in real estate firms. On the basis of our findings, we offer several recommendations, which include having a appropriate mixture of monetary and non- monetary reward system in order for organisations to enhance the motivation level of their executive employees.

 

THEME 3: Restructuring and Integration of Employees in the UAE

Many organizations operating in the UAE have been witnessing organizational change in the context of merger and acquisition. Some of these examples include (but are not limited to) the merger of two big oil companies, Zakum Development Co. (ZADCO) and Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. (ADMA-OPCO); the consolidation of three firms Abu Dhabi Petroleum Ports Operating Company (IRSHAD), Petroleum Services Company (ESNAAD) and the Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company (ADNATCO); the US$135 billion merger of Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic); Mubadala Development Company and International; the merger between Emirates Bank International (EBI) and National Bank of Dubai (NBD) (Salim 2013) and the merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB) (NBAD, 2017). The concept of merger and acquisitions (M&A) mainly originated from the western context, as it explored cases of change occurring to organizations from different sectors in the market (Yousef, 2017). Bebenroth and Ismail (2014) argues that according to statistical data, most M&A fail and urges that this failure is attributed to cultural conflict that arises during the integration process. Similarly, Lok & Crawford (2004) and Al-Ali et al. (2017) agrees that after merger, cultural differences between merged organizations lead to consistent downfall in employees' performance. Thus, the consolidated firms begin to blame one another for the deteriorating performance, as reflected on proven evidence from the merger of Daimler-Chrysler case (Ager, 2011; Siegel & Simons, 2010). According to Erwin & Garman (2010); Dorling & Dorling (2017) and; Senior et al. (2017) merger initiatives fail because organizations put too much focus on the potential benefits while neglecting the important factor of culture in the process. On the other hand, many authors have argued that other factors such as conflict of interest among employees, lack of shared trust and poor leadership and management practices, cultural incompatibility and cultural clash contributes to the failure of M&A (Bönigk & Steffgen, 2013; Islam et al. 2014; Lawrence, et al. 2014 and; Ndaba & Anthony, 2015). Senior et al., 2017 argues that organizational restructuring occurs due to mergers and acquisitions. This theme of the book would present and analyze three distinctive elements: organizational culture, employees' psychological perception and the influence of organizational restructuring post-merger on employees and will explain the link between the role of organizational culture and its influence on determining the success or failure of the aspired change initiative.

 

 

 

Chapter 7: Consequences of merger and acquisitions on employees: A case study from the banking industry in the UAE

 

Tijan Muhanad Younus AL-Naeemy   

Managing organisational changes in the face of an ever dynamic external business environment has been a important topic in the management and strategy literatureHowever,  managing change and its associated impacts on various psychological human traits, such as emotions and cognition have been less researched. Thus, this chapter takes into consideration the effects of radical changes in the context of mergers and acquisitions in the UAE's banking industry and relates the findings with the existing literature. More specifically, we focus our analysis on employees` psychology after the merger and their attachment to the organizations' culture and their work productivity. The papers draws on the merger of the UAEs` largest two banks, National Bank of AbuDhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB) and wehighlight the issues faced post-merger by designing three models. Moreover, we also offer recommendations to reduce employees` negative psychological emotions, cognition and behavioral outcomes experienced post-merger.

 

THEME 4: Inclusivity and Diversity in the UAE

In the last decade, Neurodiversity has been advocated as a significant but neglected variable that may foster innovation, creativity, and increase productivity in organizations (Austin & Pisano, 2017). Neurodiversity refers to the normal variation in brain function and behavioral traits of individuals (CIPD, 2018). In UAE, the People with disabilities are known as 'People of Determination' (Ashaab Al Hamum). In 2006, Under the Federal Law No. (29) was approved by His Highness President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the UAE's first law to protect the rights of people of determination, states that, "all barriers to equal opportunities for them were removed, and their right to a decent life and comprehensive care in education, training, health and rehabilitation, was guaranteed" (www.abudhabi.ae). Dubai Municipality is eager to find jobs for willing people who can even communicate in sign language (www.dm.gov.ae). The Care and Rehabilitation for People of Determination Center, under MOCD, actively take part in providing employment opportunities to the people of determination in federal governmental, local and private institutions (www.mocd.gov.ae). The incidence of autism in the United States is now 1 in 42 among boys and 1 in 189 among girls, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.org). The Dubai autism center reported in 2017 that there has been a steady rise in autism in UAE,estimated to affects 1 in 146 births (0.68%) (Alabbady, Hessian, Alaam , 2017). 

 

 

 

Chapter 8: An investigation into the workplace inclusion strategies for neuro-diverse professional in the UAE through talent management

 

Rajani Mary Chako and Wardah Qureshi

 

Neurodiversity has been championed as a significant but neglected variable that may foster innovation, creativity, and increase productivity in organizations. Neurodiversity refers to the normal variation in brain function and behavioral traits of individuals. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the talent management strategies, benefits, and challenges of integrating neurodiverse professionals into the workforce of the UAE. A thorough literature review was conducted to understand the views of the experts in the field and to ensure the research findings are accurate and relevant. Followed by analysing Human resource theoretical frameworks like resource-based view, Knowledge-based view, AMO model, ASA framework, and Human capital theory to form a sound basis to portray the research findings. The chapter concludes with the expected outcome, recommendations and limitations of the proposed research and future research. In UAE, people with disabilities are known as 'People of Determination' (in arabic: Ashaab Al Hamum). In 2006, Under the Federal Law No. (29) was approved by His Highness President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the UAE's first law to protect the rights of people of determination states that "all barriers to equal opportunities for them were removed, and their right to a decent life and comprehensive care in education, training, health and rehabilitation, was guaranteed" (www.abudhabi.ae). In addition to other community and support services, The Care and Rehabilitation for People of Determination Center (Disabled) -Vocational Rehabilitation and Recruitment Department, under MOCD,  offers employment and hiring services to both; people of determination who are seeking employment, and federal governmental, local and private bodies which desire to employ people of determination. Our findings  illustrate that employment is integral to the welfare of individuals including the neurodiverse professionals . They have extraordinary skills, and there are many advantages of hiring neuro-diverse talent. Not all Neurodiverse people can work, but, with understanding from their employer and colleagues, and reasonable adjustments to the HR process and workplace, many can be a real asset to businesses . Firms embrace neurodiversity as a business need, competitive advantage and social responsibility and employee branding.

 

THEME 5: Employer and Nation Branding in the UAE

Nation branding has factual and positive outcomes. Despite the debate around the existence of nation branding, many researchers agree on the fact that 'nation branding' is not a myth and that each nation has a brand and an image (Anholt, 2007; Dinnie, 2008; Fan, 2010; Zeineddine, 2017; Andrei, 2017). A well-planned progressive strategy for nation branding can enhance the country's ability to attract tourists, investors and talented workforce alike (Zeineddine & Nicolescu, 2018). Although, UAE has taken initiatives to do branding of the nation and has achieved some success in the middle-eastern region, yet the need to investigate the global best practices to strengthen its nation branding, in order to be ranked among the Top 10 Most Valuable Nation Branding, still exists (Brand Finance, 2017).  UAE is a multicultural work destination, reflecting many races, cultures, ethnicities, and origins. It is estimated that more than 80% of the UAE labor workforce made up of expatriate workers, a compound of more than 100 nationalities (Ababneh & Hackett, 2019). According to 2018 report, the share of employed UAE nationals out of the total workforce, both expatriates and nationals, across all sectors was 7.19% only (UAEVision2021, 2018). Thus, UAE depends heavily on expatriate skilled labor. In coming years, UAE is expected to face a shortage of highly skilled worker. The labor gap will widen by 2030 and is worth $50 billion (www.arabianbusiness.com; www.khaleejtimes.com). Due to mobility of the talent and unfavorable immigration policies, attracting talented workforce remains as an arduous challenge for UAE. Contemporary nation branding strategy can play an effective and dexterous role in captivating the capable and expert labor pool (Silvanto, Ryan & McNulty, 2015).

 

Chapter 9: E-commerce acceptance and implementation amongst consumers in the UAE: An opportunity to build human capital for future jobs in technology and marketing

 

Sabahat Momin

 

With the steady rise in information technology & social media, E-commerce, over the past few years has shaped the way multinationals manage and conduct international business. Having contributed to the growth of many organizations, online retailing has been adopted and implemented by sellers and buyers all over the world as a thriving trend. It can be observed that until 2015-2016, researchers & industry experts strongly presumed that there would be no scope for cross border ecommerce and online retailing in Dubai. However, as of 2017, there has been a gradual but steady rise in cross border B2C online shopping amongst the consumers in Dubai. This chapter thus, seeks to investigate the factors that have led to the gradual acceptance and implementation of B2C cross border ecommerce in the region. It also examines ecommerce adoption as a technological innovation by using the adoption model of theory and finally draws a comparison between the performance of online retailing in Dubai with that of Saudi Arabia, by using consumer demographics and buying patterns as inferences. Also, the possibilities and opportunities of fuure jobs in the e-commerce sector will also be discussed. Based on the currrent trends of e-commerce, it is recommended that how the UAE can develop future human capital.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10: Key elements of national branding: The important of development of local human capital in the UAE

 

Myriam Saad

 

Over the past decades, globalization has led nations to brand themselves and create a competitive advantage in order to develop a positive country image. The purpose of this chapter is to determine main elements influencing nation branding and explore potential opportunities for the UAE to strengthen its nation branding. Although the existing literature regarding nation branding has analysed many developed and emerging countries, there is suprisingly limited work  on the UAE as a brand. Hence, this paper investigates the global practices the UAE need to follow in order to be ranked in the Top 10 Most Valuable Nation Branding. This study uses a exploratory qualitative research design applied to the UAE and aims to provide insights into nation branding and recommendations to follow from global practices. Findings from this research can guide to develop the nation branding e in order to understand the basics of the topic, and main elements to focus on to enhance nations' ranking. Products, tourism, political and cultural brandings has been classified as main elements of nation branding after analysing main determinants' rankings from Anholt-Gfk Roper Index. Therefore, this study contributes to existing researchers by providing a thematic study based on indices.

 

THEME 6: Human Capital and Innovation in the UAE

According to global innovation index (GII) 2017, UAE was ranked 35th among 127 countries, but in year 2018 the ranking has dropped to 38th position (www.globalinnovationindex.org). The government is aiming to be among the top ten innovative nations. In the scope of Vision 2021, the government of UAE has set the agenda, aiming at building a world-class health care system. The mandate is to achieve this objective by enhancing the healthcare system's readiness to deal with epidemics and health related risks. In the fiscal year 2017, a budget of AED 48.7 billion was allocated for the Innovation, out of which AED 4.2 billion (8.6 percent ) was granted to Healthcare innovation and protection of society (www.mof.gov.ae).  The healthcare of UAE is at the divergence and cusp of health Innovation. Automation, artificial intelligence and Nano technology are being introduced in the UAE health system (www.gulfnews.com). The implementation of the healthcare innovation demands skilled human capital, which can foster the new challenges. An organization can improve the performance and enhance its innovation capability by building and employing efficient workforce (Kim et al., 2015). With Innovation implementation strategy, the concerned authorities should diffuse knowledge to stakeholders to strengthen the human capital (Chatain and Meyer-Doyle, 2017; Greer et al., 2017). Proactive behavior of employees act as a precursor of the innovation performance (EscrigTena et al., 2018). Cognitive flexibility of the employees play an important role in discovering new strategies. (Huebner and Fichtel, 2015). The findings are that the UAE health system is challenged by physicians/nurses shortage, especially the national personnel, high turnover rate and retention problem, skill-mix imbalance, weak knowledge base and inadequate investment in human resources (Hannawi and Salmi, 2014). With These current problems, it's interesting to explore that how UAE healthcare can develop resilient human capital by knowledge integration to embrace the forthcoming Healthcare Innovation.

 

Chapter 11: The role of human capital in the implementation of healthcare innovation in the UAE

 

Wardah Qureshi

 

The UAE government is aiming to be among the top ten innovative nations by the year 2020. In the scope of Vision 2021, the government of the UAE has set the agenda, aiming at building a world-class health care system. The mandate is to achieve this objective by enhancing the healthcare system's readiness to deal with epidemics and health related risks. The healthcare innovation strategy is meant to promote advanced technologies and to stimulate the growth of the biotechnology, pharmaceutical industries and medical research. This chapter will investigate the current challenges and will explore the UAE health care system's preparedness human capital readiness for the upcoming healthcare innovation strategy. Using secondary qualitative data, we show that the UAE government and healthcare authorities are enthusiastic to implement the Healthcare innovation strategies, but there are limitations and weaknesses on the human capital capability. The UAE healthcare system is challenged by physician and nurse shortages, high turnover rate, retention problems, skill-mix imbalance, weak knowledge base and inadequate investment in human resources.  We show that the implication of healthcare Innovation strategies require a sophisticated approach of continuous improvement, carefully crafted change management procedures and above all, well trained and competent human capital (i.e. Physicians and Nurses). If innovation is imposed superficially, then desired outcomes cannot be achieved. Moreover, outsourcing technologies and experts will not lead to sustainability of healthcare innovation. Professional research and development is pivotal for well-established and sustainable innovation.The chapter will discuss that how knowledge integration can contribute in the development of resilient healthcare human capital, which is ready to endorse the forthcoming healthcare innovations.

 

 

Conclusion This book, through the above contributions, will be a welcome addition which we will plan to continue and update every one to two years. This addition to new knowledge will not only helpful to students and academics but also to practitioners interested in the region. More specifically this book aims to fulfil the following gaps