Handling the holidays well keeps employees happy


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While winter holidays send many expatriates home to spend time with their families, some employees are looking forward to a staycation – enjoying perfect weather and festive events across the UAE. It is also the time of the year when employees are most likely to reflect on their careers and contemplate leaving their jobs.

In the final months of the year, most teams are holding down two jobs; pushing hard to close out day-to-day activities and projects, as well as planning and getting things in place for the year ahead. These are among the key drivers of end-of-year burnout.

So while the holiday season often means that employees spend more time with their family and friends, it will inevitably spark discussion about and comparison of career progress and next steps.

At this time of the year, employees will reflect and make decisions about whether they will stay at their current job or look for a new one, especially as they consider their accomplishments across the previous year and set New Year’s resolutions.

New research from CEB, the consultancy for which I work, shows that today, 70 per cent of employees are dissatisfied with future career opportunities offered by their current employers, a fact that leaders can ill afford to ignore during the holiday season.

Our findings also show that upward promotions are not always possible in companies today, so employers need to reframe careers based on professional growth and building skills that will make them more employable in future. Creating growth-based career opportunities for employees can decrease turnover by up to 33 per cent, saving an organisation with 10,000 employees upwards of Dh27 million per year.

With this knowledge, leaders need to think carefully about their end-of-year messages to teams. As such, they need to cover more than just the company metrics and celebrating at the staff party. Leaders should give a high-level view of what’s to come in the year ahead, top priorities and most importantly the opportunities for the workforce. They should encourage staff to think about the different experiences and skills they want to gain and what they want to achieve at work.

Before leaders close out the year for the holidays, they should address the following five areas to prevent mass exits in the new year:

Recognise and commend the hard work that people have contributed during the year, and specifically call out the success and progress of cross-company projects and roles that individuals played. These messages should be personalised wherever possible.

Acknowledge the sacrifices and trade-offs that staff have made in their personal lives throughout the year.

Encourage employees to rest during the holidays and refuel for the year ahead. Consider end-of-the-year rewards that reinforce this to ensure that staff get some much-needed time of. If employees do need to work, bosses should get involved too, and ensure that the spirit of the holidays is incorporated into the working day.

Share the strategic vision for the business to engage and excite the team. Explain what this means for the team, their role in driving this forward, along with a high-level view of projects and priorities.

Set up one-to-one meetings with each direct report. Use this session to explain how they contribute to the business strategy and get a sense of the employee's broader career aspirations and what they want to achieve next year. This is the first step to forming a strong "career partnership" that will create reciprocal value for the employee and organisation.

Mohamed Farid is managing director of the human resources consultancy CEB in the Middle East.

business@thenational.ae

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The biog

Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer

Favourite superhero: Batman

Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.

Favourite car: Lamborghini

The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)

Engine 5.2-litre V10

Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch

Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm

Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est) 

How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

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Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo

Transmission: CVT

Power: 170bhp

Torque: 220Nm

Price: Dh98,900

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

Autumn international scores

Saturday, November 24

Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia

BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Friday (UAE kick-off times)

Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)

Saturday 

Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)

Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)

Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)

Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)

Fortuna Dusseldof v  Bayern Munich (6.30pm)

RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)

Sunday

Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)

Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)

 

 

 

 

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 Haval H6

Price, base: Dh69,900

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

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Director: Anurag Kashyap​​​​​​​
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal​​​​​​​
Rating: 3.5/5

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Squid Game season two

Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk 

Stars:  Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun

Rating: 4.5/5

'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams 
Penguin Randomhouse

Afro%20salons
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Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?

Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
 

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions