HE Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Director General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) noted that governments today have to cope with a dynamic and rapidly changing world and tremendous challenges that require a great deal of professionalism and innovative methods to transform these challenges into opportunities. These challenges, according to HE include creation of new jobs, especially for the younger generations and building skilled workforce to meet the expectations of customers in the future.
He said: “The technological developments we are witnessing at the present time have created real opportunities for organizations to capitalize on, so as to change the work methods and adopt new approaches through using modern technology, which has contributed to focusing the attention of government and private institutions toward more strategic development issues”.
These remarks were made in the opening speech of the annual meeting of FAHR’s strategic partners, which was organized recently in Dubai, to review the Authority’s strategic plan for 2017 - 2021, in the presence of HE Aisha Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of Human Resources Policies, HE Laila Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of Programs and HR Planning, HE Ibrahim Fikri, Executive Director of Support Services, a number of sector and department directors in the Authority, HR department heads in the federal ministries and entities, in addition to a number of the Authority’s partners, and representatives of think tanks and global human resources organizations.
Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar praised the efforts of the Authority’s working team and its partners including the ministries and federal entities as well as members of the private sector in preparing the Human Resources Strategy in the Federal Government for 2011 - 2013 and 2014 - 2016, noting that the Authority is set to launch 2017 – 2021 strategy, which coincides with the deadline for achieving UAE Vision 2021 and the National Agenda. He called on everyone to keep up with the thoughts and vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in respect of shaping the future by adopting innovation and creativity in providing public services in order to achieve happiness for customers and employees alike, and enrich the government experience in the UAE.
Aisha Al Suwaidi: "Shaping the future is a major concern for the UAE Government."
For her part, Aisha Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of Human Resources Policies in the Authority said: “The issue of shaping the future has been at the top of the agenda of the Government, with human capital development being the main target over the years, to the vision and directives of the UAE’s wise leadership”.
She then reviewed the achievements of the Authority during the previous two cycles of the Human Resources Strategy in the Federal Government, including the issuance of Human Resources Law in the Federal Government for the year 2008, which was amended for the first time in 2011, to be amended again in 2016 to take its present form. This was followed by enacting the Executive Regulation of HR Law in 2012, HR List for independent federal entities in 2013, as well as the launch of employee performance management system, training and development system, training program bank, and "Ma’aref" initiative for Federal Government’s preferred training partners .
Aisha Al Suwaidi added “The Authority’s achievements at the Federal Government level also included the launch several projects and initiatives, namely, a reward and incentive system for the employees, the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Document for Civil Service, Electronic Strategic Workforce Planning, Job Evaluation & Description System, Occupational Health & Safety Manual, and HR policies & procedures manual.
“A number of specialized studies have also been conducted and launched on the Federal Government level addressing issues like government efficiency and productivity, modification of experts and advisers contracts, in addition to studies on the demographic characteristics of the future workforce in the Federal Government, workplace environment, gender balance, and a case study of employees with special needs”.
Laila Al Suwaidi: "Human capital should be everybody’s concern in the organization, not only HR departments"
HE Laila Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of Programs and HR Planning in the Authority underlined the importance of focusing on human capital development and management, stressing that it must be the main concern across the Federal Government as a whole, and not only the responsibility of HR departments. She also shed light on the Authority’s achievements during the previous two phases of HR Strategy in the Federal Government: launch, development and implementation of Emiratization program in the Federal Government, sponsorship of national high school graduates, and a study on linking education with labor market outcomes.
Among the major accomplishments in the past few years at the level of the Federal Government, Laila Al Suwaidi mentioned the launch of the UAE HR Award, organization of International Human Resources Conference on an annual basis, employee wellness program, Human Resources Club, the online forum for HR professionals, HR Echo Magazine, and “Imtyazat” initiative launched to provide special discounts for Federal Government employees in partnership with private sector companies.
Laila Al Suwaidi highlighted the major achievements of HR management information System in the Federal Government, "BAYANATI" during the past years, including: HR procedures system, payroll system, policy automation system, legal consultation service "Ask the Legal Expert," self-service function, BMC Remedy Smart Reporting, smart app. (FAHR), BAYANATI website, electronic ‘To Whom it May Concern’ certificates approval system, electronic archiving of employee documents, Bank of SMART goals bank, and new employees boarding.
She said that the Authority is set to launch a series of projects and initiatives as far as BAYANATI system is concerned the coming period, most notably: launch of the second phase of smart application (FAHR), activating the amendments made recently on Human Resources Law through BAYANATI system, provision of electronic signature for BAYANATI documents, automation of reward and incentive system, and launch of predictive reporting system.
Review of Authority’s Strategy 2017 - 2021
Fatima Al-Houti, Director of Strategy & Future Department in the Authority gave a briefing on the most prominent features of the Authority’s Strategy for 2017 - 2021, pointing out that the aim is to create a happy and innovative workforce within the Federal Government to contribute to leading the UAE through the global competiveness, achieve workplace harmony, improve government efficiency and increase productivity through proper investment on human capital.
“The strategy of the Authority is based on s set of strategic objectives aimed at developing an integrated legislative system for human capital management in the Federal Government, promoting human capital to achieve global leadership, creating a happy and stimulating work environment to ensure providing all administrative services in accordance with quality, efficiency and transparency standards, and establishing a culture of innovation within the institutional work environment”, she concluded.
The future of human resources in a brainstorming session
The forum featured brainstorming sessions, during which participants discussed the future trends and their impact on the reality of human resources. Topics discussed included organizations and leadership, productivity, innovation, jobs and talent, customer services, rules and regulations, technology and information.
Participants express their belief that organizations will become more capable for responding quickly and intelligently to change in the future, and that the leaders will face a major challenge as to how to use their emotional, cognitive and behavioral intelligence in directing talent to outstanding performance. They stressed that the organizations are required to reconsider the traditional theories, policies and legislation related to talent attraction and retention, and to strike a balance between workforce strategies and innovative strategies.
They agreed that traditional jobs will disappear in the future to be replaced by quality high-income jobs, based on technological knowledge. Participants also agreed that new forms of employment contracts will emerge, based on remote work, temporary and free contracts, hiring staff from abroad and mass outsourcing via the internet. Companies will adopt adopt new strategies to attract and retain talent in the light of increasing competition to hire this important resource.
The consensus in the brainstorming sessions was that institutions that are mainly focused on cost reduction strategies will be less effective than those that tend to provide innovative products and services, arguing that the digital lifestyle has become s norm among employees, raising their productivity and effectiveness, as they have become more accustomed to teleworking, offer their services, and communicate more quickly with less cost.