Staying Relevant: Innovative HR Policies to Attract Millennials

Governments and public sector entities across the GCC are focusing on innovation to drive human capital development and achieve organizational and national objectives. Organizations that can put innovative strategies in place will be more attractive to millennial talent, who are driving an unprecedented shift in organisational culture, and expect greater transparency and communication around their development opportunities.

“Innovation in human resources, although important, is not enough on its own and must be an integral part of a wider suite of initiatives that look to enhance HR,” said Ms. Randa Bahsoun, Partner – People & Organization Practice, PwC Middle East, who is a keynote speaker at the upcoming GOV HR Summit 2015.  Indeed, organizations need to do more than just implement innovation initiatives. “At PwC, our recent Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) survey findings, that will be launched soon, indicate that over 75% of organizations have undertaken such initiatives in the last two years but only 6% of these organizations have been ‘very successful’,’’ noted Ms. Bahsoun, who suggested this is an area that organizations should focus on by employing effective strategies. 

An important factor determining the success of innovation initiatives, especially in HR, is employee engagement. “The GCC labour market is quite diverse, attracting different cultures, work ethics, and also personalities from within the region as well as internationally,” noted Mr. Ackash Jain, Director of QNA International. “A challenge HR personnel across the globe will face in the near future is in the successful integration of millennials into the workforce,’’ he added.

When it comes to tackling the talent strategy in the region, Ms. Bahsoun stated that it was primarily about increasing the return on human capital employed. At the workplace, Ms. Bahsoun said these translate to using appropriate KPI’s and HR analytics to predict and mitigate potential problems; applying effective strategic workforce planning to increase productivity; creating a balance between localized and centralized HR; transparency of career pathways - especially for local national talent; and engaging employees by enhancing the entire employee value proposition.’’

As for the regional challenges in developing human capital in the government and public sector, Ms. Bahsoun highlighted four main challenges, “Balancing workforce nationalization efforts while leveraging experienced expatriate talent; public pressure to reduce local unemployment especially in the backdrop of low oil prices; skill shortages and increased global competition; and integration of women and millennials into the workforce at middle senior management levels.”

Keeping the above in mind, a critical factor to consider while developing these practical interventions, is that within the MENA region one size doesn’t fit all. Each market has similarities in its talent management priorities, but HR is maturing at significantly varying rates in different countries.

“The complexity of addressing these challenges is further increased by the fact that the solutions to tackle current challenges must do so in the context of broader cultural expectations and norms,” added Ms. Bahsoun.

Dubai based QnA International will host the GOV HR Summit on 27 – 29 October at the Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal. The summit, to be attended by HR professionals in the government, semi-government and public sectors will tackle the challenges and discuss industry best practices in attracting, retaining and developing human capital in the GCC region. 

The theme of this year’s by-invitation only summit, now in its third year, is ‘Putting People First: Driving Innovation to Achieve Human Excellence’. PwC is supporting the summit as a Platinum sponsor.