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‘Everyone has a spark’: How Huda AlHadhrami is empowering the Emirati workforce

Huda AlHadhrami, Deputy Head of Empowerment and Inclusion at VFS Global, wants to help people be the best version of themselves

One could argue that the need to grow, to evolve is in the human DNA. In other words, we are hardwired to focus on qualitative growth that can be quantified. The need to change into someone better, to have agency over our own lives guides many decisions, both professional and personal. But that’s what it is – an individual goal. Unless you are someone like 36-year-old Huda AlHadhrami, who lives to engage and empower her countrypeople.

As the Deputy Head of Empowerment and Inclusion at VFS Global, AlHadhrami runs workshops and coaches people to be true to themselves, to understand their positives and where they lag behind at work, and helps them become a better, more professional version of themselves.

AlHadhrami has been working for 14 years and has a background in human resources. She worked with a government agency and a semi-government before deciding on being part of a private company, because she believed she could help more people there. “I think everyone has something to offer. And sometimes they only need someone to spark [their brilliance]. Before moving here to VFS Global, I met the CEO and he was very inspired. He was talking about his vision to develop UAE nationals; how he wants them to be part of the global workforce, how he wants to develop them within UAE and other countries as well,” she says.

“In a government entity, most of us are nationals, and this language [to empower Emiratis], we hear it always, because this is part of our culture, but when hearing it from private entity CEO or a person who is not a UAE national, that was inspiring to me,” she adds.

Good role model

The desire to see others empowered and striving to be more than they are is an integral part of AlHadhrami’s personality. And that may have something to do with her role model: her grandmother.

“So my grandmother actually raised six of us, five sisters and one brother. We always see her as a role model. She was not educated, yet she would come to our school, ask about our grades, what we did well, what we did not do [well]. She would [maybe not] understand what we actually did in school, but she would know how to improve us. I think she had magic. She was very persistent.”

She was also entrepreneurial. “When we were kids, she used to [make] things at home [like clothes or baskets] and sell [them]. She had a great community outside of her house, and she was a woman. Back then, ladies did not have the power to do much, but she had the power. She had the courage to be different. And this taught us that we can do different things,” she says.

When she went to university, AlHadhrami put this thought to the test; at one point, she was working and studying at the same time. And by doing so, she pushed her own boundaries, realising that she wanted others to push past their self-imposed barriers too. As a transformational coach, she offers the employees of VFS Global the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone. “What is great about coaching is we don’t give answers to people, we help them find their own,” she explains.

She isn’t daunted by the spectrum of people she comes across. “My father is a UAE national and my mom is Somalian. From each culture [I was exposed to as a child], I had to learn, and that definitely affected my personality,” she recalls.

In her push to help Emiratis acclimatise to a globalised workforce, AlHadhrami hosts cultural sessions where UAE nationals can understand some social norms from other countries, and people from international waters can understand how they might be making faux pas when meeting their Middle Eastern counterparts. “One thing we started when we came to VFS is a cultural session. We tell them the history of the UAE, what are our values? What do we do? How do we eat? What do we drink? How do we welcome our guests to our houses… and what things they should not do. For example, one of the things in our culture is we don’t shake hands with [people from] the opposite gender. When I joined VFS, I saw everyone would shake hands, and me, out of respect, I would [try not to unless it was too awkward].”

By working with people from across the world, AlHadhrami says, she has learned that no one approach to teaching or communicating works with everyone. “What works with young minds might not work with older people. Choosing the right approach [and being flexible] while delivering the message is important.”

Networking is imperative

Just as important as it is for those in the field to make connections, she says. “For young employees creating professional networks [is important]. At one point of time, you would know who to call, what do you need, where to go, who to ask for advice. I know people who [have] worked for a company for 10 years and they don’t know [anyone].

“You have to create networks for you to grow. Growing is not about getting a raise or a promotion, it’s growing as a person and getting experiences from other people, advice and [to] keep learning. I think if you come to work one day, and you don’t do something new, or you don’t hear something interesting, or you don't change your way of working, or you don’t meet new people, I think you’re wasting your time.”

She calls for consistency and a push towards self-growth. “I believe that you get something from anywhere you work. And if you did not improve for two years, three years after you’ve been in one organisation, leaving is the solution, but learning throughout the process of your working life is, I think, the most valuable thing you will get out of a job, rather than the payment.”

Currently AlHadhrami is working on her PhD; her thesis is on what she loves best: employee engagement. “It’s what I do, it’s what I love,” she laughs.

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