DUBAI // Tighter deadlines, tougher performance targets, longer hours and BlackBerrys full of emails are increasing pressure on Dubai's ambitious professionals and driving more of them to seek help in dealing with executive stress.
Priya Sridharan, an organisational consultant and psychologist at the Dubai Herbal and Treatment Centre, has tripled her clientele since she began an "executive coaching" programme 18 months ago.
Most of her clients face issues such as "executive burnout" or "cultural conflict".
What began as corporate sessions to develop skills such as team-building, cross-cultural integration and communication has turned increasingly into one-on-one training and development.
Doctors, accountants, marketing executives - Ms Sridharan sees them all, men and women in equal numbers.
"They can see that this kind of 'executive coaching' will improve their performance at work. If it means getting up the ladder, they'll seek professional help," she says.
Dubai is a very different place compared to several years ago, says Ms Sridharan. Things are more fast paced and pressure is high.
"Burnout didn't used to exist here. Now, they are expected to perform like any other city in the world. They work long hours and are under pressure to produce good quality work.
"At one time, people worked from 8am until 1pm, and then come back from 4pm to 8pm. Now, it's not uncommon for people to work straight through from 8am to 8pm."
Ms Sridharan deals with many cases of burnout, a condition that has consequences far beyond the workplace, affecting a person's health, motivation levels and personal relationships.
Clients have suffered such symptoms as gastric stress, hair loss and skin rashes, Ms Sridharan says.
One acute problem is cultural conflict in the workplace, especially in Dubai with its "melting pot" of professionals.
"It's such a unique environment here because you can be working with 50 different nationalities. That can cause a lot of disagreements and friction. You just don't know 50 cultural norms and ethics.
"People coming here to work are thrown in at the deep end, expected to perform as they would have in their home country. But it's not that easy."
Schedule-keeping and communication are common issues raised by her clients. Time in the Middle East is "more fluid", she says, and that can cause divisions among staff.
"Some workers are more group-orientated, so don't like to make decisions. They've come from a culture of team decisions and when they are put on the spot it can be very difficult for them. This is tough for both sides," Ms Sridharan says.
Personality differences, mannerisms, cultural etiquette, even dress codes can add to office tensions, she says.
While some staff may ask too many questions, others may not ask any. Even differing attitudes to personal space can cause office conflict.
"These are people who all come from very different personal backgrounds, all thrown in the pot and expected to get along. You're dealing with some very sensitive issues.
"Some can be resolved quite easily. Others are more difficult to broach."
The key, she says, is identifying the problem and working on it before it escalates into a crisis.
Clients for Ms Sridharan's executive coaching session were initially from Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Now people from Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia fly in for consultations.
"Many of these people come and see me for the initial sessions and then continue with phone sessions.
"These problems are not exclusive to the UAE.
"It just reflects how far we've come in being just like the rest of the world."
mswan@thenational.ae
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Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Fifa Club World Cup:
When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
heading
Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.
A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.
The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.
Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.
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The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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