8 May 2019
As UAE gears for the future, let it not amiss the corporations that work to improve people’s lives, and contribute to a happier outlook on business. People-centric is a style of leading, not a style of business.
So why would you care about people-centric businesses? Because People run your business! The right people make your hard work count, in short. Whether it’s Marriott Dubai’s ‘Spirit to Serve’ or FedEx, both types of corporations continually reward their people to maintain great customer experiences of their brands. Take for example Microsoft Gulf FZ LLC, that stood first in its endeavor to create absolute ‘work-life balance’ for people who work for them. They make it work because of them, not in spite of them.
Corporations that build together, stay together
At a time when companies face such fierce competition from other brands, isn’t it nice to look towards people-centric businesses that build themselves by building their selves? A little bit of credit to the greater good behind all acts of business i.e. Success for All? In a study, 91% of UAE respondents agreed that more success at innovation is found through partnerships than by operating alone. Now, this is at least four points more than the global average of 87%. And what did it take for UAE’s business culture to achieve that? Just a dash of social intelligence mixed in with empathy towards the customer.
It’s super simple, really. People place their trust in other people, not in organizations or intangible effects. It can be easily argued that businesses in the UAE are more people-centric than business models that exist across the remainder of this world. The reason being, this nascent yet superbly growing nation’s foundation is tied into the deeper roots of family, bonding and mutual care. They like to listen to their customers more and are interested in enhancing their experience even more. Think, small gestures like favors or even bigger gestures like extending head-honcho treatment to VIPs. You bet they put all those VIP tickets to good use! Corporations also toy with fun incentives to grow, paired with more meaningful incentives to achieve the actual growth of their employees, for example, pharma giant Merck absolutely spoils its team with an exotic holiday every year, and finance giant SHUAA capital invests in employee programs to prepare them to brace for overall success.
As is prevalent in human relationships based on trust, corporations in the UAE value the weight of the spoken word. Whether that flows in as heartfelt recommendations about your brand to others, or as a doorway to more potential opportunities in the local market, much is left to be said in describing the power of operating in such an environment.
Meeting the challenge head-on
A very interesting term to acquaint oneself as a UAE business owner would be ‘innovation vertigo’. It deals with the uncertainty of the future of the marketplace owing to the rapid speed of innovation. In other words, the massive speed at which innovation is currently happening is so blinding to business owners that it has an adverse effect on their perception of innovation for business. How could one be afraid of positive developments, you say? The correct answer is, change is more often than not, scary because people don’t know how to operate with the knowledge of having not enough knowledge.
One unique thing to notice is that so many corporations in the UAE have cracked a fresher perception on dealing with this problem and safe to say they are immune to innovation vertigo. Bayt.com literally has an internal website that encourages all employees to share ‘any ideas on growth’, which the company saves in its reservoir of finding ‘The Next Big Thing’.
Another example that lies right in front of everyone’s eyes is the nation’s modern take on architecture and urban planning, that currently knows no bounds in its efficient multiplicity. That train is not slowing down anytime soon. In fact, it’s encouraging people to embrace the complexities while nailing down new opportunities from the situation. Businesses find themselves constantly striving for better business models, new alliances and different markets or audiences than usual. So, what can we ultimately learn from this? That, only resilience helps businesses to sail through tough waters. Most corporations that stem in the western countries would ideally run a standard model of business- a strategy that suits all their customers in one go. However, the trend in UAE owing to the heritage and general appreciation of people has led the corporations to diversify their strategy in accommodating tailor-made experiences for different user bases. Zayed University runs a recognition program for its people to help them ‘be recognized as who they want to be recognized’. While this is an example of an organization- to- employee, but still, people make the world, doesn’t it? Of course, the differences in business culture exist, but the results are there to speak for themselves. Operating in the UAE would encourage your business to do this more fiercely- Listening to your users and Doing your research to have a crack at the local business scene. What made Microsoft Gulf rake in the big bucks is also their effort to outsource a local customer experience committee to tie in their best efforts at customer excellence. It’s no surprise that 62% of businesses would recommend localized innovation to cater to the domestic market’s needs- which only means one thing for your business- Develop custom- tailored innovation environments. Change is the only constant in today’s economies, so why must your business stay still? Now, that is something to think about.