ShareBrainchild of Zain Group Vice Chairman Bader Al-Kharafi
KUWAIT: Five Kuwaiti nationals selected to participate in Zain’s training program pose with Scott Gegenheimer, Chief Executive Officer of Zain Group (left) and Bader Al-Kharafi, Zain Group Vice Chairman (right).KUWAIT: Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces the selection of five talented Kuwaiti nationals to participate in the company's year-long graduate training program, dubbed 'Generation Z'. The recently revamped program is targeted at candidates who display high levels of entrepreneurial flair, who will be able to inject a startup mindset during their time at Zain Group.
The successful candidates were handpicked following a rigorous assessment process and will be placed on the year-long course, which will test their knowledge, enhance their learning through targeted development, and support them to cultivate their ideas in ways that are customer-centric and relevant.
The 'Generation Z' Youth Empowerment Initiative is the brainchild of Zain Group Vice Chairman Bader Al-Kharafi, a keen supporter of developing and empowering Kuwaiti youth and builds on the Zainers 2.0 graduate program that was launched in September 2015, which has witnessed several graduates gain successful employment opportunities with Zain Group as full-time staff.
Zain Group ensured the details of the 'Generation Z' program were shared with relevant potential candidates throughout Kuwait by promoting it extensively on Zain Group's career page online, and by placing further details on other social media outlets. In November 2016, the company produced and launched a commercial on YouTube to promote the activity and to appeal to aspiring 'Generation Z' applicants. The video may be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf6_8wydnCc
Successful operations
Commenting on the commencement of the innovative new program, Zain Group Vice-Chairman, Bader Al-Kharafi said, "We believe entrepreneurship is an important way to help commercial entities grow and capture new market opportunities. It combines having a daring attitude, with the ability to identify market opportunities and translate them into successful commercial operations.
The Vice-Chairman continued, "I welcome the five graduates joining us, and congratulate them for their selection. Over the weeks and months ahead, we look forward to charting how they progress, and are keen to witness their contribution to Zain's entrepreneurial outlook and digital lifestyle aspirations."
The selection process for the 'Generation Z' program showcases the extent to which Zain went to identify the right caliber of participant. There were over 150 initial applications, with 40 making it through to pre-interview assessment. Of those 40 candidates, 30 were selected to attend the Assessment Day held on 4 January, 2017. This interaction consisted of a structured face-to-face interview, group exercise and a case study presentation on online gaming. Candidates had to present their findings to a large audience of assessors including the Zain Group Vice-Chairman, and at the end of the day, the successful five candidates were selected.
The candidates will enjoy their first day of the program on 10 January, 2017, marking the commencement of their rigorous year-long training schedule. Over the period they will be challenged, tested, enlightened and forged into young professionals ready to lead. The ultimate goal of the program is for graduates to design and pitch a new value proposition for Zain, which if approved, will be implemented commercially.
During the course of the program participants will be helped to cultivate ideas in ways that are customer-centric and relevant. They may have an idea that needs some additional work or are looking to bounce the idea off new colleagues. Zain offers ways to push that thinking further. Developmental areas of interest to Zain include Big Data, digital services, mobile money, data analytics, and innovation.
