Retention is a metric that reflects the health and sustainability of a company's working culture, which in turn is a predictor of longevity and business success. When building a sustainable vision, organisations need to understand the connection between inclusion and reputation, recruitment, development, and leadership. This is possible when leaders combine power with purpose. Through this session, we explore the multitude of ways in which they can strengthen the inclusion ecosystem for sustainability, innovation, and long-term growth.

The call for sustainability to address it is now louder than ever. However, this is not just about environmentalism. Sustainability is a business approach to creating long-term value. From a broader perspective, a sustainable business is one whose purpose and actions are equally grounded in financial, environmental, and social concerns. This panel will focus briefly on all the pillars needed to ensure the sustainability of an organisation: Developing your workforce, ESG investing, innovation, and the importance of diversity.

Moderator:
Dr. Jennifer M. Shepard, Industrial & Organisational Psychologist, D&I Specialist, Aramco

Speaker:
Fatma Al Kaabi,
Team Leader - Plastics & NGLE, Technical Services, OQ
Stephen King, Senior Lecturer, Media Department, Middlesex University Dubai
Aram Alyahya, Transportation Engineer, Aramco

We know that the workforce demographics are changing rapidly, and that a huge percentage of employees in many organisations are under the age of 35. What do they need from their organisations and their leaders? What do they wish leaders would be willing to do/try/change/etc to prepare the working world for ‘infinity and beyond’?

Since inception back in 2013, LEWAS has served as a catalyst in Engaging, Empowering and Elevating women in energy, and has successfully leveraged the unique Middle East culture and the global reach into placing its footprint in the world global map of Women Leadership with a reach of more than 55 countries in 2021. This session sheds light on the presence and progress of LEWAS in the global context as a socially responsible driven industry initiative on women leadership. As there’s always room for improvement, this session highlights potential improvement ideas and areas that LEWAS can accelerate and excel.

Companies are increasingly confronted with the need to address Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) imperatives in their businesses. We now see investors, business partners and consumers are paying more attention and demanding transparency into organisations’ diversity programs, metrics and key performance indicators. This session will shed light on both the progress and challenges with respect to the current state of ESG investing.

The interview will include some outcomes from the Untapped Reserved report (www.untappedreserves.com), a joint initiative between the WPC and Boston Consulting Group. Untapped Reserves is the only global energy-focused gender diversity study, and its third edition will be launched at the World Petroleum Congress in Calgary in September 2023.

Frequently, when talking about energy and the role of women in STEM, one of the issues that frequently comes up is the culture of the Middle East and the GCC in general. This session addresses this issue head-on, and talks about how the culture can be point of understanding rather than a barrier, and how organisations can frame inclusion and diversity in a meaningful way that includes *everyone* in the organisation.

This session highlights HR Leaders and CEOs from across the GCC who are leading innovations and changes to the workforce, addressing bias, boosting inclusion, and are doing so courageously – taking risks, and willing to think outside the box.