Bio: Paul is a global HR professional with a wide experience in human capital management. He has helped organizations achieve their strategic HR goals by guiding geographically spread out teams to achieve critical objectives. Paul specializes in talent acquisition, talent management and implementation of HR strategies and development of talent programs supporting business efforts in fast-growing, public and private organizations. He is currently responsible for leading and supervising the talent management strategy, process and programs for Noronsult Telematics.
Questions:
1. How do you like living and working in your country of employment?
In my current role, over the last year, I have spent a significant amount of time working in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is unique in terms of contrasting lifestyles as many cultures co-exist including the Saudi nationals and the expatriates. Although somewhat restrictive, life in Saudi Arabia can be comfortable and socially rewarding for expatriates. As for its location, Saudi Arabia is beautifully positioned, an equidistant from Europe, Africa, and the rest of Asia.
2. What is your average day at work like?
I work with a Telecom Consultancy on a project-basis which is very different from a traditional operator’s setup. The days are longer and you work on an average of 12-14 hours/day, which can sometimes spike up to 16 hours on particularly busy days. While on a project I live and breathe with the client and project teams. This means a lot of meetings, a lot of reporting, memos, slides etc. and an opportunity to build meaningful professional relationships and to ‘manage’ operational teams to get the job done. You always have to work closely with your team, communicate with your superiors at least once daily if not 4 or 5 times, and since 80% of the time I work hands-on with the entire team, I am always ‘on-call’ and constantly interacting with other team members. A lot of hard is required of an HR professional but I wouldn't change careers with anyone.
3. What is your biggest professional challenge?
Making sure that we, as an organization, strike a balance between running a profitable operation, managing our clients’ expectations, delivering high quality service and offering rewarding career opportunities to our employees.
4. What is the most important thing you look for in new hires?
The most important thing I look for is drive and passion for excellence.
5. What is the biggest challenge you face in hiring talent?
My biggest challenge is achieving a balance between the time to hire, the quality of candidates and the overall hiring cost.
6. What is your favorite part of your role?
Without any doubt my favorite part is the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of others.
7. What has been the highlight of your career in HR?
When seeking success in the workplace we regularly encounter a variety of roadblocks that prevent us from reaching our full potential. I personally take a great deal of satisfaction in removing some of those roadblocks and helping young professionals advance in their careers. Looking back, I measure my professional success by level of positive impact I have made on the careers of people I have been working with.
8. What do you read to keep abreast of industry developments?
Where should I start? I get most of my information via social networks. When I come across an interesting piece, I typically add it to my network or follow the writer on Twitter. This way I build my own database that supplies me with a continuous digest of information on the latest developments in my field.
9. What is your advice to someone looking to enter the field of HR?
I guess that the key factor to success is being well informed about the HR profession by actively communicating with people who can give you the right career information, advice, and/or job leads.
10. How do you see the Middle East evolve as a place to practice HR?
The Middle East has one of the world’s fastest growing markets. With exceptional factors shaping the economic growth of it, regional companies are increasingly looking locally and globally for talent. Successful implementation of Human Capital strategies is key to maintain a sustainable growth. With a large young population and an increasing influx of talented people into the workforce, the Middle East is the place to be for HR professionals on the lookout for a challenging and fulfilling career.
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?
It’s crucial to infuse a sense of humility into the corporate world. I believe it is very important to keep in mind that as an HR professional your attitude towards others can make or break corporate cultures.
12. Anything else you'd like to share with the community of Bayt.com Employers?
Over the years Bayt.com has proved to be a true partner to all organizations I have had a pleasure working with in the Gulf region. With the major downturn in the employment market, it seems that Bayt.com continues to stride in the right direction by continuously evolving its portfolio of services and enhancing value propositions to its customer base.
Great job guys.
