Nurturing A 'NATIONAL' Management Cadre

07 April 2002

The array of announcements in the last few weeks with regard to appointments and promotions in major governmental institutions have been impressive and indicate an important trend. The senior management changes include those announced by the President at the federal Ministry of Finance & Industry i.e. the addition of an Assistant UnderSecretary, a new Deputy Governor at the UAE Central Bank etc. Similarly the Dubai Shopping Festival Directorate now has promoted the young and dynamic Mr. Hussain Lootah, as its Executive Chairman as well as the CMO (Mr. Naboudah) as CEO; while increasing the COO's responsibilities. Last month witnessed the appointment of Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum as the new Chairman of the Dubai Internet and Media Authority; with Mr. Ahmed Bin Bayat moving in as the new Director-General and Mr. Juma as the new CEO of the Dubai Media City. All in all, they represent a string of management cadre reshuffles, not just in the economic activities but also in the cultural, tourism and other domains - signifying a welcome and healthy shift.

The private sector in this region has not lagged behind in nurturing a new management cadre. Taking Dubai again, for example, in the Abdulla Al Futtaim or the Saif Al Ghurair groups of businesses, the relatively younger members of the family are now donning the highest management mantles and taking a more hands-on approach. This is how it should be and must be viewed as a transition and not necessarily a change of guard at the helm. The process has been and need to be smooth, carefully prepared and in all instances, the right people require to be chosen.

Elsewhere in the GCC, localisation (in a sense, this and emiratisation or omanisation etc. are inelegant terms - for the son of the soil or 'bumiputras' as the Far East knows them to be!) has been going on for some time, be it in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

Relatively speaking, the UAE has a smaller native / 'national' workforce and many have tended to drift into careers within their family businesses or government jobs. In other parts of the GCC, the princes and members of the extended ruling families themselves being numerous, have had, naturally, to be accommodated in senior administrative and strategic echelons in the public sectors; as they arise. Such winds of change sweeping this region can only be described as a generational (albeit glacier-like in some respects) movement; with hopefully minimal disruption and maximum continuity in practical terms.

A few pros and cons do need to be weighed with regard to both the momentum and the measures taken thus far. For one, this building up of a home-grown management cadre needs to be institutionalised as a process. This can be by way of strengthened administrative staff colleges or public-sector management institutes that formalise the 'mentorial' (i.e. the only adjective found in the dictionary!) process. Literally, a mentor denotes a wise and a trusted advisor; the key elements implicit therein, being wisdom and trust. The bonding of trust will underpin all transfers of skills, be they in management, economic, technical and / or professional. Both the givers and the receivers will need to work in tandem and in harmony; with no room for mistrust. Wisdom is clearly important and this goes beyond, merely, knowledge. There are a number of technically-proficient, professionally-qualified individuals in senior positions but they have not all necessarily matured fully into wisdom, foresight and long term vision - the key qualitative features that distinguish the men from the boys! There are plenty of cowboys who are keen to 'do' a crash course in skills-transfer for a hefty fee and it is sifting out the wheat from the chaff, that will be the hallmark test of true nation-building institutions.

It is in this context that some may think that the whole management cadre building process in the GCC is being somewhat short-circuited and hurried; in as much as the national managers are appointed and promoted too quickly to senior levels (i.e. rushed into occupying important positions of responsibility and authority) to be adequately groomed and prepared. There is considerable merit in devising and honing well planned 'individual development programmes' (IDPs) for every promising national manager; so that he is given sufficient training and orientation and allowed to flower into a good, well-tested manager-material.

However, the reality that all have to contend with, is that the eligibles are so few in number and there is such great and immediate demand. Hence the need to place them rapidly in positions of authority, power and responsibility; so that their talent is used wisely for the development of the country. This is where, short cuts may have been taken for want of a better alternative. Perhaps there is a need for 'capsule' (not crash!) courses, (not the variety for which an arm and a leg is charged in fees) but ones that are more in the nature of 'on the job' individual mentoring. Senior expatriate managers can be designated as 'trustees' for each middle-level 'local' manager. Both are then given a two-three year period during which the expat ensures that the national manager is ready to take the expatriate's senior level job. The latter is rewarded (guru-dakshina') as teacher for a job, well done. This way, there is no ambiguity as to who is going to take over, from whom and when. The back-ended reward would mean that there is an incentive for the senior experienced expatriate to transfer his skills totally and fully, as he will be out anyway, whether he does this assignment well or not. But he may well be paid a bit more, if he did groom his candidate well. This mentoring need not be introduced at the national in-take level, but selectively at the middle and top ends. The strategy at the lower end should involve training, rotation, experience and a mass-level programme to give wide exposure to different aspects of an organization's operations and from which pool, the elite national managers should emerge.

There are some that decry the cronyism that creeps into a few areas. The chairman or CEOs of some corporations or individuals in positions of high authority, may end up nominating their own cousins and family members to key positions. This is understandable even if ostensibly repugnant but it is wrong to label this as a tribal practice that places a premium on loyalty over performance, skills and experience. A pure management theorist could inject a given cultural dimension and find it hard to understand or accept, let alone stomach or swallow. It is wholly wrong to deny well-qualified individuals from being awarded senior positions, just because they are related to someone within that organisation. Loyalty and cultural compatibility are not traits to be scoffed at. It is engaging with them in an unbiased transparent manner, with the best candidates getting the plum jobs and this doubtless requires good corporate governance on the part of those at the top.

Just as the high and mighty, would want the best of education for their sons and daughters, they would be keen to offer them a pick of choice in terms of jobs / assignments. This is where there has got to be congruency of interests between the ownership and the professional management of any organisation and these issues need not peter out into conflicts of interests. Ultimately, if we only have cynics and the 'no-gooders' who wag their tongues and nod their heads negatively, it does not help the society at large. Those who wish to make a positive change and bring out the best, have to take into account the ground realities.

THE NEW AUTHORITY : The weekend announcement that the Government of Dubai would establish an Authority for Investment and Development, marks the creation of yet another national institution with hugely long term implications. The preliminary charter is as impressive as it is far-reaching and there are elements that mingle and match with the objectives of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Eventually and soon all such organisational structures will need to have clarity, unity of purpose, innovation and goodwill.

French terms best describe (a lot better than anything corresponding in English) the innate qualities that need to be persevered with. Dubai's track-record encapsulates excellent 'entente', 'joie de vivre' and 'esprit de corps', symbolising a focussed approach of 'all hands to the pump' that the new governmental initiative will synergize and complement. Perhaps this subject needs a SWOT analysis.. Team-work and organisational cohesiveness are aspects that need to be dealt with and dwelt upon at greater length and would warrant another column in themselves!

(The author (sureshk@emiratesbank.ae) is a General Manager in Emirates Bank Group. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily shared by the Bank.

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