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Abu Dhabi’s cultural landscape has undergone a transformative shift over the past two decades, with the emirate emerging as a global beacon of art, heritage, and tourism. At the heart of this cultural revolution is the ambitious development of the Saadiyat Cultural District, which is set to house world-class museums, galleries, and cultural institutions, solidifying Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading cultural destination.
As this dynamic transformation continues, one key factor driving its success is the talent behind these visionary projects. The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has placed a significant emphasis on talent development, aiming to cultivate a new generation of cultural leaders and professionals equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to manage and sustain these world-class initiatives.
In this interview, we speak with Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani, the department’s undersecretary, to discuss how the department’s talent development strategy aligns with Abu Dhabi’s broader cultural ambitions, the impact of these initiatives on Emiratis and residents, and the role of partnerships in shaping the next wave of cultural professionals.
As the Saadiyat Cultural District nears completion and the UAE’s Cultural and Creative Industries Strategy moves into its next phase, we explore how DCT Abu Dhabi is preparing for the future of culture, tourism and heritage in the emirate.
Abu Dhabi has been making global headlines with its cultural and tourism focus, especially with ambitious projects like the Saadiyat Cultural District. In light of this, how does DCT Abu Dhabi’s talent development strategy fit into this larger narrative and what impact has it had on both Emiratis and residents?
For the DCT – Abu Dhabi, the realisation of the emirate’s cultural ambitions has highlighted the increasing importance of capacity development, especially for the growth of professionals – Emiratis and residents alike.
For many individuals, the preservation and promotion of culture had always seemed more of a passion, or even a duty, than a career opportunity. But a shift came in 2006 when Abu Dhabi announced plans to develop a cultural district on Saadiyat Island.
This was a huge leap in our ambitions. It placed the emirate’s cultural agenda in a global context and positioned Abu Dhabi as a destination of international standing. For DCT Abu Dhabi, this has required the development of new and specific forms of knowledge, across careers ranging from document conservation to curatorship to museum management.
Since then, one step at a time, Saadiyat Cultural District has been transforming the UAE’s cultural landscape – creating jobs and opportunities and establishing a benchmark for excellence. We have attracted talent from across the nation and the world, facilitating a powerful exchange of knowledge and learning.
People are often said to be the backbone of any successful organisation. In this context, how does DCT Abu Dhabi ensure its team is equipped with the necessary skills to take on key roles in your ambitious projects?
In line with our commitment to develop a portfolio of world-class museums, cultural spaces and visitor experiences, our priority at DCT Abu Dhabi has been and will remain empowering and enabling our staff to occupy core roles vital for the success of these projects.
Furthermore, passionate employees are vital to our future. I recall speaking with a young Emirati colleague, who expressed great pride in Abu Dhabi’s cultural growth. She wanted nothing more than to contribute to this rich legacy – she just needed guidance on how to reach the highest level of professional excellence.
For this, we have adopted a holistic approach to talent development by building ‘niche’ skills and knowledge required to operate this ever-expanding portfolio of activities and key projects. For the last decade and a half, we have been designing, planning and reassessing our learning solutions and adaptive development tools to enable our talent to grow and achieve DCT’s strategic objectives.
We are adopting an integrated talent development model where we design the career pathways for niche roles as per international practices, map candidates to these paths and develop their skills. Each of our employees follows a clear talent development journey that takes on the 70-20-10 model where activities are designed to equip them with transferable and creative industry-specific skills.
(The 70-20-10 model shows that leaders grow best from a mix of: 70 per cent challenging experiences and assignments; 20 per cent developmental relationships; and 10 per cent coursework and training.)
Can you share DCT Abu Dhabi’s journey in talent development and strategies to remain an attractive employer while grooming future leaders, especially with projects like Saadiyat Cultural District nearing completion?
Over the past 15 years, the first wave of our workforce who took part in capacity development rose to occupy senior positions. These include museum section heads, historic sites directors, interpretation section heads and programming unit heads.
With Saadiyat Cultural District on track for completion in 2025, and as we approach the fifth anniversary of our Cultural and Creative Industries Strategy in November 2025, it is critical to continue to build capacity for a second wave of future leaders.
Our talent development team – with experts from visual designers to organisational psychologists – developed a strategy to reskill and upskill existing talent and nurture emerging talent through four focus areas: knowledge tours and placements; a leadership programme (in which I have also participated); international mentorships; and our new DCTLEARN platform.
This focus on employee development and training safeguards DCT Abu Dhabi’s edge as an employer of choice, and ensures that we’re equipping young people – especially Emiratis – with the capabilities they need to pursue specialised careers in the culture and creative industries.
Collaborations appear to be a key component of DCT Abu Dhabi’s strategy. Could you delve deeper into these partnerships and their role in DCT’s talent development initiatives? Furthermore, what existing talent development initiatives are being offered by DCT Abu Dhabi?
One of DCT Abu Dhabi’s great strengths is the quality of our partnerships. We’re proud to work with institutions such as Zayed University, NYU Abu Dhabi, the Smithsonian Institution, Italy’s Turismo Turino and France’s MuseoPro.
In one such partnership, MuseoPro designed an 18-month programme for DCT Abu Dhabi cultural professionals at all levels – the first professional training programme in the GCC exclusively focused on heritage and museums.
Structured around academic rigour, interactive sessions, hands-on exercises and field-based training, MuseoPro is catalysing capacity building amongst DCT Abu Dhabi experts, and the next generation of Emirati and global cultural professionals engaged in conservation, research, collection management, curation, museum education, archaeology, art and natural history.
Our in-house career development covers a range of programmes. One of the most exciting is the mentioned DCTLEARN, where we offer our multi-national team more than 200 bite-sized online courses in areas from art appreciation and museum management to compliance and communications.
Hundreds of our colleagues have already benefited from DCTLEARN. We are promoting the platform internally and hope to eventually roll it out to stakeholders across Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism sector.
Emiratis have a unique role in DCT’s mission as ambassadors of their nation’s heritage and culture. How does DCT ensure they have the tools and knowledge to share the UAE’s cultural journey effectively?
Every day, Abu Dhabi’s stories are being shared with the world. As Emiratis especially, we want to be ambassadors of our nation, and we aim to ensure that our community of UAE Nationals are empowered to talk about our heritage and culture with pride and insight.
Emiratis are invested and interested in telling the story of the UAE’s cultural journey. In 2022-23 alone, 500 of our Emirati professionals underwent skills assessments, more than 25 completed international tours and work placements, and more than 200 took niche skills training sessions and customised courses.
We respect people who understand their work – not just the tasks, but the context and ideas – and use that knowledge to confront challenges. Our employee value proposition is ‘Bring Your Brilliance’. By offering a full range of outlets for capacity building, we enable our 1,500-plus employees to bring that brilliance to new challenges and to shine as professionals and as people.