2nd GPCA Human Capital Convention opens in Dubai

Dr. Amer bin Awadh Al Rawas, Chief Executive of Oman Telecommunications Company, opened the conference with a keynote address on the convention's theme 'Leading Change Through Operational Excellence'.

Also speaking were Wim Roels, Chief Executive Officer of Borouge Pte; Saskia Niessen, HR Director of LyondellBassell; Salma Hajjaj, Leadership Development Manager at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation; Dr. Jamal Al Ammari, Head of Qatarisation and HR Account Manager, Shell; Hala Al Turki, Partner, Altaaat Leadership Development Institute; Maha Khatib, Partner of Learnactive; Ken Delve, Director, Middle East PetroSkills; and Sohiyb Sakaji, HCM Principal, SAP.

Topics for discussion during today's full session included 'Talent Management in a High Growth Multinational Company'; 'Leading Change through Organizational Agility'; 'Effective Change Management Drives Values'; and 'Culture Transformation and Change Management'.

Dr. Al Rawas, CEO of Omantel, said flat organizational structures and efficient internal communications were essential for greater productivity.

Speaking on the role of leadership in retaining Gulf nationals in the petrochemicals sector, Yahya Al Marzouqi, Senior Advisor to the CEO at Borouge, said that knowledge transfer and a willingness to promote Gulf nationals to accept greater responsibility were critical to their development.

Salma Al Hajjaj, Manager of Leadership Development at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, highlighted the importance of employee recognition.

"Promoting engagement, acknowledging and building on the value that employees create to an organization, and encouraging employees at all levels to take ownership are notions that we need to promote amongst our peers and should be at the heart of any successful industry," she said.

Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, General Secretary of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association, said that while public and private sector cooperation on further education was helping to produce a more skilled local workforce, more industry diversification was still needed to absorb the region's growing number of jobseekers.

"Downstream industry can create up to five times as many jobs as commodity-focused petrochemicals, which currently makes up most of the Gulf's petrochemicals sector. How to realize more of these factories making finished goods is attracting considerable debate at this year's convention," he said.

Taking place at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel in Dubai, the Second Annual GPCA Human Capital Convention in Dubai opened with a pre-conference workshop on the role of leadership in driving, managing and sustaining change for operational excellence. The session was facilitated by Hala Al Turki, Partner and Senior Leadership Trainer at the Abu Dhabi-based Altaaat Leadership Development Institute. The convention ends tomorrow.