Dubai Knowledge Village hosts round table on skills challenges in UAE

Titled 'Turning on the Talent Pipeline: What are the skills challenges for the UAE?', the roundtable brought valuable perspectives to the table on the general concern about skills and capability, especially in numeracy and written communication. The lack of 'soft skills' and emotional intelligence among the youth in the region were also highlighted.

Organized in conjunction with the UK-based Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a leading HR and development group that boasts over 133,000 individual members, the event drew the participation of leading HR professionals in the UAE.

Ibrahim Jamel, Director, Dubai Knowledge Village, said:

"The objective of hosting such an event was to focus on creating the right enabling environment for the new generation by implementing world-class human resources management practices across Dubai and the UAE. Dubai Knowledge Village is committed to evolving as an industry benchmark through complementing Dubai's strategic mission to create a knowledge-based economy."

"As the only free zone of its kind that is totally geared towards professional training and learning support services, DKV caters to a wide variety of knowledge-based entities, including training centers and institutions that offer niche programmes," Jamel added.

Moderated by Prof John McGurk, Adviser, Research and Policy at Chartered Institute of Personel and Development (CIPD), the event drew the participation of Ibrahim Jamel, as well as George Saab, Chief Human Capital at TECOM Investments; Mounir A. Ajam, CEO of Sukad FZ-LLC; Zakeera Vidler, Director of HR Consulting at Connected HR; Ruth McGill, Regional Head of Human Resources, Standard Chartered Bank; Muna Murad, Human Resources Director of CNBC Arabiya, and Dr. Amal El Sawad, Faculty Member, Zayed University.

Prof John McGurk said, "As a leading HR association, CIPD aims to identify some of the key challenges facing the UAE and the wider region in relation to skills and talent. The focus in the past was recruitment and bringing in new skills, while the future will prioritise on the development and fostering of local talent, supplemented by the required expertise. Furthermore, we need to build a partnership between the government, businesses, educational institutions, and individuals to ensure that resources are optimized to the best capability."

"The discussions at the roundtable organized by Dubai Knowledge Village Partner Development enabled CIPD to better understand specific challenges within the UAE and support the development of HR to appropriately respond to the region's needs, while working with leading decision-makers," he stated.

The discussions underlined a strong need for Emiratis to take up HR and other senior roles in an organization. Highlighting the reluctance in the region to adopt flexible working hours, the discussions underscored the view that offering such a convenience to Emirati women would successfully enhance their participation in social progress.

Benoit de Beir, CEO of International Advice & Software Co., put together an informative mind-map, summarizing key issues relevant to the industry professionals.

Launched in 2003, Dubai Knowledge Village aims to consolidate the status of the emirate as a global destination for human resource management and learning excellence. It is a unique hub that offers the right investment opportunities in human capital empowerment, skills development and enhancement.

With over 450 business partners, the free zone cluster has evolved into an effective catalyst for training and learning for the entire MENA region, hosting a large number of HR training and development centres, management consultancies and e-learning providers.