Zain

ZAIN HOMEPAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MESSAGE

2018 AT A GLANCE

KEY MILESTONES

VICE CHAIRMAN & GROUP
CEO STATEMENT

GROUP KEY PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS

OPERATIONS OVERVIEW

A YEAR IN REVIEW

THE WORLD OF ZAIN

OPERATIONS SNAPSHOT

REGULATORY LANDSCAPE

OUR STRATEGY

TOGETHER WE ARE ZAIN

TECHNOLOGY

ZAIN DRONE

COMMERCIAL

CORPORATE
SUSTAINABILITY

ANNUAL CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE REPORT

CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
AND INDEPENDENT
AUDITOR'S REPORT

Table of Contents

العربية

TOGETHER WE ARE ZAIN

HR ANNUAL REPORT

Zain’s Human Resources (HR) strategy builds on the strength of the entire 6,000-strong talented team drawn from across operations. Management believes that a diverse team is crucial to the success of the organization, helping Zain better understand and meet the needs of our customers, which is a critical aspect of our digital lifestyle aspirations.

We offer equal opportunities in all aspects of employment and advancement. By identifying and sharing good practices, making best use of our talent pool, and by working as business partners, Zain has been able to accelerate growth and success.

In February 2018, the Human Resources Directors’ (HRD) forum was held in Kuwait and brought together the heads of the HR divisions from the operating companies. The two-day forum set the tone for the HR function for the remainder of the year and highlighted each operating company’s achievements, lessons learned, and exciting new technology-driven initiatives. These tech-driven plans encompass digital efforts to enhance our employees’ experiences.

TECH IN HR

Zain Group has begun rolling out a fully-fledged crossoperation HR app to provide digital access to Zain specific social media and online forums on-the-go as an integral part of the company’s digital transformation.

Zain Bahrain held quarterly Master Class sessions that covered strategic topics such as digital transformation and blockchain technology. The HR team in Bahrain also arranged for local experts to speak on the lessons learned from their business experiences. To emphasize the value of online knowledge transfer, the learning and development team held a ceremony recognizing employees who used LinkedIn Learning’s e-learning platform most frequently.

Automation achievements at Zain Saudi Arabia stemmed from streamlining processes that enhanced employees’ overall experience while utilizing an ERP self-service system. Similarly, Zain Jordan used automation to assist in talent acquisition by using a ChatBot mechanism in the applicant selection and recruitment process. As applicants go through the screening and application process, the HR team can chat and instantly answer questions in real-time.

Zain Jordan’s famous ZINC Academy held workshops that covered essential information on app development and blockchain technology. Zain Jordan’s HR team took technology a step further by introducing gamification programs aimed at contact center employees, to help them keep performance and employee engagement top-of-mind while collecting points and instilling a sense of competition within the teams.

touch Lebanon (managed by Zain) launched internal training videos – with a special focus on the changing digital landscape – which further emphasized the growing importance of tech in HR.

Looking forward to 2019, Zain Iraq and Zain Kuwait plan to incorporate gamification for talent acquisition and to enhance online training selections.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Zain Kuwait has invested significantly in talent identification processes, which seek to accurately identify high-potential employees based on ability, aspiration and engagement levels. This talent initiative also aims to groom employees for growth in more challenging roles.

Zain Kuwait also identified a pool of employees that exhibited elevated performance and distinguished competency profiles and put them forward for an Accelerated Leadership Development program to propel their development. It is expected that these types of individuals will ultimately occupy senior leadership roles within the next 2-4 years.

Zain Saudi Arabia established a competencies framework and will launch career progression programs in 2019. The operator is also set to actively work on attracting young graduates and leverage the company’s newly launched careers website.

To encourage self-directed learning within the workforce, Zain Jordan offered a ‘Learning Corner’ that featured e-books, LinkedIn Learning subscription access and industry-related e-publications. The company also launched a leadership program, Grow, which focuses on enhancing the leadership skills of middle management employees.

touch Lebanon held a coaching program called Delegate the Thinking, which incorporated team leaders. This was a hands-on transformational program that delved into shifting the team leaders’ mindsets by emphasizing motivation and smart leadership techniques.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

The Group-wide annual engagement survey showcased robust results, with an overall engagement score of 86% –14 points above the industry norm. This is an encouraging number as it indicates that our employees are excited to be Zainers and encourages HR divisions across the Group to continue attracting and retaining the best talent in the region

GENERATION Z

In January 2018, Zain Group kicked off another year of the Generation Z program for six high-achieving Kuwaiti graduates, who were selected following a rigorous assessment process. The latest program builds on previous year-long graduate programs that commenced in 2016, which have seen four graduates from each of the previous years offered full-time employment at Zain.

The six new successful candidates for the 2018 program were judged on their creativity, passion, resilience and initiative. They were hand-picked following a two-weeklong assessment that included panel interviews, individual research, customer research, team presentations and psychometric assessments. The Generation Z program received 277 applicants of whom 77 proceeded to personal interviews. 13 short-listed candidates advanced to panel interviews, with an initial nine candidates being short-listed and finally narrowed to the final six.

The aim of the year-long program is to develop young Kuwaiti nationals with potential, and to enhance their digital skillsets to the level required to support Zain Group’s expanding digital lifestyle strategy.

GENDER DIVERSITY

The Board and management of Zain Group firmly believe that championing gender diversity in the work place creates competitive differentiation and fast-tracks strategic ambitions of unlocking the tremendous growth opportunities in the digital arena, while at the same time improving the company’s bottom line.

Zain also believes that as a leading innovative corporate entity in the region, it is incumbent on the company to provide a more supportive working environment for female employees and to forge an inclusive working environment.

Accordingly, following the introduction of the Women Empowerment initiative in November 2017, additional steps were taken in this area throughout 2018. A kick-off Women Empowerment event was hosted in Bahrain in March, with the workshop being focused on strategizing and planning actions. In May, a Centered Leaders gathering was convened in Kuwait.

November saw Zain Group hosting its second annual Women Empowerment conference in Kuwait, where a significant regional first was announced regarding the application of flexible hours for working mothers with children under the age of four years. The occasion was also punctuated by the creation of a new senior position within the organization, namely Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, to drive empowerment initiatives geared to define, enhance and further cultivate an equitable work environment at Zain.

In January 2019, Zain introduced one of the most progressive and innovative HR policies in the region, providing female employees who become new mothers with four months of paid maternity leave, as well as a flexible schedule for returning to work. The restructured leave policy, which falls under the HR Policy Transformation theme, is being rolled out as a Group-wide initiative, ensuring a unified approach to the program.

Flexible working models have also been incorporated, including six-hour work days for mothers with children up to four years old and an optional compressed working week enabling working mothers to work more hours over a compressed week to avail one day off.

The incoming flexible work program complements Zain Group’s recruitment, retention and development efforts, as the company shows itself as being in-tune with the needs of female employees looking to balance their careers with their family responsibilities.

There are very few companies globally that offer a uniform family leave policy and Zain is proud to be bringing new standards of HR support and implementation to the region.

Once the new HR policy is fully implemented, Zain Group’s HR team will measure the impact and effect of the initiative through annual engagement surveys and statistics related to the cost benefit involved of such recruitment and retention and the number of returning mothers.

SUCCESS OF GENDER DIVERSITY
INITIATIVE TO DATE

Zain’s Gender Diversity program has previously scored major successes in raising the profile of women in the organization, with Zain working towards increasing female leadership positions from 14.5% to 25% by 2020; and ultimately evolving towards a truly gender diverse workforce.

Since Zain’s Women Empowerment initiative’s official introduction in November 2017, it has achieved the following:

Female leadership, director and above at Zain Group has grown from 14.5% to 15.5% in one year

Female recruitment into Zain across all operations grew from 21% of total recruitment to 29%

The number of women at chief level increased from 6 to 11, an 83% increase

33 high-potential female leaders have been identified to form the Centered Leaders program

61 Women Empowerment ambassadors have been onboarded and tasked with action planning

Zain signed up to the UN’s Women Empowerment Principles and communicated this to all 6,000 employees

Introduced a Women Empowerment communications app with 300 employees already using it

Women Empowerment embedded into the Board of Director’s agenda and placed on CEO scorecards

Two talented women from Zain operations sponsored to attend MBA programs at ESADE, Barcelona

Much of the success of Zain’s Women Empowerment program lies in the support it receives from the very highest levels within Zain management, becoming a part of the Zain Group strategy. The initiative’s action planning and tracking is thus measured through quarterly senior management operations reviews.

In partnership with McKinsey Global Consulting Group, the empowerment program developed by Zain is in-line with its strategic targets and underpins McKinsey’s four imperatives for building a successful inclusion and diversity strategy based on Leadership Development, Culture Transformation, HR Policy Transformation and Female Recruitment.

SOCIAL AND ONLINE RECRUITING

Social media is a fundamental element to enabling us to proactively present a favorable image of Zain and its people, products, and services to all stakeholders, and to connect with potential candidates at different touch points. During 2018, we continued to invest in and benefit from social and online recruitment.

Zain uses LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions, which enable HR personnel to identify and recruit the best talent from among LinkedIn’s 600 million professional members worldwide.

Furthermore through ZainCareers.com, the company promotes job openings, allowing for applications as well as building our employer brand and engaging with the community.