Gopa Kumar, Head of Department - HR & Administration

Gopa Kumar

Head of Department - HR & Administration

Falcon Technologies International (RAKEZ)

Location
United Arab Emirates - Dubai
Education
Master's degree, Industrial Relations, Personnel Management & Labour Welfare
Experience
27 years, 9 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :27 years, 9 Months

Head of Department - HR & Administration at Falcon Technologies International (RAKEZ)
  • United Arab Emirates - Ras Al Khaimah
  • My current job since February 2017

Falcon Technologies - RAKEZ, RAK, UAE - Hitech manufacturing entity in optical media owned by Government of Ras Al Khaimah The 24/7 manufacturing plant comprises multinational workforce of 14 nationalities. Was rehired for change management - manage organization restructure, deployment of
intellectual properties and assets with key focus on business diversification.

HR Organization Leadership: Lead HR and Admn. Departments, accountable for the whole gamut of operations including - policies and procedures, recruitment, compensation and benefits, succession planning, development of leadership team, HRIS, facility management, government relations and regulatory compliance.

Organization Transformation: Enabled operational changes including staffing to adapt new business processes for new technology. Was part of the leadership team in redesigning the core business operations by mapping resources to requirements.
¨ HR Integration: Act as channel for the management and BOD for cascading down business strategies and plans to the workforce, transforming them into actionable tasks.

Employee Relations: Introduced pro-active employee relations and communication programs resolving concerns and anecdotes - introduced employee survey, voice your opinion and employee suggestion schemes.

Head of Human Resources - Middle East Cluster at APL - American President Lines
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • January 2014 to February 2017

APL (American President Lines) Dubai, UAE - the largest shipping Company listed on Singapore Exchange, providing world class container shipping and terminal services across North & South America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Indian Subcontinent and Australia. Recruited to manage the Human Resources function across APL Middle East Cluster countries - UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt by implementing the new business model of functional silos. 4 country HR heads (KSA, EGY, KWT, OMN) reports into the role.

HR Management: Roll out various corporate schemes and HR Programs in Middle East countries, complying with regional laws and regulations, ensuring statutory compliance.

Organization Development: Identify fast track performers, develop career progression plans and enroll for Corporate Leadership Development scheme.

Compensation & Benefits: Conduct / coordinate for regional Comp. & Ben. surveys and propose action plans for respective countries. Administer corporate loyalty programs by identifying potentials for employee shareholding schemes. Responsible for payroll
and variable pay administration.

Performance Management: Customize corporate performance management programs for regional countries aligning with respective business objectives.

Employee Relations: Conduct town houses of employees, cascading down corporate messages and business strategies to workforce and take employee voices / feedbacks.

Post-Acquisition HR Integration: Streamlined integration of CMA-CGM, the largest ever shipping industry merger at the time. Ensured strategic alignment of HR with new business objectives and minimized business interruptions through different workforce integration plans.

Head of Department - HR & Administration at Falcon Technologies International (RAKIA)
  • United Arab Emirates - Ras Al Khaimah
  • December 2008 to January 2017

Falcon Technologies - RAKIA, RAK, UAE - Swiss manufacturing conglomerate in professional optical media data storage solutions, a joint venture of Government of Ras Al Khaimah. The 24/7 manufacturing plant comprises multinational workforce of 14 nationalities.

Was hired to setup Human Resources and Administration departments and define Company
policies, procedures and process flow. Transformed HR into a true strategic business partner, in the aftermath of an end-to-end HR restructuring, Championed HR vision while forging sustainable HR infrastructure, systems, processes and practices.

HR Leadership: Defined HR, Safety, Security, Administration and Environmental policies & procedures ensuring transparency and consistency and fool proof processes with validation methodologies, eliminating manipulation. Led a team of 48 employees in
sub departments.

Strategic HR: Conducted job analysis of 94 job positions and roles in the factory and defined job grading and salary bands.

Employee Relations: Introduced proactive employee relations and communication programs (Shopfloor meetings, Coffee with Management) to resolve employee / labour issues and restore the credibility and employee-centric focus of the HR organization.

HRIS Technology: Drove transition from hardcopy HR documents and outdated HR systems to an integrated HRIS platform, purely an inhouse development with IT support. Instantly improved shift and overtime administration, analysis, reporting, planning capabilities and response time to employee requests, streamlining daily HR functions.

Workforce Expansion: Ramped up 34% factory workforce, in less than 3 months supporting business expansion for the introduction of DVD dual layer manufacturing.

HR Operations: Consolidated HR and Administration functions (employee accommodation, canteen, company transportation, security and external contractors)
previously managed by different functional heads into a single consolidated organization for effective management enhancing efficiency.

Government Relations: Deal with various government & statutory authorities ensuring legal compliance -Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Ministry of Finance, Chamber of Commerce, RAK Municipality, Civil Defense, RAK Police, RAKEZ, Notary Public, RAK
Courts and Ministry of Environment.

Manager Human Resources and Administration at DMCC - Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • June 2006 to November 2008

Responsible for HR & Administration policies and procedures.
Design work structure, JDs, authority matrix and process flow for business needs.
Develop job grading system, KRAs and KPIs for all job positions.
Independently handle compensation & benefits function and define levels of benefits.
Payroll management, salary, benefits, leaves & administration of entitlements.
Manpower planning, budgeting, recruitment and pre -job assessments.
Provide support to team leaders for employee relations and grievances.
Develop performance targets and coordinate for period performance evaluation.
Define various benefits and incentive schemes according to business requirements.
Provide visa assistance and support to employees and dependents.
Conduct internal enquiries for violations and adapt disciplinary or remedial measures.
Responsible for up to date employee information and career records.
Periodic MIS reporting the senior management, headquarters and the Board.
Liaise with various Consulates, FZ Authorities, Dubai Courts & Notary Public.
Corporate medical insurance for employees and eligible dependents.
Provide comprehensive HR generalist role for business excellence.
Support to setup offshore business units and recruitment of key positions.

Personnel Administration Officer at DUBAL
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • June 2003 to May 2006

Implementation of HR policies & procedures, employee relation and Corp.Comm.
Provide Generalist H.R. support and reports to Head - H.R.
Annual performance appraisals, rewards and all related administration.
Support to finalize manpower planning, budgeting and recruitment strategies.
Prepare periodic statistics and MIS reports of the department to the management.
Salary and employee benefits administration.
Performance management, job gradation and rewards.
Administration of entitlements viz. education, housing, transportation, etc.
Payroll management, overtime, leave entitlements, in-convenience pay and bonus.
Administration of group medical insurance and liaise with the service provider.
Internal customer care and address employee grievances.
Coordinate periodic compensation and benefits survey and prepare related reports.
Liaison with all department/sections of the organization for HR effectiveness.
Probation Assessment and process employment contracts and drafting of initial offer to various positions in line with company’s salary structure.
Responsible for documentation and proper archiving of various employee records.

Senior Officer HR & Administration at DAMAS
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • April 2000 to May 2003

Generalist HR support and report to General Manager Human Resources & Admn.
Develop and documents HR & Administration procedures and guidelines.
Implement HR Rules, Regulations, Policies & Procedures.
Responsible for various visas processing - Employment/Visit/Transit/Dependents.
Execute the manpower plan and replacement requirements.
Coordinate for the annual employee survey - Voice Your Opinion.
Plan, organize and guide the team of PRO team to meet stringent deadlines.
Coordinate and support various line managers for the ISO 9000 certification.
Point of contact for various HR services and guidance to employees.

Various positions in HR & Personnel Administration at PRUDENTIAL GROUP
  • India - Hyderabad
  • July 1996 to March 2000

Prudential Group of Companies:- Started career as an Executive Trainee and was fortunate to associate with different group companies in different industries viz. Manufacturing, Finance / Capital Markets & Information Technology.

Senior Officer HR & ADMN. - Response Informatics Limited, Hyderabad, India.
Company Profile: RIL is a joint venture of Prudential and Florida based MNC, engaged in Web Management and IT enabled services having employee strength of 235. Policies and procedures, manpower planning, recruitment, performance management were the major responsibilities.

Jr.Officer Personnel Administration and later promoted as Personnel Administration Officer - Prudential Sugar Corporation Limited, Nindra, AP, India.
Company Profile: PSCL a public limited and listed company having corporate office at Hyderabad and sugar factory at Nindra with a production capacity of 5, 000 TCD. The company had staff strength of 450 permanent staff, 260 workers and 425 seasonal employees apart from 200 seasonal contract laborers.

Executive Trainee - Prudential Capital Markets Limited, Hyderabad, India.
Company Profile: PCML, the main promoter of Prudential Group and a market leader in Capital Markets. PCML is S.E.B.I approved Lead Manager and R.T.A.

Education

Master's degree, Industrial Relations, Personnel Management & Labour Welfare
  • at Osmania University
  • July 1999
Bachelor's degree, Programming Techniques, Hardware Management, Data Handling
  • at APTECH
  • June 1999

Programming Techniques and Principles Basics of configuring Net Work (LAN) & Server Management. MS-Office Windows 98/2000/NT/XP Advanced Server 2000 Bulk data handling & database management.

Bachelor's degree, English Language and Literature
  • at Kerala University
  • June 1996

Specialties & Skills

Compensation Strategy
HR Strategy
Change Management
Performance Appraisal
AS400 / SAP / Customized Softwares
DBase, Flow 242, Foxpro
Human Resources
Administration
MS Office
Windows 2000 / XP / NT/ Advanced Server

Languages

English
Expert
Hindi
Beginner
Malayalam
Expert
Tamil
Intermediate
Arabic
Beginner