RAK Government launches an ambitious initiative to develop its human capital capabilities

Today we are living in times of unprecedented disturbance in all aspects of business environment, whether it be political, social or technological. In this situation, all organisations are continually strategizing, realigning, and responding to deal with the challenges. Therefore, the need for greater capacity and strategic focus in the delivery of Human Resource strategies and processes has never been more crucial. HR is ideally positioned, through its application of a broad range of technical skills and its understanding of the business, to be an impactful leader and an influential business strategic partner in the organisation.

The top management in RAK Government acknowledged that for their HR managerial professionals to deliver innovative human capital programs that drive business results, they must be developed not only to be relevant in today's changing business environment but to be able to align and meet the needs of the RAK Government current and future strategy, and to ensure the success of all transformational initiatives.

RAK Government HR Department partnered with SHRM MENA with the objective and commitment of building sustainable capability of all its HR professionals through a systematic process of assessment, training, and development that would bring about organisational excellence and provide a road map for effective human resource development and management, based on world class standards.

With this goal, 94 HR professionals (including HR managers and HR specialists) went through an online assessment and interview which was based on the SHRM competencies and body of applied skills and knowledge. The results from the assessment were analysed to reflect the key development areas at both the managerial and specialist levels.

It was decided that the HR specialists would go through the foundational program- SHRM Essentials in order to bring them all to a consistent knowledge and competency level.

The objective of this program was to provide HR professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to:

• Create a stronger alignment between the organizational and HR goals.
• Build knowledge of HR practices.
• Apply newly learned HR knowledge to practical activities, similar to those required on the job.
• Plan for ways to transfer the knowledge and skills learned from training to on-the-job tasks.

The RAK HR Managers did the globally recognized, real-world, practitioner-based Advanced Certificate in Human Resource Management (ACHRM). It is a comprehensive, 8 Modules experiential HR Certificate program derived from the same Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge (SHRM BASK™) used to develop the world-renowned SHRM-CP™ and SHRM-SCP™ professional HR certifications. The ACHRM program involved a wide variety of learning experiences including group discussions, individual and group activities, case studies, toolkits, and a post-test to reinforce the learning at the end of each course module.

RAK Government HR Department is proud to be the first Government body in UAE and in MENA region to have done the largest intervention in building capability of the entire HR professionals at different levels from 14 RAK Government Entities at one time.

We believe that the RAK Government HR professionals now have the combination of technical expertise and behavioural competencies which provide them the right formula for success as HR professionals to become strategic business partners in their respective entities.