Opinion: The key to the UAE’s success lies in attracting and supporting the right talent

I often use this statement to underscore the key factor that should be the focus of any strategy aimed at achieving sustainable and consistent growth: attract, retain and grow talent.

Of course, such a critical element has been clearly adopted by the UAE’s visionary leaders, who have issued a series of recent regulations aimed at making the UAE’s jurisdiction even more appealing for foreign direct investment, international companies and global talent.

Such reforms are attracting professionals who the whole world is competing for: individuals with the relevant academic background, consolidated skills and experience, as well as young talent.

As for the first group, these are the people that conceive, drive and manage change. They are professionals the UAE needs to attract and retain to sustain the growth that the UAE’s leadership has conceived to make the country a unique place to live and thrive in.

These individuals need –  for themselves and their family – a welcoming, stable, well structured environment to establish the UAE as their jurisdiction of choice, not only as a contingent phase of their careers, but also as a long-term life choice.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to embed these professionals within the economic and social structure of the UAE, avoiding dispersion and assuring that we are well positioned to counter the competition, which is and will become even more fierce from within the region.

Steps to retain the right talent

A key factor driving the UAE’s competitiveness is a solid scheme for long-term residency for highly skilled professionals, which will fulfill one of the main requirements for them to choose to link their life to any place  – the stability provided by adequate norms and incentives, governed by simple and clear rules. This is exactly what has been done and, alongside all the investments that have been made to create a unique life environment, it poses the foundation to successfully attract and retain talent.

As I have been remarking often lately, the leadership’s strategy and the huge efforts to realise it must be supported by all players within the jurisdiction, avoiding speculative manoeuvres that would provide short-term gains. The reference is particularly to the real estate, healthcare and education services which must not only be of top quality, but also be priced correctly.

When it comes to young talents, while all the above still stands, particular measures must be taken to fulfill the particular needs of young professionals refining their skills and climbing the management ladder.

A great move was the creation of the remote working scheme, which allowed young, specialised talents from all over the world to consider the UAE as their pro tempore working place. The extent and the benefits of such an approach are often underestimated and linked mainly to the increase of housing and other services’ demand.

While this is indeed true, the aspect we should carefully consider is that these young talents will be living here in the UAE, providing a formidable pool of qualified, high-grow-potential young individuals for  companies, international and local alike, as well as for the public sector to be running smoothly and compete effectively. This will reduce sourcing struggles that more often than not limit or delay the growth of businesses.  Nothing can hinder change and growth strategy more than identifying and recruiting people with the right skillset.

Stability is paramount for this group of professionals, particularly as many are in the early stages of their careers and thus more exposed to economic cycles and career changes. Additionally, they face a greater risk of job displacement due to these volatile external factors.

Again, the UAE’s leadership was quick to detect this particular aspect and actively engaged in providing the needed safety net, like the establishment of the insurance scheme for job loss, which might help to cater for the fluctuations and uncertainties mentioned above.

Read: UAE’s Unemployment Insurance Scheme kicks off on January 1

These are steps in the right direction.

Roberto d’Ambrosio is the CEO of Axiory Global.