The launch of the General Framework for Managing Promising Talent in the Federal Government

The Youth Council for Government Talent in the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) and the Federal Youth Authority launched the “General Framework for Managing Promising Talent in the Federal Government” – the first of its kind in the federal government – as one of the projects of the (National Youth Agenda 2031).

The Framework aims to scout and develop promising national government competencies and strengthen them with the best skills and experiences to ensure readiness of human capital so as to keep pace with future trends in ministries and federal entities in line with the “We the UAE 2031” vision.

This Framework will contribute to building a national database for government talents, which will serve as a basic reference for selecting national competencies capable of leading transformational projects and proactive initiatives in various government sectors. The Framework has been developed by the Youth Council for Government Talents, which includes a group of young national talents among the UAE government employees.

The Council is responsible for studying such trends that concern youth in government work, innovating solutions that contribute to enhancing and supporting young government talents, designing future policies for the government human resources system that support youth, and developing the government talents and competencies system by creating a nurturing, stimulating, supportive and enabling environment for youth.

Security for future

Her Excellency Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future and President of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) stressed that the ‘General Framework for Managing Promising Talent in the Federal Government’ stands as an institutional roadmap for governance of investment in promising government talents, in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State – may God protect him – and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai – may God protect him – that youth are the main driver of government work and the security for future. She pointed out that this initiative will contribute to raising the capabilities of national cadres in order to meet the growing needs of new sectors for young talents.

H.E Ohood Al Roumi added that the General Framework for Managing Promising Talent aligns with the UAE government’s vision of investment in national minds and competencies and enhances the competitiveness of young talents to build the next generation of government leaders, noting that the framework contributes to expanding youth participation in creating the future and equipping them with the best skills and experiences required for future jobs to lead government projects and initiatives that achieve the goals of the “We the UAE 2031” vision.

A strategic move

Dr. Sultan bin Saif Al Neyadi, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, said: “The wise leadership deeply believes that investment in talented youth is highly important and realizes that enhancement of youth capabilities and development of their skills will considerably contribute to achieving progress in various areas of government work. This is because making available the necessary tools to embrace national talents is extremely important for raising their efficiency and developing their spirit of innovation and creativity. This may be achieved by introducing advanced and innovative development initiatives and establishing strategic partnerships that provide opportunities to scout talented youth and give them new horizons”. He added: “Launching the General Framework for Managing Promising Talent in the Federal Government is a strategic move to enable talented youth to develop their skills in line with national aspirations aiming to building a prosperous and sustainable future. Investment in human capital by attracting and developing talents is the axis of achieving accomplishments on clear foundations”. Dr. Al Neyadi pointed out also that this Framework will contribute to building a distinguished generation capable of taking responsibilities and leading the process of development, by enhancing the supportive environment for promising young talents so that they contribute to developing government work in a way that ensures that national cadres keep pace with future trends. He reiterated that “commitment to hard work as an active part by following up and analyzing its stages of implementation and enhancing youth empowerment to achieve the targeted goals make the UAE a global government model for excellence and creativity”.

Features of the General Framework for Managing Promising Talent

The General Framework for Managing Promising Talent in the Federal Government consists of four stages: starting with scouting promising talents within each federal government entity; then, evaluation and selection of talents, using flexible measurement tools that include testing the readiness of government talents, conducting personal interviews, and presenting case studies; followed by the stage of empowerment and investment, which is concerned with enhancing the efficiency of talents and refining them by mandating them to prominent leadership positions and involving them in strategic national projects; which gives rise to the launch of the stage of motivation, including the path of rapid development, functional specialization, rewards and incentives.

The General Framework for Managing Promising Talent in the Federal Government consists of four stages: starting with scouting promising talents within each federal government entity; then, evaluation and selection of talents, using flexible measurement tools that include testing the readiness of government talents, conducting personal interviews, and presenting case studies; followed by the stage of empowerment and investment, which is concerned with enhancing the efficiency of talents and refining them by mandating them to prominent leadership positions and involving them in strategic national projects; which gives rise to the launch of the stage of motivation, including the path of rapid development, functional specialization, rewards and incentives.

The General Framework also provides a clear mechanism to measure the impact of its implementation in each federal entity, by tracking the percentage of promising government talent therein, the satisfaction rate of promising talents, the percentage of promising talents receiving fast-track promotions, the percentage of promising talents within succession plans, and the rate of job turnover for promising talents. The results of this can be viewed by the decision makers through a digital dashboard.

A magnet for promising talents

Her Excellency Laila Obaid Al Suwaidi, Director General of FAHR, said that the Framework contributes to making the government work environment a strong magnet, retaining promising young talents, and defining mechanisms for managing them in the federal government, in line with future trends for the most interactive government jobs. She added that FAHR calls on ministries and federal entities to implement the Framework in order to scout and identify their most promising talents, develop plans to empower and develop them, and hence ensure retaining them in the entity, noting that a unified electronic database will be established for promising talents in the federal government.

An opportunity for involving youth

Nasser Nabil Alboom, Member of the Youth Council for Government Talents and Head of the Procurement & Administrative Services Section at the UAE Space Agency, thanked the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) for providing an opportunity for young people to design policies that support government work. He referred to the Youth Council’s initiative and efforts to develop the Framework in coordination with the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, a number of private sector institutions, and global expertise houses specialized in the field of human resources development, through organizing a series of meetings and benchmarking sessions.

Definition of ‘Promising Government Talents’

The member Fadel Mohammed Al Shamsi, Director of the Strategy and Future Office at the UAE Space Agency, explained that the first task for the Council was to reach a unified definition of ‘Promising Government Talents’. They were defined as a group of talented employees who have ideas, knowledge, skills, and capabilities that give them the ability to perform effectively in various functional fields and achieve outstanding results that contribute to providing a greater value to the entity and accomplish the aspirations of the government of the United Arab Emirates.

Framing and governance of talent discovery

The member Reem Abdullah Al Tunaiji, Executive of Employee Relations at the Emirates Foundation for School Education, confirmed that preparation of the General Framework for Managing Promising Talent in the Federal Government reflects FAHR’s keenness to involve young people in framing and governing the process of scouting talents and competencies in ministries and federal entities, clarifying the mechanism for their optimal management, and ways to develop their capabilities and skills, using the right tools and supporting programs, in a way that enhances their efficiency and effectiveness and raises their productivity levels.

Talent empowerment mechanism

In the context of empowering and investing in ‘Promising Government Talents’, the member Nada Ismail Al Hosani, the Assistant Human Resources Expert at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, said, “Ministries and federal entities can adopt many methods and methodologies that will empower their ‘promising talents’, including – for example but not limited to – involving them in strategic and joint-venture projects at the federal government level, giving them leadership roles to manage pioneering projects, providing them with the opportunity to represent the entity in official tasks inside UAE and abroad, and involving them in specialized programs to develop talents”.

Retaining and motivating the talents

In this regard, the member Alia Muhammad Al-Hussein, Head of the Litigation and Judicial Judgments Department at the Ministry of Finance, confirmed that the new Framework focusses on ways to retain talents in ministries and federal entities, including giving them priority to obtain fast-track promotions, identifying specialized career paths for them, and mandating them to higher job tasks as well as rewarding them for their achievements according to the rewards and incentives system for federal government employees.

Talent scouting standards

In this context, Ahlam Abdul-Mohsen Al-Mannai, a member of the Youth Council for Government Talents and an agricultural engineer at the Ministry of Climate Change & Environment, pointed out that the Framework identifies a set of standards and provisions for the process of scouting ‘promising talents’ in the employers including, most notably; obtaining a job performance evaluation not less than 4 in the last evaluation cycle; that the employee’s record is free of any violations and job penalties; passing training programs for future skills, within the “Jahiz” initiative for the future of government talents; familiarity and knowledge of government trends and modern technology; and making achievements within the work scope of the employer; or contributing to transformational projects at the level of government and community.

Impact data and indicators

The member Muhammad Issa Al-Ajmani, Head of the Sustainability and Social Responsibility Department at the Ministry of Health & Prevention, explained that the Framework includes all knowledge data, performance indicators, and calculation mechanisms, which enable human resources departments in ministries and federal entities to submit detailed reports on the government talents that work for them and submitting them periodically to officials and stakeholders, in order to achieve the government’s aspirations and support the directions of the future government, in alignment with the national strategy to attract and retain talents.

Integrated system

Asma Mohammed Al-Zarouni, a member and the acting director of the International Tax Department at the Ministry of Finance, said: “The Framework is a starting point for scouting government talents. Through this initiative, we look forward to building an integrated system to attract and retain talents, which we can develop by reading real-time data from a proactive electronic platform in cooperation with the competent authorities in the federal government”.