Bio:
With over twenty years of experience in a corporate environment, assisting brilliant and strongly driven entrepreneurs achieve their multimillion dollar dreams; Ms. Cruz is currently the Manager of MD Office (including the HR department). Her current areas of responsibilities include departmental interface, quality management system, business process reengineering, system implementation and audit.
Questions: 1. How do you like living and working in your country of employment?
I have no complaints. It has been great living and working in the UAE. UAE has been my home for over 21 years, and is the country that offered me my first job after I graduated from university in my home country. This place has given me a rich experience about life in general and of course on a professional level throughout my 21 year-long journey.
2. What is your average day at work like?
My Blackberry phone gets me started even before reaching the office. I get hundreds of emails daily and I like to clean up my inbox immediately in the first hours of the day. The work-setting at Bafco is very dynamic. I also get to speak to a lot of people from different levels within the company; either about HR related issues or operational concerns. My work dealing with these concerns is more like a continuous thought process, as it doesn’t stop flowing, linking one idea to another.
3. What is your biggest professional challenge?
We are an internationally accredited company and we aim, at all times, to meet our customers’ requirements and keep a high standard of service. If at any time the level of customer satisfaction becomes a matter of concern, the troubleshooting begins. Business processes are scrutinized and their effectiveness is measured. This is where it gets challenging for me. Sometimes drastic changes are required, either in the process or at the human resources level in order to achieve the desired results. When competencies are in question they could become the shortfall within a multicultural setting. When the work ethics of some, and the discipline of others, do not complement the system and the set pace, decisions need to be firm and aggressive.
4. What is the most important thing you look for in new hires?
Passion. The flexibility and adaptability of the person depends on his passion to do the job and to get the work well done. A passionate person becomes a team player, learns fast, and works at a pace that sets-up a good workflow. During the interview, if a candidate answers positively to a question like ‘How do you work with a tight deadline?’, and states that he is much more productive when working under pressure, it somehow denotes that he is a passionate finisher.
5. What is the biggest challenge you face in hiring talent?
When you think that you’ve finally found the right candidate and then somehow the documentation process of his employment gets in the way- that is the biggest challenge.This is somewhat common in this country since most applicants are expats. Labour laws represent a big challenge.
6. What is your favourite part of your role?
I most enjoy the annual party that we organize for the staff, as this gives Bafco the opportunity to give back. This is also the time we recognize the length of service and excellent performances and contributions of outstanding employees. It gives me the utmost satisfaction to see that our management is not disregarding what is worth recognizing.
7. What has been the highlight of your career in HR?
In March 2006, I had to perform various roles at Bafco besides running the HR department. In the absence of a warehouse manager, I had to travel back and forth from main office to the warehouse in Al Quoz. I was sent to troubleshoot the failure of a system and to make an overall clean-up to keep the workflow running. During that year, the highest sale was in March and we did it with limited human resources.
8. What do you read to keep abreast of industry developments?
I have been reading books by John Maxwell on how to be a people person, master negotiation skills and the facts about building relationships. I also browse a lot of HR websites to keep myself informed.
9. What is your advice to someone looking to enter the field of HR?
If one must occupy a role in HR, both the heart and the head should be the consultants throughout the decision-making process. So, if you are too emotional or too intellectual in your approach, results could be detrimental instead of beneficial. We should take our decisions using both so we stand to gain a greater benefit.
10. How do you see the Middle East evolve as a place to practice HR?
Middle East is a good training ground for all HR practitioners. It is a cosmopolitan place and as a result, it brings out the creativity in a person in all aspects of decision-making. UAE, for one, is fast-becoming a place where HR is being given significant attention.
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?
I would say that I would like training to be much more inclined towards getting both the employees’ and employers’ expectations aligned. Workshops should not just be for employees but also for employers. I say this because, in the end, they both are working towards a common objective. If this thought is realized, then productivity and profitability could be achieved jointly.
12. Anything else you'd like to share with the community of Bayt.com Employers?
HR personnel play a key role in helping employers achieve their dreams of growth and profitability by having extraordinary performers within the workplace. This can happen with the right training, recognition and compensation. We also have to keep in mind that the HR department needs the employers’ trust and transparency to be able to establish credibility for the employees, in order for them to be more productive and trust that all decisions made are of a mutual benefit.
