Date/Time
Date(s) - 20 December 2005
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Categories No Categories

KUWAIT, 19 Dec 2005 –  On Dec 19, EQUATE hosted a company dinner for all employees and leaders that were involved in the Change Management initiative since it was first announced, almost a year and a half ago. The celebration marked the achievements that all company objectives related to change management were successfully reached and implemented on target.

The Change Management project has focused on people, emphasizing leadership and empowerment while breaking down layers of hierarchical management. Employee Satisfaction is high due to the fact that the project has presented many career opportunities to all job levels including entry-level positions.

Yousef Al-Gharabally, Change Management Project Leader, commented, “Naturally, there have been many benefits that we are realizing with the implementation of the best work process and empowerment principles. Our people are empowered to look at various issues and work in a team environment with precise company goals and objectives that are clearly defined.”

The accomplishments that were highlighted included an emphasis on a dynamic team-based work environment, a more motivated and enthusiastic work force, and a re-structuring of work load given the elimination of non-value adding tasks. More importantly, the change project has ensured that EQUATE will be ready for the Olefins II expansion project with the best people, the best work-processes and the best systems in place. It has also offered a number of new opportunities for career advancement in an expanding company. This includes Employee Development Plans that are being developed for all employees, and a performance review that is conducted by peers as well as leaders. The project is also focusing on empowering employees down to the entry-level positions to make decisions that affect their work. This includes operators who are involved in the decision-making process.

“Empowerment has demonstrated that EQUATE is a world class company. Our people, knowledge, personal competencies and their attitude is entirely changed towards improvement and self- development. As an outcome of Empowerment, we are very optimistic on our expectations as a result of this project,” said Hamad Al-Terkait, President and CEO.

One of the most important aspects of the Change Management Project that will continue to be an area of focus are improved work processes. As Nick Vossenberg, VP Operations commented, “The work processes implementation, with its associated Dow and EQUATE developed tools, has been fast and effective, thanks to the dedicated work of the work process and sub-work process team members and we have already started to see the benefits of the implementation.”

Currently EQUATE is responsible for approximately 80% of all non-oil exports from Kuwait.  This number will rise significantly with the doubling of its capacity.   Additionally, it will be a stimulus for the downstream development of related industries, bring increased financing arrangements and employment opportunities.