Nearly half of UAE companies lack succession plans

About 45 percent of finance directors working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have no succession plans in case they quit their jobs, according to a study released Monday. Around 40 percent of the respondents who were questioned said they were "lacking existing internal talent" which could ease the succession planning, showed the study, which was conducted by Robert Half, a Global recruitment agency. These figures rise to 56 percent for Dubai-based companies, compared to 28 percent in Abu Dhabi, according to the study based on a questionnaire distributed to 75 chief financial officers. "Succession planning is essential in any organization, but particularly for finance leaders who play a critical role in providing sound financial management and strategic guidance," said James Sayer, director at Robert Half UAE. The study showed that 21 percent of the respondents cited lack of time to develop and mentor as the primary factor for not having succession scenarios, followed by lack of time to identify their successor (15 percent), lack of exposure to senior-level initiatives for employees (15 percent) and lack of professional development opportunities for employees (6 percent). The region also lacks companies willing to pay for talent, Ashok Aram, Deutsche Bank's CEO for MENA (the Middle East and North Africa), has told Xinhua in an interview last year. "While in the United States, top talents are rewarded adequately, most companies in MENA still haven't understood that retaining and promoting the best employees has to be done by paying them attractive salaries," said Aram.