MEA Women in Business Awards 2017

16 MEA MARKETS / Women in Business Awards 2017 , IRC UAE & Egypt provides comprehensive Executive Search and HR Solutions that attract, develop and retain capable leaders who encourage innovation and lead businesses through peaks and troughs alike. Rania Abdalla, the company’s Managing Director tells us more about the firm’s services and her contributing role in the its success. Female Founder & Managing Director of the Year 2017 – UAE & Egypt Since its humble beginnings, IRC UAE & Egypt’s client base has exponentially grown to include hundreds of reputable multinational and local organizations. It has successfully placed and led a myriad of management positions and HR consultancy projects through the firm’s partnership with IRC Global Executive Search. With more than 80 offices across six continents, IRC is the second globally-ranked Executive Search service provider in terms of geographic coverage. Rania who is a member of the IRC Executive Board and the Global Leader for IRC’s Consumer & Retail Practice Group, is also the founder and Managing Director of IRC UAE & Egypt, specializing in Executive Search & HR Consultancy for the MENA region with offices in UAE and Egypt. Rania holds a Masters Degree in Human Resources from Kingston Business School in the UK and a Bachelors degree in Economics from the American University in Cairo. With more than 20 years of experience in human resources, it is not only her line of work – it is her greatest passion. “My ultimate goal was to have a senior HR position in a fortune 500 organization. I joined PepsiCo and worked in Egypt, UK and UAE for 11 years. The majority of my career was in the UAE where I assumed a regional role responsible for 35 countries. UAE helped embellish my career with many awards most important of which, was the Emirates Woman Award granted by HH. Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum. However, this entailed long working hours and constant travelling which was challenging especially that I had my first baby back then. My last career move after 11 years of fruitful hard work was as an HR Director in PepsiCo Egypt after which I finally decided to resign and start my own business.” Rising to the challenge, Raina describes what issues she had to overcome in order to start her own business and how friends and family could not understand her choice. She talks about pursuing her dream and how her own values and that of her family are reflected in the business models and aspirations. “Fundamentally, I decided to start my own business in Executive Search & HR Consultancy to offer the very highest standards of service to my clients. Family members and friends could not WNB17017 Contact: Rania Abdalla Contact Email: [email protected] Address: Office 430 Building B Al Saaha Offices, Souk Al Bahar, Old Town Island, Burj, Khalifa District, Dubai, PO BOX 487177, UAE Phone: +971563561219 Website: uae.ircsearchpartners.com understand my decision especially that I would be giving up a high income steady job to start from scratch. The company I founded is based on a model of empowering employees’ entrepreneurial skills and is based on deliverables, sense of ownership and drive for results. As part of my commitment to support women in business, we provide our employees with many work life balance options and flexible working hours.” In her concluding comments Rania highlights that many companies are now working hard to provide better work-life balance for women. Looking to expand her own business, Raina will use her expertise to help other companies in the future, as she proudly concludes. “Since the start of my career, I have always noticed corporates trying to provide better work-life balance for women and while it’s improving, it’s still not where it should be. However, now with the advancement of technology, women should be able to strike a better work-life balance be it as an entrepreneur or an employee. “With regards to my own career, my plan is to continue focusing on expansions in IRC UAE & Egypt and as for personal goals, my aim is to pay back the community by helping and mentoring SMEs to become successful entrepreneurs. Through my network and interviewing leaders, I will also provide consultancy to entrepreneurs to be, which will provide many exciting opportunities for even greater success.”