Z-Corp makes significant contribution to develop employees innovation capabilities
MUSCAT: ‘The Zubair Corporation (Z-Corp) has made a serious commitment to innovation and this dedication has taken its management team to recognise the importance of innovation across the group and make significant investment in the development of its innovation capabilities’, believe partners engaged in the implementation of the ongoing Executive Leadership Development Programme (ELDP).
Designed to help employees with workforce succession planning, ELDP is an initiative aimed at developing the high calibre employees of Z-Corp as part of the group’s talent management programme initiative SEED. The ELDP, which is an initiative designed in-house by the Z-Corp team, has set a new standard for corporate leadership development in the Sultanate. The ELDP is a holistic, rotational three years programme designed to equip participants with hands-on experience in different key roles across Z-Corp.
Professor Ronald Jonash, innovation guru and chairman of the Global Innovation Management Institute (GIMI), who was here to conduct the fourth module of the ELDP titled ‘Leading Through Creativity & Innovation’ said that Z-Corp was ready to make ‘innovation’ part of its everyday activity.
The ‘Leading Through Creativity & Innovation’ programme is focused on next level of management across each of those sectors and Prof Jonash been working with teams from these companies to help them develop an improvement plan for the most critical capabilities and competencies both required to practice innovation and to lead innovation. There are two different sets of capabilities and competencies the Z-Corp team has been working on and doing that on not only training role but in an action learning way where they have projects, they are working. GIMI have been advancing specific concepts that Z-Corp chosen leaders are going to be working on over the next two months.
Speaking of Z-Corp’s dedication, Prof Jonash who is also Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Hult International Business School said, “Z-Corp made a commitment two years ago to make innovation part of their firm and now they are acting on that. They are making sure their leadership and high potential future leaders are all capable and confident in driving more innovative initiatives in the future.”
Talking of Z-Corp becoming the first organisation in the region to be certified as an Innovative Management Certified Organisation, Prof Jonash said, “GIMI is a major professional organisation that certifies individual, teams and companies as masters of innovation. In order to get certified companies, have to not only knowing how to do it, they have to be trained and kind of learn how to apply. Basically, it is two levels of certification –one should get enough people and enough teams in the organisation to be certified –then the whole organisation becomes certified.”
Carlos Guevara, founding partner of ShiftIN Partners shared details about how the three-day session went. He said, “There was great engagement over the over days. The talents had the opportunity to work in teams to develop an innovative opportunity out of the existing core business of their sectors. It has been a very practical training where the talents learn the latest techniques to manage innovation and the tools to make innovation real.”