A couple of weeks ago I received a text message from my editor that said ominously, “Please kindly cover the Family Business Forum.”
To be honest, I had no clue what a “family business forum” would be about. I break out into a rash whenever I see the cover of The Economist, having abandoned the associated subject the second I received my degree. Whereas the renowned Saudi global dealmaker Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal is reputedly the man with the Midas touch, I definitely have what he has in reverse: A talent for suitably running any profitable venture into the ground. I thought I would be far better off passing the buck of covering the conference to one of my colleagues.
Much to my chagrin and concomitant anxiety, the forum’s organizing committee invited me to a round-table session prior to the official proceedings. Devoid of a suitable excuse, and too embarrassed to decline, I ended up attending the session in spite of my initial reluctance and well-founded trepidation.
It goes without saying that I felt totally out of my depth. All sorts of unfamiliar terms were being volleyed around the room. I failed to contribute anything constructive to the conversation aside from my excellent impersonation of a glorified mute and a few polite nods of the head.
The assembled attendees represented several of the top merchant families in the Kingdom all seeking advice and instruction as to how to turn their private businesses into public companies.
Contrary to my expectations, my curiosity was sparked thanks to the way that prominent Jeddah financier, BMG Financial Advisors CEO Basil Al-Ghalayini, explained the topic to me. I mustered up the courage to approach the keynote speaker, Abdullah Al-Awadi, the Kuwaiti assistant GM of Al-Ahlia Investment Co., as to his take on the current situation in Saudi Arabia.
“So what do you think?” I asked, trying to sound as intelligent, worldly and well informed as possible.
“About?” he countered.
“About all of this,” I replied confidently waving my hands around in a meaningful manner.
He raised his eyebrows in a manner that signaled to me how transparent my ill-concealed ignorance actually was. Feeling rather disconcerted by having my cover blown I remarked, “I see from your card that you are the assistant GM?”
“Yes,” he confirmed politely.
“You seem awfully young.”
“I’m 27.”
“Ah. Of course! Because it’s your family company,” I concluded sarcastically.
“Not at all,” he replied completely unperturbed by my aspersion. “In my business we don’t just get to a position in the company because we happen to be relatives of the founder. In fact, that’s what I am here to talk about. This kind of attitude that you’re alluding to is why so many family businesses find it difficult to survive beyond a few generations. In any enterprise such as this it is important to run it like any other organization. You have to have a constitution in place that sets the ground rules. There also has to be a board of directors that is responsible for running the operational side,” he clarified. However, I interrupted (being the skeptic that I am) saying, “Yes, but surely you wouldn’t have got where you were so quickly had you been working in the open market?”
“Look,” he persisted patiently, “I may be young but I have got where I am because of my education and qualifications. It has nothing to do with who I am but what I can do. We have a mandatory rule that all family members have to attend two months compulsory training every summer if they want to work in the business. At the end of this period, everyone is evaluated according to their competency and capability. That’s really how I got my job. If that wasn’t the case then everyone would be fighting about ‘Why isn’t my son in this or that position?’ But we don’t do that in our organization,” he concluded leaving me not only convinced but also rather impressed.
I think that this is an excellent principle that should not only be applied to just family-run enterprises but right across the board. All too often I have been witness to how it is that many people manage to secure top-notch jobs in both private and government institutions not because of being the cream of the crop but due to their ability to curry favor with their superiors. Certainly in Saudi Arabia the “not what you know but who you know” syndrome is pandemic. There are many instances whereby the scenario for employment is subject to the sole whim of filial alliances and not individual considerations. When the wrong person is in the wrong job, all sorts of factors have to come into play to redress the imbalance of this mismatch.
I remember being astonished many moons ago at how the director of an institution representing broadcasting in the English language couldn’t speak a word of English himself. I asked someone who worked there what on earth he was doing in the job.
“Vitamin ‘wow’,” he declared.
Mistaking this as being the English “wow” symbolic of something amazing I naively said, “But there’s nothing ‘wow’ about him. He can’t even read the proposal I gave him!”
“No! Not ‘wow’ like that. The letter ‘wow’ for waasta (influence),” he confided.
What is an inevitable consequence of these ‘wow’-inspired jobs is that due to the incompetence of the person in the chair, the big “I am”, many expatriates who have the core skills required to get the work done are brought in to do what their boss is being paid a fat salary to do, but has no idea how to do it. So essentially this in turn serves to undermine the important process of Saudization.
In spite of my reservations, I learned a lot from the Family Business Forum. Most important, I became acutely aware of the fact that I have been living here for too long. I automatically assumed that everywhere in the world things run as a result of nepotism. However, such moribund policies and procedures will soon be rendered obsolete by a growing need for quality and distinction.
The great economies of the world are not built on the mediocrity of whom you know, but the meritocracy of achievement.
If we are to exert a lasting influence, in the true sense of the word, then there is no better way to do that than through pursuing an agenda of excellence and sheer hard work.