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Regional Report To a large degree, they are hearing and/or learning about RPO and HR outsourcing through the example of U.S. and Western European multinationals in the region. As an example, Leach pointed out that Alexander Mann Solutions handles recruitment processing for oilfield services company Baker Hughes, a provider of drilling and evaluation products and technology in the area. "We've got a team in Dubai hiring for Baker Hughes," he says. "Dubai is sort of the industrial centre for the Central Arab states in the Middle East, given the many tax advantages. It's a pretty attractive and easy place to do business, and virtually every organisation in the oil sector has a presence there. The way they want to conduct business there is pretty much the way they conduct it in the U.S.—HR transactional services and RPO." IBM Global Process Services set up shop in Dubai five years ago. Since then, it has struck one large deal with a company in the UAE in the third quarter of 2011, which includes "soup-to-nuts" HRO. The client is Emirates National Bank of Dubai (NBD). "It's a long-term, multi- tower, multi-process HRO contract," says Nevill. "The deal helped them set up a business process outsourcing entity in the Middle East, with a delivery centre based out of Dubai. Emirates NBD is going to market with the entity as an HRO provider, and we are running the business for them, on their behalf." Emirates NBD is the de facto services provider, offering full-scope HRO services, such as finance, collections, back-office processing, and a call centre. Recruitment services are part of its offerings, in addition to learning, payroll and compensation. To Nevill's knowledge, it is the only Arab-born HRO provider in the region. The bank set up a separate company and dubbed the BPO entity Tanfeeth, an Arabic word that means "getting the job done." As its CEO, Suhail Bin Tarraf, states on the company's website, "Using detailed reengineering processes that put the customer first and cutting-edge technology, we improve the quality, efficiency, consistency, and cost of critical business services, ranging from call centre operations, to collection services and information technology processes." Aside from a desire to get into the HRO business, Emirates NBD sought in its contract with IBM a way for the bank itself to deliver improved customer services, drive costs out of operations, and become more efficient. Now it seeks to do the same through Tanfeeth for other Arab businesses. So far, it has been slow going, Nevill acknowledges, given the newness of the business, not to mention HRO in the region. "I still think they're visionaries," he asserts. "It takes time to generate opportunities." The deal is just one of several HRO contracts signed by IBM with other Arab companies. "We have a number of learning outsourcing or services deals in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt," Nevill notes. "We've had fairly decent success around learning services in the Middle East, and would say there are very few if any other similar deals we know of in the region." Elaborating on these deals, Nevill notes that IBM established a call centre in Egypt four years ago to provide customer-related services to Arab companies in diverse Arabic languages, as well as in French, German, and other European languages. IBM also signed long-term deals with the governments of Egypt, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia to provide learning services that certify these countries' local nationals to provide the IT-enabled delivery services at the call centre. "We're helping Egypt market itself as a BPO destination," Nevill says. "This, in turn, helps the country grow jobs in the region. That said, it will be a long time before we give India [call centres] competition." Similar possible deals are in the works in Qatar, and Oman, he added. Says Nevill, "We believe many Arab states are now poised, interested, and beginning to think more deeply about HRO." Picking Up Steam Ochre House also is making headway in the region. In 2011, it acquired two leading strategic resourcing firms in the Middle East and North Africa, Dubai-based TAAHEED and Carmichael Fisher (the latter was a talent solutions subsidiary of the global Carmichael Fisher Group). Founded in 2009, TAHEED works with locally owned companies and international organisations across the Gulf and northern Africa, providing both project-based recruitment and end-to-end recruitment, Herrmannsen notes. "Acquiring both companies provides us with a key piece of the jigsaw we need to deliver truly global talent acquisition and management solutions," he says. "It allows us to deliver even more sophisticated and effective solutions to our clients, and new career opportunities for our people." In 2011, Ochre House placed more than 7,500 professionals across 40 countries. It also struck a partnership in the U.S. with Pinstripe, another talent management provider. Two categories of HRO/RPO buyers exist in the Arab states, according to Herrmannsen. "One is locally-owned or controlled Arab businesses, and the other is big multinational companies that have subsidiaries or operations in the region," he explains. "The way they think and engage with HRO and RPO is quite different." Locally owned or controlled Arab businesses, including both public sector organisations and commercial companies (most of them revolving around oil exploration, production, and related infrastructure), are outsourcing to U.S. and Western European HRO providers in piecemeal fashion, he says. Large multinationals in the region, however, are more apt to engage full-spectrum HRO. [26] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | SUMMER 2012