Zain named “Best Workplaces for Women” in Fast Company Middle East’s inaugural list

Zain Group has been honored in the Fast Company Middle East’s Best Workplaces for Women 2024 list as the winner of the large Enterprise category; an acknowledgement that signifies more than just an award as it validates Zain’s unwavering commitment to driving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into all aspects of the business.

Fast Company Middle East is one of the region’s leading business media brands, focused on innovation, technology, business, and leadership. The organization hosts awards and events such as Most Creative People in Business, World Changing Ideas, Most Innovative Companies, and Best Workplaces for Women.

The inaugural edition of Best Workplaces for Women recognizes companies across the Middle East that are empowering women by creating an inclusive environment, and the presence of Zain Group on the list, among other reputable companies, is an affirmation of the company’s corporate leadership in this area.

A company statement noted, “Women are such an integral part of the Zain success story. From increasing leadership positions, a revolutionary HR policy and other innovative talent development programs, Zain’s focus of integrating women fully into all aspects of the business is proving to be an enormous benefit to the culture and productivity of the company. Zain is proud of the serious stance taken on DEI activities, and this award recognizes not only the impact on just women, but the impact on all the talented 8,000 people Zain employs.”

Zain Group, under its DEI women empowerment (WE) pillar, has been a pioneering force for women empowerment regionally since 2017. This gender diversity initiative was created at a time when only 14.5% of Zain’s leadership comprised of women, and a target was set to increase this percentage of women leadership to 25% by 2025. Today, three Zain operations have already achieved their WE leadership targets, Zain Kuwait at 26.9%, UAE based ZainTECH at 27.0%, and Zain Jordan at 27.3%.

For some time now, women have represented the higher proportion of university graduates in the region, yet this does not translate into positions within the workforce, let alone senior positions. Hence, the issue of women’s empowerment is an important topic for the Zain, which has embedded this issue into the DNA and heart of the company’s corporate strategy.

Highlighting several examples of why Zain is such an encouraging place for women to work, some of the extended benefits and programs implemented within the company include:

• Significant HR policy changes including extending family leave and baby bonding

• Succession Management under the WE Succeed program upskilling women talents

• Introduction of a Centered Leadership Program targeting women in leadership roles

• Women’s Empowerment is embedded into the agenda of the Board of Directors and prominently featured on CEO Scorecards across all Zain operations

• Introduction of the DEI University program with Spain’s IR University to bridge the digital skills gap with 12% of all women employees enrolled

• Zain was among the first companies to sign up for the UN Women Empowerment Principles, demonstrating its dedication to ensuring the equal and progressive treatment of women

• WE Disrupt, where 50% of employees will undergo disrupt training, transforming mindsets through awareness programs and curated training sessions on DEI.

•Women in STEM programs focusing on technical rotations, datathons and hackathons, and the development of AI solutions for DEI

Notably, Zain’s support of women empowerment also extends to outside the organization, whereby the company in 2021 launched the Women-in-Tech STEM program, targeting the mentoring of 120 female university students in each of its markets studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Ravi Raman, Publisher of Fast Company Middle East said, “Best Workplaces for Women was an initiative we were really proud to launch, recognizing organizations that are striving towards gender equality and we were thrilled with the number of nominations received. This list reflects the massive strides the Middle East is taking to create more inclusive cultures, and we are happy to spotlight their success and congratulate Zain for this inaugural award.”