ABN AMRO 'Mishwar' presents recognition awards to UAE National employees

The ceremony held at the Fairmont Dubai was attended by distinguished guests including Mr Essa Al Zaabi, Dubai Office Manager, Tanmia, Mr Essa Al Mulla, Programme Development Manager, Emirates National Development Programme, Mr Saad Abbas, Coordinator General, Dubai Human Development Award Secretariat - Dubai Economic & Development Department, ABN AMRO senior management and staff.

'Mishwar' - the journey is the foundation of the ABN AMRO Emiratisation strategy which is aligned to key global business themes of engaged employees and servicing societies, emphasising the bank's commitment to the UAE and its people.

Mr Colin Macdonald, Country Executive ABN AMRO UAE said, 'It gives me great pleasure to be here to celebrate the achievements of our UAE Nationals and 'Mishwar'- a journey which aims to create an environment that facilitates the attraction, retention, motivation and development of UAE Nationals, while providing them with opportunities that enable them to contribute to the success of the bank'.

'Mishwar' commenced in the year 2000 and developed under the Head of Head of Human Resources, Mr Arif Sayed whose commitment to Emiratisation has increased the banks percentage of UAE nationals from 19% in 2002 to 32% in 2005. This success is further reflected through the fact that all Branch and Service Centre Managers are UAE Nationals, and many hold senior positions in the bank.

'It is our belief that human capital is our biggest asset and that our employees define our organisation. It is our people that are critical to sharing knowledge and achieving synergies. We aspire to make full use of our employees potential by building a culture in which people are stimulated and rewarded for sharing their knowledge. An engaged workforce thus translates into providing a superior level of service to our customers' added Mr Macdonald.

Awards were presented for outstanding performance and for special initiatives ranging from a tailor made customer service programme developed with the help of a UAE National training consultant, to business communication skills and E-learning.

Mr Macdonald concluded: 'We are proud to have attained the 32% benchmark required for Emiratisation and continue to work closely with initiatives like Tanmia, the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority, and Emirates National Development Programme to actively contribute to the development of UAE's future professionals.'