Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), the regulatory body for Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), the integrated free zone technology park, in collaboration with the University of Dubai (UD), organised a Happiness Lab workshop entitled ‘Future of the Work Environment for the Youth’.
The workshop that was hosted at the university premises and visited by Dr Mohammed Alzarooni, Vice Chairman and CEO of DSOA and Dr Essa Al Bastaki, President of UD, drew the participation of DSOA employees and more than 60 UD students. As part of the initiative, DSOA presented 60 books to the university’s library on topics related to happiness and ways to create a stimulating work environment that boosts creativity and innovation.
DSOA aims through its Happiness Lab workshops to come up with new initiatives that make Dubai Silicon Oasis an exemplary work environment. Towards this purpose, feedback is actively sought from university students on the type of work environments they would prefer upon joining the workforce after graduation.
The workshop included a presentation on DSOA’s 2021 Strategy that focuses on four key pillars: a smart city, an advanced technology park, happy people, and a preferred community to work and live. The session specifically highlighted the third pillar that aims to enhance the employee experience and happiness through shaping a corporate environment that encourages innovation and values creative talent.
As part of the agenda, attendees engaged the young students in a brainstorming session to discuss the nuances of an ideal work environment. Through the application of design thinking techniques, participants of the workshop were encouraged to come up with unconventional solutions that could contribute to employee satisfaction. The students showed a high degree of involvement in the brainstorming session, which resulted in several innovative ideas to improve the work environment, motivate professionals, and increase their happiness.
A comprehensive report is being prepared on the outcomes of the Happiness Lab including ideas and suggestions that DSOA will consider implementing. A copy of the report and implementation plans will be shared with Her Excellency Ohood Al Roumi, UAE Minister of State for Happiness.
Speaking about the Happiness Lab workshop, Ghanim Al Falasi, Senior Vice President of People Happiness, Innovation and Supply Management at DSOA, said: “Through organizing the Happiness Lab workshop, we aimed to learn about young people’s aspirations and benefit from their creative ideas on ways to improve our work environment with staff happiness as the core focus. These efforts articulate the vision of our wise leadership to designate happiness as a pillar of corporate work culture in the UAE.”
He added: “Our key objective is to increase employees’ happiness in a manner that would enhance their performance. This, we believe, will eventually impact our overall performance and competitiveness in the solutions and services we offer. We work towards achieving our objectives for employees through integrating policies that foster innovation, creativity, and excellence at the workplace. Besides driving our business goals, our efforts help position Dubai Silicon Oasis as the destination of choice for leading technology companies, entrepreneurs, and start-ups.”
For his part, Dr Essa Al Bastaki said: “The Happiness Lab workshop helped engage our students gainfully in upping the happiness quotient – we are confident such initiatives will certainly go a long way in contributing to happier future work places for our students. Industry interactions such as this one are essential to understand the nature of current work places and identify how our students can add value and make a real difference.”
He added: “We are delighted to see organizations in the UAE executing the directives of the nation’s leadership with regard to happiness. Through understanding the concept of institutional happiness, we can find innovative ways to ensure employee happiness. We commend and appreciate DSOA for proactively organizing the Happiness Lab workshops.”
A wholly-owned entity of the government of Dubai, DSO operates as a free zone technology park for large enterprises, medium and small companies looking to set up their offices in Dubai.
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