Changes, Challenges

& Solutions

Interview with
Christoph Dankers

overview

Date of Interview:

24.05.2024

Interviewer:

Mathias Gromeier

subjects

Iqama: Importance and necessity
Communication issues (Consulting company "Mundo")

interview

iqama

Mathias:

Hi Christoph,
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please explain why it is so important that our employees go through the Iqama process.

Christoph:

By introducing the 'Local Content' requirements, the Saudi Government aims to support KSA-based suppliers and maximise local employment.

The 'Local Content' reflects the percentage of a project budget spent inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The government has introduced varying minimum percentages for different project categories that have to be met in order to avoid penalties or potential exclusion from future contracts.

For all our projects, the majority of the budget is spent on consultants' fees, which do not count towards the Local Content when the person is not a KSA citizen or does not have a valid Iqama.

Consequently, our team must hold valid Iqamas for us to be able to continue bidding for government-funded contracts.

This change is tough on everybody

We've always valued giving our teams maximum freedom to work together, which is central to our company's philosophy and why many of you stay with us.
However, legal requirements now force us to adapt. Despite this, we aim to keep our philosophy alive within these limits.

We will optimise our contracts and use all legal potential, ensuring your greatest possible freedom. We recognise that there's room for improvement in how we've designed our Iqama contracts, and we are working on improving them together with a professional legal team.

The same applies to the Iqama process overall. We're always learning and
improving. Every country has different regulations and laws, and your
feedback helps us better advise you in the future.

We thank everybody for their understanding, cooperation and support!

communication issues

Mathias:

Our employees are dissatisfied with the lack of communication, especially from management. How are you addressing this issue?

Christoph:

We've quickly grown from a small group to a company with over 100 team members and should have developed more critical structures, processes and rules.

We recognise this problem and have started working on it. Your new position at Bödeker and your interviews, articles, and posts are a first step.

We have also appointed a German consulting company called "Mundo" (www.mundo.gmbh). They will guide us in overcoming our communication
and organisational challenges.

More concretely, the Mundo team will help us focus on:

Leadership development: Providing training and coaching to enhance leadership skills at all levels of the organisation.
Improving Transparency: Defining clear communication channels and a consistent messaging strategy to ensure timely and comprehensive updates on significant changes and decisions.
Building a Culture of Open Dialogue: Fostering an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing feedback and concerns by establishing regular feedback loops and a collaborative decision-making process.
Strengthening Internal Processes: Streamlining workflows, developing clear procedures, and ensuring we have the right tools to support our growing team.

We're committed to creating

a more efficient, transparent, and collaborative environment because we want everyone to feel heard and valued.

We are confident that Mundo's expertise will help us achieve this.

NOTE: Mundo will conduct individual interviews with key personnel to better understand our company culture, identify improvement areas, and develop tailored solutions for specific challenges.