Champion of Emiratisation has eye for talented staff

Human resource expert Iman Khalid Al Marzouqi's specialty is not only spotting Emirati female talent, but retaining it.

Iman Al Marzouqi brings great professional experience to businesses in the emirates and uses that to promote the role of women within the nation’s enterprises . Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

ABU DHABI // As a headhunter, recruiter and human resources expert, Iman Al Marzouqi not only knows how to spot female Emirati talent, but how to retain it.

She has an HR consultancy which provides assistance to government and private firms. It is built on her 20 years of experience, working with cooling solutions company Tabreed, oil and energy company Schlumbergerat, Mubadala Development Company, Etihad Airways and, most recently, as vice president of human resource operations and Emiratisation at Abu Dhabi Airports.

The mother-of-five works with many private companies to establish Emirati quotas and to demonstrate the benefits that UAE nationals can bring to workforces, while also helping bridge the gap between UAE and western culture.

“We provide a kind of cross-culture training, where we help businesses and give them an insider view when it comes to policies, procedures, UAE youth, development plans and recruitment services,” she says.

“Companies coming here may not understand a lot of the things required of them. It is my role to show them the benefits that come out of it.”

Ms Al Marzouqi’s role also entails mentoring Emiratis graduates – many of whom have had little or no experience in the working world – and helping them settle in companies.

“In many cases, all this international expertise in companies can be intimidating, and our young Emiratis feel they are overwhelmed,” she says.

“They have studied the theories but putting [them] into practice is a different thing.”

One person who knows the positive impact Ms Al Marzouqi is making among not only female Emiratis, but the UAE in general, is colleague Serap Emik, a Turkish expatriate.

“She helps both men and women through the hard times, getting used to the culture and getting to work,” says the HR training expert. “She is very humble. I have had the pleasure to work with this awesome lady, and she goes many extra miles.”

One of Ms Al Marzouqi’s career highlights came during her time at Schlumbergerat, which in 2001 recruited the first Emirati woman to work on an oil rig.

However, because of rules in place at the time that prevented Emirati women in the UAE from doing so, the woman had to be deployed to work in Oman.

Such obstacles, for Ms Al Marzouqi, illustrate her view that despite gender equality advancements in the UAE, there is still some way to go.

She believes that for all the support for equal opportunities that comes from the country’s leaders, it will take time for companies to change their mindsets about female leaders and board members.

“People say that elsewhere there is a glass ceiling for women,” she says. “Here, it is a concrete ceiling.

“Our leadership have so much belief in women – we now have female ministers. But unfortunately there are still industries which do not believe women can achieve certain levels.

“We have so many Emirati women who have what it takes, and they do not need anyone to help them.

“They are distinguished and unique, they work very hard, and they have a high work ethic. They shine by themselves.”