Batelco employees gear up for a great 2005

The event - hosted by Ian Dench, General Manager - Sales & Marketing at Batelco and opened by Chief Executive, Tony Hart - was designed to prepare Bahrain's national telecommunications company for the year ahead, share plans and strategies for key projects and enable the Sales & Marketing teams to learn more about important developments in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

During his opening speech, Tony Hart praised the outstanding efforts of all Batelco employees over the course of the last year since the introduction of competition in Bahrain, and highlighted the positive role that the Sales & Marketing Division has played in ensuring the company's success.

Ian Dench followed with a presentation on the year's accomplishments and what he hoped to accomplish during the conference. "We're here today to celebrate 2004, better understand our strategies for 2005 and to learn more about our external environment," said Ian. "The latter is a vital component for the continued success of our business and we are both delighted and honoured to welcome Andreas and our other guests here today."

Mr Avgousti's presentation covered the role of the TRA, and explanation of how and why the TRA affects Batelco and its customers, and ways in which Batelco can work better with the TRA for the benefit of all.

Shaikh Ahmed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Batelco's General Manager - Human Resources also gave a presentation on the company's major HR projects for 2005 and praised the work done by all employees in terms of Batelco's recent developments as well as outlining plans for a soon to be launched Brand Engagement Programme.

"This is the first time ever that a company in Bahrain has tackled a programme to immerse all of its employees in a new - and totally customer-centric - brand culture. Re-branding our company is not simply about changing our logo. This programme will help enable the important values of our new company ethos to seep through the company at all levels, ensuring that our culture and values are effectively communicated on to our customers," explained Shaikh Ahmed.

Batelco's Ebrahim Zainal, General Manager - Networks, also presented future plans and developments for the company's fixed, mobile and Internet (IP) networks, outlining the considerable investment which will further strengthen Batelco's position as a true leader in world-class technologies and services.

Also in attendance was special guest speaker, Dr Hussain AlMahdi from the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry's Training and Development Committee, who provided an update on Bahrain's labour market reforms.

The conference was attended by more than 200 employees, who were given the chance to pose questions to each of the speakers and take part in team-building exercises and a quiz to close the day's activities.