Bio:
Ravi holds a degree in psychology and a post-graduate in human resources. He has extensive experience in operational and strategic human resources. He has been working with Jotun Paints since last 15 years and currently is the Regional Human Resources Manager for Jotun in MENA region.
Questions:
1. How do you like living and working in the UAE?
Dubai is a cultural melting pot and has a truly international working environment. It''s a lot of fun interacting with different nationalities. I find that cultural understanding as well as sensitivity to different ethnic temperaments and religious backgrounds is the key to success for every expatriate living and working in the UAE. Besides, Jotun itself is proud to have more than 25 nationalities working together, which is a great experience in itself.
2. What is your average day at work like?
Always expect the unexpected in HR. In the HR department, we are mostly occupied with planning different HR activities according to the balanced scorecard. My day also includes attending meetings and HR reviews, as well as conducting workshops for line managers and business leaders. Since HR is an area with a very wide scope, we are always trying to innovate and come up with different initiatives to help improve the work culture at Jotun.
3. What is your biggest professional challenge?
To make sure that HR tools and systems are rooted well in different countries and ensuring that these are practiced consistently. All new employees across the region are culturally aligned to the company’s core values. Living in a dynamic environment and in changing economies, the challenges vary from year to year.
4. What is the most important thing you look for in new hires?
Being a company with many nationalities working under the same roof, we believe in hiring the candidate with the right attitude. Cultural fit and aligning their personal values with the company is the core of our recruitment process. Our recruitment mantra that we use often is: ''Look for attitude and train for potential''. We believe skills can be taught and improved, but the right emotional intelligence is the key to success for any employee in an organization, especially in Jotun.
5. What is the biggest challenge you face in hiring talent?
To match the competency that is required for the position. Another important challenge with every recruitment process is to understand and manage the candidate''s expectation and vice versa.
6. What is your favorite part of your role?
Coaching and mentoring. I personally believe that if we, as leaders, are able to coach and mentor well, we have created a huge impact on someone''s career.
7. What has been the highlight of your career in HR?
Introduction of competency-based HR framework model in the region, which is now well integrated in recruitment, hiring and performance management.
8. What do you read to keep abreast of industry developments?
I am a member of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) and the literature gives me a lot of new insights, especially the latest developments in human resources.
9. What is your advice to someone looking to enter the field of HR?
We as HR professionals have to be service oriented. We have to think of our employees as our customers and treat them equally. I usually talk to my team about the three main areas that are important for HR: - Networking - Knowing your business - Being humble
10. How do you see the Middle East evolve as a place to practice HR?
The role of the HR department has been elevated in recent years. Companies now do not perceive the HR department as a visa processing/administrative department but a strategic partner. I think the Middle East is moving towards a more professional HR outlook. Training and development, for example, were overlooked previously in this region, but now you see companies investing more and more in training and skill development of their employees. We do notice a change; however companies still need it to continue investing in HR to see a difference soon.
11. If you could wave your magic stick and make a significant development in one specific area of HR practices worldwide, where would that fall?
Employee recognition and identifying talent and further developing it.
12. Anything else you''d like to share with the community of Bayt.com Employers?
It is required that we, among the HR community, develop a good network amongst ourselves and share best practices and knowledge with each other and in the process help improve processes. We in Jotun, are happy to do the same.
