A beacon of workforce empowerment in the Gulf

Komal Jajoo is a pioneer and administrative leader of Hayford Integrated Training Institute. As a role model to many a woman, she believes in empowering her workforce, rewarding self-drive, and integrity. She maintains that empowering employees is an essential aspect of leadership. When leaders empower their staff, they give them the authority, resources, and support they need to make decisions, solve problems, and take ownership of their work. Empowerment can increase employee engagement and innovation and drive business growth. According to research, the most critical drivers for a productive employee are play, purpose, and potential. Therefore, empowering employees can help them find meaning in their work and achieve their full potential.

She resonates with cultivating a common goal orientation that originates in a bottom-up manner and has devised fast-track growth programs such as "The Intrapreneur Program" for the company employees, whom she and the management team provide the opportunity to become an entrepreneur while remaining on their payroll. Komal knows empowering employees is essential for leaders because it can increase employee engagement and innovation and drive business growth. By providing employees with the authority, resources, and support they need to make decisions, solve problems, and take ownership of their work, she can help them find meaning in their work and achieve their full potential.

"Our focus at Hayford is to invest in our people, establishing long lasting relations and creating a brand that organizations can bank upon. Because of this mindset, I am proud to say that within a year we have successfully been able to become the learning partners of ACCA, ICAEW, and the like," she explains. "We have been accoladed by prestigious organizations across GCC. Our success is manifested in the prestigious "She" award, which I received as Founder of Hayford as the fastest growing training institute in the region."

Hayford Integrated Training Institute aims to create a corporate training ecosystem that combines the world's intelligentsia on one platform as corporate trainers. They strive to empower businesses to achieve their goals across their global footprint and do this not only as a third-party training provider but also as a partner in their human capital development programs.

"When we devise a training program, the first thing we do is co-develop expectations, assess the audience, and then tailor the engagement," elucidates Komal. "Our clients have the highest satisfaction level from the value we have added to their training and development programs. This operational efficacy makes our mission worthwhile and is reflected in our slogan "Build Your Future with Hayford"."

Hayford Integrated Training Institute has multiple big achievements to its credit. Two of the commendable ones are the astounding Client retention rate of over 96% and the phenomenal growth rate of the Institute. The Institute has chosen a unique approach to its Training and Development mission. It has partnered with prestigious academic institutions such as Manipal, American University, etc, and professional institutions such as ACCA and ICAEW. Because of Hayford Integrated Training Institute's successes in the UAE, they have partnered with academic institutions in Oman, Bahrain, and now Saudi Arabia. This seed-level initiative has resulted in wildfire expansion of Hayford when graduates of these universities and institutions join economy movers and provide Hayford Integrated Training Institute with organic growth.

While Hayford Integrated Training Institute has achieved a lot, Komal feels that this is only the beginning, and their ultimate goal is improving the quality of life in the societies in which they operate. "This is only achievable if we are heavily networked, keep equipping ourselves with the latest technologies and industrial insights, and obtaining independent feedback," says Komal. "The pace at which evolution is in progress requires us to challenge common beliefs, do things differently, and disrupt the tradition with better alternatives. We aim to achieve that through heavily investing in R&D, which is one of the primary pillars of Hayford."

For the days to come, Hayford Integrated Training Institute has aggressive expansion plans for the year 2023-24. By the end of 2024, they plan to have their offices in multiple countries of the GCC. In the meantime, Komal intends to continue the path of innovative thinking, connecting with GCC decision-makers and building capabilities for Hayford. "We emphasize the spirit of global citizenship and refer to the famous UAE slogan: ‘Everyone is responsible’. As global citizens, it is important that our journey to a more pleasant, greener, and sustainable society meets its destiny. We are well positioned to be the pre-eminent Training Institute in GRC, ESG, Technology, and other newer areas such as virtual asset management," concludes Komal.