Director, Regional HRIS - KSA HR & Training
Americana Group
Total years of experience :27 years, 3 Months
• In addition to the responsibilities of the HR & Training Director for KSA, the new role is leading the HR Information Systems for the Restaurants Division in the widely spread Americana Group markets
• Assess the HRIS situation in different markets and create an inventory checklist with all the gaps that needs to be closed in the HR systems.
• Decide on the best Talent Management Suite to use and make sure all HRD teams across the markets are empowered with efficient HRIS systems that helps in taking strategic decisions and running the business more effectively.
• Enhancing the organization culture through different R&R programs like Birthday Celebrations, Service Years policy, Employee Benefits Card, and many different programs.
• Designed a new discounts program; EBC Employee Benefits Card that offers employees value by cutting discount deals that will save to our employees and create value when using our EBC.
• Managing our diversity and inclusion practices to reach and maintain a target nationality mix. Also ensuring recruitment activities are smooth and verifying and visiting our recruitment process quality in Asia markets like Philippines, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and others.
• Leading several strategic projects for Saudization with Ministry of Labor, TVTC, HRDF, SPP to setup training Institute, utilize female workforce, build CSR projects, etc…
• Setting up the Americana Academy in partnership with TVTC to be the first specialized institute in the field of restaurants management and operations.
• Heading a committee across Americana Group to enhance our HR Technology Platform and ensure completing a Talent Management suite that serves our needs and supports decision making.
• Preparing to co-facilitate the upcoming DDI Targeted Selection Certification for our recruitment team from all the different markets in the region
• Created our HRD connect mechanism to ensure strong communication between three regions in KSA and share best practices.
• Reporting directly to the GM and technically to the Corporate HRD in Cairo and Dubai; based in Jeddah Head Office and overlooking three regions with three independent teams for the Kingdom.
• Actively playing the role of the HR Business Partner and being a change agent in the organization on many different fronts.
• Plan & Implement the organization's human resources strategy so that the organization attracts, manages develops and retains the employees it needs to achieve its current and future business objectives.
• Direct and manage a variety of human resources related programs within the Kingdom in line with Americana CHRD Policies & Procedures and associated objectives and targets and in alignment with the, Branch Management and operations Leaders to ensure that the organization's current and future people requirements are met and the employees are recruited, managed, trained, evaluated, and rewarded in accordance with organization's human resources strategy. These programs may include recruitment, training & development, compensation benefits, performance management, organizational development, equal employment, employee health & safety, human resources information system, employee communications and employment relations.
• Leading a team focused on meeting Saudization/localization requirements and developing a complete program; “Yes Saudi Can”, to ensure the successful attraction, development, and retention of Saudi Calibers.
• Managing the Talent Management for our ASL level pool by conducting Assessment Centers for key positions and ensuring we have a strong bench plan to cover our aggressive expansion plan.
• Reviving the Performance Management culture back in the organization after long years of stagnation. Spreading the culture was coupled with enhancing the system and gradually introducing the forced ranking concept.
• Moving to this role was based on my own request as I wanted to become a better HR business partner. Taking this challenging assignment in operations helped me to come back to HR with deeper understanding of the business and more effective contribution.
• Develop Strategic sales plans of the chains / restaurants under his management (long term and short term) to maximize the profits.
• Develop plans for new opening (long term & short term), select the location, participate in conducting the feasibility study, participate in & follow up its establishing in coordination with the top management & new openings department.
• Participate in setting / selecting Marketing / promotion plans on annual basis in coordination with marketing department to launch / Re-launch the chain products, to maximize the market share & to maintain the excellent image of the chain in the market.
• Develop the local store marketing plans in coordination with marketing department.
• Develop the home delivery plans (long term + short term), coordinate with home delivery management team to accomplish the set objectives analyze the impact of HD as an additional service on the sales targets.
• Focus on customer satisfaction strategies, develop the needed action plans to maintain a high standards of services in all restaurants according to the operation manual.
• Set plans for the additional services to improve the business & maximize the sales.
• Participate in Setting products development & New products plans in coordination with the Quality Department - H.O. - to maintain the progress in the business.
• Develop a network of effective public relations with the society (governmental Organizations), participation in the social special events …etc. to maximize the sales & to create the brand awareness in the market.
• Ensure the high standards of operation staff in all stores (Quality vs. Quantity) to meet the business objectives in coordination with HR.
• Received intensive training in USA, Australia, and Dubai to acquire the understanding of HR systems and tools related to the restaurants and customer service industry.
• Directly reporting to the Chief Human Resources Officer and responsible for Field HRD function in Americana markets to ensure compliance to the corporate plans, standards, and objectives.
• Playing active role in handling strategic projects and maintaining strong communication channels between the corporate and mentioned branches to ensure alignment across the organization.
• Managing key projects for all of the 14 Americana markets including employees’ surveys, 360, organization structures, performance management, Talent Bank, communicating new programs and updates, etc…
• Initiated and contributed to the Core HR Project where we revisited, adjusted, and amended all the HR & Training systems in Americana and worked on finalizing Americana HRD toolkit that will be launched widely in all markets in 2007.
• Responsible for head hunting and attracting senior talents needed to cope with our aggressive expansion by recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and hiring the suitable leaders.
• Had an active presence in our GCC and Levant markets to ensure HR Compliance with corporate strategies and systems.
• Playing an active role in the HR Corp Committee that developed the ELC Employee Life Cycle
• Unifying all the HR Audit systems in different markets by developing the RRP Restaurant Review Program
• Reporting directly to CEO/Chairman.
• Active participant in the regular top management meetings and discussions.
• Active member in the HR committee that works on the Job Grading, Job Analysis, Salary schemes based on scope, weight, and contribution to company bottom line, hiring and head hunting needed calibers, restructuring departments, improving culture, etc…
• Responsible for preparing a detailed business plan for NOL, including yearly plan, 3-5 years future plans, and quarterly outlooks.
• Handling strategic alliances for NOL by seeking potential business or technology partners and finalizing mutual benefit agreements.
• Suggested a new sales and marketing strategy to help NOL increase its market share and revenues
• Monitoring the internal operations work flow, locating delays or problems, and proposing solutions.
• Developed studies about creating new business units, adding new revenue sources, and shutting down inefficient department or lines of products.
• Worked closely with S&M GM to help increase the overall performance of the division in terms of sales figures, account management, implementing a CRM solution, reporting, structure, etc…
• Restructured the sales team by business segment and industry
• Achieved the highest monthly sales figures in the history of NOL
• Developed and modified the company sales cycle to generate higher revenues
• Revamped the resellers channels and systems
• Managed to boost the performance of the team and retain crucial players who were planning to leave the company.
• Started using a CRM as a tool to organize activities and increase efficiency of the team
• Elected as the project manager for the 5 year business planning project that included all key managers and external consultation from British telecom expert.
• Promoted after the merge of NextMedia Holdings with LINKdotNET to be the GM of E-commerce products at LINKdotNET
• Introduced online advertising as a new effective media.
• Boosted the performance of my team by deciding to use a CRM, Salesforce.com, after extensive research and comparisons with other solutions and managed to train all the team to use it effectively.
• Oversaw all the sales strategies for all the affiliate companies.
• Managed the performance of several sales teams.
• Assumed full responsibility for all business development activities and new projects for Otlob.com
• Responsible for preparing a complete business plan for E-commerce products.
• Established teamwork with different departments in Link to achieve the division needs in terms of marketing, HR, admin, financial, technical, and web development.
• Worked closely with HR department on developing the culture of the company after the merge with NextMedia Holdings and managed to blend people in a way that formed new effective teams
• Generated new ideas, sales channels, and business opportunities, in line with product development plans.
• Follow up on sales managers’ progress and contributed extensively to securing premium accounts
• Managed the performance of the E-commerce team and ensured full utilization of available resources and potentials of each team member.
• Studied the opportunities of opening new markets and introducing E-commerce products into the MENA region.
• Took the initiative with setting up payment gateways with Ahly Bank, Misr Bank and Citibank.
• Initiated and followed up on the implementation of digital routing between Otlob and its suppliers.
• Created the new concept of premium users where Otlob.com users were offered special discounts on their online orders.
• Promoted from Business Development Manager EOL to GM AccessME EG after the acquisition of Egypt Online by AccessME inc
• Prepared a complete cash flow budget explaining all the required initial investments, operating expenses, sales forecast, required marketing budgets, etc…
• Composed a whole new team and head hunted talents from competition to form a strong team.
• Managed the Egypt branch operations with a team of 54 employees
• Developed the company’s organizational structure, created job descriptions and reporting schemes, and an employee handbook from scratch.
• Responsible for sending regular reports to the CEO and VPs in the head office in Amman, Jordan and meeting with them on a regular basis.
• Played an active role in managing all the costing and pricing of all services.
• Negotiated deals with suppliers, dealers, & potential partners to promote services.
• Worked on increasing the efficiency of operation cycle and developing offered services.
• Worked on enhancing customer service by introducing a new technical support system
• Launched several effective marketing campaigns that helped boost sales immensely and resulted in almost doubling the number of clients.
• Responsible for hiring qualified employees in the Web Department and monitored their work, including an important project for Good News For Travel (www.GN4TRAVEL.com) an affiliate of GN4ME
• Helped in preparing the company for an exit strategy; by handling its evaluation and the revision of its assets and technical set-up in preparation for the acquisition by AccessME Inc
• Handled all accounting and financial reports and documents
• Implemented new accounting software ‘QuickBooks’ and generated separate cash flow reports for each operation.
• Conducted meetings with different suppliers and conducted effective negotiations regarding different aspects of the business relationship.
• Contributed to obtaining credit facility and surety bonds for the company.
• Worked on increasing the efficiency of the work cycle in the factory through monitoring and supervising all departments and regulating scheduled meetings with Department managers.
• Directly reporting to the Chairman/CEO.
• Suggested and assisted in the implementation of effective decisions regarding different aspects ranging from client-approach techniques to eliminating bad debt sources.
• Worked on enhancing the performance of the Sales and Marketing Department by fully assessing the team’s capabilities and developing a new sales and marketing strategy to deal with the highly competitive market.
• Worked on a detailed market research and focused on studying and assessing competitors and also on utilizing our efforts to gain a larger market share.
• Supervised the process of enhancing and improving the work place environment through hygiene control, renovation of production chambers, improving the security system and factory facilities, re-allocating human resources and maintaining a professional, presentable image of the factory as a whole.
• Developed an automated system for inventory management to replace the old manual one
• Analyzed productivity measures of different assembly lines within the factory and re-calculated the costing for each production line.
