Developing Future Leaders

Abstract

Abstract Over the years ADGAS has continuously grown in terms of achievements, reputation and its commitment to Emiratization. As a result the need for highly qualified Emirati leaders has grown. The Leaders of Tomorrow (LoT) programme is an ADGAS initiative designed to identify, attract and develop promising Emirati's for leadership roles within the company's structure. The programme prepares these promising candidates to become effective leaders, enabling them to contribute to broader organizational goals. The essence of the (LoT) programme is to provide these young Emirati employees with a variety of work related experiences/roles within ADGAS organization to prepare them for future leadership positions. Given the growing requirement for suitable Emirati candidates to fill critical roles within the organisation ADGAS management have fully supported the LoT programme from its early inception. Under their patronage, the LoT programme has become a major next step for ADGAS employees into their career development. The documented feedback received from employees related to the LoT scheme has highlighted the positive effects of the ‘experiential’ team development approach used with special interest in the work based assignments that were included. An integral part of the development of these candidates is the open and frank discussions relating to personnel management issues, including the role of women in their professions, and the difficulties facing young managers when trying to make improvements. These conversations have led to a better understanding of gender issues amongst co-workers and generated much discussion on how to make their voices heard in the workplace. Over 100 candidates initially applied for the programme and attended a two day assessment. 35 joined the programme which started in Q 1 2014. In May 2015, 26 candidates successfully graduated from the LoT programme.