Creating Impact Through Active Interaction

Dr. Rawas was a driving force at the Value of Values event, making significant contributions across three key areas. On day one, he moderated a dynamic panel discussion titled "HR and Leadership Capabilities vs. Future Businesses," featuring the notable Dave Ulrich. The following day, Dr. Rawas presented a thought-provoking paper on future work trends, emphasizing the importance of hiring based on skills required in the coming years. He addressed the rise of technology, the prevalence of the gig economy, and the resulting structural changes organizations must navigate. Dr. Rawas further solidified his role as a thought leader by participating in a Future of Work panel discussion, delving into the impact of AI on work culture and the workforce. He offered valuable insights on how Oman can best prepare for these upcoming transformations.

During OHRM's HR-X event, Dr. Rawas' presentation, titled "Taming the Beast", explored how organizations can harness AI for positive impact. He emphasized the importance of understanding the symbiotic relationship between organizational culture and AI. To guarantee success, Dr. Rawas proposed a four-part approach: first, eliciting company goals to identify specific objectives for embracing AI. Second, enabling employees through upskilling and reskilling to ensure they can work effectively alongside AI. Third, educating employees about the advantages of AI to foster buy-in. Finally, enacting a well-designed strategy for integrating AI into the organization.

Dr. Rawas spearheaded the development and delivery of a full Culture Change Program aimed at helping Infoline, an Omani-based company with around 2,000 employees, embrace new perspectives, approaches, skills, and competences. The program, delivered over the span of 6 months, included a series of workshops and coaching sessions targeting Management. It began by redefining the company's brand essence, defining its core values and related behaviors, then diving into each value and exploring the new habits, learnings, and ways of conducting business as a company and as a team that it mandates. From customer centricity, agility, collaboration, efficiency, effective communication, and emotional intelligence, the insights were inspiring and motivating, coupled with practical tools to take action towards the needed change. The program also addressed leadership, with a specific focus on managing effective teams in times of transformation.

Contrary to what many believe, the role of emotional intelligence will only grow as technology takes over more tasks than we could have ever imagined. While AI is still unable to understand human feelings and respond to them in adequate ways, we will continue to communicate in the real world on both personal and professional levels. With the growing role of AI, humans must be able to manage their feelings and emotions in a way that contributes to the achievement of a better personal and common good. They should also be agile enough to adapt to the rapid and complex developments in the world that will be driven by AI. This is what Dr. Rawas explained to a crowd of 80 upcoming leaders.

Dr. Rawas moderated a high-caliber panel that addressed corporate culture and its relation with general culture, the synergies and differences between corporate cultures at the private sector and the public sector, and what they can learn from each other. The panelists also shared the lessons learned to develop effective strategies to cultivate a positive and innovative work atmosphere.

Dr. Rawas addressed a crowd of Sohar University alumni SU held the Annual Alumni Reunion with thought-provoking insights on the future of jobs, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the sharing economy, and the future success factors. He emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence in an artificial intelligence world.

Dr. Rawas moderated a high-level panel to discuss experiences in leadership agility, notably during COVID-19, and thoughts about how agility can transform Oman’s future. He started by explaining the differences between change, adaptability and agility, which is multi-layered and involves individuals, teams, leaders and organizations. He also reiterated that the agility of tomorrow starts yesterday.

Before a crowd of some 400 CEOs and HR leaders, Dr. Rawas identified key factors that require modern businesses to not only acquire and maintain organizational agility, but also to embrace change as a continuous regular fact that no one can stop. After some introductory reflections, he recommended five practices as a means of increasing individual and organizational adaptability. He also explained the importance of imagination and emotional intelligence in an era of frequent and far-reaching technological disruptions, which require unwavering efforts to maintain workforce competitiveness through constant upskilling and reskilling.

Dr. Rawas reflected first on the need for adaptability, and provided examples of large companies that fell far short of their goals when they failed to develop the agility required by a changing world that can disrupt companies and even entire industries overnight. He then explained why adaptability is such a game-changer in the current era, while describing the difficulties and uncertainties that make change so challenging. To inspire attendees and help them lead change with both confidence and competence, he also presented tips, tools, and checklists they can use to practice adaptability, and to successfully enlist different stakeholders in ways that can guarantee successful journeys and sustainable results.