A case study on how Bupa Arabia created a training programme to address hiring challenges and foster the development of future leaders
Given the demands of a competitive market, the fact that trainees are often overlooked by hiring managers, as well as the challenges posed by the Saudi Government’s nationalisation initiatives, how can organisations strengthen the recruiting and nurturing of regional talent to best position themselves for future growth and success?
Bupa Arabia, a leading health insurer in Saudi Arabia, developed its own training programme with the aim of nurturing regional talent, overcoming barriers to onboarding qualified candidates and helping to develop future leaders.
Established in 1997, Bupa Arabia is headquartered in Jeddah and part of the global Bupa network. It offers health insurance products and services that cater to the needs of Saudi Arabia’s corporations, government institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and those they employ.
The organisation prides itself on its commitment to the wellbeing and development of its employees, providing them with the same standard of care, support and professionalism that it expects to be delivered to its customers.
The Saudi Government’s introduction of Saudisation initiatives created some challenges for Bupa Arabia. It needed to strengthen its commitment to hire locally, however, recruiters were struggling to convince hiring managers in highly specialised areas like sales, IT and asset management to consider trainees. Other pressing issues included lengthy recruitment cycles, which not only delayed the onboarding of qualified candidates but also impacted overall team performance and project timelines.
Following the Bupa Global Model, Bupa Arabia therefore decided to create and implement the ‘Nurturing Talents Programme’, an initiative designed to address these recruitment challenges and foster the development of future leaders.
The programme was crafted to achieve the following goals:
Key components of the initiative included:
The programme has had a transformative impact, enabling Bupa Arabia to set a new standard for talent cultivation, reinforce its position as a leading employer and ensure a positive long-term future for both the company and its workforce.
Outcomes to date include:
The success of Bupa Arabia’s initiative highlights the importance of:
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Leading Voices is a series of short audio essays in which senior people professionals reflect on how they have tackled some of the profession's most pressing challenges.
Leading Voices is a series of short audio essays in which senior people professionals reflect on how they have tackled some of the profession's most pressing challenges.