Leadership training in UAE is gradually increasing. Organizations across the United Arab Amirates, MENA, GSC invest heavily in developing their Leaders and Managers.
Our Experience while working with a UAE client was quite a unique one. The client’s HR team and key stakeholders invested a lot of their time in providing us with insights as well as sharing their suggestions during the initial stages of the engagement.
This helped us deliver a successful program as well as motivated us to pen down the steps they took to ensure the program success.
We are hopeful that this article will add value to those organizations looking at organizing successful leadership development interventions in the Middle East while partnering with external vendors.
Context of the program
The client was looking for training their HOD’s on a Leadership Development Program. The HOD’s had grown in the system from an individual contributor to a Leader over many years.
Reputation and Experience
The client did a thorough research about the reputation of The Yellow Spot. They asked us to share information on our track record in providing leadership training, requested for sharing relevant testimonials, references, success stories, case studies, and reviews from past clients to gauge their satisfaction and results.
Credentials of the Trainers
The client Head HR personally assessed and interviewed our Facilitators who were shortlisted to deliver the workshops. They inquired about relevant trainer experience, qualifications, and certifications in leadership development, had conversations about the method of facilitation and gauged if the wavelength of the trainer matched with them.
Customization and Flexibility
The next in line was about assessing our ability to customize leadership training programs to meet their specific needs, goals, and culture. They did so by organizing Focus group discussions with multiple layers of the organization. We also had a multiple one on one interviews with the C-suite as well as their subordinates to understand the whole situation. Based on all these inputs we could take up the situations as case studies and role plays during the program.
Comprehensive Curriculum
Once we had designed the curriculum and developed the content of the leadership training program, we arranged a joint call between the content designer, the trainer, and the client HR. This helped in further customizing the whole initiative as per the exact needs of the client. Here we suggested some changes in the curriculum that was suggested to us initially by the Top Leadership as the training needs analysis did show some deviation from it.
Engaging Delivery and Innovative Approaches
The above discussion also ensured that the client had enough insight into our delivery methods.
The whole program was designed using experiential learning, case studies, role-plays, and group activities. It also included innovative approaches using technology-enabled learning platforms, gamification, or incorporating insights from neuroscience and behavioral science.
Sustainability and Follow-up Support
This is the biggest and sometimes the most ignored one. The client decided to partner with us on this front to sustain the behavior change after the training. Follow-up coaching, mentoring, or online resources were roped in to ensure long-term impact of this journey.
Return On Investment
This is usually the most difficult one. The client was realistic about the ROI. They looked at achieving Kirkpatrick level 3 subjectively for this engagement which itself is quite a tough one to measure.
We however, did manage to get written feedback and observations from significant others who worked with the training group. These revolved around the change they could experience in the behaviors of these participants over a period of 1 month and as per their self designed action plans.
Thus, by carefully evaluating these criteria and partnering with the Training partner, the participants and the key stakeholders, an organization can ensure that they can receive maximum benefit and returns from a Leadership Training in UAE.
At The Yellow Spot, we enjoy engaging with such clients and are motivated towards providing the best experience and value to them.