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Nationalization Plan for the Gulf Countries

​By Mansour Baker, PHRi, SHRM-CP
Posted 10 August 2019

Nationalization is the process of attracting, preparing, developing and retaining national employees at an organization. To meet those challenges, governments adopted workforce nationalization strategies, also known as Bahrainization, Emiratisation, Kuwaitization, Omanization, Qatarization, and Saudization.

Policies

• The Annual Nationalization Plan shall be an integral component of the Annual Budget.
• The Head of HR shall prepare the Nationalization Plan for the coming year in line with the Nationalization targets set by the Board of Directors.

The Nationalization Plan shall include the following:

1. Nationalization Statistics
2. The desired growth in percentage of national employees compared to the total number of employees in an organization
3. Current and targeted Nationalization percentages for each function within the organization
4. List of job titles (with numbers) needed to be filled by national employees during the year
5. Training courses and budget that will be provided to national employees
6. List of entities the organization has signed agreements with to achieve Nationalization targets
7. List of KPI’s that measure Nationalization

Actions to be taken to retain and reduce the turnover rate of national employees are as follows:

• Developing and implementing on-boarding program tailored made for national employees
• Monitor employees’ productivity
• Developing and implementing a retention program that links to performance
• Appointing a mentor at each function
• Obtaining regular feedback
• Developing a Nationalization reward scheme for managers who implement the plan
• Enforcing a Nationalization target for each manager linked with their annual bonus / salary increment

Planning
Nationalization planning consist of 5 phases:

1. During September of each year, the company Board sets the Nationalization targets for the next fiscal year.
2. The Head of HR reviews the Nationalization Plan of last year and explores new opportunities to sign contracts with external entities that help in achieving Nationalization.
3. The Head of HR will translate Nationalization targets set by the Board into specific quotas and coordinates with each head of department to validate and reach a common understanding.
4. The Head of HR prepares a detailed Annual Nationalization Plan and submits it to the CEO for approval.
5. The company HR Committee reviews the Annual Nationalization Plan, approves it and obtains the Board endorsement.

Guidelines

• The organization should continuously enhance the percentage of national employees in its workforce. The driver of nationalization should go beyond the need for compliance with the law. It shall be a genuine belief that by having a qualified national workforce, the organization can achieve stability and sustainable growth in the relevant market.
• The organization shall attract and retain qualified national workforce who can lead its development and growth into the future.
• The organization shall play its nationalistic role of providing job opportunities for national citizens.
• Recruitment activities shall aspire to meet the nationalization staffing requirements of the organization.
• Training and development shall be an important feature of the nationalization program. Various training opportunities shall be made available for national employees to ensure that qualified national staff will be available to assume more responsible positions throughout the organization.
• Succession planning shall be an integral part of the organization nationalization efforts. They shall be evaluated in terms of qualification, performance, potential and development needs. These development needs shall be met through programs such as training, job rotation, etc. In identifying a replacement for a future vacancy, every effort shall be made to ensure at least one (1) suitable national candidate is available to takeover.
• The organization shall endeavor to maintain and encourage the loyalty of its national employees. Thus, consideration shall be given to rationalize their compensation to motivate them to stay in the organization. It shall set the minimum entry pay level including allowances that shall be sufficient to attract and maintain national recruits.

Responsibilities
The main responsibilities to carry out a Nationalization Program are as follows:

• Board of Directors: Responsible for defining the Nationalization strategy for the entire company. It shall set the Nationalization targets for each department. 
• HR Committee: Responsible for overseeing the Nationalization Plan and report on accomplishment of the Nationalization targets to the  Board of Directors.
• CEO: Responsible for implementing the Nationalization target set by the company Board, and translating this target into Nationalization levels throughout the organization.
• HR Department: Responsible for developing Nationalization plan which includes specific Nationalization initiatives that takes place in each department.

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