Oman Investment Authority launches leadership development program

Muscat: Stemming from the high-value Oman Investment Authority (OIA) places on empowering national competencies to assume and excel in leadership positions, OIA is launching its Leadership Development School.

This initiative is geared towards developing leadership capacities at OIA, the Ministry of Finance, and some OIA companies. The program is designed in collaboration with OIA subsidiary, Takatuf and the human resources consultancy company, as well as the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL).

The program was launched in an event that saw the attendance of Abdulsalam Al Murshidi, President of OIA, representatives from the Ministry of Finance, and a number of partners, trainers, and HR specialists. The School, in its initial launch, is expected to enroll 50 candidates who are assessed based on personality and leadership skills. They will be divided into two cohorts that will embark on a 3-module journey taken over a period of around four months.

Commenting on the program, OIA’s Assistant Deputy President for People and Change, Saud Al Yahmadi, said that “this initiative is designed to foster effective leadership and professional growth by leveraging the proven 10-20-70 approach. We aim to create a transformative learning experience with a program strategically designed in collaboration with key partners, including the Ministry of Finance, Takatuf, and other OIA Companies.”

The 10-20-70 approach entails 10% formal learning through workshops, online sessions, and expert-led sessions, 20% social learning through a collaborative method to exchange insights with peers, mentors, and coaches, and 70% action learning through hands-on experiences, representing the core of the program. This approach was selected to ensure a holistic learning journey that combines foundational knowledge, collaborative insights, and practical application. This methodology empowers leaders to not only comprehend leadership concepts but also to embody and implement them effectively.

OIA’s Leadership Development School is part of a comprehensive OIA training initiative called ‘OIA Academy.’ The Academy is a multi-tiered comprehensive in-house training scheme that includes the Leadership School, the Graduates School, the Board School, the Investment School, and the Operation School. It is good to note that this is a continuation of OIA’s journey in attracting, developing, and training national competencies.

OIA’s on-job training programs Nomou and Ea’dad saw the respective onboarding of 56 and 191 trainees in 2022 alone. These programs took on fresh graduates and gave them valuable hands-on experiences in business and finance, thus filling the experience gap and supplying the job market with highly skilled individuals. By the end of the same year, OIA achieved a 93% Omanization rate out of its 314 employees. With this pace of attracting and developing some of the best national competencies, OIA achieved a succession plan that placed Omanis in leadership positions to lead Oman’s investments nationally and internationally. – ONA