Introduction
Dubai International Financial Center is a financial free zone established in the year 2002 by a federal degree, defined in Federal Law No. 8 of 2004. The purpose of DIFC is to attract international financial institutions to operate from Dubai and to serve the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. Its main mission is to promote the growth and development of financial services within the UAE by providing world-class infrastructure and business opportunities. It currently has 2003 registered companies and 22,768 people in its workforce. (DIFC Website).
The values DIFC upholds are Integrity, Efficiency and Transparency, they are showcased as the three pillars in the center of the DIFC logo they are all taken with the upmost seriousness and every employee needs to withhold these values as they are the foundation that everything is built upon.
The vision of the Dubai Financial Center is to be a global financial hub that promotes the growth and development of financial services within the UAE by providing world-class infrastructure and business opportunities.
Since the forming of the federation, Dubai and the UAE have an exhibited astounding financial development and political soundness. A vital business and social goal, the emirate has encouraged an alluring workplace, reasonable and stable living conditions and an energetic social climate.
Focused on advancing and empowering worldwide exchange systems, the travel industry, land and money related environment, the UAE has turned into a set up business center point for financial specialists, organizations and multicultural networks.
Alya Al Zarouni is the Executive vice president of operation’s in DIFC. Mrs. Al Zarouni earned both her B.Sc. in Computer Science and MBA from the American University of Sharjah. She is a PMI Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a LRQA affirmed ISO 9000:2000 Series Auditor/Lead, and a LRQA Certified Internal QMS Auditor. Mrs. Al Zarouni has additionally effectively finished the Young Leaders Program from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for Leadership Development.
In her job Alya Al Zarouni oversees various internal functions, including Information Technology, Procurement, Administration, Corporate Development, Government Relations, Government and Registry Services. Her prime target is to guarantee DIFC Authority’s inward activities are very much adjusted to help reach the 2024 Strategy.
Leadership Style
Management functions vary from department to department and business units. Every unit should be overseen legitimately to guarantee that The Dubai International Financial Center achieves its missions and vision and most importantly to meet its 2024 strategy.
Therefore, the majority of the Managers and the management functions are allied to achieve the 2024 strategy, the strategy is for DIFC to triple in size by 2024. His Highness Mohammed Bin Rashid said: “In our strategy for the next 10 years, we look forward to stimulating and driving our collective aspirations to enter a new phase of leadership, in a way that puts us at the forefront of financial centers on the global landscape.”(DIFC 2014)
The strategy plans to position the DIFC among the top 10 financial centers internationally and to house 1,000 financial firms in the following 10 years, in contrast with the 362 firms in the year 2014. The combined workforce in the Center is set to rise from 17,860 in 2014 to 50,000 by 2024. The strategy is expected to align DIFC’s 2024 Strategy with Dubai Plan 2021 to fortify the Center’s situation as a worldwide center point for Islamic legislation and financial services. Moreover, the center plans to help the financial services sector to contribute 18% to Dubai’s GDP in the following 10 years.
Therefore, it is vital for each manager to understand his or her own abilities and to have the capacity to lead and push ahead to reach the strategies set by the organization. A standout amongst the most vital aptitudes is people management, it is knowing how to manage individuals and how to function with groups and teams. Additionally, the manager needs to understand the set task and what the activities e.g. operations team needs to pay careful attention to detail. Therefore, it essential for a manager to be equipped with being a good example and role model to the employees and to have the power to influence the employees into following the vision of the organization.
Planning is likewise an essential skill to see the advancement towards the strategy of the organization. Understanding the strategy is very important as it will help in the communication process between the manager and the employees.
Alya Al Zarouni plays an exceptionally involved role in her style of management as she enjoys being a part of the team and not simply administering the process. This allows her to understand all the details and in addition be able to settle issues that may emerge amid the process.
Motivation
The definition of motivation in terms of business according to the Cambridge Business English Dictionary is “1 Enthusiasm for doing something. 2 The need or reason for doing something.” (Cambridge Business English Dictionary). To make an employee motivated requires high levels of emotional intelligence as every employee requires a different method of motivation. Some may be motivated by monetary means however others may be motivated by a gesture of recognition such as a thank you or a certification, this makes the motivation process of the manager difficult as the manager will need to understand every employees specific motive to get them to a mindset that helps reach the goal of the organization in the most effective manner.
In terms of the DIFC, it is very important for every employee to understand the strategy and work towards it as their efforts add value to not only the DIFC but Dubai as well. This holds very high importance as the federation will need to keep showing effective results and keep hitting every milestone as fast as possible. Moreover, this will insure that every goal set will be reached on time with no delays, this will improve the image of the organization not only locally but internationally as well.
“Trust can drive motivation and motivation can lead to the restoration of confidence”. (Arif Masood Naqvi Nov 2008, DIFC) As highlighted by Mr. Arif Masood the base to any successful motivation strategy is to establish a relationship built on trust between the senior management and the employees, the trust will help the management team lead the employees to the direction of the set strategies as the employees trust the direction of the managers, this will result in the employees believing in the strategies and goals of the organization.
Involvement in business decisions is essential as it will give importance to the employee. This will show the employee that the management cares about the employee, this can be done by involving the employees in small business decisions and they don’t necessarily need to be big decisions as they may be confidential and contain risky information restricted to senior management. As a manager you need to be a reliable figure therefore a manager will need to fulfil commitments and this will boost trust immensely between the manager and the employee. Trust can be established by having positive energy in the workplace this will make the employee comfortable in the workplace and more likely to excel in tasks.
Mrs. Al Zarouni understands the results of motivation and the importance of a positive culture in her department. She stated that motivation helps increase the productivity and efficiency of the employees. This is very important in a business such as DIFC and especially in the operations department that she manages, as the department is reliant on efficiency and productivity therefore the department must pay very high attention to detail and not act in a lackadaisical manner.
Group Development
Group development is a universal scheme advanced by Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Initially, Tuckman distinguished four phases of group development, which incorporated the phases of forming, storming, norming and performing. A fifth stage was later included by Tuckman around ten years later, which is called adjourning. (study.com)
The DIFC comprises of just two types of groups the primary being the project teams which are Cross Functional Teams that consist of people from every division. They work together during the process of completing a specific assignment and remain a group till the project is finished. Once completed every individual will return to their normal positions in the organization.
The following type of group is the Functional Departments, they are high level departments that have sub divisions and every department consists of employees with a with a similar set of skills and expertise. The gathering structure that DIFC depends on is a Flat Structure, this type of structure has almost no levels between the administration and the workers this assists with the immediate supervision and correspondence between the managers and the employees. The advantages of this kind of structure is the communication speed and coordination between the managers and employees is quick and viable.
Mrs. Al Zarouni participates in the group activities from time to time, this helps her supervise the completed view of the project that the group may not focus on as each individual is concentered with the details of their assigned job. Along these lines being part of the group is essential in problem solving and connecting the data as the manager has direct contact with other office heads unlike the employees. Being part of the process allows her to resolve conflicts, this will decrease distractions that may halt the project.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Managing is a fundamental activity at all of the organizational levels. Managers are in charge of carrying out the functions of Planning, , Leading, Organizing and Controlling. Every manager is advised to perform all the tasks as efficiently as possible, This will improve decisions and help immensely with the establishment of a healthy and positive environment in the workplace which the importance was stated previously.
The Dubai International Financial Centre continues to be at the forefront of the worlds strongest financial hubs, its highly innovative and modern atmosphere caters to a wide range of businesses and financial organizations.
Not every job is easy and Mrs. Alya Al Zarouni’s is most definitely not. She deals with many challenging tasks due to the high number of stakeholders her department has, this makes her job tougher however the challenges she faces lead to her having a never ending learning experience and that is one of the best parts of her job.
References
https://www.difc.ae
https://www.difc.ae/newsroom/news/dubai-international-financial-centre-set-triple-size-2024-part-centres-newly-announced-2024-strategy/
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/motivation – dataset-cbedh
https://www.difc.ae/newsroom/news/difc-week-gcc-better-resourced-other-regions-weather-global-slowdown/
https://study.com/academy/lesson/stages-of-group-development-forming-storming-forming-performing-adjourning.html