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Editor’s Foreword arch is here and it is International Women’s Month. Obviously being female, and having worked in what are essentially male dominated environments in the past, I want to celebrate this.
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Yes, I appreciate that the majority of our readership is male, however especially in this region, a rebalance is on the cards, and with such initiatives by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s Gender Balance Council, we would be remiss not to look at this in more detail. ‘Diversity in the work place’, our article on page 16, highlights the importance of having women in the work place. Why? Women operate differently to men. They garner loyalty by acting differently and have a different style to getting the best out of people. Ultimately it is recorded that companies with at least one female board member, far out-pace those that are all male, so it makes sense for us to look at why. In our Success Series, we talk to four women who have risen through the ranks to command highly successful positions in both Government and in private businesses. On page 22 we have Shaikha Al Mutawa who is currently the Director PM Dubai Business Events with the DTCM. She talks with passion about empowering all people, whilst on page 26 we speak to Maryam Al Hashemi, Director of The Kimberley Process and how she rose through the ranks in a male dominated industry to now represent the country internationally at global conferences. Whereas on page 30, we speak with the sisters Hind and Sara Abdulrazak of Audax Investment Group LLC who are the owners of Sisters Beauty Lounge and Caboodle, to find out how they have taken their family business international. However, not the entire magazine is on women. On page 44, Grant King, Digital Marketing Director of IHC explains the changes that Facebook has made to its business pages and how to gain the maximum benefit from these. Whilst on page 64 we talk about how you can win the respect of your staff. Enjoy!
Publisher & CEO Liam Williams liam@flipflopmedia.ae Editorial Editor Tanya Selley tanya@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9063 Staff Writer Rachel Stracey info@flipflopmedia.ae Marketing Head of Marketing Harry Norman harry@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9062 Design Head of Design Mhar Delaben design@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9063 circulation & Production Circulation and Distribution Manager Antonio de Marco circulationdm@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9063 Database and Circulation Manager Aaliya Khan databaseandcm@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9063 Production Manager Juan Vasquez productionmanager@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9063 Digital webmaster@flipflopmedia.ae Published by
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March 2015 Cover
SuCCeSS SerieS inTerview:
MaryaM al HaSHeMi uae KiMBerley ProCeSS DireCTor, DMCC
*Success Series Interview: Maryam Al Hashemi, UAE Kimberley Process Director
Gender Diversity – The Bright Thing to do The Changes to Facebook Groups
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*Gender Diversity – The Bright Thing to do *The Changes to Facebook Groups
March 2015 | 3
54 16 March 2015
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Contents Foresight Page 14 – Women that Rock the World Page 16 – Gender Diversity – The Bright Thing to do Page 20 – Oil. Who will Profit from the Drop
Success Series
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Page 22 – Interview: Shaikha Al Mutawa, Director PM at Dubai Business Events Department, DTCM Page 26 – Interview: Maryam Al Hashemi, UAE Kimberley Process Director Page 30 – Interview: Hind and Sara Abdulrazak, Audax Investment Group LLC
Money Page 34 – The pixelbug Story
People
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Page 38 – How to Create a Happy, Engaged and Motivated Workforce Page 40 – Women in Business
Legal
DMCC Section Page 50 – Newly-launched Corporate Card Provides Another Offering for DCC Members Page 52 - DMCC Puts the Spotlight on Health and Wellbeing
Technology Page 54 – The Effect of Technology on Healthcare Page 57 – What (Exactly) is the New IP?
Insurance Page 58 – GCC Insurance Industry Value Almost Tripled
Travel & Hospital Page 60 – Don Alfonso
Business Incubator Page 61 – Lloyds Opens New Dubai Office Page 62 – Do you have Emotional Self Control? Page 64 – Win the Respect of your Staff Page 66 – The Importance of a Good Night’s Rest
Page 42 – IPO Your Startup
Marketing & Advertising Page 44 – Facebook – What the Recent Changes mean for your Business Page 48 – One Far Away Market
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expert panel
EXPERT PANEL John Brash Founder & Chief Executive Brash Brands
Ludmila Yamalova Managing Partner HPL Yamalova & Plewka JLT
Jonathan Hall Founder and Managing Director Mulverhill Associates
Caroline Jones Director Infopod
Yogesh Mehta Managing Director Petrochem
Ravi Bhusari Managing Director & Co-Founder DUPLAYS
Jeffrey Rhodes Founder & Managing Consultant Rhodes Precious Metals Consultancy DMCC
Nita Maru Managing Partner TWS Legal Consultants
Louis Lebbos/ Founding Partner Astro Labs
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March 2015
Muhammed Mekki Founding Partner Astro Labs
Dr. Tommy Weir Founder Emerging Markets Leadership Center
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Women that rock the world Business leaders tell us whom they find an inspiration and why
I nominate Ms. Nadia Abdul Aziz, the Managing Director of UNASCO and the Secretary General of the National Association of Freight and Logistics. She dedicates all her time and efforts to support the trade and logistics community in the region. Nadia is one of the few UAE national women in this industry in the UAE and GCC. She is present at the local and international occasions that are correlated with trade and logistics to exchange knowledge and experience, and is not hesitant to offer any kind of support and advice especially to women - which is rarely found in this field! Apart from business life, she is very active with dynamic involvement in the Corporate Social Responsibility area, by initiating and supporting various charitable campaigns. We are proud to have an active woman like Nadia in our industry, as we are sure that whatever she gives has a positive impact on our country. Eng. Mahmood Al Bastaki, CEO, Dubai Trade I am a big fan of H.E. Reem Al Hashemi. I love the way she captures any level of audience that she is addressing with such professionalism and a grasp of facts and figures. The way she led Dubai’s bid for EXPO 2020 was truly inspirational. She epitomises “Dubai’s Can Do” approach in both the Public and Private Sectors and I believe that she is a key member of Dubai’s leadership team. Jeffrey Rhodes, Founder & Managing Partner Consultant, Rhodes Precious Metals Consultancy DMCC
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What inspires me about Sheikha Lubna al Qasimi is that she was instrumental in the development and growth of e-business within the UAE, to the point where this was recognised by the World’s business community when, as CEO of Tejari, it won the award at the World Summit for Information Society’s ‘Best e-Content Provider in e-business’ (Geneva) and the UAE Super Brands Council ‘Super Brand of 2003’. Sheikha is such a success that she became the first female cabinet minister, growing the Region’s foreign trade even during the economic crisis. She sits on many boards as a director and devotes her life to improving the Region. She has been recognised by Forbes as one of the World’s most influential Arab women. I have had the pleasure of meeting her on several occasions at various Embassy and social functions and she has been a key conduit and ambassador in developing UAE relations worldwide. This has helped make the UAE a truly international and cosmopolitan business hub and destination. Paul Millar, Managing Director, International Private Banking, Arbuthnot Latham I am inspired by Sheikha Menam bin Rashid because she fights to empower women and she is the reason we now enjoy the successes that we do. And of course I also find the minister of the UAE, Her Excellency Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimi very inspirational, as she has propelled Arabic Women on to the international stage. Maryam Al Hashemi, Director, Kimberley Process, DMCC
The woman I most admire is the author J.K. Rowling, who I suppose perhaps became an accidental business woman. I admire the fact that she was never swayed from her vision and purpose by personal adversity, where many others would have given up. I myself have just completed writing a book and so I am fully aware of how hard it is. So to continue to produce highly successful writing is truly admirable. I’m passionate about kids and reading, and for me her books got kids reading again. She created something that has inspired so many; yet she has not rested on her laurels and has gone on to devote her time and expertise in helping disadvantaged children across the globe. For me she is the epitome female success. Russell Hemmings, Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist and Life Coach Whilst both my sister Sara and I would probably both say our mother Shirin Abdulrazak, although Elizabeth Holmes is also someone I admire in business. She is the world’s youngest female billionaire and the lady who discovered the non-injection. She has an amazing success story. She was in medical school but dropped out because she came up with this amazing idea of ‘Why are we injecting ourselves as it is so invasive?’, so she came up with alternative ways to do tests. Hind Abdulrazak, Creative Director and Partner, Audax Investment Group
I agree with Hind, I would say our mother, but I also admire women like Ivanka Trump. She has a family, marriage etc. and you can tell that she is not just following in her fathers shadow. She is actually forging ahead with her own business and has an amazing business sense; more so than her brothers who have been groomed for the role of taking over her family business. You can tell that she has come out as the strong one, creating a name for herself. Sara Abdulrazak, Managing Director and Partner, Audax Investment Group
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foresight
Gender Diversity; The Bright Thing To Do March is International Women’s Month and nowhere in the world are women encouraged to take on achievements like the UAE. Under the leadership of HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, women of all nationalities are empowered and enjoy support. You only need to look at the top businesswomen to see this; it is the female pursuit for taking on challenges, which has given the country many successful women entrepreneurs
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haikha Al Mutawa, Director PM, Dubai Business Events for the DTCM explains the Governments logic, “Women are a big influence in the home, as mothers, as sisters and as daughters, as well as being decision makers at work. On 8th Feb 1973, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak asked to start the federation of women. She wanted to empower women in all society and give them the opportunity to enjoy any position in the work place.� Gender equality here, is at the forefront of Government policy and has made such jumps that other countries can only dream of; For example, in the UK it was reported by the Fawcett Society that in the 40 years since the Female Equality Bill was launched, the gender pay gap stands at 19.1 percent on average (despite the Equal Pay Act of 1970), rising to 35 percent the older women get. In
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Britain women make up just 25% of CEO and senior officials. The UK Government is now calling for companies of over 250 employees to publish their pay scales so that women can approach their management if they feel they are not getting the right salary. Germany have taken gender equality one step further having just passed legislation through their Government that states more than 100 listed companies will have to allocate 30 percent of their non-executive boards to women. Norway, France, Spain and the Netherlands have already made this leap. Women globally may feel as though they struggle and the facts do back up this sentiment. Deloitte calculates that 90 percent of global board members are male. However this flies in the face of findings by an Ernst & Young survey from 2012 which reviewed 22,000 companies across four continents and found that gender balanced teams were much
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more successful and outperformed gender neutral teams both in terms of quality and returns, so surely there should be more female board members? With all of this proof, is it a male dominated environment that is holding women back or is it a woman’s own mindset? Certainly within the UAE, women can have the same opportunities as men, if they believe in themselves and go out there and get them. Globally, you need only to look at big brands to see how women are taking on men; Xerox Chair-CEO is Ursula Burns, Facebook COO is Sheryl Sandberg, IBM CEO is Virginia Rometty, Yahoo CEO is Marissa Mayer… the list goes on. Going into a male dominated environment can be daunting, but women offer a difference that their male counterparts cannot. They can be hard in the boardroom when required, but they can also show compassion. According to a report by Deloitte, Jane Diplock AO, who serves as Chairman of the Securities Commission of New Zealand and is an independent Director of the Singapore Exchange Limited says, “More recently, a number of studies were carried out to see if there was evidence that more women on boards or in senior roles, actually increased the bottom line. Extensive research has suggested correlation between the financial bottom line and the proportion of women on boards or in senior management. The Conference Board of Canada, Catalyst, independent consultancies and many others showed there is a direct positive correlation and attempted to argue that gender diversity was not only the “right” thing to do, but the “bright” thing to do.” As reported in 7DAYS, Dubai Women Business Council vice president Faiza Al Sayed said she believes the infamous ‘glass ceiling’ for all women in the workplace, no longer exists in the UAE. “There are no barriers,” said Al Sayed, herself the successful owner of a home interiors business in the UAE. “It only depends on the woman and what she can do; and that goes for every job sector. There is no ‘you are not supposed to do this.’ If you are a woman (in the UAE) and you are capable, then you can.”
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Alternatively, another option is to go into business on your own. Zeina Abdalla, Founder of FishFayce, did just that. She had heard about fun photo booths, which you could hire in the west for events, but was unable to locate a company in the UAE to do this for her own wedding. So what did she do? She set up her own company doing just that, and now has branches in Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait. It is that easy! There are some people in the UAE however that want to see more action to promote women in the workplace. They call for a female to be present on the board of directors for every company – Much in the same way that the Norwegian Government implement in their 2003 law, when they insisted that all listed companies should have females on the board totaling at least
40 percent of their directors. Now 40.1 percent of all business directors in Norway are female. Surprisingly, the vocal opponents to this are women. It is their belief that promotions should come only to those who deserve them. Whilst the debates about how society will be shaped in future have only just begun, it is women who now have a strong and exciting degree of sway in this situation and are therefore a powerful influence over how the Emirates set the pace. Regardless as to whether you are an Emirati or an expatriate, in every country in the world women are influencing the future of their countries and the lives of everyone in them by taking up careers that make a difference. It only takes 1 woman to inspire 100 others. Are you going to be that woman? l
It only depends on the woman and what she can do; and that goes for every job sector. There is no ‘you are not supposed to do this.’ If you are a woman (in the UAE) and you are capable, then you can” Faiza Al Sayed Dubai Women Business Council vice president
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Whilst the debates about how society will be shaped in future have only just begun, it is women who now have a strong and exciting degree of sway in this situation and are therefore a powerful influence over how the Emirates set the pace
The Businesswomen Councils
Each of the Emirates operate their own Businesswomen Council which have been established to strengthen ties with businesswomen communities at GCC, Arab and international levels and contribute to woman empowerment in business in their respective Emirate. For example, Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council (ADBWC) offers various services for Emirati businesswomen as well as would-be entrepreneurs. The services include legal consulting, feasibility studies for SMEs, business networking opportunities, business promotion services through the council website and opportunities to participate in business delegations locally and internationally.
Grants
Each council in turn has grants available. For example, the ADBWC offers Mubdiah Programme. This programme is one of the key initiatives of ADBWC and was set up pursuant to a decision issued by the Executive Council in 2005. It aims to allow Emirati women to practice a number of home-based business activities by licensing them through the Mubdiah programme, and provides all elements of success including training and marketing opportunities, thereby increasing the
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share of Emirati woman in economic and business activities. Sheikha Shamsa bint Suhail Award: Sheikha Shamsa bint Suhail Award for creative women was established as a platform to appreciate and honor the creativity of Emirati women in a variety of fields including economics and business, education, public services, literature, art and media as well as women with special needs, by targeting the women who have served the Emirati society continuously and creatively. It also includes businesswomen who have contributed to the social, economical, cultural, sports and humanitarian activities within the UAE and outside. The award was established by the Federal Decree No. 82 of 2010 and holds the name of HH Sheikha Shamsa bint Suhail, the wife of HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE. The total value of the award is AED 600,000, and the winner in each category will get AED 100,000 cash award each. Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development: The Establishment was set up to foster the development of entrepreneurialism, whilst encouraging and supporting UAE nationals to actively participate in the economic growth of Dubai, and facilitate the establishment of small and medium enterprises. l
The question remains; who are the UAE’s top 5 most powerful women? HE Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi: The UAE’s Minister for Foreign Trade and our first female minister. Recently voted as the Most Powerful Arabic Woman by Zee Network and Number 55 in the Forbes The Worlds 100 Most Powerful Women, Sheikha Lubna has promoted greater ties with the UAE’s International Partners. The result has been a 15% increase to US$980bn in non-oil foreign trade. This figure is set to increase to US$1trillion in 2013. Sheikha Lubna was appointed to her first ministerial post in November 2004, originally becoming Minister of Economy and Planning, however she did not let this deter from her own personal business pursuits. A successful entrepreneur in her own right, she founded the franchise Tejari, the Middle East’s first businessto-business online marketplace, which remains one of Dubai’s most successful enterprises, as well as several other business ventures and a perfume line Fatima Al Jabar: Chief Operating Officer of Abu Dhabi-based Al Jabar Group. Al Jabar oversees more than 60,000 staff and US$4.9bn in assets, but had previously proven herself working within the Abu Dhabi Government. In 2009, Al Jabar became the first Emirati woman to be elected to the board of directors at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. Dr Amal Al Qubaisi: The first woman to chair a session of the UAE’s Federal National Council, when she deputised for speaker Mohammed Al Murr. Previously she has worked to document and preserve the UAEs heritage sites. She currently represents Abu Dhabi on the FNC, which serves as an advisory board that reviews and recommends federal law drafts. Dr Amina Al Rustama: Group CEO TECOM Investments. Initially a Project Engineer in Dubai Media City ten years ago, Al Rustama has risen quickly through the ranks. She now looks after 4,500 businesses in TECOM Business Park. Mona Al Marri: Director General of Dubai Government Media Office. Formally a PR Guru and CEO of Brand Dubai, Al Marri is tasked with shaping the image of Dubai locally and abroad. She is also the president of the Dubai Ladies Club and board leader of Young Arab Leaders.
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foresight
WHO WILL PROFIT FROM THE DROP? 20 |
March 2015
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foresight
Airlines / Protein / Food / Shipping
Auto Manufacturers / Building Materials / Chemicals / Consumer Durables Cruise / Homebuilding / Restaurants / Retail
Gaming / Manufacturing / Mining of Base Metals and Coal / Paper products Utility and Power Producers – US / Surface Transportation
Gaming Industries / Refining and Marketing Utility and Power Producers – Asia / Steel
Aerospace / Utility and Power Producers – Europe
Building Materials / Exploration and Production / Oilfield Services / Steel
Source: Moody’s
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success
success story Interview:
SHaikha Al Mutawa
Director PM at Dubai Business Events Department, DTCM With March being International Women’s month, plus the UAE being at the forefront of female empowerment in and out of the boardroom, we at Business Insight thought it appropriate to showcase the UAE’s leading female successes n our article, we talk to Shaikha Al Mutawa, Director at DTCM and Founder of Power of People foundation, who is an avid feminist that has quickly risen through their ranks. At the age of just 25, she was picked to chair the UAE national day celebrations, and is very much involved with leading the green revolution within Dubai. “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has a very strong philosophy for women and he expressed his views on World Women’s Day. The world celebrates Mother’s Day. Culturally, we celebrate mothers, wives, sisters and daughters every day, and the community celebrates them as an active partner and leader of positive change. Women are the first port for any man, because she is the mother to them. She is a particular influence to them, so this must be nurtured. Women within a society are perfectly placed to give the ethics and morals, which can be passed down through generations. You only need to look at your own mothers to understand the influence that she can be in each home and in each family,” Shaikha explained when we were talking about female empowerment in the UAE. In business however, being a women does not equal success in your endeavor.
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What is the mindset that is required to succeed in business in Dubai? We are now competing with other nations to be the best, so you have to work very hard. When I graduated, I worked within the DTCM in an international team and from here my priority was, ‘How can I learn more and do more and be more’. I knew that I wanted to progress so everything I did was based on learning what it took in order for me to go to the next step. Who influenced you in this? My parents have both been hugely influential on me although my father was my key influence. He was always telling me, “Do whatever you think you want to do. Be who you want to be.” He was educated and studied at
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Kuwait University. He came from a family that set-up the educational revolution that happened during the 50’s and 60’s in Dubai so he empowered me with this philosophy. My mother also backs me in everything that I have chosen to do. You have worked your way up through the DTCM. Tell us more about your career progress. I have organised more than 150 events in Dubai, from large to small-scale events. I went from being a minute’s writer to chairing events, executing them with multinational minds. This was awesome, as it meant I was able to learn and gain more understanding and confidence as to what I should do, and how I should do it. It meant I was able to communicate exactly what was required as I learnt from their knowledge. From there I moved into business development and worked in green and environmental programs that empowered the tourism industry to be more responsible and driven by results. I won the “Innovative Employee Award” at the Dubai Government Excellence Award program in 2013, and then my top priority was how I could use my skills to benefit my community and country. The award was for me a starting point to do more and be more, which is how I came up with the POP Foundation. What have you been working on recently? I am still working in DTCM. I also believe in the power of togetherness. When people work together, they can create extraordinary things. This is why I started training business. I have called my business Power of the People, also-knowas POP, which aims to empower individuals on creating an instant and lasting change in their lives, by doing what it takes to achieve their career, financial and relationship goals. The POP Development Foundation is to inspire and empower individuals. People need to gain the skill where they believe, and trust themselves. Admittedly, some of us are born with this, whilst others need to learn it. They need to learn and have the faith in themselves; that they can achieve what they want. It is all about the mindset.
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success
H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum put out a statement calling for people with innovations in his recent book, ‘Flashes of Thoughts’, where he encouraged women to perform and use their talents to benefit the nation” shaikha al mutawa Director PM at Dubai Business Events Department, DTCM
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success
The UAE has succeeded on an entrepreneurial vision. Do you believe that the ideology of the government has enabled its residents and citizens to achieve and strive for more? We are so blessed that we are able to do this in Dubai and the UAE. We have that kind of revolution for women to be able to be who we are, and for entrepreneurs to be able to succeed due to the ease of starting and doing business here. We could not have done this without the vision of our leaders. The city is built on a successful cluster economy, where any international business owner can have his office in any free-zone zone and be able to operate his business successfully. Dubai offers high-end connectivity from telecommunications, infrastructure and much more. The Government wants us to be successful. H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum put out a statement calling for people with innovations in his recent book, "Flashes of Thoughts", where he encouraged women to perform and use their talents to benefit the nation. For us as Emirati women, we are in the golden era. We need to go beyond and this is what I hope the POP foundation can help achieve – Not just for women, or Emirati’s, but also for all nationalities. Why is a coach or a mentor so important for business leaders? There are different types of programs in the market and people need to understand these. Coaching and mentoring are different but they do have a commonality as well. For sustainable and successful results you need to have role models, and to be successful you need to model yourself on someone who has achieved what you want to achieve. Our leaders are great examples for leadership and mentoring. The Majlis was the ideal place where they used to discuss various things and get advice. We have seen this culturally for many years now. Originally in western world, coaching and mentoring was limited to high profile people as they had the ability to pay for it. I think now, because there are a lot of programmes that have been laid down; for example, The Sheikh Hammed Bin Rashid Leadership Programme, mentoring and coaching is achievable for everyone. This has graduates that during the programme have been mentored and delivered coaching from the leaders. By default
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they had the knowledge and then they were able to mentor others. Because of the business revolution, we also have a lot of experts from other nationalities, so we have different international companies that will deliver their expertise in a specific area. People do need guidance and expertise; they can also get it from these people. Why is diversity in the workplace so important? Men and women have different thinking processes to get you from point A to where you need to be. By having someone who is able to think this way, you can see more alternative options that are available to you and the different routes that you could take. You don’t necessarily need to act on these, but the different prospective means you can make a more informed choice as to what to do. The same can be said for people of different cultures and nationalities. Don’t be afraid to get advice from people of different cultures, they will give you a different perspective again. Dubai has such a multicultural workforce and this is where we are unique. The government has learnt how to mix the teams to ensure that everyone is achieving and businesses can succeed by doing this too.
So in terms of your own experience, and the fact that companies with women in boardrooms are known to outpace other companies which has led to Governments globally encouraging women to be on the boards of business, more and more women are now having business aspirations. What would your advice be to other women who are currently climbing the ladder? Women are naturally made to make it. Men are hunters and achievers, so they tend to be more aggressive to get what they want. If a lady were to feel frustrated, I would get her to calm down and explain that men and women are different. I would explain her strengths and gifts and how they can be offset against the men in their business. We have to accept that men have a competitive nature. Women often have to learn this. I always see how women – including myself, put the 360 on themselves and not on others. I would recommend that they take into account their colleagues or the manager. I wouldn’t recommend that they compare themselves, but they need to look for their strengths and improvements and work on these. I would never compare myself to my colleagues. Opportunity is equal. They need to understand that. They need to understand
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success
what the position requires. If that position requires a certain set of skills, I would look to that and say to myself, I need to do that. I need to match it. We need to set the map. Once we have the map, we need to set the goal posts and then she will reach where she wants to go.
Being humble is very important. Being humble is the ability to learn. We need to do what is right, but we have to learn from others with more experience. We can take their ideas and run with these. We need to be able to take their ideas and make them happen� shaikha al mutawa Director PM at Dubai Bussiness events, DTCM
What have you learnt in your career so far? When I worked in the events department I was looking for more. I had a really good director who pushed me to learn more. That was my passion, but I had the skill also. I had to learn how to work in business events, social events, arts events etc. Then I had to learn to apply this knowledge. That was my thing. I have learnt so much. I had to take responsibility of things beyond my age. At 25 I was the chairperson for the national day celebrations of Dubai. I used to influence people with experience and knowledge in this area. I also worked in developing the green program, pushing corporate social responsibility awareness campaigns, and sustainability programs in the tourism sector. What would your advice be to new entrepreneurs starting out in business? Being humble is very important. Being humble and master the areas that you want to be expert in, means you have to be a continuous learner. We need to do what is right, but we have to learn from others who have more experience than ourselves in any particular field. We can model their way of thinking and apply it in day-to-day operations. We need to see the idea in an entrepreneur’s mind that related to success and to failure. Remember, failure is just another way to learn the right way. They need to master their mental perception and learn to express this to others. Who is your mentor and influence throughout your career? My teachers are my role models. I remember one inspirational speech in the HCT given by Ms. Habbiba Al Hamrashi from Emirates Environmental Group. It invoked such inspiration it remains with me today and has influenced my career path.
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Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak is my inspiration in women leadership. I remember when I graduated from the Higher College of Technology, I was honored to stand in front of Her Highness and promise her to serve the country. My memory is still fresh, and I still have 24 golden coins given to us on that special day. That was my commitment to be great server to my country. Why is working in Dubai so exciting? There are no boarders in business. The requirements for visas in many countries are being withdrawn for UAE citizens, and this is testament for how important the UAE is from a business prospective. In Dubai everything grows so fast. Sustainability is a huge part of this and this sector will grow quickly in the future. The city already has the platforms to be able to create businesses quickly and easily and, with links from different countries, communities, other businesses and cultural events, as well as the physical links by air, sea
and roads, we are connected to the entire world. Therefore we will grow even faster. What is the best piece of business advice that you have ever been given that you would love to impart on other business leaders? We are living with extraordinary leaders and people, who have extraordinary skill sets, so we need to think about developing something extraordinary ourselves. You need to bring that extraordinary power out. If someone is to open a business, then without the extraordinary skills ,you are creating nothing. The extraordinary creates the power and skill. Without this, your business will fail. You have to have the guts to do this, and you have to be accurate with your planning in order to create your business. This is the only way of ensuring a successful profitable model. I have been shaped by various leaders from the Government and private sectors, and I am blessed to be able to define what are my ultimate goals are - which is to create instant lasting changes in people lives by offering a world class training and mentoring program to the individuals and group in the community. l
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success story Interview:
Maryam Al Hashemi UAE Kimberley Process Director
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is a joint government, industry and civil society initiative that aims to stem the flow of conflict diamonds into the legitimate diamond trade. Set up to assure consumers that the diamonds they are purchasing are conflict free, the KPCS was implemented in the UAE in 2003 by the Ministry of Economy, making the UAE the first Arab country to introduce this process, and the DMCC Authority the only entry and exit point for rough diamonds in the country. We speak to Maryam Al Hashemi, the UAE Kimberley Process Director, to find out more How did you get into the field of diamonds? I joined DMCC in 2003 and I was one of the first people to join the company. At the time, there was a vacancy within a newly established department, which was part of a larger, new, global organisation. It was explained to us that it was to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate market globally, but at that time people didn’t really understand the term conflict diamonds. Then, after we began to educate ourselves, we understood that there are countries where the rebels would fight the government. They would require arms for this and have to find the money to be able to buy them from somewhere. This money would start with diamonds. In Africa, the rebels would find a mine in a small town that they would ring-fence. They would catch all of the women, the elderly and children in the town and force them to dig and work at the mine for little or no pay. So of course, this is a good cause and made me realise that I would be part of something that was newly established, in which my actions here in Dubai would be changing the world for better, so I was very interested. So how did your career progress? In 2003 I started to climb the ladder. At that time, it was just a colleague and myself. I was an administrator and we started educating ourselves. Initially it was a very hard job for a woman as you very rarely see any females in this industry. It is not glamorous. When people talk of diamonds they think of Tiffany and Cartier, but in this industry you have to think about the mines, the rebels, the conflict diamonds, and the value of the diamonds – Are the diamonds priced correctly? Are they adding value to it to cheat others? Is this being used for money laundering? All of that and much more.
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Why did the DMCC take this process so seriously? Before the KPCS was implemented, there was no one paying attention to this. Every country would import and export them. The UAE is always one of the first countries to join such initiatives. The DMCC was the control office of the KPCS because we have the expertise in this field. We have the advisors and the equipment. When I now have meetings with the ministries, they still to this date say that they know that the KPCS is in the right place in the UAE. Within a few years, we had climbed to the top three diamond trading hubs globally. You work across government departments. You must have to be very diplomatic at times? Yes, this role is very diplomatic. You have to wear many hats working as part of the federal government, local government and the DMCC. Each time, I have to wear another hat. How did you cope with such a steep learning curve? It was initially very overwhelming but at the same time, it was very exciting. Every day there are new challenges, but I love challenges. It makes me feel really fresh. It keeps my mind working. There hasn’t been a year when I have thought that this is boring me; there is nothing more for me to learn. There is always something more for me to do, for me to learn. I am always learning and always improving. What has been one of the best accomplishments of your career to date? Being a member of the Kimberly Process committee, we can get called upon to give advice and help. We gave technical assistance to Cameroon for example. We gave them an introduction into the processes and how they
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success
I travel to two conferences a year for the Kimberley Process and for them to see a female from an Arab country they are like “wow”. They still think that Arabic women don’t work! They respect me for that. They respect the UAE for their empowerment of women” Maryam Al Hashemi UAE Kimberley Process Director
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Because of the Kimberley Process, rough diamonds are the best-controlled commodity in the world today” Maryam Al Hashemi UAE Kimberley Process Director
should progress. We trained them on the statistics, evaluating rough diamonds, the in-house processes that they could implement etc. It was great to know that when they started exporting rough diamonds, it was with our processes and training. This meant that they are able to do this within the guidelines agreed internationally, but ultimately it was learnt with the assistance of the DMCC. You are literally saving lives… This is the reason behind the KPCS, and one of the reasons I am so passionate about it. People do die for diamonds. Even if they are not killed, they are maimed. Rebels usually cut one arm off their workers. The logic behind this is that the rebels believe that it is more difficult to steal from the mines if the workers have just one hand. Because of the Kimberley Process, rough diamonds are the best-controlled commodities in the world today. No other commodity has a certification scheme applicable to all cross-border shipments anywhere in the world. So what are the challenges that you have faced at work? The challenges have different aspects. As a woman, first I was single and now I am married with children and that is a big challenge! Trying to juggle each aspect of your life is not at all easy. At the beginning it was all men in the industry. I had challenges with the traders as they all felt that they knew the
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business better than me. Especially when I had just joined. I had to prove that I understood the business. I had to prove that I understood every single aspect of it. I learnt to do valuations so I could prove I knew what I was talking about in this area. I am now certified to evaluate diamonds. Traders know that I understand the process; they are happy with the process and understand that I am looking after them as well as being in control of the office. It is difficult when you work with men until you prove yourself. Since I first started, there has only been myself and one other woman. Apart from us, it is all men. She struggled as well. She owns a diamond company but it is great to see that after 12 years, the pair of us are still here. No one has been able to shake us. Initially, they thought that we are females and therefore don’t have the commitment that they do. Once they realised that we were here to stay, they respected us. Ultimately do you believe that being a female has hindered your career or have you now reached a stage where it is in your benefit to be a woman? Now, it is very much in my benefit to be a woman working in diamond trading. I travel to two conferences a year for the Kimberley Process and for them to see a female from an Arab country they are like “wow”. They still think that Arabic women don’t work! They respect me for that. They respect the UAE for their empowerment of women.
People do die for diamonds. Even if they are not killed, they are maimed. Rebels usually cut one arm off their workers” Maryam Al Hashemi UAE Kimberley Process Director
What is the best piece of advice that you have ever been given? Everyone wants to give advice. The fun part is choosing whose advice you listen to! “Don’t let anyone shake you” is my favorite piece of advice. You have reached this position. Whenever I have doubts, I am told, “Maryam, you have reached this far. Don’t let anyone shake you.” This gives me strength. They have faith in me so why should I doubt myself? What is the one piece of advice that you would give someone? There will be hard times, happy times etc., but when you are fed up and reach the hard times, take a break. Don’t make a bad decision immediately. Step away from what you are doing, and give yourself some time. Don’t make the wrong decisions at the wrong time. Breathe and then think on it. Don’t act in emotion or else you will likely end up regretting it. l
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success
Interview:
Hind and Sara Abdulrazak Audax Investment Group LLC On meeting the sisters Hind and Sara Abdulrazak, Creative Director and Managing Director respectively of Audax Investment Group LLC, you immediately feel that air of knowledge that comes from women in power. More often than not however, the people you are meeting are much older than these two sisters, but then again, very rarely do you find people who initially started helping out at their family business from the age of 8 he business itself was originally the vision of their mother Shirin Abdulrazak as Hind explains, “She is a business women and one of the first entrepreneurs in the UAE. She started her Uniform Company from scratch. She started off with one school and by the time she was done, she had around 50 hotels and schools that she supplied uniforms to.” “She is the ultimate entrepreneur,” says Sara when I asked about her influence on them, “If she sees a gap in the market, she will take it. Even just dropping us to school in the 80’s there were no such thing as school uniforms and school uniform suppliers, and the headmistress said that all parents are asking, ‘Where are your kids uniforms from?’ So she created the uniform company.” From here, Shirin diversified into beauty, retail and fashion, before handing over the daily running of the business to her daughters.
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So does your mother still give you a lot of advice? Sara: Absolutely. When I get stuck with a creative issue and I go to her, she will come up with an idea and I am left thinking, “That is such a good idea. Why didn’t I come up with that?” We both admire her entrepreneurial spirit. Hind: We have been lucky enough to be able to live it. From the age of 8 we have lived her business. She had a boutique before, she has dabbled in everything and we have been able to follow her on her journey. We have learnt a lot from her. Do you think that women in business are beginning to threaten men? Hind: Men have an advantage, especially in the local
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communities. 10 years ago, their salaries were 25% higher at the same level. Now the gap is slowly closing. Sara: If you are talking specifically about the local population, the women are getting a higher education, forging ahead work wise and education wise. They are much more passionate about their careers. What has your career trajectory been? Sara: We both went to Boston for our undergraduate education at a business school, as the states are very advanced in business studies, entrepreneurial communication and information design. When we came back, Hind went to Emaar Properties, and I went to Dubai Holdings. I went into project management, focusing on construction and real estate. I found it to be very monotonous. I didn’t enjoy it, but the experience was great. At that point my mother had already opened the first branch of Sisters Beauty Lounge and was just about to open the flagship branch in Dubai Mall. I could tell that that was the perfect time for me to step into the business. I joined Sisters in 2008 and opened the flagship, 4000 square feet store in Dubai Mall in 2008. Hind: When I came back from Boston after graduating in information design and corporate communication I went to work for Emaar. I learnt the building blocks of everything that I do today. Everything from sales, to legal, to finance to business development; I was there prior to the boom, during the boom and after the bubble burst. After that I was given the opportunity to join my sister and mother who had already started Sisters. Then the Dubai Mall had approached us. The mall as big as it is, had nothing for the smaller kids, those between 1 and 6, only Kidzania for older ones. So they approached us with
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You could have the best product, but with substandard branding you could be missing out on an opportunity and international awareness� Hind Abdulrazak Creative director, audax investment group llc
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a lovely space quite close to Sisters in the mall and asked us for a concept. From that, Caboodle was born. Sara: They asked for a kid’s salon. However, during Hind’s research we found that a kid’s salon wasn’t feasible enough, so we added the crèche area. Hind: We married the crèche and the salon idea and came up with a concept based around that. How have you empowered women? Hind: During my years in Emaar, I would foster the young local girls. When it came to training and recruitment, managerial courses and responsibilities, I would choose the women that were more successful than the men. Men already have their leg up, especially in the world of real estate and building. It is a man’s world. I see these women in the news now. They are heading up their own departments. Sara: Having a business, as a woman is a challenge here. Not just gender wise, but being a local brand, a locally grown company versus a franchise or something, there was a bias towards that and you just have to fight through it. What is the secret to your success? Sara: It took us a few years to prove ourselves. Whilst the bigger western brand names started to close, it became apparent that the brand name wasn’t enough for survival. The management needs to be right too. They hadn’t adapted enough to the culture and society. What is exciting is that now you are seeing brands created here and being franchised out. Finally you have a shift. Local brands are being recognised and we are having doors opened with opportunities in all destinations and shopping malls. Finally it is recognised that local brands can be just as good, if not better, than international brands.
It took us a few years to prove ourselves. Whilst the bigger western brand names started to close, it became apparent that the brand name wasn’t enough for survival. The management needs to be right too. They hadn’t adapted enough to the culture and society” Sara Abdulrazak Managing Director, Audax investment group LLC
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Being a family business it must be difficult to leave business in the office… Hind: We have a rule not to talk about business when we leave the office and at weekends. It took us a few years to get there. It was hard for us not to talk about business around the dinner table. Occasionally it slips out! Sara: If family members come and ask us questions, we are pretty harsh with them; when we have our personal time, we try really hard not to turn it into work time.
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Branding: How has the process been for you? What was your thought process for the overall company and each business? Hind: Branding is one of the most important things to consider when you start a business. It is what can take you to the next level – especially on an international front. The brand has to be upscale and coherent. You could have the best product, but with substandard branding you could be missing out on an opportunity and international awareness. With caboodle, our branding has on it’s own taken us to the next level. Within 6 months we have already franchised our brand. I can say that that is because A. We have the knowledge of the Arab World, and B. We have the branding of an international business. If you combine the two within the GCC, it is a very powerful mix. With Sisters it has been a work in process as the company is so well established. Every time we are up for renovation, we bring the branding up a notch. We have built the brand up from its inception as a small branch in village mall to the seven outlets. Why are business plans so important? Sara: You have to have the perfect amount of research across all departments. You cannot open a business and go in blind. If you don’t know whom your competitors are, who the market is and the needs of the market, by going out there and speaking to clients and researching the market you will fail. I cannot imagine why you would open a business… Hind: People think it is fun. It is not. It is a business. It is more work than being an employee. It is hard. It is like having a child. There is no sleeping, no turning off, no shutting down. It is constant. It is a constant work in progress. People are able to open things without business plans, but they won’t last. Sara: Forecasting is essential. How much cash do you actually need to operate this business for the next year? Hind: People often fail to take even the most basic step – is it even a need? You will see on the same road, several villas right next to each other of the exact same company. Not one is doing well. If you were to start a new business
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What is exciting is that now you are seeing brands created here and being franchised out” Sara Abdulrazak managing director, audax investment group llc
now, what would you do differently? Hind: Our culture is a do it yourself culture. We have a hard time asking for help. So from my side I would most likely hire a consultant for my areas of the business that I am not certain of; really clarifying and tightening the business model as opposed to taking the view that with the next branch we will get it right. Sara: There are so many think tanks and focus groups that help cultivate SMEs. We were a member of SME, which is the Sheikh Mohammed Establishment. It assists locals for the first three years of their business. You present your concept to them and they question it. If a group of intelligent business people pulls apart your idea, you have the opportunity to use this knowledge and expertise. They do not allow anymore salon and café concepts because they were inundated with beauty salons and cafes – which speaks volumes. What is the best piece of advice that you have been given? Hind: My mother advised that I should think big. She always advises to think bigger
and not to bother if it is thinking small, which is good advice because you are competing against companies that have been in operation for over 10 years so you need to think how you can start off at that level. Sara: Don’t be afraid to ask for advice and network. This maybe a bit of an age thing, but throw yourself out there so you don’t blend in the background. What is the one piece of standout advice that you have learnt that you would like to impart on others? Hind: I have learnt, ‘You never know until you ask for it.’ By that I mean it is not to miss the opportunity of asking, because you will most likely get it or get closer to where you want to be. Sara: I would say empower your people and delegate. There is a common thread amongst entrepreneurs and business owners as they try to do everything themselves. You need to find the right people and surround yourself with them. Delegate and empower your employees. l
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The pixelbug Story By: Dany El Eid Founder & Managing Partner of pixelbug
ixelbug is a global pioneer in augmented reality technology, providing technology driven marketing solutions. Established in Dubai in 2012, and founded by Dany El Eid, a seasoned tech entrepreneur, they have the objective of making the world a more interactive place by fusing the digital with the physical world. pixelbug have an impressive client list, working with multinational companies such as Nestle, Atlantis hotel, Sony and Procter and Gamble. However, every business needs funding at some stage and regardless of the client list, all businesses can face hurdles in this area. El Eid explains more.
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Strategy As a company, pixelbug has seen continued growth and when they changed their strategy, moving from being a project based business model, to a product lead model; this
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affected operations. They found that as a business, they had to become more selective with their clients and realised the need to move quickly to secure business funding to support their new strategy. “We inquired about loans from banks in the UAE and found the interest rates highly unattractive and repayment terms inflexible. There’s also a lot of red tape and criteria that make the process even more unappealing,” El Eid elucidates. He was offered rates between 20-26% in terms of repayment over 12 months, “There were penalties that also had to be considered for early repayment too, not to mention that I was asked for an insane amount of documents…” As a result, the company started searching for an alternative finance solution. They were introduced to Beehive by a financier during a key period of fundraising when negotiations with traditional sources of finance were making slow progress, “Which was fortunate as Beehive had
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MONEY
We inquired about loans from banks in the UAE and found the interest rates highly unattractive and repayment terms inflexible. There’s also a lot of red tape and criteria that make the process even more unappealing� dany el eid founder & Managing Partner of pixelbug
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just launched at that time – just as we were being confronted by banks’ red tape and high rates.” Beehive Beehive is the region’s first peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending platform, offering a new funding alternative for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). They use innovative online technology to host a marketplace that directly connects established businesses with smart investors, so that SMEs get faster access to lower cost finance, at the same time as enabling investors to get better returns and manage risk by diversifying their investments. “pixelbug is always at the forefront of technology and we are ready to collaborate with like-minded companies and people who are ready to disrupt an industry. Beehive in particular has the potential to disrupt the banking industry; this is very exciting for founders of our generation,” says El Eid. Flexible Funding Solutions “The benefits of using Beehive from my perspective are the lower interest rates, flexible repayment terms an accessible platform and personnel,” El Eid explains. He found the flexible funding solutions were of most interest to him. This is no real surprise when you look at the facts; SMEs represent 90% of total businesses in the UAE, but are facing difficulties gaining access to credit, as banks generally reject between 50-70% of SME loan applications. This hampers growth. As SMEs in the UAE are major drivers of employment and GDP growth, this lack of available funding it is a critically important factor. It is this scarcity of capital that is hampering the growth of the UAE, and in particular Dubai. This fact has led more and more people to review the options that alternative finance solutions can provide to help fill this funding gap in this area. Mohamed Nour, Marketing Manager of Beehive, confirmed that the platform is most suited to established SME businesses seeking finance of between AED 100,000 and AED 500,000 for up to 3 years. “Individual investors can invest from as little as AED 100 into each business listed on the platform and receive monthly repayments at target rates ranging between 8% p.a. and 20% p.a.” He continues to explain that they undertake thorough due diligence on each business listed on the platform, whilst facilitating the finance
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pixelbug is always at the forefront of technology and we are ready to collaborate with like-minded companies and people who are ready to disrupt an industry. Beehive in particular has the potential to disrupt the banking industry; this is very exciting for founders of our generation” DAny El Eid founder & Managing Partner of pixelbug
agreement between the business and investors, “Charging a small percentage fee of the finance amount.” What is next for pixelbug? Having set a new record on Beehive by becoming the first business on the platform to see their finance request funded in less than 24 hours, the money is certainly being put to good use. They are currently venturing into the ‘edutainment’ space with a groundbreaking augmented reality app called colorbug. “We believe colorbug will disrupt the education space through trailblazing augmented reality techniques. In the
future we see a world where augmented reality has the potential to replace smartphones and tablets by enabling digital content to be seamlessly integrated in our everyday lives; pixelbug will be at the forefront of this paradigm shift,” says El Eid excitedly. “Having access to finance at better rates than banks was crucial to maintaining a healthy cash flow. I would definitely recommend for other SMEs to consider alternative financing options and of course I would recommend Beehive. Companies have the opportunity to get much lower interest rates and no loss of equity, investors have the potential to make money and the platform is very user friendly. It’s a win-win scenario for everyone,” he concludes with a smile. l
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people
How to Create a Happy, Engaged and Motivated Workforce By: Suhail Al-Masri, VP of Sales at Bayt.com
Employee engagement is critical to thriving companies. Achieving sustainable, strong business results is much easier when your employees understand where you are headed, their role in getting there, and feel valued for playing that role. Engaged employees are happy employees. They understand your company’s vision and mission and are fully involved in, and enthusiastic, about their work
n this age of great job market transparency and faster-than-ever candidate attraction tools, employee retention has become more important than ever for employers who want to better understand how to motivate, engage and hold onto their key staff. Here are some tips from the experts at Bayt.com – the Middle East’s leading job site – to help you achieve and sustain the kind of employee engagement that fuels success: 1. Hire the best HR people - Great HR people have a gift for influencing, teaching and holding managers accountable. According to the Bayt.com ‘Employee Engagement in the MENA’ poll, April 2014, 64% of professionals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region state that senior management is held accountable for achieving organisational goals, although 76.4% strongly believe that nonmanagerial employees are the ones who bear the weight of achieving goals. Good HR people can teach managers, team leaders and supervisors to stretch and develop employees in accordance with their natural capabilities in order for them to be able to carry on the goals of the organisation. 2. Have smart and self-driven leaders - While 82% of MENA employees claim to feel very engaged at work, as per the Bayt.com ‘Employee Engagement in the MENA’ poll, companies still have a long way to go when it comes to instigating true corporate citizenship among their staff. One way of achieving this is to have intelligent and self-driven leaders. A leader’s own attitudes, beliefs and behaviors have powerful trickle-down effects in any organisation. Leaders of great workplaces don’t just talk about what they want to see in the future; they model it and keep practicing to get better at it every day with their teams. By sharing information and
I
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openly working to improve themselves, successful leaders signal that such engagement is the only way to get ahead and achieve goals. Let employees’ work be meaningful - Engaged employees believe that the work they do is important and has value. They believe that they are contributing to a higher purpose and take pride in the results of their efforts. As a manager, it is crucial to frequently reinforce the importance of your employees’ roles. Help them to see the direct connection between their activities and company success. Set goals and challenge your employees to meet them to promote a sense of purpose. Grant them the autonomy to improve the way things are done, and involve them in decisions to help them feel a sense of ownership over the direction of the company. The Bayt.com ‘Employee Engagement in the MENA’ poll reveals that almost nine in 10 (88.7%) of professionals in the MENA claim to have a good understanding of the mission and goals of their organisation; 95% understand how their work directly contributes to the company’s overall success. The majority (93%) say they are directly involved in decisions that affect their work. Respect employees’ needs for work-life balance Employees everywhere have made it clear that achieving a good work-life balance is an overriding priority for them. In fact, 88.3% of professionals polled in the Bayt.com ’Work Life Balance in the MENA’ poll would consider changing jobs for a better work-life balance. As a top employer today, you should be cutting no corners in ensuring you nurture and retain top talent by taking a more holistic approach to your employees’ welfare. Work arrangements increasingly available at leading organisations – and which you should aim to implement – include flexible hours, part-time
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5.
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jobs, job-sharing, telecommuting and sabbaticals for long-serving personnel or those pursuing outside interests, as well as extended leave periods for new parents. To cater to the latter specifically, more and more companies are also offering on-site day care, vital family support hotlines and more comprehensive family benefits. Make sure you are doing what it takes to respect and cater to your employees’ priorities outside of the office and take into consideration the full circumstances of their lives and the demands on those lives. Have a clear-cut approach to performance management - Results from the Bayt.com ‘Employee Engagement in the MENA’ poll reveal that 52.2% of professionals in the MENA always receive feedback to help improve their performance at work. Another 49.7% have regular career discussions with their manager, whereas 32.3% have the same on an irregular basis. Companies with the highest engagement levels know how to use performance appraisals as a powerful incentive currency. Indeed, a hallmark of these great workplaces is that they conduct fair and action-driven appraisals on a regular basis. These companies see recognition as a powerful means to develop and stretch employees to new levels of capability. They also see tolerance of mediocrity as the enemy; they know that any action or inaction that doesn’t produce appropriate consequences adds to workplace disillusionment and corrodes commitment. Create favorable work conditions A vital responsibility in being a top employer consists of increasingly employing creative measures to invest in your employees’ well-being, and this extends to providing workplaces and work conditions that are pleasant and conducive to innovation, creativity and productivity. Besides generous vacation schemes, wellbeing during office hours could also be nurtured with onsite recreation areas, gyms, office sports teams, and friendly company cafeterias that offer wholesome, healthy foods. Meetings, communication flow, company activities, office and communal area layouts should all be designed to promote a sense of inclusion and well-being that helps to create a happy, loyal and engaged workforce. Maintain open channels of communication - 36% of professionals across the region feel that communication
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Suhail Al-Masri, VP of Sales at Bayt.com
channels in their company are not open enough, as per the Bayt.com ‘Work Satisfaction in the MENA‘ poll, November 2012. As a top employer, you are undoubtedly aware of the importance of allowing a smooth and unhampered flow of information and communications across layers and functions. Make sure you are encouraging employees at all times to articulate their ideas, aspirations and concerns; and also keep them up to date, through regular communications, with regards to the company’s direction, vision, mission, objectives, performance and new initiatives. Keeping an ‘open door’ policy and listening to employees, even when their requests cannot be met, is a vital ingredient in enhancing employee loyalty, motivation and engagement. Successful employee engagement also requires honest and constructive feedback on a routine basis. This feedback is vital both as a motivational tool and in channeling talent in the right direction, building on strengths and addressing weaknesses. l
About Bayt.com: Bayt.com is the #1 job site in the Middle East with more than 40,000 employers and over 19,500,000 registered job seekers from across the Middle East, North Africa and the globe, representing all industries, nationalities and career levels. Post a job or find jobs on www. bayt.com today and access the leading resource for job seekers and employers in the region.
Bio: Suhail Al-Masri is the VP of Sales at Bayt.com, the Middle East’s leading job site. Suhail has more than 20 years of experience in consultative sales and sales leadership, but also in account, marketing and operations management. His mission at Bayt.com goes in line with the company’s mission to empower people with the tools and knowledge to build their lifestyles of choice.
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Women in Business By: Russell Hemmings, Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist and Life Coach
Being successful in business, regardless of your gender, doesn’t come easy. It’s tough out there and that success has often come with the price of long hours, periods of intense stress and ongoing compromises made between work and home. So when I was asked to contribute, it really gave me pause to think about what actual differences exist between male and female approaches to business. I have had the privilege of meeting a great many successful women in my time and it strikes me that not only have they had to work exceptionally hard to get to the top as we all do, but they’ve also had to work doubly hard to break down the traditional perceptions that women are less likely to succeed in the business arena
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he statistics seem to speak for themselves when it comes to the difference women can make in the boardroom. Companies that have female board members outperform those that don’t by 56% in terms of operating results and I think that’s because successful women have the ability to exploit certain abilities more effectively.
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Communication In my experience, women are naturally enhanced communicators. They are able to verbalise their thinking more clearly than some men and their listening skills are also keener. So when it comes to getting others on board with their company vision, they often have more success. They are also highly skilled community builders. This may be down to social conditioning or it may be down to innate gender specific natural ability, but whatever the reason it means that women tend to be better at getting the best out of others. It seems the power to facilitate ‘collective intelligence’ (the ability of a group of people to outperform an individual when it comes to creative and critical thinking) in the workplace drives success and women are actually very good at this. This is because they are more inclined to have a greater feel for how the social dynamics of a group work and they are more receptive to picking up on non-verbal cues from others. In other words they can have greater empathy when it comes to reading the emotions of others and find it easier to navigate the choppy waters of managing a diverse group of people. That’s not to say that women aren’t competitive. Of course they are, but what might give them the edge is their ability to use those ‘soft skills’ to generate that success in others which ultimately leads to their own.
a definite confidence gap between men and women when it comes to the workplace. This may stem from the fact that men have been so dominant in this sphere for so long and there is no question that across the globe there are substantially less women CEO’s than men. However, on a personal level there is much that can be done to boost your self-confidence. Firstly, having a clear vision of what you want to achieve both personally and in terms of your work is really important. This solid foundation will underpin progress and allow you to create a strategic plan of action. Making a list of your strengths is another way to remind yourself of what you are capable of. Traditionally women tend to underestimate their abilities (while men do the opposite) and this can lead them to forego opportunities, because they perceive themselves as ‘not up to it’. Conversely, understanding your weaknesses and working to plug any gaps is just as important. Identifying that one supportive person whom you trust and who can help you to achieve this through constructive criticism is a great way to do it. They can also help you move out of your comfort zone and take on new challenges so that you expand your range of experiences and build your resilience. Eat Well and Exercise Also, and I can’t stress this enough, taking care of your health by eating good nutritious food and getting enough exercise is a must. You can’t be successful if your body won’t let you, because it’s run down and not maintained. Your health is your most precious asset when it comes to business success. l
Challenges So it seems clear to me that of course women have the ability to be successful in business, but they also face a number of challenges that might hold them back. Trying to juggle family life and work life can be highly stressful and many of my female clients cite this as a source of feeling overwhelmed and sometimes guilty. On closer exploration it is common to find that these women are often placing too high expectations on themselves to be all things to all people. A good place to assuage those feelings is to first ensure that when you are with your family they get your full attention. Life is full of so many distractions, but one hour of quality time with the kids is far more beneficial than three where you are switching between your work head and your parent head. So put the distractions aside and plan quality time into your schedule. Not only will it recharge your batteries, your kids will appreciate your full attention (by the way, this applies to dads too!). Confidence A lack of confidence can also be a stumbling block to career progress. There is some evidence to suggest that there is
Making a list of your strengths is another way to remind yourself of what you are capable of
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LEGAL
IPO Your Start-Up! By: Shahram Safai
A start-up venture usually aims to be partially or fully sold, or to go public in order to monetise the hard work of the founders and the employees over the years. Increasingly start-ups eventually plan to go public in an IPO (initial public offering of shares in a stock market)
recent example is the Facebook IPO. From a business perspective, the start-up will have to achieve a certain amount of business success and generally have revenues to make it marketable to investors in public markets. In order to position a start-up to go public, strategy and proper legal planning is required early on. Two of the most important legal rights that must be addressed for a start-up going public are conversion rights and registration rights.
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Conversion Rights Holders of preferred shares (shares that have superior rights to ordinary, common shares) in venture capital
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deals normally have the right to convert their preferred shares into common shares at any time. The ratio at which preferred shares are converted into common shares is typically determined by dividing the initial purchase price of the preferred shares by a number called the conversion price, which is adjusted upon certain events. Initially the conversion price is equal to the purchase price of the preferred shares, so the preferred shares convert into common shares on a one-to-one basis. Also, the preferred shares usually are automatically converted into common shares upon certain events. Many times, these events are an initial public offering that meets certain criteria. Generally the start-up company would
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LEGAL
public, the holder may be able to sell a limited amount of shares. There are several types of registration rights that venture investors are likely to request, two of the most important being: demand rights, and piggyback rights. Demand Rights A demand right is a right to demand that the company file a registration statement to sell the holder’s shares. This is the form the company uses for an initial public offering; it requires a prospectus with extensive information about the company and the offering. A company normally will want to limit this right as it can be expensive and time-consuming, and can adversely affect the company’s own capital-raising plans. Generally, the investor group will receive only one or two demand rights, with limits on when they can be exercised.
like the preferred shares to convert as soon as possible to eliminate its special rights and to clean up the balance sheet for the initial public offering. The criteria for triggering automatic conversion on an initial public offering generally include the following: (1) The offering must be firmly underwritten (i.e., the underwriters must have committed to placing the entire offering, as opposed to just adopting the best efforts approach common in penny shares offerings; (2) the offering must raise a certain amount of money for the company; and (3) Often the offering price must be at a certain minimum; for example, four times the conversion price of the preferred shares. Also, an affirmative vote of a majority, or a supermajority of the preferred shares, can be used to force an automatic conversion of all of the preferred shares. Upon any conversion of the preferred shares, the rights associated with it, i.e. the liquidation preference, dividend preference, protection, special voting rights, and
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redemption provisions, cease to exist. Some contractual rights, such as registration rights - the right to force the company to register the holder’s shares, usually survive although others, such as information rights - the right to certain ongoing financial information about the company, and preemptive rights - the right to buy shares issued by the company, often will terminate upon an initial public offering. Registration Rights Investors devote a fair amount of discussion to the subject of registration rights. A registration right is the right to force the company to register the holder’s shares with the applicable securities commission so that it can be sold in the public markets. Often when a company goes public, the underwriters are unwilling to permit existing shareholders to sell in the offering as such sale will adversely affect the marketing of the new issuance of shares being sold by the company to raise capital. If the shareholder has held the shares for more than one year and the company is
Piggyback Rights A piggyback right is the right to participate in an offering initiated by the company. Piggyback rights are generally subject to a cutback or elimination by the offering’s underwriter, who may determine (based on market conditions) that a sale by shareholders will adversely affect the company’s capital-raising effort. The venture capitalist will seek rights that may not be completely cut back except in connection with the company’s initial public offering. Piggyback rights granted to venture capitalists are generally unlimited in number, but often expire five to seven years after the company’s initial public offering, or after a certain percentage of the venture investors have sold their shares. IPOing your start-up is a worthwhile goal. However, it requires hard work, strategic planning and careful drafting of legal rights in order to provide the appropriate platform for success. l
Shahram Safai practices venture capital law and represents venture capitalists, investors and entrepreneurs. Shahram is also a professional engineer and has previously worked in the Silicon Valley in California practicing venture capital law, mergers, and acquisitions. He is a partner at the law firm of Afridi & Angell. E-mail: ssafai@afridi-angell.com; Telephone: +9714 330 3900
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marketing & Advertising
Facebook: What The Recent Changes Mean For Your Business Have you noticed that your company Facebook page or posts have not received many new “likes” in the last month? There is a good reason for this as Facebook has announced that they are limiting brands visibility when posting on the social network site acebook have realised that they have data at their finger tips. The type of data that people will pay good money for, therefore they are attempting to encourage brands to spend more on paid Facebook advertising. So in essence, Facebook in 2015 is all about businesses getting what they pay for.
attempt to use your personal profile and demographic information for advertising purposes and to serve promoted posts and sponsored ads onto the newsfeeds of carefully targeted audiences. Of course, this will always take place in a privacy-protected way. Engagement with targeted audiences is a key point of difference of Facebook when compared with digital marketing options, such as Google Adwords.
What Is Facebook Doing With Users Personal Information? You might have noticed on your own personal page that Facebook has been busy in recent months advising users of alterations to its terms and conditions and privacy policies. This is an
Growing Strength Of Facebook: 1.36 Billion Users This month, Facebook achieved over 1.36 billion active users, making it one of the world’s largest online social media platforms. It is important to understand that the term “active-users” refers to any person that has logged into their Facebook account
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By Grant King Director of Digital Marketing, IHC Dubai
Grant King is a Digital Marketing Expert with award-winning Communications Agency, IHC in Dubai, and has over 15 years online marketing experience in Australia, NZ, Europe and the UK. For a free online marketing review, visit www.ih-c.com
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marketing & Advertising
Facebook is ideal for brands targeting a younger, upwardly mobile audience who are early-adopters, and are technologically savvy. 2 Million Paying Facebook Advertisers Facebook has reported nearly a USD$1 billion increase in revenue from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2014, as a result of previously limiting brand post impressions. With a reported 2 million advertisers from this month, Facebook is serious about offering advertisers a wider range of innovative promotional options and has largely adopted the pay-per-click billing method similar to Google Adwords, a concept familiar to many marketers and businesspersons. At the same time, Facebook has expanded its range of “promoted post� and sponsored ad offerings to advertisers, which are now served on PC, mobile and tablet devices. Last year, Facebook introduced autoplay video promoted posts for mobile devices, giving advertisers a multi-media and interactive way in which to showcase their brand and product offering, and a range of innovative audience engagement options.
However, it all comes at a price. From January 2015, brand posts are effectively invisible to new users, so businesses need to pay to promote them, with costs of around AED5 or more per click. But the question is not so much whether businesses can afford to promote their posts and incur these costs, but rather can they afford not to. There is little sense in spending time and effort on an active Facebook page and regular posts if nobody new can see them. Refusing To Pay For Facebook Advertising? The good news is that if your brand chooses not to pay for Facebook advertising, your existing followers should still be able to view your business page and posts. However, as mentioned earlier, post visibility to new users will be limited. Facebook: 90% Accurate In Targeting Your Preferred Clientele Unlike Google Adwords that is reportedly 30 percent accurate in targeting by demographics, Facebook is said to be
There are more 25 to 34 year old Facebook members in the UAE than any other age group. they represent 46% of Facebook users, followed by the 18 to 24 year olds who represent 22% over the past month, so we are talking about regular users who are interacting with friends, often daily, and sometimes even hourly, and are actively viewing the newsfeeds on which paid promoted posts will appear. Over half of all Facebook users now access their newsfeed from a mobile device, such as a smart phone. To have your brand and product campaign visible to this highly engaged audience is powerful. Facebook In The UAE There are 2.3 million Facebook users in the UAE according to MVF Global with Facebook penetration at nearly 44.92%, of which 66% are male and 34% are female. There are more 25 to 34 year old Facebook members in the UAE than any other age group and they represent 46% of Facebook users, followed by the 18 to 24 year olds who represent 22%. Facebook users in the UAE generate 2.7 billion page views each month and spend an average of 25 minutes on every visit. So broadly speaking,
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It is important not to just look at the “likes” but also the “clickthrough’s” to your website and ultimately sales conversions
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90% accurate in targeting audiences by demographics. In the marketing field, you can’t get much better accuracy rates than that. On Facebook, businesses only pay to target adverts to the exact people that they would like to connect with. Targeting adverts helps advertisers: zz Find the right customers across devices, including desktop, mobile and tablets zz Deliver relevant messages to specific people zz Get the most value from the advert spend by reaching only the people that matter to the business
It is possible to customise the target audience profile according to the following factors: zz Location zz Occupation zz Industry sector zz Age group zz Interests So, if your business is a ski holiday tour operator, you can target 25-35 age group users with an interest in skiing and serve up promoted posts offering ski holidays. Also if your business is a Dubai-based, woman’s fashion retailer, you can target Dubaibased women within a specific age range.
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marketing & Advertising
If is also possible to target by occupation and industry, which can be very useful for recruiters and headhunters, or for the promotion of specialist goods in niche industries. Assessing Your Digital Marketing Options Sales: Google Adwords is still the “go to” online medium for achieving online sales (or conversions as they are known). The difference is all about timing. With Google, you know users are searching for a product at the exact time they enter the key search
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words and click that all-important “search” button. Access to a group of motivated online shoppers is worth paying for. Although Facebook may be able to more effectively target potential client profiles, the problem is that it is not known if they are seeking your type of product at that exact time. Hence the reason that Google has the clear advantage over Facebook when it comes to generating online sales. Branding: Facebook is widely regarded as being the superior medium when it comes to branding. Facebook have announced that they count “impressions” only when the post is actually visible in the users newsfeed screen (and can be viewed by the eye), whereas Google counts an impression even if it appears off screen at the bottom of the page (and not visible to the eye). This gives Facebook the edge for increasing brand awareness. Engagement: There is no doubt that when it comes to engagement, Facebook is number one. Brand pages with a large number of “likes” can interact with their group of followers on an on-going basis. But care must be taken to avoid “Facebook Post Fatigue”, where followers are bombarded with too many irrelevant posts to the extent that they “unlike” the page. It is important to ensure that posts are newsworthy and relevant, or contain genuine offers (i.e. useful discounts or competitions). So the moral of the story is that nearly every business should have an active Facebook page and pay to promote posts, it is simply a question of setting your budget appropriately, according to your industry sector and what your competitors are doing. Talk to a social media or digital marketing expert. It is also recommended to run a number of test campaigns over a few months to measure the results. It is clear that no business can afford to ignore the growing strength of Facebook, as it is highly effective at increasing the online footprint of any business. l
FACEBOOK FAST FACTS ll 2.3 million users in UAE ll Nearly 45% penetration ll Most users 25 to 34 years of age ll Mobile access for half of all users TOP TIPS ll Get your cheque book ready! Set a budget for Facebook Advertising. Start small and run test campaigns. Review the budget and increase according to the results ll Promoted posts: If you want to promote a specific product, service or event, it is recommended to use the “promote post” option on Facebook Advertising. This ensures maximum post visibility and enables users to click through to your website to access the offer ll Promote your page: If you are seeking more followers and “likes” on your Facebook page or want to engage with users, you are best to use the “promote page” option. The group of followers will then receive future posts and remain fully engaged with your Facebook brand page ll Cost Per Click (CPC): Use the “daily budget” option to spread your monthly budget evenly over the month to ensure that you do not exceed your monthly budget ll Conversion tracking: Facebook, as with any form of advertising, is all about the return on investment (ROI). Don’t make the mistake of looking at only the number of “likes” received, as it is important to remember that many users will click-through to buy on your website, without necessarily “liking” your page. This is still a success for your business. The way to measure this click-through traffic is to utilize the Facebook conversion tracking service. This free service is similar to Google Analytics and involves loading an invisible tracking pixel onto your website that then tracks Facebook users visits and navigation of your website, providing useful conversion statistics which can measure campaign effectiveness
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One Far away Market
VisitBritain, the Government agency for the UK that promotes travel to the British Isles, scored a perfect goal with their marketing campaign to China, aimed to coincide with the Chinese New Year
heir very simple, but out-of-the-box idea has garnered much interest globally with many publications talking about how they have changed the names of top tourist attractions in the UK to make them appeal more to the Chinese Population. This provides businesses with a case study that illustrates how creative thinking can be a big boost to your brand. The campaign, funded by the Home Office, started last November through a website designed specifically for the purpose, as well as a pronounced social media campaign, which enabled the Chinese to rename famous landmarks and points of interest on the white isles. The campaign took the country by storm. More than 13,000 names were suggested. Over 2 million of the Chinese population visited the website and 30 million watched the opening video.
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Sally Balcombe, Chief Executive at VisitBritain said,
“Chinese visitors already stay longer in Britain than in our European competitor destinations and are high spenders – for every 22 additional Chinese visitors we attract, we can support an additional job in tourism. We want to ensure that we continue to compete effectively in this market and ensure that we deliver growth and jobs across the nations and regions of Britain. “Digital engagement is one of our strengths and this campaign has been hugely effective at driving this with our potential Chinese visitors. We’re working closely with the industry and hope to see some of Britain’s most popular points of interest use these new Chinese names on their social media channels and websites to amplify that engagement.”
Blackpool
Le You Yuan A place that is happy to visit or Deep pool carnival - ‘Shen Chi Jia Nian Hua’
The Shard
Zhai Xing Ta A tower allowing us to pluck stars from the sky or London cone
Savile Row
Gao Fu Shuai Zhi Lu Tall, rich, handsome street (refers to popular “meme” in China to describe the perfect man) or Custom made rich people street
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Jian Fei Cun
Llanfair-pwllgwyn-gyllgogery-chwyrn-drobwll-llantysilio-gogo-goch Healthy-lung village
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marketing & Advertising
Cerne Abbas Giant
Bai Se Da Luo Ben Big white streaker
Loch Ness Monster Ni Si Hu An Ying The Loch Ness shadow
The Kelpies
Kai Po Ju Ma Glorious armoured giant horses (homophonic with Kelpies)
Hadrian’s Wall Yong Heng Zhi Ji Wall of eternity
Brighton Pavilion
Qiao Zhi He Yue Han De Yin Du Gong George and John’s Indian palace
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Bo Han Qi Yan A lot of rocks in different shapes
Stoke-on-Trent Wan Bo Tao Ci Diverse ceramics
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dMCC
Newly-launched corporate card provides another offering for DMCC members ith the launch of the first ever corporate card co-branded with a Free Zone in the region, DMCC continues to innovate and stand out from its peers to enable their business community of over 9,900 members to grow and thrive. The Emirates NBD DMCC corporate card, in partnership with MasterCard, is the latest addition in a growing portfolio of products and services available to businesses based in the DMCC Free Zone ranging from exclusive health insurance products to DMCC’s single family office license offering, corporate governance initiatives, through to knowledge series events. Speaking at the product launch, Gautam Sashittal, CEO, DMCC, said, “DMCC are delighted to partner with Emirates NBD to be the first Free Zone in the region to provide our members with a corporate card which offers attractive payment solutions and services tailor-made to the needs of their businesses. We anticipate a high level of adoption of this latest service.” So what are the features and benefits of the Emirates NBD DMCC corporate card programme?
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Felxible payment solutions: The corporate card offers flexible payment options, enabling corporations to convert DMCC fees and related charges into 3, 6 or 12 installments at a zero per cent interest rate. It gives up to 55 days of interest free credit with best in market APR (Annual Percentage Rate). The partnership also means that DMCC fees and other charges can be paid more conveniently, either online or at designated counters. Privilege offers: Cardholders can benefit from attractive offers as part of a reward programme, which enables customers to earn up to two Plus Points on all corporate spends. The Plus Points can be redeemed for gift vouchers from popular merchants, frequent flyer miles from leading airlines, or as cash back. Priceless Arabia deals across dining, shopping and sports are another privilege of the corporate card, as well as exclusive discounts at JLT outlets and preferential pricing on safe deposit boxes.
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Travel and lifestyle benefits: The Emirates NBD DMCC corporate card is accepted across the world at 22 million outlets and also provides access to over 55 international airport lounges for free. Cardholders can participate in Emirates NBD’s flagship dining programme, Bon Appétit, providing exciting discounts at over 1,800 restaurants across the UAE, Middle East and Europe. Enhanced security: The corporate card offers enhanced protection with Chip and Pin cards, SMS alerts and a double secure feature for online transactions. Reduced risk and exposure: In addition to Travel Accident Insurance, which provides comprehensive protection towards travel accident and travel inconvenience, the corporate card covers Corporate Liability Waiver Insurance which protects against eligible losses that might be incurred through card misuse. Limits on spend can be assigned to help reduce unnecessary risk and exposure. Enhanced visibility and control: The Emirates NBD DMCC corporate card offers detailed and comprehensive data through SDG2. SDG2 incorporates reporting as well as expense management into a single web based platform. It is available for use in multiple languages and provides currency support at the local level, with a global view across geographies. This provides the intelligence to control expenses and make informed decisions. The programme rewards both companies and their employees in addition to giving them all the benefits of an advanced commercial card programme. To find out more information on the Emirates NBD DMCC corporate card, please visit www.emiratesnbd.com/dmcc. l For more information about the conference, call +971 4 433 6719 or visit dmcc.ae.
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DMCC puts the spotlight on health and wellbeing n today’s fast paced world, it can often feel like a luxury to take time out of your day to look after your health – whether mental, physical or emotional. However health and wellbeing activities, such as relaxing your mind through meditation or engaging in a regular fitness routine, is not only good for your body but also good for business. Time and time again, studies show that people who are physically fit process information faster, possess higher levels of energy and enjoy enhanced feelings of wellbeing. They also experience reduced anxiety, depression, tension and stress, which can be caused by business pressures and are often by-products of long term stress. In light of this, DMCC, one of the world’s leading commodity hubs for trade and enterprise and the largest and fastest growing Free Zone in the UAE, hosted its first ever Health and Wellbeing event on 21-22 March 2015 at Almas Tower, Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT). This was the latest in a string of health-related events that DMCC have participated in, such as the Dubai Municipality ‘You’re Worth Your Weight in Gold’ weight loss campaign and the Kobe Bryant Health and Fitness Weekend programme. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC, said “In line with the Dubai Plan 2021, which puts the happiness and welfare of people first, our inaugural Health and Wellbeing event encourages the JLT community to invest
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in a healthy lifestyle. Initiatives like these are an important way to raise awareness of positive lifestyle choices and to empower individuals to address the underlying cause of any health deficiencies and conditions they may be facing. Improving the quality of your life is a step by step journey.” Open for public participation, the event offered free health check-ups to determine blood pressure, BMI and glucose levels and provided the opportunity to take part in chiropractic alignment and CPR demonstrations. Health and fitness experts based in the DMCC Free Zone gave educational talks on topics such as ‘Why is it easy to gain and hard to lose? Myth versus medical science’ by Dr. Nadia Ahmad, Internal Medicine Specialist, ‘Going from Good to Great through Chiropractic Care’ by Dr. Helle Kaerskov, Chiropractor, Total Health, ‘Eat Food, Not Calories’ by Doug Elom, Personal Trainer, Fidelity Fitness and ‘Detox Diets - Do they help us lose weight? Are they healthy?” by Nada Salhab Haddad, MSc Clinical Dietician, German Dental Centre JLT. The Health and Wellbeing event, with Armada Medical Centre and Fidelity Fitness Club as Gold Sponsors, had over 20 registered exhibitors ranging from dentists, chiropractors, clinics, test labs, and health food companies. Other event sponsors included the German Dental Centre JLT, Doctor K Medical Center JLT, York Diagnostic Laboratories JLT and Aster Medical Centre.
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technology
The Effect of Technology – On Healthcare By: Ammar Enaya, General Manager, Aruba Networks Middle East
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a foundational Internet technology that is used in every non-trivial Internet Provider (IP) based transaction and which, if it’s not working properly, can bring the web to a standstill, corrupt your website and possibly your reputation or many governments, how a country looks after its own health is often the cornerstone of any successful political campaign. Even if budgets rise for healthcare systems, ageing populations mean that health services are being stretched more than ever. So where do healthcare organisations even begin to try and become more streamlined and deliver a service that’s equivalent to other industries? To continue to meet performance goals, the global healthcare system has to evolve and mobile technology will be at the very heart of this change. Technology is key to any 21st century business and healthcare is no different. The hospital of tomorrow will be a shadow
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of what it is today and if the right decisions are made, technology innovation will start to deliver huge benefits; not just to hospitals but the patients it supports. Mobile technology allows information to move more quickly, accurately and securely than is currently possible in the healthcare sector. We are already seeing organisations put mobile at the heart of their infrastructure, to the benefit of their staff, patients and visitors. With time, it will become the de-facto model for the industry. ICT investments will see a boost in the four core healthcare markets of Middle East and Africa. According to the newly released data by International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on IT services and products
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technology
among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE will grow by 70% over the next five years, expanding at 11.2% CAGR over the five-year period from 2013 to 2018. Nino Giguashvili, senior research analyst for IDC Health Insights says, "While these markets present exceptional opportunities to healthcare IT suppliers across the whole ecosystem, it is the right time to focus on mobile solutions to healthcare providers' organisational needs, and MEA's healthcare challenges overall." Against the backdrop of the rapid pace of ICT innovations in the healthcare industry, we believe the hospital of 2025 will: Be 50% More Efficient The mCloud will be a centralised, secure hub used for storing patient information that is accessible anywhere and anytime across the globe. A centralised hub will mean
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tomorrow’s medical records will be stored entirely on a private and secure cloud service that can be accessed wherever and whenever required. This will drive efficiencies through the roof. mCloud allows hospitals to be part of a global, safe and secure network that gives doctors a broader set of records and a much more robust and holistic view of a patient. The money saved on issues like incorrect diagnosis could be reinvested into R&D departments allowing healthcare organisations to expand at a much quicker rate than they are doing today. This centralised system will be enabled by an advanced Wi-Fi network experience that allows for the real time prioritisation of data. This will save valuable time on diagnosis. Location services enabled by mobile technology will result in pieces of medical equipment being located much faster; items such as heart monitoring and other large diagnostic equipment will be easily located inside hospitals meaning patients will have access to the machines much quicker than is happening now. Beyond this, location-based mobile will give much more refined and detailed location
services inside a building so doctors can track and trace things much quicker. Reduce Misdiagnosis By 75% Healthcare has traditionally lagged behind other key industries in terms of innovation – perhaps due to issues surrounding patient confidentiality. However, the hospital of tomorrow will make use of real-time data through the use of mobile software and devices, all allowing for more accurate diagnosis giving consultants greater visibility into a patients ailments and reducing misdiagnosis by over 75%. These rising levels of accuracy will also be driven by #GenMobile who will be sharing data on mobile devices such as smartphones, wearables and tablets. As more and more hospitals become reliant on networks, IT security will become paramount so departments will need to invest heavily in order to alleviate some of the concerns often associated with network security. From a management point of view, staffing levels will be much easier to control through the predictive capabilities of big data. Using
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mobile technology will see the rise of ‘virtual assistants’ meaning that facilities are managed in a much more efficient way. The management of beds will also mean patients are less likely to be waiting around for an empty bed, if beds are full or are about to become free, ward managers can be alerted to this in real time via their mobile device and react more effectively. Deliver A Truly Paperless And Wireless World Whilst it’s not believed all working environments will be paperless, there is a big push for many industries to go that way and healthcare is no different. The money spent on purchasing paper and document storage will reduce by over 80% equating to millions, if not billions of dirhams saved each year. Regional data centres versus one central hub has been suggested as a way of easing many people’s fears that their records could be compromised, but as long as assurances over security are met, a paperless environment would have huge benefits to confidentiality. Within radiology, RIS and PACS systems have already led to paperless departments, saving space, time and enabling remote diagnosis from experts around the globe. The implementation of wireless communications systems and VoIP goes hand in hand with this decline of the paper world. Doctors will be able to communicate and collaborate with either individuals or groups with the touch of a button. The response time will be instantaneous and, by having all the right people are involved in the decision making process throughout, this will reduce errors and misdiagnosis. Poor communication will be a thing of the past. Be A Customised And Smart Patient Pxperience The hospital of tomorrow will be fully mobile, personalised and will resemble a modern day hotel. With the traditional hospital consulting room showing minimal improvement since World War 2, many healthcare organisations have started to focus on ‘smart rooms’, which will completely revolutionise the patient experience. The rooms of tomorrow will be entirely connected and have the ability to communicate not just with consultants but also with the hospital as a whole. The hospitals' own personalised app will be at the very centre of this. Computers and networks will connect both inside and outside the room. Remote consulting,
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The money spent on purchasing paper and document storage will reduce by over 80% equating to millions, if not billions of dirhams saved each year which is already being trialed across various European countries will become the norm. We’ll also start to see hospitals use their own apps to enable patients to make appointments through their mobile devices. Patients and visitors will be able to locate amenities once in the hospital, send and receive personalised messages to nurses and physicians, and access diagnostic results electronically just a handful of benefits. The bedside care of patients will transform in a huge way with mobility at the very core. Results of tests such as x-rays can be shared in an instant with decisions on next steps being made much quicker than they are today. Doctors will then be able to share information with each other digitally which means patients will no longer be waiting hours for guidance on next steps.
The Road To The Future While the hospital of tomorrow is undoubtedly some years from becoming a reality, the technology is in place to begin the transformation now. It begins with a review of hospital networks and an understanding of who needs to use it. Medical staff, patients and visitors need to use the facilities in very different ways and with different devices, but we now have the capabilities to cater to each of these preferences. In order for healthcare organisations to take this towards becoming smarter more efficient and more comfortable for their patients, leaders need to start considering, and building around, the digital age. l
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technology
What (Exactly) is The New IP? By: Yarob Sakhnini, Regional Director, MEMA at Brocade
Operators of traditional IP networks are realising they now need new flexibility. There is new demand for scalable networks, driven by the mobile data explosion, the popularity of cloud-based services, the rise of big data and the accompanying analytics and the advent of the Internet of Things his is the realm of The New IP. To create more fluid networks, operators are embracing the disaggregation of the control and data planes to allow for centralised orchestration of network resources. Virtualisation in the form of software-defined networking (SDN) will make it possible for networking to be an on-demand resource and for precious capacity to be used in the most efficient way. To deliver new services more quickly, network operators are looking beyond the function-specific hardware that has made their legacy IP networks reliable but also inflexible and expensive, toward network functions virtualisation (NFV). The building blocks of The New IP will be software-based and will create a new virtualised network services layer.
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The New IP Is... A design of networks: It is an industry term that refers to a relatively new class of IP networking gear (hardware and software) that allows companies to build programmable networks to innovate more rapidly at lower cost. Defined by its characteristics: New IP is open, highly virtualised, software-centric, vendor agnostic, automated, flexible and scalable; it also makes liberal use of merchant silicon, to cite just a few of its hallmarks. A lower-cost option: The purpose of New IP is to support rapid service innovation and user self-service at a lower cost than traditional IP networks. Without borders: New IP has no network “edge.” In the New IP environment, the edge is redefined as a set of activities where the user interfaces and executes an application, whether mobile or fixed. Applicable to all users: New IP is not limited by user type; with New IP, the hardware and software are combined to meet the needs of the specific environment. This allows each user to move at its own pace, starting at the edge or in the data center depending on where the most value can be created.
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An industry effort: New IP is not the exclusive domain of any one vendor or geographic market; it is a class of gear (hardware and software) that is being promoted and sold by vendors globally. The next step in the evolution of IP networking: New IP will support rapid innovation in business models and services for the next 20 years. New IP Is Not... Exactly new: New IP as a market segment has been emerging over the past few years. Thanks to advances in networking, the New IP segment is starting to gain traction globally, hence the “new” reference. A redefinition of the actual Internet Protocol: Let’s be clear… New IP is not an attempt to rewrite the original IP protocol. Rather, it is an industry term that refers to a relatively new class of networking gear (hardware and software) now emerging. Old IP: We define Old IP as the classic version that debuted in the mid-1990s. Old IP networking is based on a proprietary (closed), vendor-specific and driven business model, that relies heavily on expensive customisation. It was never designed for high virtualised environments, M2M traffic, hyper scale, rapid service innovation, and self-service delivery models. New IP does all that, and more. A product: New IP is an industry term that refers to a relatively new class of IP gear (hardware & software) that is architected in a way that makes the resulting network programmable, scalable, open and cost effective. Limited by user segment: Just as IP networks support users across a broad spectrum of industry, New IP supports service providers of all types, education, government, as well as enterprise businesses. The exclusive domain of any one vendor: New IP is an emerging segment of products (hardware and software) sold by a number of networking vendors globally. A marketing campaign: New IP is a class of gear (hardware and software) that incorporates advances in networking technology over the past 20 years to turn the core IP protocol into an efficient workhorse for users. l
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insurance
GCC INSURANCE INDUSTRY VALUE ALMOST TRIPLED UAE and KSA reported largest insurance markets in GCC with nearly 80% Gross Written Premium
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insurance
the Bancassurance MENA Summit is a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to get together to build their networks. Leveraging our international expertise in the space and our local heritage” David Harris Director – Direct & Affinity, UAE & Bahrain, RSA Insurance egional and international bancassurance and insurance experts gathered in Dubai in February to discuss the impact of changing regulations, market trends and projections on driving profitability in the Middle East’s bancassurance sector. This is the sector whereby insurance companies and banks collaborate to provide insurance products through a bank’s existing customer base, and is significantly contributing to the steady growth of the GCC insurance market. The Bancassurance MENA Summit opened with a critical regulatory update by Prasanna Seshachellam, Director, Supervision at Dubai Financial Services Authority and Ahmed Al Mamari, Acting Director General, Directorate of Insurance Supervision at Oman’s Capital Market Authority, who assessed the major regulatory developments in the industry and discussed future policy initiatives. Successful strategies need strong regulatory frameworks in place according to the 2015 Bancassurance MENA Summit Report, commissioned by Informa, organisers of the Bankassurance MENA Summit. In the GCC, these frameworks need to accommodate both local companies as well as multinationals that play a crucial role in shaping the regional market. Chandra Sekhar, AIG MENA Zone Head of Consumer Insurance added, “The bancassurance channel has proven to be vital and efficient to increase insurance penetration and insurance awareness in the zone. Together with our bancassurance business partners, we are looking to deliver custom-made products and services to end-users. “It is imperative that insurance companies, together with banks invest on product innovation, cross-selling strategies, customer services and call centres to provide quality insurance service to end-users, which will in turn enhance quality of life of our insured’s and their loyalty in our brands.” Organised by Informa, the Bancassurance MENA Summit brings together leading regulators, insurers, banks, consultants and IT providers to identify market growth strategies as well as models to improve the returns and profitability of this growing channel.
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First Gulf Bank has reported that the GCC insurance markets mirror the region’s macroeconomic fundamentals and have grown quickly, with varying degrees of sophistication and fierce competition. The GCC insurance industry has almost tripled in value between 2006 and 2013, with insurance premiums increasing from US$6.4 billion to US$18.4 billion. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the largest insurance markets in the GCC, with nearly 80 percent of Gross Written Premium (GWP). The UAE is the biggest and fastest-growing insurance market, accounting for almost 45 percent of the region’s GWP and has witnessed strong growth momentum with a 17 percent CAGR over the past six years. Speaking ahead of his seminar session at the Bancassurance MENA Summit, David Harris, Director – Direct & Affinity, UAE & Bahrain, RSA Insurance said, “As a growing insurance industry continues to remain vital to sustainable economic development, the bancassurance model offers a unique avenue to address the low penetration rates in the market. “While we have already seen promising progress in this sector, there is still a lot of potential to better align the industry with global best practices. Particularly as a welldefined framework will help all stakeholders effectively address the changing demographics and evolving insurance needs we are seeing in the market today. “In this competitive environment, banks and insurers that can form fully integrated partnerships, while maintaining customer centricity, will be able to deliver greater operational efficiency and increase sales. “With this in mind, the Bancassurance MENA Summit is a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to get together to build their networks. Leveraging our international expertise in the space and our local heritage, RSA is uniquely suited to lead the growth in this space.” Organised by Informa, the Bancassurance MENA Summit brings together leading regulators, insurers, banks, consultants and IT providers to identify market growth strategies as well as models to improve the returns and profitability of this growing channel. l
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travel & hospitality
Don Alfonso
A couple of weeks ago, myself and a colleague were taken to a lunch time business meeting at the restaurant Don Alfonso which is located in the Shangri La on the Sheikh Zayed Road and all I can say is “WOW”! he restaurant is everything you would expect from one located within the Shangri La. The bar, with it’s brushed aluminum top, the brushed aluminum chandeliers each table with the comfortable arm chairs and beautiful fresh flower arraignments, give you an insight into luxury that they convey into their food. Since moving to Dubai, I have really struggled with flavors. Asian food is amazing. Arabic food fantastic, American food delicious, English food gorgeous, but Italian food… Maybe it is my heritage. Maybe I know the flavors so well because I was brought up, sat in the kitchen after church on a Sunday, with my Nona, Mother and aunts, gossiping, squealing, laughing, shouting, arguing whilst they all fought for to be heard (think Big Fat Greek Wedding and times it by 5). But at the heart of this, they were all cooking. Each one - including me, was always given a job to do which would finalise in the whole family being sat around the dinner table as we ate what we had cooked just a few hours later. All food is a passion to me, but Italian food is in my blood. Nowhere in Dubai that I had eaten so far, has been able to
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get the flavors spot on, and more often then not, the pasta is horrendously overcooked. Not so at Don Alfonso. Actually, the food took me straight back to thinking about my Nona, which left me really rather emotional. All plated beautifully, the Eggplant Parmigiana with San Marzano tomato sauce, was superb. The tomato sauce was beautifully sweet, yet it perfectly offset the saltiness of the strong Parmesan cheese. The main course was a stunning Sea Bream in Aqua Pazza, a delicious broth – very similar to one that my Uncle would make. I was very worried that I would have no space left for the desert, but when they brought out the Tradition Neapolitan Sfogliatella with Cinnamon cream and candied sour cherry, suddenly I was not so full. The typical Italian desert, which my Nona would hand-make herself, was nutella perfection. I was desperately hoping my colleague would not eat hers so I could, but sadly, this was not meant to be as she ate it quicker than I. All in all, I will definitely be back. We have a big interview that I will be conducting in March for the Success Series and I am pretty certain that I will be arranging to conduct it over lunch at Don Alfonso. l
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business incubator
Lloyd’s Opens New Dubai Office
Lloyd’s is delighted to announce the official opening today of a new specialist underwriting platform in Dubai to provide tailored risk solutions across the Middle East his brings the number of Lloyd’s businesses trading in the Dubai International Financial Centre to nine – Amlin, Argo Re, Beazley, Catlin, Liberty, Markel, Talbot, Visionary, and Watkins – seven of which will be operating from the new Lloyd’s platform in the DIFC. The specialist underwriters in Dubai will provide cover across a diverse range of risks including: marine and energy, property, construction and engineering, terrorism, political risk and trade credit, casualty, personal accident, professional and financial risks, aviation, and contingency. Lloyd’s Director of International Markets, Vincent Vandendael said, “This is a significant day for Lloyd’s and our long term global strategy. After consultation with the market we decided to locate an office in Dubai’s prestigious Dubai International Financial Centre. “An important part of Lloyd’s Vision 2025 strategy is to expand our presence into developing and growth markets around the world. While the London market is still the global hub for specialist insurance and reinsurance, it is important
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Lloyd’s continues to expand our global footprint, turning perceived threats into opportunities, and ensuring London stays global for future generations of underwriters and brokers. “The Lloyd’s Dubai platform gives us a presence in the heart of the Middle East, allowing us to build even stronger relationships and deeper risk insights. This is an important region, with strong economic growth and rates of investment, but little insurance to protect that investment. Lloyd’s can play an important role in de-risking this by providing innovative insurance solutions.” His Excellency Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC and Chairman of DIFC Authority Board of Directors said, “We are delighted to welcome Lloyd’s to the Dubai International Financial Centre today. “Lloyd’s is a globally renowned brand for specialist insurance and reinsurance and it is particularly significant for the DIFC that Lloyd’s have chosen to base their new platform for the region here. “I would like to wish Lloyd’s every success in Dubai and the DIFC.” l
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business incubator
Do You Have Emotional Self Control? Emotional Self Control has been proven to be very beneficial in the work place. it tends to follow that people with a high IQ, don’t have high emotional intelligence (EQ), yet they are outperformed 90% of the time
his research illustrates that the EQ of the management and staff is a critical factor into a company’s success. It sets out the star performers from the rest of the pack. It enables you to manage your behaviour and that of your employees correctly, whilst appreciating culture and etiquette, as well as being the defining factor for making personal decisions to achieve the correct results. Below we have listed how you can tell if you have a high EQ.
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Your Emotional Vocabulary We all feel our emotions, but who is able to accurately identify them as they are occurring? Are you even aware of your emotions until after the event? According to TalentSmart, only 36% of the public can. We are all told never to send that email in anger as you may regret it later on. “I have two types of anger. One is controlled anger and the other is emotional. If it is emotional anger, I try to understand this and take a step back otherwise I find I do something that I later regret,” explained my colleague Harry Norman.
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People with a high EQ will vocalise their emotions in descriptive words as opposed to saying just that they feel “bad.” They may say that they feel frustrated or anxious for example. Knowing how they feel means that they are likely to know the cause so that they can successfully deal with this before the stress overwhelms them. Positive Mental Attitude One of the main things that high EQ people have, is a positive mental attitude. They can understand that any negativity derives from their own insecurities but that it is never based on fact. Once this thought process has been mastered, they are able to stop the cycle of negativity, which in turn comes with frustration and anxiety. By having this attitude to life, they also don’t allow others to rain on their parade. Any negative thoughts that others may have are instantly dismissed as a high EQ person will empathise with the situation and understand that they don’t have all the facts.
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Bear No Grudges EQ people learn from their mistakes and move on from them. In turn, you will find that someone with a high EQ, wont be interested in the mistake, but will be interested in how to fix it. They won’t apportion blame and will get over it quickly, as Rachel Conde explains, “When I told my boss about a problem that happened in one of my teams, he surprisingly didn’t lose his temper. You could see he was angry, but just said, ‘Ok… What are we doing about it?’ Once I told him what my proposed course of action was to be, he just said, ‘Great. Get on with it,’ and in fact commended me on a job well done a few days later.” Ultimately, someone with a high EQ knows it is futile to bear a grudge as the negativity will only affect them. Know What You Are Strong At And with knowing their strong points, they also understand their weaknesses. They know what makes them angry and what they have to do to avoid these situations and/or calm down. Curiosity Is Key EQ people are curious. They question people about themselves as they have higher amounts of empathy than the average person. It is this that ultimately illustrates a high EQ. The more they care, the more they will question you. This in turn leads to strong relationships. They Embrace Change People with a high EQ understand and accept this concept. They do not fear change and embrace it, as they understand that change enables something to better itself/themselves. It Goes Over Their Head The best thing about someone with a high EQ is that they are difficult to offend. This is because they are self confident and open minded, so the comment is likely to go over their head. It is not unusual for someone with a high EQ to make jokes about themselves either. There Is No Such Thing As Perfection EQ people understand that even when you believe you achieve perfection, someone will come along and view it differently, which could cause
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you to feel a failure. As such, those with a high EQ want a job done well and don’t strive for perfection. They Say No Someone with the a high EQ has high levels of self control and you will find that they are not normally ones to take impulsive decisions, and as such have no qualms in saying “No,” to both themselves and others. You will also find that someone with a high EQ, will actually say, “No.” They won’t sugar coat it in any way. Have Loyalty People with high EQs tend not to expect anything in return if they do a good deed for them. This leaves a big impression as it illustrates just how much of a team player they are, and in turns strengthens their relationships with people so that they have a loyal following. Better Coping Skills High EQ people have better coping skills with the staff and client’s who frustrate and anger others. They keep their emotions in check with such people and recognise, that by allowing their feelings to show, they will just add fuel to the flames.
They Are Grateful Not only are high EQ people grateful for what they have, this in turn reduces stress levels by 23% (as found by the University of California). They ensure that they take time out for themselves to be with family and friends and know when to shut off because they can sense stress. They Eat Well, Exercise And Get Enough Sleep People with high EQ ensure that they eat well and limit their caffeine intake. They appreciate how they feel after they have a balanced meal and a workout. They also understand the importance of a good nights sleep (see our article on page 78) as they can understand what sleep deprivation does to the body. Ultimately, someone with a high EQ has an automatic use of their emotions to be able to get the best out of people and form great relationships with others. As they are able to empathise so acutely, they are an excellent judge of character, being able to quickly and succinctly understand someones motivations, enabling them to be able to get the best out of a that person and/or a situation. It is this that makes them excel in business. l
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business incubator
Win The Respect Of Your Staff
Luckily, more often than not, as a business leader or manager you have been able to pick your staff. However this doesn’t mean that the person who was the most suitable candidate is one that you particularly like or get along with
ery often, you may find that you want to do things in a certain way and they just don’t get it, no matter how hard you try to tell them. Alternatively, you get frustrated that they won’t do any more than the bare minimum to get by. This can understandably lead to frustrations, which can be difficult to hide. Once the frustrations surfaces, your relationship begins to wear thin, causing animosity between the two of you and a complete lack of respect. Ultimately however, a happy workforce is a profitable workforce. You need the working relationship to flourish and get back to the happy place it was at the beginning, but how can you get the respect of your staff?
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What Matters To Them? Often it is communication that lets us down. Employees will do what they think is right without thinking how it looks to you. If you want something done in a certain fashion, or to look a certain way, they have to be told – they aren’t mind readers! The more they hear from you, the greater the learning curve will be. Schedule Regular Meetings Waiting for your employees annual performance to give constructive criticism is not a good idea, as those niggling issues for you will just keep eating away at you without their being resolved. By having regular meetings you can tactfully advise on areas of improvement, as well as passing on positive feedback.
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business incubator
Questions Things Tactfully If you employee is insisting on doing some thing their way, ask them to explain why they believe this way is better. Don’t immediately jump to answer but carefully consider what they are saying – You may find that their way is actually better. If it is, then be sure to let them know and thank them. They could save you a lot of time and effort for doing things in the future. Conversely, if you still believe you are right, explain it politely stating why, so that there cannot be an argument about it. Coach Them In your meetings, you may find that they don’t understand where they fit into the workflow and, as I am sure you can recall, there is nothing more demoralizing than only knowing your job and not understanding what happens next. If you show them, they may have aspirations for promotion. With that comes more productivity as they work to prove why they should be promoted. You may also uncover that they don’t understand certain aspects of their job or struggle with parts. In chatting with them, you may find that actually, they have an eye for design and finding out more about this, you may find that they would fill another position entirely in which they could prosper. Stop Gossiping About Them There is nothing worse than being the subject of office gossip. As the boss, this is to be expected to a degree. As an employee who is gossiped about by the boss, it screams to the other members of staff that you are unprofessional and highly untrustworthy, two traits which will very quickly lose you respect; especially if the staff members feel that they have fallen out of favour. The effect that this has on an office is marked. Moral will hit the floor and your staff member will become withdrawn, grumpy and resentful. All things that you as a business leader should be very weary of. Don’t Over Promise and Under Deliver There is nothing worse than being promised a promotion and pay rise by your boss only to have it amount to nothing, which 7 months down the line
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In the main, you want to get to know your employee without necessarily getting too close
you are still chasing. Likewise pay. All SME’s are likely to have money problems at some point, but your staff have to be paid. No one chooses to get out of work in the mornings, they do it for financial reward and if the reward isn’t there, the incentive to work isn’t there either. Do not make promises that you can’t keep. If you have promised a certain salary, this should be paid. If you have promised flexibility, then this promise should be remembered. If you are just paying these as lip service in order to get what you want, don’t, as it will only backfire on you. In the main, you want to get to know your employee without necessarily getting too close. Just remember though, liars and cheaters are exactly those: Liars and Cheaters. There is no coming back from being viewed this way by
your employees, as your staff will remember what happened. They will think of you as being ruthless and untrustworthy, certainly not someone that they would want to impress or would ever respect. Finally, never forget that negativity can spread, not just to other employees, but also potentially to your customers. An angry or delusional employee is never a good advert for business, and normally the business owner is the last to find out what is being said. If this were to happen, this would impact more than just your relationship with the people you work with. Your bottom line and your whole business in general could be at risk; which would be frustrating as you could have just taken a couple of steps to get the relationship back on track a long time before this occurs. l
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business incubator
The Importance of a Good Night’s Rest
We all know sleep is important, but we also know business leaders who love to tell us that they sleep for just 5 hours a night because they are too busy to sleep for any longer. We all know the effects that the lack of sleep has on our concentration and productivity, but have we just got used to working in a fog? If you are sleeping well for 5 hours a night, is this not better then to sleep badly for longer? adly this is not the case. The National Sleep Foundation in the US takes pains to tell us that sleep is actually a very good indicator of your overall health. They admit that the amount of sleep a person needs differs from one to the other, so you have to look at the full factors of your work/home life to determine what is right for you.
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How Much Sleep Do You Need? For the average working adult, i.e. someone who is between the ages of 18 and 64 years old, the National Sleep Council recommends that you should sleep between 7-9 hours per night although you may be able to function at 6 hours a night. To determine what is right for you, they suggest asking yourself the following questions: zz How many hours of sleep do you have on average a night? Are you productive, healthy and happy in the hours that follow? zz Do you find you are more productive if you have an extra one or two hours of sleep? zz Do you have any health issues, or are you overweight?
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zz zz zz
Do you experience sleep problems? Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day? Do you feel sleepy when driving?
Ultimately, in order to sleep better, we have to make it sleeping a priority. l Top Tips for Sleeping Better 1. Use blackout blinds or curtains to ensure that the room is completely dark. 2. Turn off all electrical equipment – The glow from your TV being on standby or your mobile phone will interfere with the ‘circadian rhythm’ which is your natural sleep cycle. 3. Go to bed at the same time each night and set your alarm for the same time each morning. 4. Practice a bedtime routine. 5. Exercise daily. 6. Check your room is the right temperature. You sleep at your best between 65 and 70 degrees. 7. Cut down on coffee and alcohol or cut it out entirely.
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The opportunity for the GCC is now — understand the challenges and drivers that impact you. Nationalization, diversification, global positioning and stability are key areas for governments and businesses in the region to consider for the future of GCC growth. The EY growth drivers report highlights how government and business can work together to address challenges and embrace opportunities in the region. For more information visit ey.com/growthdrivers
The views set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the Ernst & Young global organization or its member firms.
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