Culture & Experience

Berkeley Services has secured Gold for Best Community Impact Initiative of the Year at the Employee Happiness Awards 2026, recognising its commitment to workforce wellbeing, community engagement and responsible business practices across the UAE. Berkeley Services has been awarded Gold in the Best Community Impact Initiative of the Year category at the Employee Happiness Awards (EHA) 2026, recognising its efforts to support employee wellbeing, community engagement and respon

Why do employees abandon AI tools even after successful training? A customer care team's experience reveals that workplace AI adoption depends less on executive endorsement and more on trust, peer learning and employees' confidence in their own judgement. Image Courtesy: Preethy Suresh What a stalled rollout in one customer care team taught me about how adoption actually spreads I've been working with an e-commerce company whose customer care team used to start every mornin

Fahed Bizzari, Founder of Bellamy Alden and a leading authority in AI empowerment, examines who should take responsibility when AI-assisted work goes wrong, and why effective leadership, employee training and clear accountability matter more than simply assigning blame. Image Courtesy: Magnific When something goes wrong in work produced with AI, who's to blame? Is it the AI, the person using it or the organisation? Before I answer that, let me tell you about a 2025 court case

Martina Maya, Founder of HypnoBond Private, explores what happens to our attention in the small moments between meetings, conversations and responsibilities; and why understanding these overlooked transitions could add an important dimension to employee wellbeing. Image Courtesy: AI-generated We move from one meeting, conversation or responsibility to another in seconds. Our attention does not always make the same transition quite so quickly. A meeting ends at 10:00. Th

That awkward conversation sitting at the bottom of your to-do list? Avoiding it may feel easier today, but unresolved issues have a habit of getting heavier. Dr. Louise Lambert explores why managers delay difficult conversations and how addressing concerns early, calmly and respectfully can protect relationships, strengthen trust and make work easier for everyone. Image Courtesy: AI-generated No one likes difficult conversations: not the person you need to have them with a

Emirates NBD, American Hospital Dubai and Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group are collaborating on financial awareness, banking support and wellness initiatives designed to strengthen the employee experience. | Written by Palak Kataria Image Courtesy: Official Communication Financial wellbeing is increasingly becoming part of the wider employee experience, and a new UAE partnership is bringing the two closer together. Emirates NBD has signed an MoU with American Hospital Dubai an

Why the thing standing between you and what you could build is almost always a story you tell yourself, not a skill gap. | Written by Preethy Suresh For over twenty years, I believed I wasn’t technical, and I never once questioned it. It was simply a fact I had filed away about myself. Technical was a category other people belonged to. I had the ideas and the interest, but I assumed the building belonged to someone else. Last month, I got my hands on Claude Fable 5, free for

Dr. Louise Lambert shares how trust in teams is not built through words alone, but through consistent behaviour, small promises, honest communication, fair action, and the courage to acknowledge mistakes. | Written by Dr. Louise Lambert Many managers say they want more trust in their teams. They want people to be open, proactive, honest, and willing to take initiative. They encourage this by saying things like, “My door is always open,” “You can trust me,” or “We need to trus

From career mobility and leadership development to wellbeing, safety and future-focused skills, these organizations are investing in the people behind Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s transformation. | Written by Riya Malhotra Image Credits: AI -Generated Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation is changing not only the industries operating across the Kingdom, but also what employees expect from their workplaces. Career progression, continuous learning, employee wellbeing, inclusive c

A decade-spanning benchmark of nearly 9 million employees shows discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims at an all-time high, while employee-relations teams stay flat. For HR leaders across the Gulf and Southeast Asia, the warning travels. | Written by Riya Malhotra Workplace misconduct is rising faster than companies can respond, and the teams meant to manage it are barely growing at all. That's the uncomfortable headline from the latest Employee Relations Benchmark

Strong leadership starts with presence. Dr. Louise Lambert explores why paying attention, showing genuine interest, and being fully present can strengthen trust, wellbeing, and team performance. | Written by Dr. Louise Lambert Most managers think they are good listeners and they probably are. They care about their teams, ask questions, and make time when they can. And yet, one of the most common complaints employees have about their managers is not about workload or pay, but

Safety Culture Isn't a Compliance Program. It's One of the Foundations of Employee Happiness. | Written by Ryan Mitchell The Wellbeing Paradox We have never talked more about employee wellbeing than we do today. Organizations invest billions in wellness programs, engagement initiatives, mental health support, flexible working arrangements, and employee experience strategies. Yet despite this unprecedented focus, employee engagement remains stubbornly low across much of the wo

Winner: Best Company to Work For – Medium Enterprise | Employee Happiness Awards UAE 2025 | Written by Riya Malhotra In an industry built on trust, Dubai National Insurance (DNI) believes that trust must begin within its own organisation. When DNI was recognised as the Best Company to Work For – Medium Enterprise at the Employee Happiness Awards UAE 2025, the award reflected far more than a successful HR programme. It acknowledged a long-term commitment to creating a workplac

Common hiring assumptions continue to limit women’s career progression before it even begins. For organisations serious about building stronger leadership pipelines, the real opportunity starts much earlier: in how talent is identified, assessed, and recognised. | Written by Magdolin Boukhary Magdolin Boukhary, Mentor, Saudi Leadership Society Most organisations say they want to hire and promote more women into leadership. The intent is genuine, the diversity statements are p

Inaugural Singapore & Malaysia edition draws over 200 leaders, 80+ organisations, and 25+ categories in a celebration of workplace excellence. | Written by Riya Malhotra The Employee Happiness Awards Singapore 2026, organised by Eventyst Global, made a powerful debut as the platform's inaugural edition in Singapore. Held on 10th April at the prestigious Shangri-La Singapore, the gala evening brought together more than 200 distinguished guests for an occasion that was as celeb

A last-minute deal kept 48,000 Samsung workers on the floor on 21 May. Four days later, the union is fracturing over who got what, and HR leaders across the region are watching a new lesson unfold in real time. | Written by Riya Malhotra There's a particular kind of silence that descends on a workplace when trust has finally run out. Last week, Samsung was hours away from that silence breaking, loudly, across 48,000 workers and 18 days of stopped production. It didn't break.

As organisations race to integrate agentic AI into the workplace, experts are warning that the real challenge is no longer technological, it is organisational. | Written by Riya Malhotra On International HR Day, workforce and AI transformation leaders are urging businesses to move beyond viewing AI solely as a productivity tool and instead focus on the strategic workforce decisions that will define whether the technology creates long-term value or long-term disruption. With A

As the workplace evolves, HR is no longer confined to policies and processes. In this column, Sultana Al Amri explores how modern people leaders are becoming culture architects, balancing empathy with accountability while designing environments where employees can thrive sustainably. | Written by Sultana Al Amri The role of HR has transformed dramatically over the past decade. What was once primarily an operational function focused on policies, compliance, and administration

We often think of workplace happiness as something that can be built through policies, programmes, or perks. But the truth is, most people don’t remember those. They remember moments. | Written by Riya Malhotra A manager who helped them find clarity when things felt overwhelming. A team that stepped in without hesitation when something personal came up. A conversation that turned a setback into a chance to improve. These moments are easy to overlook because they don’t feel ex

Elevision Media’s WOW Workplaces Gold Certification is not just a recognition, it is a reflection of a workplace where culture, leadership, and employee experience come together to create an environment people genuinely want to be part of. | April 2026 Edition In today’s evolving world of work, becoming an employer of choice is no longer about policies on paper or isolated initiatives. It is about building a workplace where people feel valued, supported, and inspired, consist