The Talented Together program facilitates knowledge sharing between Zain operating companies to fill skills gaps. It allows companies to access expertise within the Zain community to support strategic initiatives. A new phase of the talent mobility program will be introduced, focusing on talent development. The success of strategic initiatives like value management is partly due to deploying experts to other companies through the Talented Together program.

1. Issue No.1
Talented Together is a mobility program that facilitates the transfer
of knowledge and expertise to fill skill gaps throughout all Zain
operating companies (opcos). Talent Mobility is a privilege provided
by an elite few companies in the region that have the scale to
mobilize their talent resources throughout various markets. It is a
system by which the right talent is delivered to the right place, at
the right cost to achieve business objectives while integrating Talent
Development objectives.
Through the Talented Together Program opcos are able to fill skills
gaps within their operation and tackle strategic initiatives by utilizing
expertise present within the Zain community. Talented Together
was created to support opcos implement strategic initiatives,
empowering them with the necessary expertise and technical skill
sets that are a key component to the overall success of Zain. Opcos
have the ability to mobilize their own talent to enhance employee
experience and engagement as well as the ability to receive the
required expertise and talent to fill skill gaps, enhance best practices,
build new functions and fill expertise shortages. Talent Mobility
liberates Zain from a ‘silo’ mentality.
I would like to introduce a new phase to Talent Mobility, which
the Group HR team has trusted me with the privilege of further
developing. I am passionate about talent development, with my
previous work experience at the American University of the Middle
East (AUM) having provided me with great insights into tackling
talent development, which I keen to implement at Zain. Working
closely with my colleague Laila Hayat, who is responsible for
managing the Talent Pool, and with the support and continuous
enthusiasm of the Talent Together Champions within each opco
I have every confidence in the success of this undertaking. I would
like to thank the Talented Together Champions from the various
opcos for their support and excitement for the initiative.
Their input and insights have been key.
To end I would like to quote the CEO Statement explaining the
benefits of Talented Together, and how talent mobility influenced
his career. “On a personal note, throughout my career, I have
had the good fortune to work in several countries (USA, Kuwait,
Pakistan, Tunisia, to name a few) and this has provided me with
very diverse multinational and multicultural experiences which have
greatly helped to enrich my knowledge and to build the skill sets
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES AND TALENTED TOGETHER
Value management is one of Zain’s main strategic initiatives and has
been one of the most successful initiatives in the Group. One of the
contributing factors to value management has been the Talented
Together Program, which mobilizes value management experts to
other opcos where required. Meshal Mohammed the Group CVM
Director was mobilized to Iraq on short assignment where he shared
valuable insights in Iraq. Abdullah Al Ibrahim is another success story
who was mobilized from the Group to Zain Kuwait to enhance the
CVM function and fill the skill gaps.
Value management focuses on enhancing the value that each
customer provides us. As Zain continues to adapt to an ever-
changing industry, it relies on this strategic initiative to differentiate
itself from its competitors. By taking a “customer value” approach,
Zain focuses on each customer and how it can service him/her to
the maximum and achieve the highest return. This approach not
only enhances the company’s financial stability but also improves
customer satisfaction as we continue to find better ways to serve them.
I have today. I believe that the mobility program will also serve to
create opportunities for advancement for our personnel: individuals
will no longer be limited to just vacant senior positions available
in one operating company. This will help us with leadership and
competency development.” Thank you Scott, and I hope that all
Zainers will be inspired by your experience.
If you are one of those exceptional Zainers who is interested in the
Talented Together Program, please reach out to us. I would be happy
to answer your questions and to discuss talent mobility. Reach me at
Othman.falothman@zain.com
Yours Truly,
Othman Alothman -Talent Mobility Analyst
Zain Group HR.
Value management as well as Zain’s other six strategic initiatives
- Customer Experience, Operational Effectiveness, B2B, Digital
Frontier and Innovation and Talent Development – are set to guide
Zain to a bright future. Talented Together aims to offer support and
empower stakeholders of strategic initiatives to find the required
talent and skills. Working together and utilizing our shared resources
is the sure way to reach our goals.
Group Chief Commercial Officer Duncan Howard who is a managing
stakeholder of Value Management shared his thoughts about
Mobility, saying, “Solid international experience is one of the many
benefits that mobility can provide to the development of our future
leaders. Witnessing different approaches and experiencing different
markets is one of the best ways to develop the capabilities of our
brightest talents.” Thank you Duncan for being one of the first to
utilize to the Talented Together Program and we look forward
to future mobilization and success.
Creating Centers of Excellence