User:Abudawood training center/sandbox

=Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center=

Organisation Profile
The Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center is a non-governmental training institution funded by the Abudawood Group. Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center’s core ambition is to empower talented Saudi individuals through vocational life skills training that will enable them to excel in the workplace, in society and in life. Effectively, our training efforts also assist in furthering Saudisation by cultivating job-ready employees who are able to meet the human resources and soft skills needs of Saudi businesses.

In collaboration with our partners and world-class trainers, we extend affordable, easy-access to a training environment in which Saudi students and graduates can narrow the gap between academic education and the employment sector's need for professional soft skills acumen.

We also offer opportunities to parents and non-government organisations (NGOs) to acquire the right mix of soft skills that can help them reach their true potential.

Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center is validation of Abudawood Group’s acknowledgement towards its Corporate Social Responsibility role it has to fulfil by giving back to the communities in which it operates.

Since our establishment in April 2009 we have been instrumental in training more than 16,000 students and other Saudis who were eager to develop life skills to improve their lives.

Our long-term goal is to expand Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center’s training modules to other countries in which Abudawood Group operates, namely Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan. By the end of 2018 our goal is to annually train 50,000 “non-corporate” candidates consisting of not only university students but also other youth, families and NGOs.

To meet these goals, Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center has begun playing a prominent role locally by offering vocational life skills training to university students at various stages of their academic training.

Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center is the energy field behind the efforts of the Abudawood Group to develop a broad base of Saudi job seekers trained in a variety of functional life skills. Our prorammes, presented by experienced and authoritative life skills experts, cover a range of topics. These include, among others, time management, presentation skills, mind mapping, life planning, and interview and communications skills. We also have programmes tailored for parents to develop parenting skills, thus improving the behaviour and wellbeing of their children; as well as other modules to assist NGOs in the region to build competencies they need to manage themselves effectively.

At Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center we hold the view that while academic education is increasingly key to ensuring a bright future in an ever-increasing competitive job market, securing life skills are equally important. We believe that vocational life skills are necessary for students not only to succeed in finding a good job, but also for holding onto their jobs for much longer. Therefore, our programmes are not designed only to increase someone’s chances of finding employment, but also to help him or her remain employed once they have secured their dream job.

As part of our wider social responsibility outreach, we further aim to create a sustainable online community which will bring together graduates who are proficient in life skills and potential employers who are seeking best of class prospective employees. This platform will also establish a network for alumni, current students, parents, NGOs and corporate Saudi Arabia to connect, share opportunities, and encourage social and entrepreneurial development.

Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center is named in honour of the late Sheikh Ismail Ali Abudawood – a benevolent Saudi businessman whose frequent acts of anonymous kindness touched the lives of many in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was also the founder of what today has ultimately grown into the Abudawood Group. Be the change.

Facts on Sheikh Ismail Abudawood training center

 * Since its official inception, the Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center has trained more than 16,000 students and is targeting to train 6,000 students by the end of 2013.


 * In 2013 Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center will also extend soft skills training to parents, and other non-government organisations (NGO).

- Personal development - Basic entrepreneurial skills - Camps and events - Special programmes for talented students - Special training programmes for NGOs and non-profit organizations
 * The Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center will offer several different types of programmes that fall under the banner of:


 * The “basic entrepreneurial skills” is a detailed programme for senior students and fresh graduates. It prepares students for their career path focusing on different industries: retail, banking, pharmaceutical, industrial, insurance, sales, finance, FMCG, marketing & advertising, telecommunication & IT, building & constructions, and government.


 * Camps and events are special events tailored to university students integrating between education and entertainment. The topics vary from teambuilding activities, understanding others, leadership and influencing with a direct one-to-one coaching conferred by expert trainers (e.g: Treasure Hunt & Telematch games)


 * Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center offers special programmes for talented students. Designed specifically to meet employment demands, the talented students undertake special business and functional training courses focusing on: retail sales, corporate sales, HR, finance, marketing, customer service, business writing, presentation skills and leadership.


 * The Center partners with the ASAE Centre for Association Leadership to assist NGOs in the region to build competencies they need to manage themselves effectively. The five topics of the five-day programme include courses like:

- Essential practices in association management - Volunteer management - Membership development - Communication and public relations - Developing leadership potential


 * Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center partnered with “The Mind Gym” to maximise human performance at work by adopting an individual-centric approach and employing a unique set of robustly tested learning tools. The Mind Gym courses focus on psychological, and practices exercises to stimulate enthusiasm and fuel curiosity.


 * The Sheikh Ismail Abudawood Training Center associated with “Parentgym” to develop parents’ skills, thus improving the behaviour and wellbeing of their children. The topics of the workshop focus on: consistency in life, child-rearing, affection and discipline, parents and children networking, communication, and conflicts.

About Abudawood Group
The Abudawood Group is a diversified international conglomerate incorporating investments in the Middle East, Europe and US, covering a wide range of sectors including sales and distribution, trading, real estate, financial investments, and education and training.

The Group is firmly rooted in Saudi soil. It grew from humble beginnings in 1935 when the late Sheikh Ismail Ali Abudawood founded a small wholesale business in Jeddah, known as the Ismail Ali Abudawood Trading Company Limited (IATCO).

The company evolved from its successful and competitive retail operations to such an extent that it caught the eye of the renowned global consumer brand Procter & Gamble (P&G). Sheikh Ismail’s vision and entrepreneurial spirit on which IATCO was based, impressed P&G greatly, and in the 1940s IATCO was appointed as exclusive distributor for P&G’s consumer brand products throughout the Kingdom.

Through a joint venture Abudawood and P&G established a factory in 1956 in Saudi Arabia to produce P&G products. The undertaking not only boosted early industrialisation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also the general economy. It also started a long tradition by the Abudawood family of creating employment opportunities for Saudis – a practise still high on the agenda of the family-owned Group to this day.

As the Abudawood sons became engaged in the family business, it expanded into other areas, resulting in the establishment of the Abudawood Group (as it is known today) that manages a diversified portfolio of its various enterprises.

Sheikh Osama Abudawood, Sheikh Anas Abudawaood, and Sheikh Ayman Abudawood took over the reins from their positions as board of directors upon the death of their father in 2005. Today they continue to follow in their father’s footsteps, not only strengthening the family business but also contributing to many charitable causes, in both private and official capacity.