Academy fast tracks Mobily Saudi staff as launch date nears

The 30 strong contingents of sales personnel take the number of Mobily staff to undergo training at the Academy up to a total of more than 500. The latest move reflects Etisalat's pre-contract commitment to ensure its winning Etihad Etisalat consortium offered a Saudi-staffed operation trained up to the Corporation's standards and which has seen a comprehensive training programme created by the Academy for Mobily.

With the new Saudi mobile service's launch imminent, Dr. Doaa Fares, General Manager of the Etisalat Academy, said: 'We have been training Mobily employees since last December after we won the contract in Saudi Arabia. The programmes have been tailored to meet the specific needs of various level and categories of staff.'

The new trainees will attend a course that covers all the theoretical and practical aspects of sales, marketing, customer service and call centres for employees working in Jeddah, Al Riyadh, Dammam and the Eastern area. The course, which runs until the end of this year, will be followed by executive training programmes in Saudi Arabia.

While they are in the UAE, the new trainees will be offered practical experience as a result of a tie-up between the Academy and Etisalat's business centre and the contact centre in Ajman. The Academy runs similar training for staff at the Oman Telecommunication Company and Kuwaiti Telecommunication Company.

Mohamed Bamakhrama, General Manager of the Contact Centre, said: 'We receive groups of personnel after they complete the initial training at the Academy. We offer them practical, hands-on experience and exposure to customers in a live environment, while being supported by our own team. The trainees benefit enormously from visiting the Centre because it offers them a different perspective altogether and gives them training on state-of-the art equipment.'