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The region’s first of its kind consultancy dedicated solely to workplace culture has launched today in the UAE, founded by locally based entrepreneur sisters Lucy and Camilla d’Abo.
The new venture, named ‘together’, aims to inspire brands to make culture their superpower and transform organisations by bringing together leaders and employees to achieve an aligned, effective and engaged workforce whilst addressing the growing demands of the future of work.
Central to the business offering, ‘together’ will look to establish itself as the go-to advisory for CEOs, and company directors to help achieve business performance through culture, driving purpose and delivering successful organisational people results. Services will include strategic planning, culture transformation, internal communications, values & behaviours, people development, and managing change for future purpose.
The company is the brainchild of CEO Lucy d’Abo, who has been providing professional consulting services to clients and businesses across the Middle East, Africa and Europe since 1998. Her first business, DABO & CO, which she co-founded with her sister, Camilla d’Abo, was the leading independent communications agency in the Middle East, which was subsequently acquired by the world’s largest PR agency, Edelman, in 2015. With culture at the heart of its business strategy, key achievements for DABO & CO included awards in the UAE Great Place to Work Index and achieving 2nd place in Human Capital by the Dubai government SME 100,
“I strongly believe that there is a need in the Middle East for a regional workplace consultancy that has first-hand experience and truly knows what it means to build, manage and perform in the business world with culture at the core,’’ said Lucy d’Abo.
‘’Globally we are witnessing one of the biggest transformations in workplace culture since the industrial revolution. However, the Middle East has limited resources devoted to workplace culture, helping organisations engage with their employees, drive performance and develop new ways of thinking about the future of work. We believe that ‘together’ can meet this need,’’ added d’Abo.
More than ever before, the events of the past year have demonstrated that leaders are required to make sense of the context people are working in and lead their organisations to respond effectively. It is often alleged that a strong culture can be a significant liability when it is misaligned with strategy. In an uncertain world, a clear corporate culture offers protection against uncertainty.
Many global statistics point to a dramatic shift in the workplace ecosystem, Forbes magazine ranks Culture amongst its top three most important Future of Work 2021 trends. In tandem, according to the Microsoft Work Trend Index 2021, over 40% of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer this year. It states among the strategies for business leaders to make the necessary shift are prioritizing and rebuilding social capital and culture, whilst also rethinking the employee experience to compete for the best and most diverse talent. Moreover, findings from the WorkHuman IQ 2021 International Report revealed of those workers planning to look for a new job, within the top five reasons stated included ‘’I want a better culture’’.
“This is a critical time for businesses. For us, great culture is the rocket fuel that powers company success and is the missing ingredient in many companies,’’ d’Abo explained. “We apply our expertise in communications and HR, coupled with our business insights and intuition to support leaders and teams to develop and localise their purpose, their vision, their values and their culture. We strive for an engaged, active and aligned workforce with a superpower culture that comes together to achieve business success.”
Also joining the business is John Hague, a leading expert in the field of Learning & Development and Employee Engagement, having lived in the UK and UAE with over 15 years of experience running multi-faceted programmes for all operation levels with some of the worlds’ leading brands including The Entertainer, Wal Mart, Waitrose, John Lewis Partnership and Sky Bet. He holds certifications with Gallup Strengths, Birkman and DoveNest EQI assessments.
The ‘together’ full-time team is supported with senior advisory, both locally and globally, with depth of experience and industry specialisms including Non-Executive Directors, Camilla d’Abo and Chris Shaw.
Camilla d’Abo provides ‘together’ with strategic communications advisory and extensive senior management experience across the Middle East. Most recently, Camilla held the position of Dubai Managing Director for strategic communications advisory firms, APCO Worldwide, leading a team of 100 staff across PR, Digital and Creative. Personal accomplishments include being named one of the 2021 CEO Magazine’s Arabian Women of Influence and receiving the Chairman’s Award in 2017 by the Middle East PR Association.
Chris Shaw has held senior roles overseeing the Middle East, Africa and Europe. A Gallup strengths-trained leader, his expertise comprises digital transformation as well as running high performing commercial teams within the mobile applications and publishing sectors where he recently served a nine-year tenure as General Manager for The Entertainer.
