YOUNG businessmen and women of tomorrow are being urged to change their 'work ethics' in areas such as attendance and commitment if they want to succeed in the future.
Tamkeen (the Labour Fund) has identified a lack of work ethics in the student population which is presenting a significant skills gap affecting the business sector.
So, in response, it has announced a unique collaboration pledging its support to the tune of BD163,550 for an initiative by inJAz, a non-profit society which provides young people with business and economic education.
The funding will allow inJAz to launch a 'business ethics' module, dealing with issues such as punctuality, attendance, commitment and business confidentiality, giving school and university students a valuable opportunity to draw on the experience of established businessmen and women who coach and interact with them.
The programme provides students in their final years of study with the knowledge, skills, tools and hands-on experience needed for establishing a successful career.
Tamkeen's sponsorship of the Business Ethics module will be spread over three years and 4,680 Bahrainis are expected to benefit from the cash injection with 1,560 school and university students to be enrolled in the course.
The initiative specifically addresses the 'low work ethics' condition defined in Tamkeen's strategy which is a common theme noted by the business community.
A spokesman said: "This can be anything from manners, attendance and turning up to work on time to the bigger issues, these are areas where we have identified that work is needed."
Marking the joint effort, an agreement was signed by Abdullelah Al Qassmi, acting chief executive of Tamkeen and inJAz Bahrain president Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa
"Bahrain has always prided itself on its legacy of transparency and taken a leading role in establishing standards where issues such as anti-trust and anti-money laundering is concerned," said Mr Al Qassmi.
"Against this historic backdrop, we feel this initiative to expose the Bahraini business leaders of tomorrow to a topic as important as business ethics and values is a move in the right direction."
Tamkeen's funding will be used to organise analytical seminars and interactive sessions aimed at engaging secondary school and university students in practical business ethics matters while exploring personal, business and global ethics topics with their volunteers in class.
They will also have the opportunity to discuss related topics with other business ethics students around the world through on-line forums and competitions.
Expo to target students
Career Expo 2008 will be providing transportation for over 10,000 Bahraini school students in an effort to encourage participation.
The expo, is taking place at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), on October 21-23 from 8am-1pm for schools - and 4pm-8pm for the general public.
The event targets Bahraini secondary school students, vocational students, jobseekers, parents and the community at large in an effort to enhance Bahraini students' and jobseekers' understanding of the professional world and to guide them in choosing, or changing, their careers with the aim of enriching job prospects and the quality of the Bahraini workforce.
More than 120 companies from various sectors will be participating at the expo representing a variety of sectors including engineering, banking, hotels and petroleum and gas.
