ABU DHABI // In a post-oil world, motivation is essential for tapping into one of our greatest resources – the human potential, an American author told a Ramadan majlis on Wednesday night.
Speaking at the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Ramadan majlis, Daniel Pink, who wrote the best-selling book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, summarised 50 years of social science on the topic during a lecture titled The New Science of Human Motivation.
Rewards such as money were great for simple and short-term tasks, Pink explained, but they were not so great for complex and long-term tasks.
“Intrinsic motivation doesn’t mean that humans like rewards any less. Those kind of motivations are great,” he said.
“When you reward behaviour, you get more of it sometimes. When you punish behaviour, you get less of it sometimes.”
While this motivation strategy often works, Pink tried to recalibrate the audience’s understanding of motivation. Great rewards sometimes result in good performance, but not always, he said.
“Once the task called for even rudimentary cognitive skills, a larger reward led to a poor performance,” said Pink.
Money is not the most powerful motivator, he said, particularly in a post-oil economy built on human creativity.
“People need to be paid well. That is fairness, but this is a threshold motivator,” he said.
Pink listed the components of what he called a motivation formula, which was described in his book and included autonomy, mastery and purpose.
“When people are paid fairly, self direction, mastery and a sense of purpose can engage and stimulate people to do their best work,” the author said.
“The secret to high performance and satisfaction in life is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.”
Pink summarised his points by saying that the ideal approach for motivation began with paying people well and treating them fairly. Next, it involved creating work environments that have the three components in his motivation formula.
Having autonomy meant that people had some amount of sovereignty over what they did, when they did it and with whom they did it, Pink said.
People have mastery when they can progress in their careers and feel they are improving their abilities in something that matters.
Those who had purpose felt that they were able to make a difference or a contribution in the work, he said.
Pink described the difference between what science taught about motivation and what businesses practised. He said the UAE was doing well in that regard, yet more people could be motivated in their jobs.
“Three out of 10 people are engaged in their job in the UAE,” Pink said. “But can you imagine what we could do if we motivated the other 70 per cent?
“Fortunately, science tells us how to create organisations that do a better job of motivating workers.”
Sheikh Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, attended the lecture, as well as Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed, Chairman of the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation Board of Trustees, Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council, and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development.
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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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.”
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
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Day 3, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Just three balls remained in an exhausting day for Sri Lanka’s bowlers when they were afforded some belated cheer. Nuwan Pradeep, unrewarded in 15 overs to that point, let slip a seemingly innocuous delivery down the legside. Babar Azam feathered it behind, and Niroshan Dickwella dived to make a fine catch.
Stat of the day - 2.56 Shan Masood and Sami Aslam are the 16th opening partnership Pakistan have had in Tests in the past five years. That turnover at the top of the order – a new pair every 2.56 Test matches on average – is by far the fastest rate among the leading Test sides. Masood and Aslam put on 114 in their first alliance in Abu Dhabi.
The verdict Even by the normal standards of Test cricket in the UAE, this has been slow going. Pakistan’s run-rate of 2.38 per over is the lowest they have managed in a Test match in this country. With just 14 wickets having fallen in three days so far, it is difficult to see 26 dropping to bring about a result over the next two.
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At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)