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Developing Self and Others

8/25/09

Saudi professionals learn human resource development knowledge and skills to serve others

In the words of Muhammad Ali, "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." For three Saudi Arabian first-year master's students- Mallee Hussain Al-Howaidi, Nada Abdul Baqi Al-Aswad and Hala Alturki-they aren't just paying their
rent but making a career out of serving others.

"Inside every person, there is a trigger, and with the human resource development program, I'm able to find that person's trigger and bring his or her capabilities to the surface," says Nada, a senior statistical assistant for Saudi Aramco. "I do believe that human resource development is a humanitarian aspect of life-it gives you the processes to make the community a better place."

Now in its second year, the Human Resource Development Master of Science Program in Saudi Arabia, a collaborative agreement between Texas A&M University and the Arabian Society for Human Resource Management, offers flexibility to busy professionals like Mallee, Nada and Hala. Students complete coursework online for graduate-level courses each year. They also attend a face-to-face class periodically throughout the year with College of Education and Human Development faculty who
travel to Saudi Arabia to teach.

"Internationally, people are very excited about human resource development," says Toby Egan, assistant professor and managing director of the Saudi Arabia master's program. "Our workplace is dynamic; it's changing all the time. We're becoming more aware
of the importance of lifelong learning to the basic success of an average employee, not to mention to an organization that wants to excel."

Sixty percent of Saudi Arabia's population is under 20 years of age, and the economy is largely servicebased. Therefore, many companies in the country are jumping at opportunities to train their employees so they can excel.

Mallee, Nada and Hala are among the 22-member charter group who will earn their master's degrees in 2010.

"The program offers more than content," Mallee, also a senior statistical assistant for Saudi Aramco, says. "It gives students courage and allows them to challenge their own thoughts and assumptions. It escalates the inner reflection process to a whole new level."

Education faculty already have collaborated with the Golden Trust Institute and Consultancy in Bahrain to implement the Human Resource Development Master of Science Program there this spring and are cultivating relationships for additional programs in Taiwan, Kenya, Mexico, Jamaica, Albania and Chile.

Hala, director of People and Change Advisory at KPMG, knows that Saudi Arabia can take full advantage of the skills taught through the Saudi Arabia master's program.

"We are in urgent need for human resource development practitioners to guide us on important policies, legislation and direction for developing our youth in line with the foreseen growth of the country and to equip them with the skills and knowledge in this
particular market," she says.

And Hala, along with her classmates, is enthusiastic about the learning opportunities afforded to her through the Saudi Arabia master's program.

"For the few who have the opportunity to study human resource development, their knowledge and skills are in great demand," she says.

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