Manpower Group - Emiratization in the UAE - Case Study Example

Emiratization in the UAE (Name) (University) Emiratization in the UAE Introduction Emiratization is a government scheme for nationalization in the United Arab Emirates whose objective is to employ its citizens through an efficient and consequential approach in both the private and the public sectors (Thompson and Wissink, 2016). The initiative has been in place for over a decade and is meant to afford the Emiratis better treatment in employment and employment opportunities. Though faced by challenges such as low performance of the nationals as compared to expatriates, strategies in emiratization have been geared towards improving the performance of the citizens through training and development, motivation, employment programs and education. The workability of the scheme has undergone intense scrutiny from the media and some academic forums in the UAE. The scheme has certainly got its advantages and disadvantages and this paper will suggest potential strategies for emiratization to work better in the UAE. This retro respect paper therefore seeks to discuss the emiratization strategy of Manpower Group in UAE, its objectives, achievements, strengths and weaknesses and the possible strategies. The Manpower Group Manpower Group is an organization that provides solutions for the workforce of various companies (Manpower Group, 2016). The group is global and has gained publicity for being among the best provider of permanent staffing and offering organizations staffing solutions that ensure that the business is agile and competitive. The group has over 3000 offices in 80 other countries and over fifty years of experience. Manpower Group develops personnel while instilling flexibility to the workforce to help them cope with the diverse changes and needs of staffing in various organizations. The group has therefore ensured that their clients get the best talent which is a powerful competitive advantage in the human resource industry. With their fully qualified candidates, Manpower Group guarantees the delivery of the right talent for the right placement and ultimately the best business results. Manpower Group markets its services to Emiratis seeking employment and provides the latest information on news, jobs and helpful papers over its site. Among the responsibilities that Manpower Group handles is order management where the order is obtained then the talent is provided as per the need. Some clients require that the candidates are trained further prior to joining the respective organizations while others need the candidates immediately. Manpower Group additionally manages assignments and trains on the same such as management of time, payroll and invoicing. The associates of the group are trained to teach the staff continuously based on changing dynamics such as needs of organizations and current trends. The group evaluates its programs to ensure that they go hand in hand with objectives in place and correct where necessary. For instance, the group always looks at the number of locals hired against expatriates to ensure that they have maximized the recruitment of Emiratis to enable them get the first workplace position in the spirit of localization. Emiratization Strategy of Manpower Group in the United Arab Emirates The Manpower Group in UAE is committed towards achieving the emiratization initiative through its strategy of maximizing the employment of the nationals form UAE. The Manpower group has an emiratization team in its organization that collaborates with the management in the conduction of workshops throughout the country. These workshops are meant to assist graduates and undergraduates with the rights resources to build the resumes in order to get the best jobs. The workshops furthermore give professional advice on careers. Apart from maximization of the employment of nationals, Manpower Group is further committed towards developing alliances with organizations across the UAE to broaden the capacity of the talent pool of emiratization. Through building the expertise of the locals, the group has been able to make professionals out of Emiratis thus making them attractive for employment for different avenues (Al-Asfour and Khan, 2015). This caters for the growing demand of Emirati individuals that are qualified for jobs in the region. Manpower Group additionally ensures that it meets the requirements of clients who expect that the manpower employed is from the UAE so as to meet the country’ localization strategy. The group further provides up to date and comprehensive information regarding emiratization which allows job seekers and employers to apply for jobs or seek talent from the group. Objectives Among the objective of Manpower Group is to recruit national that have high potential in the job market for both managerial positions and non managerial positions. The group also seeks to equip these nationals of UAE with current knowledge through the use of state of the art equipment and resources. The group is out to coach, mentor and train candidates from the UAE so that they achieve the requirements of the government and the organization through their performance. Practicability The emiratization strategy by Manpower Group has despite challenges helped a better number of Emiratis get into the job market. The challenges have however made the strategy have a lower chance at workability. Despite the move to train the local citizens and provide them with the first chances at getting employed in their country, studies have shown that the Emirati lack the drive to perform and practice good ethics at work. The challenge is unfortunately ignored in the major addresses of emiratization forums making it difficult for organizations such as the Manpower Group to obtain a larger number of Emiratis for recruitment. The nationalization strategy by Manpower Group is further hampered by the treatment of client and partner organizations towards employees. Studies show that workers have launched complaints of working under extreme conditions with no consideration for health and safety (Austin et al, 2014). Furthermore, the absence of job security in most organizations make the nationals prefer not to work and this makes the emiratization strategy impracticable. The emiratization strategy includes involving women during employment opportunities and in the available sectors. It is evident that Emirati women have good education but their percentage in the workforce is very low (Rutledge and Shamsi, 2016). In order to achieve the strategy of localization, women need to be considered more during employment. Despite Manpower Group putting efforts to train and put up local women for employment, the treatment of women and their limitations in the UAE makes it difficult for them to seek or maintain employment. It is certainly difficult to erase the traditions that the Emirati have most of which have to be changed so that women can be fully appreciated in the workforce industry for the emiratization strategy. The initiative to improve the local Emirati workforce and to hire more of the locals into the business is essential for the growth of the nation in political, social and economic terms (Goby et al, 2015). It is also bound create an Emirati workforce culture that is qualified and one that has high potential. There is however the need to bridge the knowledge gap between achieving emiratization strategies and the factors that make it hard to achieve the respective strategy. The situation at the moment shows moderate practicability of the strategy due to detrimental factors such as economic migration, little empowerment of women in the region and the reluctance of some companies to adopt the emiratization strategy. Achievements to Date The image that Manpower Group has created has enabled it to become the most sought after workforce solution group in the UAE as they have proven to give the best talent. Manpower Group therefore has partnerships with several organizations in the Emirates to provide candidates for employment who are from the local region thus fulfilling the goal of emiratization. Manpower Group furthermore uses innovative solutions to workforce management thus their competence in the industry. As a result of this use of contemporary temporary methods and resources in the training of candidates, the group solutions that are flexible as based on the rapidly changing nature of talent and workforce needs. Strengths of Manpower Group Manpower Group has the image and the publicity of providing talent that is adequate for businesses in the UAE. Aside from being a global brand, it has positioned itself strategically in the UAE and the used the emiratization program to source for more talent and provide the Emirati organizations with skilled employees form the local region. Manpower Group has unrivaled experience owing to its global brand. The group has over 3000 offices in 80 other countries and over fifty years of experience. Over the years Manpower Group has amassed associates who are highly qualified and possess the skills that are presently required in most human resources departments. Their continuous practice of bettering the workforce trained under them affords them the ability to provide of their clients talent that is needed. In Emirates for instance they have adopted the emiratization initiative to provide local talent. The training and development center at Manpower Group offers a great number of course most especially in human resource skills and development that makes sure that the candidates have enough resources and therefore the skill to work competently in any organization. Manpower Group prides itself in getting to know its client companies and the workforce needs based on the strategy and needs of the organization. The information that Manpower Group has on a particular company is used to identify the right talent with regards to the particular job and the needs of the organization. Among these needs in the UAE is the employment of local individuals. The group therefore gives priority to Emirati nationals during recruitment so that the emiratization needs of most companies are met. In addition to providing the right candidates for jobs in the region, the group works closely with its clients in order to provide changes where needed or reinforcements to the workforce. The practice has increased efficiency of emiratization in the UAE through the delivery of local talent and improvement of the talent through working with the clients of the group. The flexibility of the provision of work by Manpower Group enables them to provide talent that is right to the right place, and at the time that is needed for the continuity of the business. Moreover, the expertise that the group has on the basis of global and local trends has enabled them to provide their clients with local talent that is highly qualified. Weaknesses Manpower Group faces the challenge of promoting a regional strategy yet its roots are foreign. The doubt and debate surrounding the interest of a foreign based organization on the localization strategy reduces the trust on the company thus making the recruitment of Emirati nationals difficult. Furthermore, the group has been recruiting and training expatriates that come into the region to work. As is it is assumed, most foreign individuals perform better that the locals. This assumption together with being used to recruiting other individuals has created a dependency towards expatriates. Most human resource recruiting groups in the Emirates have been labeled as corrupt with some being investigated for forging numbers of nationals that have been selected as candidates for employment. This image has contributed to the mistrust targeted towards the company. Many nationals therefore believe that they have minimal chances of getting employment through such groups due to the illegal nature of the business being carried out. The expectations of Emiratis is a daunting challenge to Manpower Group as they have to deal with their prospects of higher pay an better treatment on the basis of the emiratization strategy (Tong and Al-Awad, 2014). Manpower Group has achieved its competence through integrity and the expectation of leniency on the basis of nationality is detrimental to its purpose of catering to all recruits and imparting knowledge with fairness. Possible Strategies for the Subsequent Five Years The organization needs to form a clear internal policy for emiratization that includes both short term and long term goals with targets for the achievement of these strategies. These strategies need to be realistic and based on actual research and information that is on the ground. There are various approaches that may help Manpower Group to strongly impact the emiratization policy despite the challenges faced in both the country and the organization as outlined below. Manpower Group requires developing of national recruitment campaigns to be used to attract potential Emirati talent to the group for training, recruitment and hiring (Jamal, 2015). These campaigns should therefore be targeted specifically towards Emirati nationals in a way that is appealing to them thus raising their interest in the process. Apart from campaigns, Manpower Group may utilize other methods that are suitable in attracting the Emirati nationals such as introducing work placement programs, summer training programs, visiting of colleges and universities, presenting an attractive salary package and offering scholarship programs for national students. These incentives will go a long way in attracting the local talent (Vassilopoulou et al, 2015). The work placement programs can be offered to the Community Universities and colleges as part of the academic program. Through liaising with the management of the academic institutions, these placements can be made as requirements for the curriculum and graduation of students. The placement programs will provide help to aspiring students in different job categories and give them theoretical as well as on the job training which gives them experience and makes them competent in their career of choice. The work placement strategy can be promoted through coordination with schools, raising awareness of parents and other community stakeholders and ensuring that the program is implemented without flaw. One major benefit of the work placement is the fact the trainee is able to identify areas where they are more competent during the placement thus making it easier for them to seek out the right jobs after graduation. In addition to the work placement, students in universities can be given summer training as an approach to prepare the talent in universities. This summer training is beneficial in widening the academic horizon of the students. Furthermore, the group will be able to choose from the students with high potential and offer them up for recruitment to prospective organization after the completion of their academic studies. University and college visits have been proven to be essential in raising the interest of the students towards the job market. As seen from statistics in the Emirates, the number of individuals who have academic qualifications is high compared to those who are actually in the work force which is extremely low (Chapman et al, 2014). Considering the growing economy and the economic migration seen in the region, the availability of jobs is not a complexity (McAdam et al, 2013). The mindsets of the Emirati nationals need to be changed in order to encourage more of them into the industry. from these university visits, Manpower Group will be able to impact the advantages of working to the students, and the whole society as well. To further raise their interest, the group should use Emirati nationals in the industry as examples of local talent with high potential in the respective industry. From these visits, the group may also provide short courses and training on job skills and professionalism. For Emirati candidates in training, Manpower Group can introduce certification programs where the standards of the professions of the candidates are raised. Furthermore, individuals who perform beyond the ordinary can be rewarded to set an example for other candidates and encourage competitiveness. Development of both the individual and their respective career is important to encourage self improvement and thus make objective employees. The result will be an Emirati workforce that is self driven and not dependent on the constant guidance of the employees but rather able to make sound decisions at work. Manpower Group should use a graduate program as a social responsibility to the Emirati university graduates so as to choose the most capable and train them to become potentials candidates for recruitment to various organizations (Alserhan, 2013). The graduate program can be facilitated through partnering with other Emirati institutions to achieve maximum training for the trainees as per their academic qualification and area of study. One of the specifications for the enrollment criteria is that the applicants have to be Emirati graduates. In the program, the management trainees who have been enrolled will be expected to go through all the departments in the specific organizations that they are placed under. The program needs to target fresh Emirati graduates who have little or no experience. The group may use various ways of sourcing for the candidates such as career fairs and the university visits. Through the university visits the group can get students recommended by their professors based on their capabilities. To cement these strategies, Manpower Group has to clarify its internal policy and set key performance measures to evaluate what they have attained towards the emiratization strategy and improve where necessary. Using graduates is a particular imperative strategy as they can be modeled to create an emiratization culture therefore making the policy stronger and practical in the United Arab Emirates Conclusion From the discussion in this paper about emiratization, it is evident that Manpower Group has invested in the emiratization policy through creating an emiratization team that coordinates workshops that recruit graduates and other candidates from the Emirates. The group has also maximized giving Emiratis the first chance in employment in a bid to execute the policy. The emiratization strategy has however been faced by challenges and its practicability has been questioned on both an organizational and national level. There is the belief that the Emiratis do not perform well at work and lack the competence that expatriates have. Apart from this challenge, most organizations have not adopted the strategies while others forge the records on the number of Emiratis that have been employed. Manpower Group in itself faces eh challenge of being an international group that practices a local strategy hence creating mistrust. Despite these challenges, there are strategies that the group can employ to implement the localization initiative in an effective manner. Among these strategies is the recruitment of graduates from community organizations and the institution of a management trainee program that is beneficial to the Emirati graduates. This is one step towards ensuring that the local talent is maximized and utilized. The other strategies are the use of work placement and utilization of summer for training the local students during school breaks to widen their academic knowledge. This will help to make the Emiratis competent in all the industries of work. References Al-Asfour, A., & Khan, S. A. (2014). Workforce localization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Issues and challenges. Human Resource Development International, 17(2), 243-253. Alserhan, B. A. (2013). Branding employment related public policies: evidence from a non- western context. Employee Relations, 35(4), 423-440. Austin, A. E., Chapman, D. W., Farah, S., Wilson, E., & Ridge, N. (2014). Expatriate academic staff in the United Arab Emirates: the nature of their work experiences in higher education institutions. Higher Education, 68(4), 541-557. Chapman, D., Austin, A., Farah, S., Wilson, E., & Ridge, N. (2014). Academic staff in the UAE: Unsettled journey. 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