‘Change’ Driving New Executive Job Demands in the Middle East

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The world’s leading executive search firm, Egon Zehnder International, recently received an assignment from a major Kuwaiti family-owned retail chain to find a new, ‘forward-looking’ Managing Director. The retail-chain had previously been managed the old way and needed someone to help turn its diminishing fortunes around.

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It was profitable and comfortable, but not because of the strength of its institution. Rather, it prospered because of the momentum of its long-held market position. In fact, it was losing market share to other more aggressive and innovative institutions, and soon realized it had to change. The owners were now looking for an executive who could be more effective in understanding the strength of the institution, its objectives, the changing market environment, and enable them to not only capture local market share but also to grow the institution within their region.

Mr. Haider S. Shaif , Egon Zehnder Internationa

“No doubt the Middle East to a certain extent is different, in terms of the stage of its evolution and the challenges they are facing and the qualities of the executive that are needed to be effective.”

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and other Middle East economies are all going through a boom in their capital markets, diversification in their industries, an increase in privatization activity, and WTO driven open market competition. More and more, companies in this region are now looking for senior executives who can help them succeed in this changing environment. Professional executive search firms, who are hired by big and small companies to fill this need, are seeking senior executives from outside and within the region with proven people management skills, an ability to adjust to local environments and its multi-cultural workforce, and most importantly the ability to manage and lead change.

Egon Zehnder International is one such global executive search firm, with 60 offices in 40 countries, serving the unique needs of this region. Mr. Haider S. Shaif, is its Jeddah office leader, representing the firm’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) operations. A UK educated MBA and Engineer, Mr. Shaif had previously held senior level positions at Abdul-Latif Jameel Group and National Commercial Bank in Jeddah. Now through Egon Zehnder International, Mr. Shaif assists many local and multi-national companies in the region with senior level executive searches, board-of-director searches, management appraisals, and talent management.

Three key executive attributes

So what are his clients asking for in their search for new executives? Mr. Shaif says, “No doubt the Middle East to a certain extent is different, in terms of the stage of its evolution and the challenges they are facing and the qualities of the executive that are needed to be effective.” He identifies three important attributes needed at most senior level positions in the Middle East today. The importance of each varies with the industry and country in which the company is based.

The most important attribute in many cases is proven change management skills. “Because you are talking about countries here who are going through a lot of changes; privatization in different countries, and major family-owned businesses who contribute a lot to the local economy are realizing the need to change, to restructure, to respond in a better way to market competition,” says Mr. Shaif. These changes are in terms of taxation, raising public capital, and new corporate governance structures; all requiring strong change management and strategic thinking skills in executives.

So how does Mr. Shaif substantiate change management skills in executive candidates? “We look for the challenges those executives have faced in the past in their career, whether with existing companies or before. We then match the relevance of those challenges to the clients we are advising.” Candidates’ past experiences could include being part of a change management program, or being an important agent or leader in managing change in different situations.

The other attribute that has become “more and more important now compared to three years ago or more, is the ability of the executive to be multi-cultured and to adjust to local environment.” This adjusting means an ability to be flexible and reacting in a way that is appropriate for that culture. “Don’t forget that the Middle-East corporate environment is very unique in the world; its unlike Europe, unlike even the United States in that for most companies we are talking about 30-40 nationalities; locals and expatriates at all levels.” So the executive leadership has to be able to deal with different personalities and appreciate different cultures and also be effective in understanding and relating to local conditions.

Finally the cornerstone of every executive position, no matter in the Middle East or elsewhere is leadership and people management skills. This includes the ability to develop people, and establishing credibility immediately or in a short period of time. Companies are also seeking executives who can be more visible internally, and at the same time externally with the business community. “Previous management was more internal focused than external.” Change here is important for building a market-driven institution.

Typical Client and Candidate

The level of activity in countries and industries seeking the above mentioned attributes vary. For Mr. Shaif, who covers the MENA region, he sees 90% of the demand coming from the GCC (Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait) of which the highest concentration are clients from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Financial Institutions are “more proactive and more forward looking than other industries.” Also, some of the family owned businesses in consumer retailing are also showing increased interest, while there has been a recent surge in interest from the region’s Telecommunication sector.

These companies are either seeking Arab executives or expatriates coming into the Middle East. Mr. Shaif points-out that the Arabic language is not a pre-requisite, as English is the business language of the region. There is still a shortage of local Arab talent at senior executive levels and that’s why executive searches cast a wide net for candidates from within and outside the region. Mr. Shaif does see that the local executive talent pool is getting better as many locals are ably taking on executive roles in marketing/sales and many are excellent bankers at senior levels. However, there are certain functions with major shortages, for example Human Resources. “HR is an area where there is a lot of demand for local executives in leading organizations; but very, very few, I mean, a handful of executives are available within the region.”

Within the region, Mr. Shaif sees Lebanese executives as probably the most sought after executives in all industries. Other than that, he sees that the quality of top leadership in GCC countries is much better than in many other countries of the region except when it comes to “maybe some Jordanians, and very few elite Egyptian executives.”

Growing executive search services

To meet the growing demands of the regions the changing business environment and its executive leadership needs, there are more and more professional executive search firms vying to serve this region. Many of these are global firms such as Egon Zehnder International, Russell Reynolds Associates, and Ray & Berndtson, with their Middle-East expertise and offices primarily based in either Jeddah or Dubai. Then there are local affiliates of global companies such as The Amrop Hever Group’s Middle East affiliate, RASD Limited. Finally, there are local executive search firms such as Tauzeef, Al-Araj, and Bayt.com who are building upon their deep knowledge of the region’s talent pool and local needs.

Mr. Shaif’s account of executive needs in the region may not be exactly the same given by other executive search firms, but they all agree and recognize that the region’s unique and fast changing business environment has put daunting demands on executives-to-be in the Middle-East.

Mr. Abdulaziz Gestiniah, Managing Director of Tauzeef, a Jeddah based executive search company, speaks of his clients’ needs in the region versus elsewhere in the world. “In America or Japan they have a proper system and policies in place and they just need some one who is knowledgeable of their product, aligned with vision and mission of the company to lead and achieve organizational goals.  Whereas in Saudi Arabia for example, they need – ‘Super Man,’ who can play many roles in a culturally challenging environment.”

Leading Executive Search Firms in the Middle East & Region
Name		Locations
Egon Zehnder International		Jeddah, Dubai, Kaula Lampur, Jakarta, Istanbul
Korn Ferry International		Dubai, Jakarta, Istanbul, Kaula Lampur
Rasd Limited Member of Amrop Hover Group		Dubai, Beirut, Istanbul, Jakarta, Kaula Lampur
The S&T Group		New York, Dubai
Tauzeef		Saudi Arabia, Gulf
Al Araj		Saudi Arabia
Ray & Berndtson		Dubai, Istanbul
Heidrick & Struggles		Istanbul
Bayt		Dubai, Middle East
Spengler Fox		Dubai, Turkey
Boyden		Istanbul, Kaula Lampur, Jakarta