The Race to Become the Employer of Choice

Ali Raza Mehdi is the Chief People and Organisation Officer at Jazz. With over 25 years of experience in his field, Ali has served at leadership positions within various sectors including telecommunication, financial services, pharmaceutical, trade, and consulting practice.

In the last two years, Jazz has undertaken numerous steps to leapfrog towards positioning itself as the Employer of Choice in Pakistan. But what exactly does it take to become the Employer of Choice?

The answer is simple. It’s all centered on the ability to attract, recruit, and retain talent. And companies that successfully do that, know how to do one thing right: Employer Branding.

While several components make up Employer Branding, there are three parts that Jazz has been actively working on: our environment, our culture, and our employee.

Developing the Right Environment

Diversity and inclusion are two terms that go hand in hand and are heard throughout Jazz’s halls. By introducing conducive policies, hosting events celebrating diversity, and digitalizing internal platforms, the company has been able to work towards creating an environment that people actually like working for.

Policies such as Jazz Flex allow employees to be flexible when choosing their work environments. They can work remotely which can help drive productivity and encourage work-life balance. Events such as the Jazz Sports Festival, similarly drive to bring employees together and ensure that the value of collaboration is followed. Furthermore, hosting events to celebrate “women’s day” and providing all new parents with maternity and paternity leaves has really helped create a more diverse environment, catering to employee needs.

Cultivate a Culture of Questioning

Listening to different people really helps foster growth, and helps individuals in their personal and professional growth. That’s why it’s important to question people, even your employer.

Jazz regularly holds town halls which are used not only to announce big-ticket items but also as a platform to answer questions which employees may have for senior management.

Making Sure our Employees Unlearn to Learn

As technology continues to rapidly change the lay of the land, it is imperative for people to be willing to unlearn in order to re-learn new skills and ways of working.

Employees at Jazz can apply to various training sessions held in leading universities across not only Pakistan but also the world. LinkedIn Learning is another tool that employees can use to learn without leaving the comforts of their homes. Managers also play an important role in the development of their subordinates by nominating them to attend different training.

In the past, vertical growth was the primary focus. Recently, that idea has changed, and the concept of a ‘Renaissance man’ has remerged. An employee who attempts to excel in as many facets of their careers as possible in order to mold themselves into a more seasoned and well-rounded employee. Jazz offers its employees the chance to rotate and undertake temporary assignments in different departments to diversify their skillsets.

Jazz continues to push the ceiling to solidify its stance as the Employer of Choice. Ali’s philosophy is that in this day and age when the world is changing at such a fast pace, in order to learn new things, one needs to unlearn the old ones.