Albatha Group, a leading conglomerate in UAE, recently hosted an executive programme conducted by Germany based ESMT (European School of Management and Technology).

SMT led a three-day management programme that focused on competitive and corporate strategy, financial management and change management. Four ESMT faculty members, including ESMT President Jörg Rocholl, led the management training for Albatha’s 50 top executives.

“This program with ESMT was an important step towards Albatha becoming a ‘learning organization’ that enables us to continue pursuing our strategy for growth while keeping in line with our values,” said Ishaque Noor, managing director of Albatha.

“Albatha had earlier this year also conducted training programmes in the Middle East for over 5000 employees within our group companies. The Albatha learning festival which is now an annual event, aims to promote this learning culture across our organisation. Therefore continuous learning process is a key requirement for the success of our organisation.”

In the pre-programme phase, experts from ESMT conducted interviews with several participants to analyze the educational needs and then develop a custom-made program. As one of the oldest private business holdings in the UAE, Albatha is striving to expand its existing growth.

To support this process as effectively as possible, the ESMT customised program included individual coaching sessions for the general managers of Albatha’s 25 businesses as well as for the managing directors of the seven divisions of the Albatha Group. In these sessions, the participants could develop business strategies for their respective sectors and discuss change management.

Jörg Rocholl, president of ESMT, said: “I am delighted by the success of the first executive education program run by ESMT on the Arabian Peninsula. The intensive analysis before and during the session has provided us with many new insights about doing business in the region that will support our development of future programmes.”

“The continuous development of our employees is very important at Albatha, so we provide annual learning opportunities for each employee,” said Sabiha Kazi, Albatha Group learning and development manager. “Programmes, such as the one led by ESMT enable us to support leadership and growth in our company.”

Urs Müller, program director at ESMT, added, “In particular, the individual coaching sessions allowed executives to examine and develop their respective strategies.”

Albatha Group, comprises of 25 group companies spread across seven industry sectors i.e. automotive, consumer, engineering, home products, real estate, healthcare, household and personal care. – TradeArabia News Service