Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) today honoured over 40 young UAE Nationals, including 16 ladies, who graduated in the fourth cycle of ENOCs UAE National Development Programme (NDP), the first of its kind comprehensive professional training programme for Emiratis in the UAE.

The ENOC National Development Programmes has five proficiency levels - Tatweer, Tadreeb, Ajyaal, Mawaheb, and Imtiaz - which focus on developing the functional, behavioural, professional, managerial, and leadership skills of ENOCs National workforce.

The Emirati employees are chosen for different career development pathways based on their competencies and a gap-analysis process. To date, ENOCs NDP has trained more than 115 employees.

At a ceremony held at Grand Hyatt Dubai, Saeed Khoory, Chief Executive Officer of ENOC, and members of the Board of Directors presented certificates to the Tatweer, Ajyaal, Mawaheb and Imtiaz graduates who completed the respective programmes recently.

Saeed Khoory said: Our National Development Programme, managed by the Human Resources Department since 2010, is a key pillar of our Emiratisation strategy, reflecting our focus to build a competent workforce for driving sustainable growth.

Human resources are our most valuable asset, and the NDP initiatives further build the skills of Emirati youth for strong career progression and professional development. The programmes remarkable success over the past four years, underlines our commitment to deliver the goals of Emiratisation and the increased focus on education, outlined by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in the recently announced 7-year National Agenda. We have achieved a growth in Emiratisation rate from 30 to 36 percent in the past three years.

Zayed University is one of the external strategic partners of ENOCs NDP. The Institute for Community Management of Zayed University offers two level awards and certificates in leadership and management for Ajyaal and Mawaheb students.

Dr. Abdulla Al Amiri of Zayed University said: We are delighted to partner with ENOC for the National Development Programme, which provided the staff specialised training sessions on leadership and management. Such industry-academic partnerships are crucial to encourage more UAE Nationals to evolve as future business leaders, and contribute significantly to the sustainable growth of the nation in line with the vision of our leadership.
The five proficiency levels in ENOCs NDP are based on the skills and educational qualifications of the participants. In addition to Academic and Professional Certifications, ENOCs programmes cover functional roles, leadership training and management.

All the five initiatives are fully aligned with ENOCs behavioural set of competencies - teamwork, customer focus, performance orientation, commitment to continuous improvement, problem solving, team leadership, strategic thinking, alliance building and change catalyst.

Also part of the training is the CEO Caf, where the participants interact with the CEO face-to-face for strategic discussions to further enhance the confidence of the Nationals by gaining new insights directly from the CEO.

Management forums that serve as knowledge-sharing platforms providing insights on different aspects of business and special skills programmes such as Project Management, 7 Habits of Effective People, 6 Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking and Change Management, are also conducted.

ENOC also undertakes site visits to its subsidiaries and joint ventures including: DUGAS, Emirates Gas (EMGAS), Horizon Terminals Limited, ENOC Aviation and EPCL, to share more information on technical aspects and the sales operations at the companys service stations with the participants.

Ajyaal is a 3-year programme in leadership and management skills, and is a concise qualification designed to provide practising and potential professionals/supervisors the foundation for their formal development to this role. Mawaheb, another 3-year programme, is a qualification designed to give practicing or potential managers the foundation for their formal development in this role, by developing basic leadership and management skills. The two programmes are open to employees with a Higher Diploma or Degree. In the final year, the participants in both programmes are required to implement what they have learnt over the previous two years by working as a team and selecting a project to enhance a process undertaken in the company.

Imtiaz is ENOCs Executive Leadership Development Programme to build and leverage leadership potential and capability through internationally renowned organisations such as INSEAD, and Executive Coaching, among others, and cover best practice methodologies, skills and knowledge.

Tadreeb a one-year programme, is designed for fresh National university/college degree graduates/employees. It is mandatory for all new graduates recruited by ENOC, filling established positions, to participate in the programme with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Tatweer is a competency-based basic skill building programme targeted at high school level staff members with limited qualifications and minimal experience.

ENOC also has a comprehensive and systematic professional development scheme for strengthening the career growth of all employees across the organisation.