UAE best places to work: These companies have the happiest employees, survey says

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THE One, Pizza Express, Century Financial and Transworld Group have topped a survey of the best workplaces in the UAE.

Out of 50 companies included in the result, they took the top spots in the Great Place to Work 2022 survey’s small to medium-sized company category.

In the large-size company category, Dubai Police Academy, Leminar, DHL Express, Hilton and McDonald’s were ranked highest in a top 20 list.

The annual report is compiled by management consultancy Great Place to Work, which compiles the survey in 60 countries.

Researchers sends out a 'trust index' to employees of companies, which measures how they are being treated at the company, if they are being fairly paid and if they feel informed about management decisions, among other issues.

This index has about 85 per cent of weight in the annual report, with the other 25 per cent is based on a survey that is sent to employers, measuring quality of leadership.

Ibrahim Mougharbel, Great Place to Work's managing director for the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, said to make it to the top of the list, a company had to excel in a number of areas.

"We have 59 statements under the trust index," he said.

"It's a ranking system, where the employees actually say if they feel involved, informed, fairly paid and treated, proud of the work they do for the company, if they feel that they have accomplished something, they're proud of it or they just feel like a number."

The survey's authors said top-rated companies focused on morale, training and learning opportunities – and injected some fun into the workplace in what was a difficult time for many workers.

Retail company THE One was ranked number one in the small and medium-size category again this year, because of its "quality leadership".

"If you ask me what's so special about THE One, their CEO, the owner of the business, is quite attentive in terms of making sure that every employee gets a great experience," said Mr Mougharbel.

"He's very interested. So, one of the key things that is so special about THE One is leadership effectiveness – that leaders are interested in their people and they put the people at the forefront of their thinking."

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Dubai Police Academy has moved up 13 places from last year to take top spot in the large category.

The survey's authors said: "The Academy was fully inaugurated in 1989 and has taken in students from Arabic countries such as Yemen, Oman, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories, where it continues to maintain international standards of teaching.

"Dubai Police Academy has moved up an incredible 13 ranks from last year simply by putting their people first."

Small to medium-size companies:

1. THE One - retail

2. Pizza Express - hospitality

3. Century Financial - financial service and insurance

4. Transworld Group - transport

5. Eva Interiors - professional services

6. Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority - social services and government agencies

7. Hadi Express Exchange - financial services and insurance

8. Charterhouse - other

9. PetroGas Piping - industrial services

10. Metropolitan Group - property

11. Bacardi Ltd - manufacturing and production

12. Westford University - education and training

13. Blue Ocean Academy - education and training

14. DP World - transport

15. Privilee - other

16. Hill + Knowlton Strategies - advertising and marketing

17. Akamai Technologies Limited - information technology

18. Loccitane - retail

19. AbbVie Biopharmaceuticals - biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

20. Groupe SEB - manufacturing and production

21. Global Food Industries - manufacturing and production

22. International Beverage and Filling Industries - manufacturing and production

23. SARA Group - retail

24. Maersk - transport

25. MIDSTAR - agriculture

26. Amgen - biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

27. Omni Clouds - information technology

28. Zee Entertainment - media

29. Shift Electronics - electronics

30. MSD - biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

31. Marc Ellis - professionals services

32. GAC - other

33. Hilti - manufacturing and production

34. TDRA - telecoms

35. Greenstone Equity Partners - financial services and insurance

36. Aldar Khidmah - other

37. Medtronic - healthcare

38. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited - biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

39. Coberg Technologies - information technology

40. Redington Gulf - information technology

41. Aldar Education - education and training

42. Government of Sharjah - Department of eGov - social services and government agencies

43. Aldar Properties - property

44. Omnicom Media Group - advertising and marketing

45. Glander International Bunkering - professional services

46. AlphaSights - professional services

47. BDP INTERNATIONAL - transport

48. Arada - property

49. Servier - biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

50. Mohebi Martin Brower - retail

Large size companies:

1. Dubai Police Academy - social services and government agencies

2. Leminar - manufacturing and production

3. DHL Express - transport

4. Hilton - hospitality

5. McDonald's - hospitality

6. FIVE Hotels - hospitality

7. Dewa - social services and government agencies

8. Ajman Police - social services and government agencies

9. Chalhoub Group - retail

10. Al-Dabbagh Group - other

11. Apparel Group - retail

12. Talabat - information technology

13. Teleperformance - professional services

14. DHL Global Forwarding - transport

15. Dubai Customs - social services and government agencies

16. Dubai DED - social services and government agencies

17. Coca-Cola - manufacturing and production

18. Standard Chartered - financial services and insurance

19. Deloitte - professional services

20. Sewa - social services and government agencies

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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.”

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