Employee Experience
and Wellbeing

We know that most people perform at their best when they feel supported and part of a team.

MyChalhoub is a new app that serves as a platform to connect people across the company; share successes, challenges and solutions.

MyChalhoub is used by our business communities which bring employees together to share experiences. The app gives the opportunity for everyone in the Group to have a voice whether they work in back office functions, the front line or in our joint venture partners. Over 60% of our employees currently use the app and it enables area managers to communicate easily and effectively with their team members.

The app not only helps to promote a sense of belonging but it also has clear business benefits: enables us to share successes and good practices, identify areas where we can improve, and helps us to understand business needs and market trends.

We organise regular health events for our colleagues offering checks on risks such as cholesterol, high blood pressure and poor vision. We also provide influenza vaccinations annually.

We have also upgraded the terms of our medical insurance for all our colleagues. Additionally, our senior management team receive an annual complete medical health check.

We recognise that an employee’s fitness for work is also conditioned by the health and wellbeing of their family. We have improved the terms of our familial leave - introducing five days of marriage leave and increasing the length of paternity leave from two to five days. We host events and encourage employees to attend with their families, including sports games and a children’s end of year event. We offer a range of corporate discounts to employees and convey to extend these benefits to their family members.

We have also begun to carry out surveys to obtain feedback from employees on wellbeing - an initiative we will continue to pursue in future.

We have instituted what are called ‘community groups’ across the business, which organise events for various occasions and celebrate activities that connect people. There are 14 community groups in total, each made up of volunteers. These people drive activities that bring people together and work to instil a sense of belonging. For example, the community champions drive and support business priorities such as creating awareness of the use of the MyChalhoub App.

The Community Group initiative has been strongly supported across the business. As well as building bridges across our organisations, it has supported our social responsibility initiatives by engaging employees in raising awareness on important causes such as cancer and environmental protection.

There are 14 People Experience Communities in eight countries with 139 active champions who carried out more than 40 activities last year. Each activity was focused on connecting people, inspiring a sense of belonging, and promoting a happy workplace.

We believe that sports are important because they encourage healthy activity and team-building as well as a spirit of belonging. To support employee wellbeing, we actively promote sporting activities. We have several coaches and trainers who engage our team members in a range of sporting events.

We participate in three main sporting events every year: a two-day ‘Corporate Games’ involving other companies in the UAE, the Dubai marathon, in which approximately 400 employees take part, and the 30-Day Dubai Fitness Challenge.