The ROI methodology can be used for not only measuring the impact and ROI, but also for planning for better results, outputs, and tangible impact of talent development endeavors in the public sector or any other sector” Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji

Interviewer: Nourhan Badr El-Din

Brief Biography about the Interviewee:

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji is an expert in the fields of talent development, leadership training, assessment & psychometric testing, organizational development, and return on investment (ROI). He was one of the winners of the best ROI study by ROI Institute in 2019. Ishaq is a certified behavioral assessor and familiar with psychometric tests such as Talent Q, Saville Wave, and 15FQ+. His last post was the Executive Director for Learning & Development (CLO) in BIPA. BIPA is the government arm for training and developing employees in the public sector in Bahrain. His tenure as a CLO was between March 2009 and November 2019. He had major contributions in establishing BIPA as a national and international organization and focused on the learning and development function in building an image for BIPA locally and internationally.

 Ishaq has undertaken key role strategically and operationally in leadership development of senior government officials in the public sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain covering more than 50 government entities and more than 55,000 employees in the public sector.

As an assessor, he has been professionally trained to design, implement and evaluate assessment centers for government senior staff. He received his training and certification from Hay Group International (currently Korn Ferry).

Ishaq holds a master degree in Training and HRM from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom (2005) and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the King Fahad University for Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1990).

1.HR Revolution Middle East: Can you share with us more about your role and experience as a member of the management board in the international association of schools and institutes of public administration?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

The International Association of Schools and Institutes of Public Administration (IASIA) is one of the oldest organizations in the world which is concerned with public administration function. Most IASIA members are national entities that work directly with public administration in their countries. Till the end of 2020, there were more than 178 members (entities) within IASIA. These entities represent most of the countries around the world covering all the continents. IASIA key role is to act as a hub for these global entities, creating a wide network of experts and scholars who meet regularly in different forms of gatherings for the purpose of exchanging knowledge, experience, and practices that leads to the development of the public administration function among all entities working in the field. Gatherings happen in the form of conferences, forums, seminars, publications, etc.…These events are organized in different countries and continents to give the global flavor for participants and for the interactions all the time. Due to the wide range of entities and professionals within IASIA, the outcomes of scientific gatherings, interactions, etc. The impact is usually significant on those who participate and work with IASIA.   

2.HR Revolution Middle East: Mr. Ishaq, you won the ROI Institute Award for the best ROI study in 2019, can you tell us more about your study and the inspirations behind the scenes? How did this Award impact your career later on?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

As far as I know, the ROI Institute is the leader in the field in the United States and around the world. I am proud to be among the winners of the ROI annual award in 2019. Actually, we worked as a team in BIPA, the former organization that I worked in, and at the time, we decided to take two of our long programs to measure their impact and ROI. These programs were very successful in terms of customer satisfaction and impact according to our internal measures. However, we wanted to gauge the success using a more comprehensive and global measure of achievement and hence we took it as a challenge for us. Our study was comprehensive and a role model. We were very happy to be one of the winners. Of course, winning a prestigious award such as the ROI Award was a milestone for the team and has been since that a driving force to further proceed with leadership development programs. In IMA consultancy, we specialize in both leadership development programs and measuring the return on investment of such programs. Needless to mention that designing a leadership program to impact is a key factor in achieving the goals of any development program.

3.HR Revolution Middle East: How does the ROI methodology support the public sector non-capital investments in learning and development?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

There is an erroneous conception that the impact of programs and return on investment can only be measured in profit-making organizations and this is absolutely wrong. The ROI methodology and probably other tested and approved methodologies can make a difference. They can be used as tools for not only measuring the impact and ROI, but also as tools for planning for better results, outputs, and impact of talent development endeavors in the public sector or any other sector. It does not really matter if you are making a profit or not. ROI methodology can be applied to any kind of organization.

4.HR Revolution Middle East: Can you tell us more about your role in establishing BIPA: Institute of public administration as a “national and international organization”? What lessons can inspire young Arab leaders with?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

BIPA was a newly established government body when I joined BIPA in early in 2009. There was an urgent need to deliver results for BIPA. The mission I received when I joined was as follows: “Create a prestigious Leadership program to develop leaders in the public sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain”. Hence, there was an urgent need for a leadership development program that aims at preparing future leaders in the government sector. Accordingly, I took a position to make a long-term solution instead of a short-term one. Hence, a program with a systematic methodology and implemented according to a clear plan and established criteria was the option I took to handle the mission I received. The mission was closely monitored by the EDB (Economic Development Board) at the time. EDB was the custodian of the vision 2030 at the time. Hence the overall target was that graduate leaders would be capable to handle all duties and responsibilities in their roles within the Bahrain Government, to enable them to contribute to achieving the national vision of the government of Bahrain vision 2030. Beside the endeavor to build leadership development programs, there was a need to build BIPA as an organization that can stand up and meet organizational requirements such as internal systems, building relationships and networks nationally and internationally, building a reputation, etc…. one of the key lessons that could be conveyed to the young Arab leaders is that a systematic and persistence approach will be a prerequisite in pursuing strategic goals. Strategic goals could only be achieved if tackled systematically and results are achieved gradually but persistently.  

5.HR Revolution Middle East: Mr. Ishaq, through your inspiring career journey, how has your engineering background and work experience in the Petroleum industry been reflected successfully in talent management in this field?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

“Engineering is discipline, accuracy, and delivery of result”. This is one of the key lessons which I learned as part of my engineering life. I worked as an engineer for 18 years in one of the most sophisticated sectors which are oil and gas. This sector is one of the most well-established sectors in the world. I learned a lot from these 18 years and I made a clear plan to make my career shift and worked over 8 years before I fully shift from engineering to learning and development function. My engineering background has assisted my L&D life in many ways. Among these are being disciplined, accurate, and able to deliver concrete results. Here I would like to emphasize that merging two disciplines is a good strategy for any professional and enhancing self-qualities from any two disciplines would be a great advantage. For me, the merge was between engineering and training (learning and development). I used my abilities in the design side to design new programs, especially in leadership development programs. The good mix between Engineering background and knowledge in training plus the passion for my new discipline i.e. training was the recipe for the good outcomes I could achieve in my training life. 

6.HR Revolution Middle East: How can HR professionals benefit from the digitalization tools and services in advancing the impact of HRM “human resources management”?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

I believe digitalization shall be an inherent part of the HR function from now on. The current Covid-19 and Covid-20 pandemics have accelerated and strengthened the need for digitalization. The during and post-Covid era makes many policies and procedures obsolete and hence more updated policies, procedures and strategies are necessary. New concepts and methodologies are evolving and hence HR professionals must cope with them and utilize them for the benefit of the HR function. Artificial intelligence for example is rising and its implications on HR and training must be explored and employed as soon as possible.     

7.HR Revolution Middle East: How does being exposed to different cultures, industries, and learning experiences impact your vision and career?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

There is saying which I like and believe in, it says: try to live in more than one country, or travel to many countries, or try to learn more than one language. I think those three options in life if could be afforded or achieved would have a great impact on the person. Of course you can add diversity option such as different industries, different experiences and so on. That’s why diversity has become one of the skills or abilities or attitudes that people need to embrace if they want to succeed professionally especially if they are targeting global scale. Exposing to diverse cultures makes your vision wider and clearer, makes your solutions more comprehensive and probably more durable. Vision and long-term thinking is a leadership ability which makes the person unique among others.    

8.HR Revolution Middle East: As we see the need for mentoring is increasing for young professionals, to what extent can mentoring guide, develop, or maybe reshape the future of young adults and the job market? And how?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

I believe mentoring should be given greater emphasis and concern by organizations. I believe mentoring is the most important learning and development branch which can have a higher impact. However, mentoring should be done systematically and following a clear strategy and a system. Mentoring could be the most impactful strategy for building capacity, knowledge, and talent, especially among young people. Yet, I have not seen much systematic mentoring happening within organizations except within very few organizations which are usually large-size organizations. The 70-20-10 rule which came as a result of research says that 70% of learning happens as hands-on experience on the job and directed by the individual’s manager or superior, while 20% of learning usually takes place through interactions with others which some professionals call it social learning. 10% is usually learned through formal learning. That’s why mentoring could be a great element in shaping the future of young adults and the job market.

9.HR Revolution Middle East: What is your advice for business owners in developing their training and development strategies for 2021 with all the ups and downs of the business die to covid-19?

Mr. Ishaq Ameen Alkooheji:

I would say that learning and development of the workforce shall always be a priority for business owners. L&D does not mean only sending people outside the job place or a taught course in a nice hotel or a course via the zoom application or teams or whatever tool you have. Providing the learning and development opportunities should be part of the internal system of the company. It does necessarily mean expensive courses or solutions. L&D can happen with simple and cost-effective solutions. However, to achieve that, you need to have effective L&D function within your organization. This function could be achieved in a way that fits with your financial status, whether you are a small, medium or a large organization. I always say that those organizations with L&D function are most of the time in a better shape than those who are without and you can make your own judgement on this.    

THANK YOU