GE Citizenship

Our most important investment

Continuing the Company’s 130-year history of successful development in human capital around the globe, GE MENAT has steadily expanded knowledge-sharing initiatives in the region. More than 500 regional employees to date have experienced a variety of GE’s world-renowned Crotonville leadership courses. 

One example of GE’s focus on leadership and training is the recently launched LAB (Leadership Acceleration for Business) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). LAB is a learning center engaged in cutting-edge business education and leadership, and leverages GE’s Crotonville leadership curriculum. The courses, designed for executive and emerging leaders, focus on content ranging from strategic thinking, operational excellence and innovation to manager development, financial basics, project management and business simulation.

The Company also awards hundreds of annual scholarships—GE Star Awards—to eligible children of GE employees and retirees. The award is given to graduating seniors embarking on a four-year university career, and the MENAT region is proud to be home to several award recipients over the past few years.

Leadership Programs

Last year, MENAT employees attended more than 10,000 days of training. Courses are available for all employees at all levels, across the businesses and functions. We also have more than 60 employees in training programs for twenty-first century leaders, including the Financial Management Program, the Experienced Commercial Leadership Program, the Human Resources Leadership Program, the Communications Leadership Development Program and the Commercial Leadership Program. The graduates of these programs take on leadership positions in the company once their programs end, contributing to a diverse, experienced talent base. And to continue building our pipeline of local talent—in the region, for the region—GE has partnered with more than 25 universities and educational organizations across MENAT.

GE Women’s Network

The Women’s Network accelerates the advancement of women at GE, cultivating their leadership skills, business practices, contacts and career opportunities. By sharing individual experiences, information and exposure, the Women’s Network helps develop the leadership skills and career-advancement opportunities needed to drive GE’s success. In this region today, there are more than 500 women voluntarily involved in the Women’s Network, and this number continues to grow.

The Women’s Network has five priorities:

• Enhance women’s professional growth by providing information on coaching, career paths, flexibility and role models
• Develop new and existing commercial talent
• Foster the retention and promotion of women in technology and engineering
• Improve GE’s ability to attract, develop and retain diverse women
• Cultivate the leadership competencies that reflect GE’s focus on growth

GE Volunteers

For more than a century, volunteerism has been a vibrant part of GE’s culture, as both an individual employee activity as well as an organizational effort. We coordinate our resources—including products, matching gifts, grants and people—to create responses tailored to local and individual challenges. Today, the ultimate measure of GE’s business are the improvements in the lives of people touched by our work. Our employees volunteer more than 1 million hours of community service every year. Currently, there are registered GE Volunteers councils in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A few of their activities are highlighted below. 

Kuwait—Last year, more than 70 GE volunteers and their families (pictured below) took part in a local beach cleanup initiative. They helped clean Messilah Beach, with the volunteers clearing as much as five cubic meters of trash with each sweep, giving the area an aesthetic facelift. The project was sponsored by Keeping Kuwait Clean, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) working towards keeping beaches and parks in Kuwait City clean through volunteering. 

Qatar—Starting in 2011, GE Volunteers in Qatar began contributing to the My School, My Farm project. In 2012, GE’s commitment to this initiative continues, as volunteers participate to promote greener lifestyles for children. So far, more than 20 GE volunteers have devoted more than 100 hours to this ongoing project. GE Volunteers in Qatar also supported the Give for a Cause and Comfort 4 Kids donation drives. Clothing and toys were donated by employees based at the GE ATRC and the GEII C-Ring Road facility. Over 50 GE employees and family members dedicated 100 hours in the collection, transporting, sorting and packing of donations. GE Volunteers also regularly contributes to projects at the Qatari Institution for Elderly Persons’ Care, the Ibn Sina Psychiatric Hospital and Rumailah Hospital, aiding in the care and comfort of many in the Qatar community. 

United Arab Emirates—GE employees have become involved with the global learning organization INJAZ to support community education. GE hosts the organization’s annual Innovation Camp, an exciting one-day workshop that challenges students, with the help of a GE mentor, to find innovative solutions to business challenges while developing critical thinking, teamwork, communication and leadership skills. GE also has an ongoing commitment to the INJAZ Success Skills program, which brings GE employees into local classrooms over the duration of a semester. GE teachers support diverse groups of students by providing engaging and experiential learning sessions for work-readiness and basic soft skills.

Saudi Arabia—A 2011 cost-of-living bonus inspired GE employees in Saudi Arabia to contribute a percentage of their salaries to charity. At the beginning of Ramadan, more than SAR 136,000 was presented to the Disabled Children Association by Saudi GE business leaders.

ecomagination

In 2005, GE launched ecomagination to address critical challenges, including the need for cleaner and more efficient energy, emissions reductions, and increased availability of clean water.

Since then, we’ve been using our unique energy, technology, manufacturing and infrastructure capabilities to develop solutions. GE’s ecomagination products and services are finding increasing application in the MENAT region’s aviation, energy, oil and gas, water, and transportation sectors—promoting energy- and water-use efficiencies with scarce resources in a region also challenged by an exponential growth in demand.

Among the key applications of GE’s ecomagination products in MENAT are the use of GE’s advanced GE90-115B and GEnx jet engines by the region’s leading airlines. GE products, such as leading-edge wind turbines, photovoltaic cells, and Jenbacher engines, are used by industrial customers and municipalities in Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Also in use in the oil and gas sector are Dry Low NOx (DLN) installations in GASCO, Abu Dhabi, UAE, that reduce nitrogen oxide emissions (NO_x), as well as GE’s Hot Gas Expanders. These help refineries recover waste-process gas to generate power and avoid carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions associated with power generation, consequently contributing to increased revenues or lower energy costs.

healthymagination

Improving the healthcare of the planet’s population is another cause about which GE is passionate. Healthymagination is GE’s commitment to creating better health for more people at lower cost. GE is reaching more people through innovation and strategic partnerships focused on identifying the biggest challenges facing healthcare consumers and providers and on showcasing how our technology and expertise can help.

Healthymagination Fights Breast Cancer in Saudi Arabia

GE’s strategic partnership with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) is a model application of healthymagination working in the real world. Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases in the nation, and nearly 70% of women diagnosed are already at an advanced stage by the time they visit a doctor. In order to build awareness for early detection, GE and the Saudi Arabian MOH have partnered to launch a Breast Cancer Screening program that seeks to screen 10,000 women in 2012–2013. The program consists of awareness, screenings and after-care, ensuring that Saudi women understand the dangers of the disease and can easily take steps to be screened and treated if necessary. 

This first-of-its-kind comprehensive program is offering the full spectrum of healthcare practices for breast cancer, giving the women of Saudi Arabia a fighting chance against the disease. The initiative is part of our larger commitment to healthymagination in the Kingdom, backed by an MOU signed by the Saudi Ministry of Health and GE Chief Marketing Officer Beth Comstock.

GE currently employs more than 4,500 employees in the MENAT region’s 24 countries, supporting growing regional economies. Employees represent all GE businesses, including GE Energy, GE Aviation, GE Healthcare, GE Home & Business Solutions, GE Capital and GE Transportation. Over the last several years, GE MENAT has experienced double-digit employee growth and has opened numerous new facilities.

In the energy sector, the GE Energy Manufacturing Technology Center (GEMTEC), in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, will support 2,000 GE jobs and the growth of even more ancillary industry jobs around one of the nation’s most industrial hubs. The center reflects GE’s commitment to help power the Saudi Arabian economy and to transfer specialized skills geared at addressing the region’s growing needs. The training center at GEMTEC offers the latest technology and managerial courses for college students, field engineers and other power-industry professionals throughout the region.

In Doha, Qatar, the GE Advanced Technology and Research Center (ATRC) has doubled its employee strength since its inauguration, driving local research and development while helping to solve aviation, energy and healthcare issues around the globe. Also in Qatar, through the partnership between GE Energy and Al Farraj Trading and Manufacturing, GE has created 150 new jobs at our Doha-based manufacturing plant, which provides GE electrical equipment assembly and supply services for key Middle Eastern countries. 

Reinforcing the economic diversification of the United Arab Emirates, GE supports industry customers such as Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL), the world’s largest single-site aluminum processing complex and the UAE’s largest industrial project. GE is delivering long-term services to EMAL, providing advanced fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly F-technology turbines while helping reduce EMAL’s carbon footprint using GE’s Dry Low NOx (DLN) technology turbines, significantly reducing nitrogen dioxide (NOx) emissions during operation.

GE is also an active partner in Egypt, having been in that nation for more than four decades. Understanding Egypt’s importance to the political, social and economic stability of the region, U.S. Senator John McCain and GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt recently led a delegation of elected officials and business leaders to the country to discuss how companies and the government can come together to energize economic growth and development. Out of their sessions came a multitude of actions, including the importance of setting the foundations for a modern and advanced supply chain that drives integrated development. Following the initial visit, Senator McCain and others, along with GE MENAT President and CEO Nabil Habayeb, participated in the inaugural Egypt Supplier Conference, “Supply Chain Opportunities: A Partnership for Egypt and the US.” During the conference, GE highlighted the potential of the manufacturing sector, and how companies can come together to re-energize economic growth and development in Egypt, as well as contribute to localization.