JEDDAH, 20 January 2007 — Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd. (ALJ) has recently achieved the No.1 ranking for sales of Toyota vehicles in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco and Syria. It has also doubled the number of new jobs created through its community service programs in the Kingdom in 2006.
In his annual company-wide message, the president of ALJ, Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, thanked the staff for all of their hard work, accomplishments and results during 2006 and expressed his appreciation for the recent achievements. He underlined the fact that their efforts had enabled the company to also increase ALJ’s market share in both Egypt and Turkey where the only activity is in Daihatsu vehicle sales.
He also drew attention to the increase in the “customer satisfaction index”, a guide which directly reflects the company’s position in the “hearts and minds” of customers. A high level of this index will lead to increased market share and ensures growth and expansion.
Jameel praised colleagues who achieved high levels of “engagement” which was, he thought, strong evidence concerning dedication levels in the workplace.
He encouraged every member of the company to continue to work hard and to exert maximum effort in serving each client.
Engagement levels are part of a professional program called “The Gallup Path”. This metric-based economic model establishes the linkages between human nature in the workplace, customer engagement, and business outcomes.
The Gallup Path is integral to the performance management systems in more than 500 companies worldwide and forms a core part of ALJ’s business philosophy. Other areas of cooperation with Gallup for senior managers at ALJ on the Management Development Program involve a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, which is conducted in cooperation with the University of Nebraska.
The course combines theory and visits to the field as well as intensive lectures and company visits for two weeks in every six months. In addition, course members undergo tests and conduct field research in areas relevant to development of their respective parent company.
Jameel also commended the efforts of the ALJ Community Services Programs team. ALJ Community Services Programs managed to create more than 12,000 new job opportunities in 2006. This more than doubles the achievement in 2005 and sets a new company record. He urged those staff members who manage the programs and those at ALJ to give their utmost support to these programs and promote them in every way possible.
Elsewhere in the Middle East the Grameen Jameel Pan Arab Initiative in collaboration with the Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel Guarantee Fund — which was started in 2006 — has already helped to create 130,000 new jobs through micro credit in places such as Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
Jameel concluded that he was confident that 2007 would be another record year, and encouraged the whole company to pull together and to combine their efforts to achieve even better results affirming that; “those that make the records are the only ones who can break them.”
Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota Motor Corporation, announced during his visit to Jeddah in December 2006 that ALJ was instrumental in achieving this new historical sales record for Toyota as a whole.