Dubai-Headquartered Emaar Eliminates Job Titles For All Personnel, Including Founder Mohamed Alabbar In an email sent to staff, this move toward holacracy within the organization, while precipitated by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, is being done to reiterate the company's "focus on talent, not titles."
You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Dubai-headquartered real estate giant Emaar will be eliminating job titles for all of its personnel starting Tuesday, July 21, 2020.
In an email sent to staff by Emaar founder Mohamed Alabbar, this move toward holacracy within the organization, while precipitated by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, is being done to reiterate the company's "focus on talent, not titles," with employees' business cards now set to refer to only the departments they work in.
"The recent pandemic has forced us to pause and reflect on every aspect of our business," says Alabbar, in the email seen by Entrepreneur Middle East. "The products we produce, the systems we use, the people we employ– and most importantly, the culture we create. The challenges we face now will be greater than ever, which is why I now want us to focus on talent, not titles."
"Yes, of course, structures are needed, but I believe every single member of our organization adds a great value," Alabbar continues. "Emaar is not a collection of talented individuals, but a team of great pooled talent. Today, I am announcing what is the smallest change that will have the biggest impact for generations to come. For Emaar to continue to succeed. It is vital that every single one of our employees feels empowered to contribute. They must be motivated by their talent and passion for the work they do."
"I want to ensure that this propulsion to move outside of our comfort zone, is ingrained in our culture," Alabbar says. "Our values and our DNA reflect our commitment to enrich the lives of people by winning together, by taking bold actions and complete ownership, and by displaying speed in execution. From now on, we will pledge to focus on continuous growth and development. We will invest in developing the skills and capabilities of those who have helped us to achieve the success we have had in the past, and who will be part of our growth journey in the future."
Emaar's elimination of job titles is an effort that has been taken up at a few companies around the world in the recent past, with one of the more notable names being Amazon-owned retailer Zappos in 2014, although it's been since reported that the enterprise has moved away from holacracy.
In his message, Alabbar says that he too will be subject to this new policy under Emaar- in fact, he signed off his email as "Mohamed Alabbar, Bu Rashid," which, in Arabic, is a reference to him simply being the father of Rashid Alabbar.
Related: Mohamed Alabbar On Supporting Tech Startups With US$250 Million VC Fund With MEVP
