HRDF’s strategy development phases

The following reviews HRDF’s phases of development during 2018 and the resulting impact of this transformation. These phases focused on responding to the current needs of the labour market, introducing programmes which address the changes and developments therein, as well as evaluating and assessing these programmes continuously in order to ensure their quality and efficiency. It is worth mentioning that these processes are constant activities and procedures which concentrate on the following main aspects:

1. Evaluating and governing support programmes

Outputs

Preparing a plan to review the efficiency of HRDF’s programmes and evaluate their different aspects including the measurement of programme impact against its goals and achieved results and measuring programme risks and the quality of its outputs.

Impact

• Measuring and evaluating different risks in HRDF’s support programmes;
• Improving the efficiency of programmes provided to beneficiaries by HRDF and rationalising spending;
• Empowering HRDF’s top administration to make sound decisions;
• Carrying out regular evaluation of programmes every six months based on clear performance indicators and deliverables

2. Turning HRDF’s branches into training and employment centres

Outputs

Improving the efficiency of services provided to job seekers and companies through HRDF’s branches. Efforts have been undertaken to design the operational model which will be adopted to turn all HRDF’s branches into centres for training and employing job seekers. The operational model was implemented in the following provinces: (Riyadh, Makkah, Al Mukaramah, and the Eastern Region), and now there are endeavours to complete the implementation of the operational model in HRDF’s branches all over the Kingdom.

Impact

• Building partnerships between HRDF and employers to identify current job opportunities and available skills;
• Improving the quality and efficiency of provided training and employment services through HRDF’s branches;
• Providing training and employment services to job seekers through pathways which are selected to meet the needs of different job-seeker segments;
• Upskilling job seekers and improving their professional skills by providing professional education programmes in different sectors.

3. Establishing the Sector Skills Council

Outputs

Considering the importance of identifying the skills required in business sectors, and in view of the different sets of skills required in each sector, HRDF established the “Sector Skills Council” which comprises representatives from all private business sectors. The main goal behind establishing this council is to facilitate the process of identifying the required skill-based needs, channel HRDF’s support to train and upskill nationals and provide them with the necessary skills to respond to these needs, match the skills required by the private sector against the skills available in the job-seeker database, and contribute to increasing the rate of Saudisation.

Impact

• Identifying the list of required skills in each business sector and the labour market;
• Activating the strategic partnership between HRDF and the private sector in order to channel the programmes of training and employing job seekers in line with the private sector requirements;
• Identifying the skills that male and female job seekers must have according to their different qualifications (in order to fill the required vacancies) and classifying these skills according to the qualifications of job seekers and the different professions;
• Supporting the efforts of private sector companies to replace the expatriate workforce with nationals in quality jobs.

4. Activating Saudisation through strategic partnerships

Outputs

Considering the important role of Government bodies supervising business sectors in supporting Saudisation endeavours in different sectors, HRDF signed a number of agreements with several bodies like the Ministry of Housing, the Saudi Contractors Authority, the Ministry of Health, the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, the E-Government Programme (Yesser), the Council of Saudi Chambers and other bodies. These agreements ensure the employment and training of a large number of nationals under the supervision of these bodies and explores the possibility of introducing Saudisation in different professions in coordination with the bodies supervising business sectors. HRDF also signed a number of Memoranda of Understanding with Aramco, Chambers of Commerce, Saudi Universities and others in order to support the decisions on Saudisation and the upskilling and training efforts.

Impact

• Activating the role of bodies supervising business sectors in nationalising jobs;
• Complementing the role of different sectors in supporting the Saudisation process and promoting its national components.

5. Reviewing and developing operating procedures

Outputs

A standardized methodology was introduced to improve the operating procedures of all programmes, sectors and HRDF’s departments in order to guarantee their integration and complementarity according to the nature of their functions and the implementation of required governance standards.

Impact

Improving the quality and efficiency of businesses and their internal procedures and applying the criteria of institutional distinction, which will leave a positive impact on the quality and speed of services provided to internal and external customers.