抖阴短视频

DUBAI: Saudi women are playing a pivotal role in the Kingdom鈥檚 Vision 2030 transformation strategy, seizing new opportunities in higher education, traditionally male-dominated professions and, perhaps most importantly, in leadership.

Furthermore, it is Saudi nationals themselves who are taking the reins in the Kingdom鈥檚 big industries and institutions 鈥� in place of the many foreign experts previously relied upon to play these high-powered roles.

As a Saudi citizen and the first woman to be appointed as country director for 抖阴短视频 for the international services company Serco, Makkah-born Mona Althagafi embodies this transformative national agenda.

鈥湺兑醵淌悠� has changed,鈥� Althagafi told Arab News. 鈥淚n just a few years, the Kingdom has made very significant progress at so many levels, from social and economic to cultural, and what used to be taboo is now the new norm in the Saudi way of life.鈥�

As country director, Althagafi has taken over responsibility for the operational delivery of Serco Middle East鈥檚 core offering of data, asset and workforce management and is driving new business growth in 2021 for both Serco Saudi Services and Serco 抖阴短视频.

The British outsourcing firm employs more than 4,500 people in the Middle East across four countries, including 抖阴短视频, the UAE, Qatar and Iraq, covering transport, healthcare, citizen services, defense, justice and immigration. Women are estimated to constitute 40 percent of Serco鈥檚 employees in the Middle East.

Althagafi is also playing an important role in establishing and growing the citizen services business in the Kingdom, to support Vision 2030 with a commitment to service excellence and customer experience, strengthened through the company鈥檚 ExperienceLab division.

With more than 20 years鈥� experience, Althagafi previously served at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Riyadh, where she led the planning of the Smart Government Strategy, as well as the planning and execution of the e-government program strategy in line with Vision 2030.

鈥淢ona is a passionate Saudi national and government services expert who we are delighted to have at Serco to lead our Saudi operations,鈥� said Phil Malem, CEO of Serco Middle East, shortly after Althagafi was appointed in November.

鈥淪he has a wealth of local knowledge and experience supporting key businesses, ministries and governments, and combined with our international expertise, she will continue her excellent track record with Serco.鈥�

The Saudi government is working directly with companies like Serco to hire more local staff and promote equal opportunities.

鈥淚nvesting in the leaders of tomorrow will be a big priority, with nationalization continuing to be a priority across UAE and KSA,鈥� Malem said in a company statement last month.

鈥淲hat will be important in our role as leaders in the private sector, is how we can support this, by creating a localized workforce, but with international expertise.

鈥淏y investing in training and development that has an international flavor and focus, we are not only enhancing the skill-sets of our workforce, but we are also helping to create global citizens that have the future skills we need from the leaders of tomorrow.鈥�

Althagafi says she is thrilled to be playing a part in this transformation.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited to contribute to this important work and lead some of the best local talent and teams in the region, to help shape the transformation of different sectors,鈥� she said.

鈥淚鈥檓 also looking forward to driving new business growth and supporting the delivery of essential services in 抖阴短视频 in 2021, which will make a positive difference to the region.

鈥淚 am also proud to be part of an organization that works to transform operations while focusing on Saudization of those operations through the many nationalization programs.鈥�

Although she is Saudi by birth, Althagafi spent most of her childhood in the US state of Michigan. But, after graduating from the University of the Pacific in California, she decided to move back to 抖阴短视频, where she spent a year working in the management team of a private hospital in Jeddah.

鈥淎t the time, in the 1990s, there were not many opportunities for women to work,鈥� she said. 鈥淔rom there, I pivoted into managing roles in the private sector, semi-government and government institutions and, later on, in some NGOs as well.鈥�

Althagafi always hoped she would return to the Kingdom someday, both for her own personal development and to contribute something meaningful to her country of birth. That contribution came in the form of citizen services.

鈥淭hroughout my career, the projects and programs I worked on were mostly around citizen services, whether it be through employment programs, designing and launching government products or supporting NGOs,鈥� she said.

Her most recent work with the Saudi government focused on digitization, another Vision 2030 priority, and the expansion of e-government.

鈥淭he challenge with e-government strategy is getting the entire government on board, and this will be done through a governance model across our government, and will be implemented hopefully soon by the e-government program,鈥� she said.

Althagafi believes her work is already making a significant impact on how the Saudi population digitally engages with state and private institutions.

鈥淭his will not only enhance their lives but enhance the lives of generations to come,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wanted to be a part of that journey in terms of improving the lives of citizens, whether it鈥檚 the government or even in the private sector.鈥�

One area she has given particular attention is the design and launch of a digital platform for working mothers. She also worked on platforms designed to help women find work during the period before 2018 when 抖阴短视频 lifted the ban on women driving.

鈥淭here is still a percentage of women who don鈥檛 drive and still need that support to go to work, so this facilitated the lives of women in the workforce,鈥� Althagafi said.

Although Serco has only a small-scale presence in the Kingdom, it has ambitions to develop the Saudi digital service sector.

鈥淥ur goal is to support Vision 2030 with customer experience and operational optimization,鈥� Althagafi said.

鈥淲e are looking to increase the footprint in 抖阴短视频 and align our programs with the Kingdom鈥檚 vision in different areas, such as general operations, maintenance, data management, workforce management, digital asset management and others.鈥�

With the growth of mega projects like 抖阴短视频鈥檚 NEOM smart city, Althagafi expects customer experiences to improve rapidly over the next five years. In the meantime, she plans to hold workshops with government ministries and private sector leaders to identify opportunities.

She is confident the best is yet to come for 抖阴短视频鈥檚 transformation. 鈥淭his is because things are progressing very fast,鈥� she said.

As for young Saudi women exploring their career options, Althagafi鈥檚 advice is as clear-cut and logical as the programs she has spent part of her working life designing.

鈥淧lanning your future is the first step. Envisage where and what you want to be and put an achievable plan towards it. Break your plan into a short-term monthly plan as well as a long-term annual plan,鈥� she said.

鈥淜eep the plan flexible to accommodate any changes. But your plan should put you on track.鈥�

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