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Emma Evans: A people's person

Dubai - Love for people interaction in a business context has done wonders in her career

My career is an important component of my life and it gives me great satisfaction when I feel a sense of achievement and contribution through my work and when I have made a positive impact on other people's lives, says Emma Evans, head of human capital management at Transguard Group.

The MBA holder in business from Alliance Manchester Business School said: "My career started in part-time customer service roles while studying for a bachelors of science in psychology and a masters of science in business psychology. Although the roles were perhaps viewed as simply helping to fund my studies, my first taste of working for profit-generating businesses confirmed my fascination for people interaction in a business context."

Of equal importance, according to Evans, is to have a good balance between caring for her three children, being a supportive wife and having time to pursue her hobbies and fitness interests.

Her daily life compares to a military operation with in-depth planning and preparation to ensure that by the end of the day every box is ticked.
Evans said, after graduating, her first full-time job was for Tata Steel in the UK managing graduate recruitment and development. She moved to the UAE in 2008 as a business psychologist for an Abu Dhabi corporate government business, Senaat.

On-going learning
"I thoroughly enjoyed and valued the experience of working with professionals from all over the world and being a part of the growth and development of the UAE. I was supported to achieve my chartered business psychologist status and in pursuing an MBA, which to me demonstrated that the organisation valued my professional contribution and on-going learning."

In 2015, Evans accepted a role in Dubai with Transguard Group, responsible for leading the training and development function, and early in 2016 was promoted to head of human capital management.

Since 2001, Transguard has been providing services to the Emirates Group and 600+ other customers across the region. The firm provides cash services, security services, manpower services and integrated facility services to some of the region's most prestigious brands. The company helps customers to focus on their core business by providing all their non-core business support.

In the financial year 2015-2016, the company boosted its work strength by 16,500 employees, bringing its total workforce from 30,000 to 46,500-plus.

"I am enjoying the challenge of my role in a vision-driven business that has a vast reach throughout the UAE. People are of key importance to any business success and my current role allows me to have a major influence in support of this," said Evans.

Mentoring programmes
Transguard has a leadership team committed to diversity, she said. "We are actively appointing and promoting women into leadership roles as well as supporting the next generation of leaders through apprentice schemes and mentoring programmes."

Transguard's latest mentoring scheme paired young potential leaders with mentors from general executives.

Evans believes the UAE offers vast opportunities for women in terms of gaining experience and exposure to develop professionally.

"The government's vision is clear and women are an integral part of this in terms of adding value and contributing to the UAE's success," she said.

UAE women need to take advantage of the opportunities available for their personal and professional growth. "Do not be deterred by what might be considered as male-dominated environments and follow your career and education goals. View any hurdles as an opportunity for growth and learning as your resilience will get you to where you deserve to be," said Evans.

Innovation
The UAE is increasingly becoming more receptive and supportive of new ideas and innovation. Best practice is becoming more commonplace, demonstrated through alignment with international standards. Opportunities exist for women across a spectrum of roles, in a wide range of industries and this is increasingly becoming the case.

"Within my professional network, a hot topic is the increasing importance and benefits to businesses of having an increased gender-balanced workforce. It is evident that the UAE government is actively supporting women in the workplace," said Evans.

"In the public sector, the appointment of women into senior positions is widely documented. Revisions of policies that make employment conditions more favourable for working mothers will shortly bring about improvements geared towards encouraging women to return to work during and after starting a family."

Evan concluded: "Women are being encouraged into more technical roles, with many educational institutions reaching out to attract them into traditionally male-dominated professions."

- sandhya@khaleejtimes.com