Counting on talent

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Mail man: Fadi Ghandour is the driving force behind Aramex’s amazing success.

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Prime mover: whether on land or at sea, Aramex has all the resources to meet client demand for fast and reliable parcel services.

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Reliable: Aramex has been offering quality logistics services in the Gulf since 1982.

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It is important that you practice what you preach," smiles CEO Fadi Ghandour, leaning forward in his chair and locking me with a steely gaze.

Minutes earlier, the imposing CEO and founder of global total transportation services company Aramex addressed delegates at the Middle East World Economic Forum (WEF). In the opening plenary session, Ghandour embraced his role as co-chair, and particularly espoused the merits of the ‘democratisation of corporations'. He is on fine form, and exudes charisma as he speaks in perfect English.

"I think Aramex is a democracy," he continues. "We're not a perfect democracy, but we're a democracy in our own way.

"We're a democracy because we're accountable to our shareholders as a public company, by definition you have to answer questions and you have to be accountable and you have to be transparent so that the people that have given you their money to invest in you know what is happening in the company," he continues.

A quick look at the company's history suggests that a lot has happened at Aramex in a relatively short space of time. Founded in 1982, the company became the first international company from the region to list on the NASDAQ in 1997.

In 2002, as Aramex was celebrating its 20th anniversary, it was approached by Abraaj Capital and consequently decided to de-list from the NASDAQ. Now, as its 25th anniversary flies by, the company is listed on the Dubai Financial Market and Aramex's success is subject to public scrutiny. It is, Ghandour believes, of benefit to the management as well as to the man on the street.

"We have to be a democracy for our people, for our talent, the people that work for us," he explains quickly. "So corporate governance is not only governing for shareholders, it's actually governing internally.

"If the people in your organisation don't feel that you're transparent, don't feel that they have ownership, not only physical - (ie) Shares - but ownership of the future of the company, they're not going to stick around," he adds.

The necessity of attracting and then retaining top talent is key to the future of the region's business community, Ghandour strongly believes.

"Talent, as we both know, is very mobile - the moment it isn't happy where it is, it packs its bags and goes," he insists. "So the democracy process doesn't mean that you elect. It means that you are transparent, it means that you have proper governance, and it means that these talented people have a say in their future."

He argues that the Middle East lags behind the West "because historically we've taken governments as our models in how we govern our organisations, and governments historically have not been as transparent or as accountable".

The tide is turning, but as the region opens up, so Middle East companies are facing increased competition for talent from top multinationals.

"If I don't keep my people with me, they'll go to the Microsofts of this world, they'll go to the Ciscos of this world, and eventually I'll be left with nothing," he says. "So I have to change, I have to be up to the level of expectations of my best talent.

"Again, talent is mobile - if others don't recruit them, they might pack their bags and go to the West or to the East," he emphasises. "People move today, and the global marketplace is an open marketplace. It's about your capability, it's not about your national origin any more.

"There is a lot of political pressure from the businesses in the US, to bring in talent from the East to allow for visas," he offers, by way of example. "We felt, for a certain period of time before the economic boom, that some of our talented people wanted to go to the US. During the dotcom boom, our technology guys wanted to go to the US because salaries were gong haywire.

"I think the biggest change and the biggest challenge for the Arab world today, and for Arab corporations, is how we retain the talent that is coming out of the Arab region," states Ghandour. "There's plenty of talent coming out and we need to retain it. The current economic boom keeps them here because it's an economic boom, but the question is not keeping them here now, it's whether we're going to be able to retain them long-term.

"I don't want to tell you I have a magic formula, but it's difficult. If you ask me as a CEO of a company, what keeps me up at night, it's retaining my talent," he reveals.

Yet Aramex is a shining example of how globalisation and increased multinational competition can benefit a Middle East company. So successful has the company's adaptation been, that writer and columnist Thomas L. Friedman used Aramex in his book ‘The World Is Flat', as an example of companies that benefit from what he calls the flattening of the world.

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Talent Counts
Posted by Prof Philbert Suresh, Scarborough, Canada on 24 June 2007 at 07:00 UAE time

Fadi has put a finger on a very sensitive point of a highly motivated team in Aramex. Talent management is an art as much as it is a science. It explains how ARAMEX has coped to these demands under an competitive express logistics market.

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