JEDDAH — Today’s organizations are awash in a sea of continuous change and new skills are needed for business leaders to succeed; and this applies to HR leaders too. Based on their experience of working with HR leaders in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, Ashridge Executive Education has customized its five days program on ‘Advanced HR Strategy and Impact’, to help regional HR practitioners to lead their organization through change, develop their coaching skills, add greater value as consultants and formulate a winning HR strategy for their companies.

According to Rory Hendrikz, Managing Director of Ashridge Middle East, “in Saudi Arabia there is now a greater awareness of the comprehensive role that HR leaders play in development of leadership skills. With the emergence of Saudization, human resource professionals are needed now more than ever to take charge of their organizations’ leadership development programs. Developing leaders who can engage, motivate and empower their teams is key to the success of Saudization and this is where HR leaders can play an important role. Our program focuses on maximizing the business value of HR practice and how HR leaders can make a strategic impact to an organization’s bottom line.”

To achieve this, he says, they need to develop HR strategic impact framework, explore insights and practical skills on strategic, tactical and personal levels. These challenges will be tackled through Ashridge’s five-day program that can be conducted on-site in Saudi or the interested companies can send their HR leaders for an offsite program in Dubai from 22 to 26 October 2017 at Ashridge Executive Education campus in Dubai Internet City, UAE.

The ‘Advanced HR Strategy and Impact’ program is designed to provide insights and practical skills that will enable HR leaders to leverage the human network potential in their organization for sustainable business success. Before commencing the program, applicants will complete a 360° skills evaluation by Ashridge. Based on this data, the participants will partner with an executive coach 1:1 during two sessions to maximize the individual and organizational impact of the course.

This immersive course includes interactive sessions with two leading blue-chip organizations’ HR thought leaders, sharing innovative new approaches to talent, leadership, and performance management. As well as, simulations that bring trained actors into the classroom to push participants out of their comfort zone.

By the end of the course, each participant will partner with a coach to create an action plan based on solving a real workplace challenge. After completing the course, they will prepare a final project related to this problem, and earn a certificate of application for it. Participants will also get access to a peer action learning virtual session for about four weeks post-program, adding further value to their professional development. — SG