UAE-based Majid Al Futtaim, a leader in leisure, retail and hospitality in Mena, is hosting a hosting a group of more than 80 employees to take part in an innovation competition in Dubai in a bid to improve customer experience.

Majid Al Futtaim is empowering its own employees to get creative when it comes to improving customer experience and come up with the company’s next big innovation.

Ahmed Galal Ismail, chief executive officer at Majid Al Futtaim Ventures said: “The UAE’s innovation strategy is set to support economic prosperity and private sector businesses have an opportunity to make a significant impact in the development of new innovations. At Majid Al Futtaim, innovation in customer experience lies at the heart of what we do and drives our business forward. We foster a workplace that incentivises, empowers, encourages and rewards innovation at all levels.”

Organised in conjunction with VentureScout, a company which specialises in working with large companies to implement internal and external innovation, the Innovation Challenge requires employees to submit ideas, big and small, that can be developed into a new product or service which will improve customer experience across Majid Al Futtaim’s business portfolio.

The Challenge will begin with a three-day Hackathon, where employees will present their ideas to a panel of judges. With thirteen hundred written submissions received, the judging panel selected just over eighty entries to take part in the Hackathon. During the first day the top ideas will be selected and teams formed around those ideas.

The finalists are given 48 hours to refine their ideas before they present for three minutes to the judging panel at the end of the third day. A few days after the Hackathon, the best two ideas will then be selected and both teams will attend a five-week innovation lab in London starting in October, where they will further develop their ideas.

In November, the teams will present their innovations, with one selected to become Majid Al Futtaim’s next great moment and be awarded Dh250,000 ($68,000).

“The Innovation Challenge provides a unique opportunity for us to foster a culture of innovation amongst our people. We believe that our employees can bring new ideas to the table that will challenge our current thinking and help us deliver on our brand promise to deliver great moments for everyone, every day,” Galal Ismail added.

Majid Al Futtaim owns and operates 17 shopping malls, 11 hotels and three mixed-use communities in Mena, with further developments underway in the region. It holds exclusive rights to the Carrefour franchise in 38 markets across Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, operating a portfolio of over 60 hypermarkets and over 70 supermarkets in 13 countries. – TradeArabia News Service