ALUMINIUM Bahrain (Alba) scooped two awards in recent weeks for its achievements in vocational training and for the success of its technology services.

The award for Excellence in Vocational Training and Development was presented by Bahrain’s Ministry of Labour. The other prize, the e-Government Excellence Award in the e-Economy category, was organised under the patronage of the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology, Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.

Minister of Labour and Chairman of the High Council for Vocational Training Jameel bin Mohammed Al Humaidan presented the training award to Alba’s senior manager for human resources and public relations, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Janahi, and manager for training and recruitment, Rawdha Salman Al Aradhi.

The award honours companies that develop their own vocational training programmes for Bahraini nationals. Firms engaged in such schemes receive exemption from paying levies to the Ministry of Labour. 

Janahi commented that investing in people provides the greatest growth opportunity for any organisation. “Alba has taken this a step further and developed a systematic training programme for its Bahraini employees to underline its credentials as a flagship company of Bahrain,” the official said. “Training programmes for Bahraini employees have always been an integral part of Alba’s operations throughout its history. Today, Alba ranks amongst the top 10 aluminium producers in the world, and this has been accomplished primarily due to the hard work, loyalty and commitment of its Bahraini employees who comprise 87 per cent of the total workforce.”

Graduates of the two-year Vocational Training Programme developed by Alba in association with Tamkeen pose with senior Alba and Tamkeen officials

ALBA-TAMKEEN COURSE
Recently, Alba announced the graduation of 40 Bahraini trainees who successfully completed the Tamkeen-supported two-year Vocational Training Programme developed for Bahraini nationals and which provides hands-on training in maintenance and operation.

Alba stated it remains confident of strengthening its Bahrainisation goals and absorbing technically skilled Bahrainis into its workforce. Chief executive Tim Murray, chairman of Alba’s Labour Union Ali Bin Ali and Tamkeen’s acting vice-president for human capital development Amal Al Kooheji presented certificates.

Also present was the Under-secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Sabah Al Dossary, senior officials from Alba and Tamkeen and members of the Alba Labour Union. 

Alba’s Vocational Training Programme has been in operation for over 25 years and provides hands-on training in maintenance, power operation and smelter operation and various other aspects of engineering relevant to the company’s operations.

Al Kooheji remarked: “Tamkeen’s human capital development programmes seek to enhance the capabilities of Bahrainis to make them employees of choice. Over 47,000 Bahrainis have benefited from more than 100 such programmes to date with more than 15,000 served in 2012 alone – a 32 per cent increase over 2011. The increase can be attributed to our shift towards making our programmes more diverse and employer-driven to achieve better alignment with real employment needs.”

Murray said: “Alba’s Vocational Training Programme presents a highly structured, clearly defined and sharply focused approach towards achieving Bahrainisation goals. Its success can be measured by the fact that many of its graduates have been absorbed into the workforce and some of them occupy senior decision-making roles in the company. For us at Alba, the programme is not just a profound example of our corporate social responsibility initiative but also a tangible expression of our national duty as a flagship company of Bahrain.”

Tamkeen is a semi-autonomous yet independent authority responsible for formulating strategic and operational plans to enhance the overall prosperity of Bahrain. This it does by investing in Bahraini employability, job creation and social support.

Applicants for the Vocational Training Programme need to be Bahraini nationals under 25 years of age, and require a minimum national diploma or equivalent qualification in the field of engineering. The programme has eight phases and each comprises class room and practical components. It also includes modules on work ethics, language, team building and other technical modules.

TECHNOLOGY PRIZE
 The technology award was a reward for the company’s commitment to maximise benefits to all of its stakeholders through the deployment of robust and effective information and communications technology (ICT) across its overall operations, a statement said.

The e-Government Excellence award was selected out of more than 100 entries by a jury committee comprising international, regional and local experts in the ICT.

The award recognised Alba’s achievements in implementing dynamic online interface for interacting with diverse stakeholders through its website and social media channels. It further examined the successes of the electronic services and contents already in place to facilitate investor relations, customer shipments tracking and online vendor registration.

Alba has demonstrated the effective use of technology in boosting its operations such as implementation of virtualised data centre network, activation of SAP approval services through Blackberry, mobile portal services, and others, the statement said.  

In his comments, chief executive Murray said: “Alba has always believed that technology is useful only if it provides the driving force for greater efficiency in operations, speeds up effective interaction and communication, delivers results to all stakeholders, improves the bottom line and maximises benefits to the organisation. The award provides compelling evidence that the company is on the right track and I would like to congratulate the Alba team for their efforts in boosting the ICT infrastructure and placing the company in the winning seat.”

Alba’s corporate website took first place in Bahrain as well as the second place in the Middle East region at the 2012 M: Communications/KWDigital Middle East Web Ranking Survey after being placed 47 in 2011 in the same survey. 

Alba was also chosen as the Best Company for Investor Relations in Bahrain at the fourth Middle East Investor Relations Society (ME-IR) Annual Awards Conference that took place in Abu Dhabi.