Zainab Al Saffar

• Provide strategic leadership and direction to the HR team. Oversee all HR functions, and develop and implement HR policies, procedures, and programs that align with organizational goals.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to identify HR priorities, develop HR strategies and plans, and ensure HR initiatives support business objectives.
• Advising the Chief Executive Officer and main decision makers on best practices and latest trends in Human Resources
• liaise between the Board Members, the Remuneration Committee Members and relevant stakeholders for the review and approvals on HR strategy and directions
• Lead and represent the people element through acquisitions, mergers and structural changes
• Nurture a positive culture focusing on efficiency, productivity, people enablement, growth and retention by implementing HR programs targeting employee development, employee engagement and employee welfare
• Develop programs and transformational initiatives that reinstate Provis as a Great Place to Work
• Craft competitive rewards programs that enforces the company’s positioning against competitors in the market
• Develop strategies that enforces the continuous growth of UAE Nationals and fosters Emiratization
• Formulate and implementing the learning and development strategy to support the continuous growth of talent
• Position the HR function as a strategic partner/ advisor during transformation projects, merger and acquisition for people related matters and culture inclusion
• Oversee HR technology systems to ensure that they support HR functions
• Manage HR budgets and ensure compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements

Achievements:
 • Streamlined HR processes and procedures, resulting in faster response times and improved accuracy.
• Improved employee engagement and satisfaction through the implementation of employee recognition programs and other initiatives, positioning Provis as a Great Place To Work Certified employer
• Increased diversity and inclusion within the organization through targeted recruitment and retention strategies.
• Developed and implemented a comprehensive leadership development program to cultivate a pipeline of future leaders.
• Successfully completed post merger integration for acquired companies
• Successfully doubled the Emiratization % across the organization
• Improved the employer brand through targeted employer branding initiatives and improved recruitment marketing strategies.
• Reduced HR costs through process improvements and automation, allowing HR to focus on more strategic initiatives

• Led the Human Resource functions covering: Talent Acquisition & Emiratization, Compensation and Benefit, Employee Relations and Training and Development, Culture and Engagement.
• Advised the Chief Financial Officer/ Chief Executive Officer and main decision makers on best practices and latest trends in Human Resources
• Oversaw the HR operations of the subsidiaries: Provis, ALDAR Hotels and Hospitality & Aldar Academies
• Conducted talent acquisition activities, including sourcing, screening, and interviewing candidates, resulting in an increase in hiring of top-performing employees
• Managed performance management programs, including goal setting, performance evaluations, and development plans
• Implemented an employee engagement program, resulting in an increase in employee satisfaction
• Managed compensation and benefits programs, ensuring competitiveness, fairness, and equity
• Maintained compliance with all relevant employment laws and regulations

Achievements:
• Successful establishment of the HR function of the ALDAR Investment
• Achievement of the full alignment of the HR operations to ADLAR Group with no discrepancies
• Successful achievement of the Emiratization strategy and targets
• Increase in employee retention and satisfaction

Oversaw Manpower planning, Talent Acquisition/ Emiratization and Outsourced Management with the below mandate:
Outsource Management
• Managed 3rd party manpower supply (contracts with the value of AED 24+ million) including Tender, contract management and HR operations for 240+ outsourced and Service level agreements employees
Manpower Planning
• Forecasted and defined manpower requirements that corresponds to the company’s strategy/ direction
Talent Acquisition
• Developed the Talent Acquisition strategy and implemented end to end Talent Acquisition cycle
• Designing, maintained, and updated work processes, policies, and procedures
• Identified effective sourcing channels/ methods
• Established assessment platforms (behavioral and technical) to achieve robust hiring selection decisions that focus on objective fair selection and move away from bias selection decisions.
• Oversaw the management of recruitment agencies (executive and contingency) and the balanced usage of their services.
• Provided advisory to Senior Management on Manpower/Recruitment-related matters as and when required
Emiratization
• Set the Emiratization strategies/initiatives to foster the growth of Emiratization
• Proposed and implemented structural changes and transitional projects to accommodate high potential UAE Nationals
• Monitored and evaluated departments’ performance in the deployment of the agreed Emiratization plans
• Established and Fostered partnership with Emiratization Entities i.e. Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MOHRE), to facilitate the recruitment of UAE Nationals across

Achievements:
• Carried out major tender resulting in consolidation of various agreements in to 3 main agreements with governing SLAs resulting in the alignment of operations, higher governance, and the timely attendance to changes.
• Successful implementation of functional enhancements resulting in seamless outsourced operations, payment transactions and ease of budget/ contract allocation achieving synergies of AED 4M+ on the outsourced function.
• Established the recruitment function from scratch (design and implementation of the full recruitment process, policies, procedures, operations, and automation).
• Awarded the Emiratization Award by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MOHRE) for the attraction and retention of UAE Nationals.
• Timely revamp of processes and workflows (revamping the recruitment process in (30 days) for higher efficiency and achieving 30% synergies on agency utilization.
• Achieving Zero audit findings on both of Talent Acquisition and Outsourced Management

Joined, Masdar in June 2009 and due to noticeable performance in the first 2 months, a management decision was made to be assigned to secondment mission to represent the country (IRENA).

As Head of Human Capital Operations and Services:
• Oversaw the delivery of end to end, timely and customer centric Human Resources services
• Provided HR advisory to Senior Management/ Divisions’ Heads on all aspects of HR pertaining to Organizational structure, Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Outsourced Management, Secondments and HR Operations.
• Crafted and implemented the Emiratization Strategy.
• Managed the outsourced contracts and related manpower
• Managed the national/international secondments and ensured the application of related governance/ protocols.
As Recruitment Manager and acting on Talent Development:
Recruitment and Emiratization
• Led the manpower planning and budgeting analysis process
• Managed the Recruitment function, ensuring effective and efficient operations while focusing on Emiratization
• Established solid relationship with Governmental and Emiratization entities to foster Emiratization

As Recruitment Manager and acting on Talent Development:
Recruitment and Emiratization
• Led the manpower planning and budgeting analysis process
• Managed the Recruitment function, ensuring effective and efficient operations while focusing on Emiratization
• Established solid relationship with Governmental and Emiratization entities to foster Emiratization
Talent Management
• Identified the organization’s training needs by conducting training need analysis
• Led the Talent Management function in light of the yearly L&D plan through identification and recommendation of targeted training courses/workshops.
• Assessed the delivery of the training programs and applied improvements where necessary
• Led the implementation of the career development plans
• Introduced Tuition Assistance Program to fund the continuation of education for high performers
• Oversaw the Talent Management Budget.
Performance Management
• Led the Objective setting process and ensured the timely closure of the cycle
• Implemented the Performance Management Cycle and ensured the timely closure per phase
• Ensured the appropriate cascading of objective and the alignment to the departmental and organizational approach
• Conducted workshops to employees and line managers on objective setting, communication of objectives, constructive feedback provision and addressed performance issues
Employee Engagement
• Developed and rolled out the Employee Engagement Survey and recommended areas of focus based on outcomes.
• Gathered results, analyzed trends, and proposed actions to Executives
• Implement approved action plans and monitored the progress of the implementation
• Rolled out the yearly Employee Recognition Program
• Participated in the development and implementation of wellness programs and work-life balance initiatives

Achievements
• Automated the Recruitment Function in 90 days.
• Introduced the outsourcing function for the first time to respond to the various manpower requirements
• Implemented Emiratization on the outsourced function
• Revised the company’s Recruitment Agency Agreements and achieved 25% synergies
• Enhanced the Performance Management cycle/process and linked it to the organization’s Strategic Objectives
• Introduced Performance Improvement Plan
• Improved the Training Needs Analysis process to ensure the provision of targeted training and produced statistical reports to measure efficiency.
• Closed all historical Audit/HR log findings and maintained a low-risk audit log.
• Successfully reengineered the recruitment process from initiation to closure achieving 72% synergies on recruitment operations in year 2013.

During the employment with Masdar and in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was selected for a secondment to represent the UAE as a member state under the mission of establishing the HR function
• Oversaw the high-level correspondence with the Member States related to secondments
• Set up the full spectrum of HR operations
• Liaised with the Member States Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in relation to the international staff deployment (employment of foreign Diplomats)
• Advised the staff members in respect of their rights, responsibilities, code of conduct and entitlements.
• Provided accurate periodic reports to (UAE MOFA) on People element

Achievements
• Successful establishment of a fully operational Human Resources Department.
• Successful application of governance to the agency’s operational mandate

• Handled the administration of board meetings.
• Coordinated the execution of the board approved executive mandate and monitored the progress of implementation
• Implemented the full recruitment cycle of UAE Nationals
• Worked on special recruitment projects for new departments and other Governmental entities