HE Dr Abdul Rahman Al Awar, Director General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR), called on all organizations to give utmost importance to developing their human resources and enhancing their competencies by adopting the best international practices in the field of training and development, so that they can cope with the information age through training and capacity building and exposing them to global best practices and experiences.
HE was delivering the opening speech at the 2-day Training & Development Conference and Show organized by Terrapinn Middle East in Dubai. "Today we are witnessing an era of rapid and dramatic changes in different sectors and areas of work, which makes it imperative for enterprises to keep up with these developments for a better future”, he said, indicating that this can only be done by harnessing modern technology through adopting innovative legislation and programs.
Dr Abdul Rahman Al Awar went on: “The UAE firmly believes that maintaining the global leadership and the great achievements it has made over the past few years require more investment in human resources using non-traditional training programs that take into account the needs of different generations in the workforce’’.
He praised the UAE's pioneering experience in empowering its human capital, under the special patronage and care of the wise leadership, led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. He cited the annual meetings of the UAE Government, which concluded recently in Abu Dhabi, where more than 120 national initiatives were launched in 30 federal and local sectors, 6 of them to empower government human resources.
Dr. Al-Awar said: ‘These meetings focused largely on the status of human resources in the country, the most important opportunities for progress, the challenges that have been faced and achievements in the field of human resources. It also highlighted future directions in the field of human resources, as well as capacity-building for Federal Government human resources”.
He said: “We need to look ahead into the future to find appropriate tools for the development of training programs, taking into account the challenges of a rapidly changing modern technology, which require strategies and plans for flexible and alternative training that fulfil the aspirations and needs of present and future generations.
“Our institutions face many challenges in the field of training, including allocation of sufficient budgets for training employees, quality of current training programs and return on investment in training, etc. The training programs offered to employees must be relevant and effective, and closely aligned address the current and future challenges.
“It is high time to think carefully about the future of our institutions, and to predict the challenges ahead. This requires investing in human capital by adopting creative methods to bring the current training programs up-to-date and relevant to the development of human resources based on global standards”.
He reiterated the need to develop comprehensive strategies and plans for training in line with the aspirations and needs of different groups and generations of employees, calling on partners and training providers in the United Arab Emirates to devise training methods and tools that suit the nation's ambitious aspirations for the future.
“By the year 2020, organizations will change methods for attracting talent, focusing on people with a range of personal skills, including: solving complex problems, creative thinking, innovative people management, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, decision- making skills, negotiation skills, etc”, he noted.
He pointed to the different challenges currently facing organizations in terms of training. These include adequate budgets for training staff, quality of training programs available and return on investment in training, stressing that the training programs offered to employees should be effective, dynamic and closely linked to the challenges facing these institutions, and able to anticipate the challenges ahead.
The exhibition is an ideal platform to review and discuss the most important HR training and development solutions as it provides an opportunity to meet HR professionals and experts and specialists in learning and training. It focuses on workplace training by addressing the latest training solutions in the work environment.
About 60 exhibitors representing the best training providers in the UAE will participate in the exhibition, in addition to dozens of seminars and lectures conducted by experts in human resources, training and talent management.