Gulf Business Machines (GBM), a leading end-to-end digital solutions provider, offering industry-leading digital infrastructure, digital business solutions, security and services, has been recently recognised as one of the best places to work for in Bahrain. Best Places to Work is an international HR certification program providing employers in different countries the opportunity to learn more about the engagement and satisfaction of their employees and honour those who deliver an outstanding work experience with the highest standards in regards to working conditions.
“Our people are our greatest asset, which is reflected by achieving the highest score (91%) for the Best Place to Work for in Bahrain. We value our outstanding employees and reward them for making their targets, and continue in developing our employees’ soft and technical skills with the latest technological trends. We believe, establishing a happier and positive workplace is transmitted daily to customers for the past 30 years of GBM journey regionally” said Abdulla Ishaq, General Manager Bahrain.
We went and interviewed the VP-Human Resources- Feras Al Majed, who has provided us insights into what makes GBM an employer of choice in the region.
1. How would you describe your company to someone outside of your industry?
As we celebrate our 30th anniversary since its inception, GBM is regarded as the leading end to end digital solutions provider in the region. We operate across seven offices and have over 1500 across the GCC and Pakistan.
We have nurtured partnerships with the world's leading technology companies and invested in a talented, skilled workforce to implement solutions that cater to customer's specific and diverse business needs. With on-the-ground, readily available expertise, GBM provides round-the-clock support to customers across the region.
2. How would you describe your corporate culture?
Our culture is inclusive and fosters diversity as evidenced with us having over 50 nationalities who can effectively contribute and collaborate towards our business's continued success and that of our customers. We continuously develop our employees by instilling a life-long learning mantra to enable them to support our customers as they prepare their businesses for tomorrow.
We always care about our employees' wellbeing, and the current pandemic has showcased our ability to leverage our technology investment and understanding to ensure our business continuity and service to our clients was uninterrupted while providing our employees with a safe and secure environment to operate.
3. What activities do you offer for employees?
We have a comprehensive offering for our employees, allowing them to have the ideal work-life balance and active employee engagement. In 2020, we have moved many activities to a virtual setting, such as wellbeing webinars on mental resilience, stress management, and healthy habits. Besides, we have an active Social Committee who has recently conducted well-received virtual initiatives such as, Netflix movie parties, Happy Weekend initiatives, and a virtual FIFA 2020 PS4 tournament, to name a few.
We continuously invest in this area, as we genuinely believe an engaged and happy workforce leads to successful business outcomes.
4. Does the company give back to the community? In what ways?
GBM truly believes that as an enabler to our clients' digital transformation journey - giving back to the community is a vital component in creating a giving eco-system that benefits the society we operate. We sponsor and raise awareness and donate equipment for several local and regional causes like Diabetes, Breast Cancer, and Women empowerment. We endeavour to continue to encourage our employees to also give back to society by organising activities beach cleanups or community work across all our locations.
5. What continuing learning opportunities do you have for your employees?
Learning and Development are our key pillars and central areas of investment, as we believe our most valuable asset and the key differentiator is our employees. We offer Linkedin E-learning access to all our employees, where they can access over 10,000 courses at their convenience to develop their core competencies and personal areas of interest. Besides, we have a successful engagement with some blended learning providers such as Simplilearn. Our technical and sales teams have access to the latest offering from leading practitioners to build their understanding of the latest technological offerings. Notwithstanding, we also run many sales enablement sessions for all employees by leveraging our talent who are well recognised within their field to deliver webinars on various topics. All the above is on a virtual learning calendar, which allows our employees' flexibility to learn at their convenience and fit their work and life commitments around these learning interventions.
&uuid=(email))