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The enthusiasm and conviction with which he speaks makes it amply clear that his new HR venture is something Masoud Ali al Maskary deeply believes in. In his 19 years of working in Oman, Maskary has been part of many initiatives in the oil and gas industry. He has been a former board member of the Oman Society of Engineers, a former board member of Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL) HR implementation committee and has worked as the secretary of the staff committee at PDO. He has also worked at their assessment centre, interviewing and recruiting new employees. As CEO, the former Nawras HR director is now his own boss and is beginning to carve a niche for his start-up, which is at the forefront of HR initiatives in Oman.

Maskary gets all excited as he explains to us that his fledgling organisation managed to bring well-known motivational speaker Nigel Risner last October for a corporate training workshop in Muscat. “There is a pressing need to bring credible speakers at the right time.” This will help the growth of HR in the country as well as increase the country’s footprint on the global map. “We need to promote Oman itself and not just the HR part of it.” That is a move that will gel well with the current tourism drive.” But surely, there must have been something specific that egged him on to set up his new venture.

“Today we have a situation where over 60,000 students are graduating every year and ready to join the workforce. Many don’t have a clear idea about what to do next. Where should they go for jobs? Are there enough jobs to accommodate all of them?” This pressing need for HR-related services for young people led to the setting up of Ajyal Human Resources Solutions and Services in 2006.

Having studied in the UAE and in Britain before beginning his career, Maskary had been exposed to different trends and realised that there was some disconnect between the needs of industry and the educational system. He feels that much more needs to be done to supplement the education system in the sultanate so that students are aware from an early age onwards what they can aspire for and how to get there. Some of this education needs to begin at home with parents providing and nurturing conditions where children can learn more about the outside world and career options. He also thinks that the students need to interact with experts and industry people from the sectors that they would want to work in, much before they start job hunting. “HR is usually an afterthought here in Oman.

Too often, the founders of enterprises here in the country hire their senior management, who then go on to hire other employees.” The HR manager is usually one of the last persons hired, when according to Maskary he should have been hired immediately after the CEO. Too often, the HR manager ends up fixing the problems that happen every day thanks to this practice, whereas he should have been helping the employees achieve optimum efficiency. Maskary thinks the emerging market in the region is beginning to question these existing HR practices. And it is this bandwagon that he aims to hop on, by squarely positioning his start up as an end-to-end HR solutions provider. With tie-ups in place with international trainers and companies like Australia-based Tirian, Ajyal will help get the best fit for the job and will also help employees bind effectively as a team. While Ajyal has already started successful training programmes for corporates, the larger goal is to help companies in their move to e-nationalisation – by helping companies fulfil their Omanisation programmes by setting up an online database. Both job seekers and employers can use the database to get in touch with each other. Ajyal is presently doing some work with Al Noor Association of the Blind in a bid to help people with special needs. They also organise free career-related seminars for college students.

So, what is a typical day like? The average morning starts with a quick check of all the e-mails that have come in, then it’s off to meetings with corporate clients till lunch and back to office afterwards. At times, he has to meet clients even late in the evening.
However, the family man that he is, Maskary is rather particular about the quality time he spends with his children before and during dinner every day – quietly practising what he preaches about making sure that children have a good foundation on which to base their careers. That is probably the only time of the waking day when you wouldn’t catch him with his laptop, all set to change the face of HR in the country.