Out of the Shadows of the Pandemic

With COVID-19 retreating, 2022 started off with a different, more positive energy as normalcy crept back in. While we were glad to put it behind us and more than ready to plan without restrictions, we knew we wanted to continue to build on the learnings of the past couple of years.

Being able to plan our HR calendar without the ghost of pandemic restrictions looming over us was refreshing. Rather than focus on what we couldn’t do, we could turn our attention to all the possibilities back on the table. Rather than think of how we needed to maintain a physical distance between employees for their own benefit and wellbeing, we were able to focus on all the synergies we could create by bringing them back together. But naturally, this came with a price — a built-in challenge: we had no excuses and plenty of opportunity.

Tech-enabled HR

Although already glaringly obvious, the pandemic magnified the value of and need for digital HR solutions. But the ability to synergize our processes and programs across the different facets of HR and the different geographies transcends the pandemic, and our digital HR agenda remains a cornerstone of our plans. We’re proud of the scope of digital transformation our HR offering saw throughout the past year.
2022 saw the introduction of our succession planning tool on Talent Central. Conceptualized to capture our revamped Succession Planning 2.0 framework, this tool has enabled a seamless, organized collection and analysis of all-important succession data needed to ensure the firm’s sustainability, highlighting our strengths and vulnerabilities, and allowing us to work on them in a pre-emptive manner. And, with the introduction of our brand-new Learning Management System (LMS), we’re well-positioned to synergize the outcome of our succession planning with our learning agenda.

Recognizing the importance of data, especially from our employees, informed the prioritization of the first feature of our HR Services platform. We believe capturing feed- back from departing employees is key, so we’ve digitized our exit interviews, allowing for a more organized analysis of our findings and, in turn, any corresponding actions and impact.

We continue to upgrade our promotions and development needs analysis (DNA) tools to further refine the process, the output, and the user experience. We will continue to release enhanced versions that positively impact the process, the output, and the experience of the programs these tools support.

Employee Development

As always, for a people business, focusing on growing our people and expanding their horizons remained a non-negotiable priority. As restrictions lifted and we were finally able to bring people together, the behind-the-scenes work we’ve been doing on The Academy’s programs saw the light this year. The refined assessment and selection methodologies came into play and augmented the value of the programs we ran. In addition to running the final modules for Emerging Leaders I, II, and the Leadership Development Programme (LDP), we ran a successful first module for the first intake of our Executive Development Programme (EDP).

Riding on the back of the stronger openness to and adoption of digital learning as a viable learning medium that the pandemic brought on, we partnered with LinkedIn Learning, providing our employees unlimited access to the most extensive and most renowned library of digital learning content available.

And, as always, current employees were always the first talent pool we searched within when filling open roles, be they short-term or permanent assignments, many of which were cross-border. This remains one of our strongest employee development tools.

The ability to synergize our processes and programs across different facets of HR and different geographies by leveraging our digitalization strategy remains a cornerstone of our plans.

Forward-Looking Strategy

Tech-enabled HR is a mainstay on our agenda — we still have ambitious plans. We plan to expand Talent Central to house all our talent management and talent development tools, processes, and databases. We also plan to expand our services platform, focusing on efficiency and effectiveness. Across both platforms, analytics is a focal point; with all the valuable data we are amalgamating, we will make sure we make full use of it. To this end, we’re upgrading our data analytics capabilities across multiple areas within HR.
Employee wellbeing is another focal point and, accordingly, a complete benefits audit is a key component of our 2023 plan. It’s important that our offering continues to address and satisfy the evolving needs of our employees. We plan to partner with market leaders in employee benefits across our complete footprint to assess and benchmark our benefits portfolio to make improvements and changes accordingly.
Group CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee, EFG Hermes Holding
Co-CEO of the Investment Bank (Sell-Side), EFG Hermes
Co-CEO of the Investment Bank (Buy-Side) and Head of Asset Management and Private Equity, EFG Hermes. CEO, Vortex Energy
Group Chief Operating Officer, EFG Hermes Holding
Group Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, EFG Hermes Holding
Group Chief Financial Officer, EFG Hermes Holding
Group Chief Human Resources Officer, EFG Hermes Holding
CEO of EFG Finance, EFG Hermes Holding's Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) Platform
Non-Executive Chairperson, EFG Hermes Holding
Group CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee, EFG Hermes Holding
Non-Executive Vice Chairman of the Board, EFG Hermes Holding
Non-Executive Board member of EFG Hermes Holding
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Senior Advisor, NATIXIS
Chairman, United National Bank Ltd, UK
General Manager, The Private Office of H. E. Sheikh Suroor Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan
Office Manager for His Excellency Dr. Mana Saeed Al Otaiba
Founder, Wafra Export
CEO and Senior MD, Ripplewood Advisors LLC
Managing Partner, Ripplewood Advisors Limited