Social Media - Middle East

Human Resources Guru and Author of Strategic Human Capital Management , Jon Ingham was in Dubai this month, we caught up with him to understand exactly what he was up to in Dubai and his take on getting the best people into your business.

John graduated from Imperial College, London in 1987 and joined Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a systems development consultant. After ten years in IT, change and then HR consulting, I joined Ernst & Young as an HR Director, working firstly in the UK, and then, based in Moscow, covering the former USSR. More recently, he has worked as Head of HR Consulting for Penna and been the Director of Human Capital Consulting for Buck Consultants (the HR consultancy owned by ACS).

How long ago was your company established?

The company was initially established in 1995.

Why did you decide to work for yourself?

I work for myself because it enables me to concentrate completely on my clients.

What is it you do exactly, is it recruitment or does it go way past that - and how?

I provide support across the full spectrum of HR services, from recruitment through performance management to organisation development. A lot of my work focuses on the development and improvement of people management strategies, and the design and implementation of strategic programmes such as talent management and succession planning.

In the recruitment area, this might mean that I help a client clarify its resourcing needs through strategic workforce planning, identify new opportunities for searching for potential candidates, and redesign selection processes to generate the best possible results. I might also help my client identify the appropriate metrics to track progress and ensure the required benefits are obtained.

I've got the experience, through consulting and working as an international HR Director, to ensure that these HR services are implemented effectively, in the way that's right for a particular client at a particular point in time, and that are embedded so that benefits will be sustained.

Why Dubai - what is it about Dubai that brings you over here on business so often?

In part, I'm here in response to circumstances. I chaired and presented at an HR conference here which led to me starting some project work which has been bringing me back on a fairly regular basis, so I've been using these visits to hold business meetings and generate more project work. Read Jon's Article on Dubai HR Issues.

But it's also partly by design. I'm focussing on business in Dubai and the rest of the UAE because I think there are some interesting opportunities here. Businesses are facing increasing commercial challenges and are asking their HR teams to step up and meet these challenges. This means that many HR Directors need to start acting in a different way and gives me an opportunity to provide some high value support which helps these Directors truly transform their businesses.

What is your outlook for the Middle East recruitment market?

There are clearly some uncertainties in the business marketplace at the moment, but I think Dubai business is dynamic and robust enough to overcome them, so I don't see growth and therefore recruitment slowing here for some time to come.

Some of the other countries in the Middle East may well be affected, depending partly on the price of oil and more largely on global economic conditions.

Where did your interest in social media come from? What opportunities do you think are presented to your business by social media?

I developed an interest in social media because this provides one of a number of opportunities for HR to transform the way their organisations work. The point of performance in many organisations is the team not the individual, and social media enables ‘teams' to be defined more broadly, spanning diverse geographies and people inside and outside of the organisation, significantly improving collaboration and performance.

I also use social media extensively myself. People can find my details and connect with me on linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/in/joningham . I have a blog on strategic HRM / HCM (http://strategic-hcm.blogspot.com ) and another on the use of social media in HR (http://social-business.blogspot.com ). And I podcast on HR at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/talkinghr .

What are the attributes that you think make a truly great company from an HR perspective?

I think HR needs to be closely aligned to the business agenda. But great HR also goes beyond simply meeting today's business needs. HR should also build capability for the future, helping the business set different and more challenging business goals, The business strategy should be informed by the HR strategy as well as the other way around.

What are the factors to consider when defining a corporate culture and HR policy?

HR needs to fully understand what's needed, and what's appropriate, that is, what will work in the particular organisation. Best practices provide a further input but the real key is doing what's right: best fit rather than best practice.