Working as a Human Resouces Consultant in Dubai was quite an experience.  One thing is for sure, Americans in general should be grateful that they even have a Human Resources department at their company. 

I was contracted by several large organizations in Dubai to develop and implement their HR departments.  These companies had been doing business for many years without anyone looking after the employee's rights or benefits.  Many people in that country have no idea what their actual job role is or what they are legally entitled to for benefits.  Additionally, the government's labor laws amount to about six or seven pages of text.  That's it!

Okay, so I had a lot of leeway in how I created these departments.  I used the U.S. best practices as my baseline and then had to make some accomodations for the fact that they base income on nationality and not on education and skills.  This was a hard nut to swallow, but I did my best to show companies how to assess the true value of an employee based on performance and education along with their work-ethic and other experiences.  I was able to sway a couple of companies to increase salaries and institute employee appreciation programs!

Another issue facing the Dubai market is companies like to "steal" employees from each other after they have gained some experience in the market.  This is very prominent in the Real Estate sector.  So, I helped several organizations work on employee retention programs that proved to be very beneficial and ultimately a cost-saving venture.

Another issue I faced was the cultural diversity situation.  I created a cultural awareness and assimilation program for a few companies that really helped them understand other employees personalities and intentions.  I held seminars explaining the cultural differences and biases that exist and how to overcome them.  If you have faced any of these issues within your own organization, I'd love to hear from you.  Or if you need help getting foreign employees adjusted to the U.S. work mentality, please let me know.