Time is right for women to make their mark in GCC consultancy



With high levels of investment and a desire to seize new opportunities in the global economy, there is plenty of work for GCC consultants to do. But consulting firms, like many other organisations in the region, find recruitment a struggle: there simply aren’t enough high-calibre consultants to go around.

Against this backdrop women play an increasingly crucial role. In most GCC countries women represent a better-educated talent pool compared with men, and this year Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, affirmed the UAE’s focus on gender equality with the launch of the Gender Balance Council.

A recent survey by Pearl Initiative, a regional not-for-profit organisation, found that although more than 50 per cent of working women in the region were aiming at senior or board-level positions, about 75 per cent still felt they were not treated equally in their workplaces. The study, which polled more than 600 businesswomen, revealed that the number of women moving to senior executive and board levels within organisations in the GCC remained low.

Management consulting offers its own challenges: demanding work, the need to spend time away from home and the difficulty of balancing work and home. So perhaps it’s not surprising that, while women are joining the industry in unprecedentedly high numbers, those who stay are rare.

Recent research that my company, Source Information Services, undertook with nbi, a human capital consulting firm, found that barriers remain to increasing the number of women in senior positions across the global consulting industry. Our report, based on interviews with women at partner/board level from large consulting firms, argues that, despite initiatives designed to ensure that gender diversity works well at more junior levels, women who are looking to become partners are still ­disadvantaged.

“Performance is simply what gets you in the room,” said one interviewee. “You have to have top grades to become a principal but, when it comes to promotion to partner, everyone is in the top or second band, which means that the objective component has been removed and the subjective takes precedence.”

Only a quarter of those interviewed said that they had not encountered gender bias.

It is a story that chimes with women’s experience in the Arabian Gulf region. More senior women need sponsors, people who are prepared to promote their interests and be advocates on their behalf. Sponsors don’t need to be women – in the GCC’s male-dominated consulting boards it’s often an advantage to have a male sponsor, who understands how the rules work.

But more needs to be done to demonstrate the importance of “soft” skills, such as good communication and team management, in a consulting environment. Occasions when women can bring family members into their workplace can help a woman’s ability to get support at home to pursue a career at work.

Most women don’t think quotas are a good approach, although aspirational targets for gender diversity within an organisation are valuable. Quotas may accelerate the process of change – this is certainly what some countries, such as Norway with its recent drive to increase the number of women in senior positions, have found – but at the cost of the level playing field. Women who think they have been promoted to fill a quota may feel devalued.

More female role models are essential. Many of the women who have made it to senior positions in consulting firms either don’t have children or have husbands at home to help with family life – whereas the reality for most female consultants is that they’re still expected to run the house and be responsible for childcare.

Female consultants in the GCC have a bright future. With more support at home and at work, we shall see a new generation of women making it to the top.

Fiona Czerniawska is founder of UK-based Source Information Services, which has a Dubai office and has published reports on the GCC consulting market since 2012

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Saturday's results

Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

The biog

First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974  
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work

How to increase your savings
  • Have a plan for your savings.
  • Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
  • Decide on a financial goal that is important to you and put your savings to work for you.
  • It's important to have a purpose for your savings as it helps to keep you motivated to continue while also reducing the temptation to spend your savings. 

- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

 

 

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