Tamkeen has signed a BD560,000 ($1.48 million) agreement with the Bahrain International Retail Development Centre (BIRD) to deliver a series of training modules on leadership and HR management over a two-year period.

The agreement comes as part of Tamkeen's continuous programme to nurture leadership among Bahrainis and prepare the ground for successful future management of human resources, said a top official.

“Training in leadership and management of human resources are two vital components of Tamkeen’s vision for empowering Bahrainis and enabling them to reach greater career heights and become true participants in the Kingdom’s progress,” said Tamkeen chief executive Abdulellah Al Qassimi.

"Through this new initiative, we are seeking to put the spotlight on the talent pool that is available among Bahrainis in the corporate world of the private sector," he added.

Set to commence in March 2010, the programme will be managed by Bird and the expertise will be delivered by Wilson Learning Middle East (WLME), an international training organisation for knowledge delivery and training in this field.

The schedule for the training is arranged in 2 tracks – the Leadership Training track will reach 400 Bahraini and will focus on enabling participants to understand the nature of leadership, the impact of coaching and mentoring, recognising team members and delegating. Each Leadership module will accommodate 20 participants.

In the Human Resources track, participants will be given direction on how to fine-tune human resources for maximum corporate impact, the types and scope of metrics applied to successfully measure Human Resource Management effectiveness. Each module will be designed to accommodate 25 participants at a time.

Bird chairman Jawad Hawaj, said, "Bird is excited about working with Tamkeen to bring the latest in leadership training and Human Resource management to Bahrainis. The impact of these two fields is often under-estimated by businesses, especially SMEs who need them the most."

"We believe that this programme will help redefine the power of leadership and HR management for Bahrain in the years ahead," he added.

The duo believe that the first and second generation business owners and other leadership and HR professionals of small, medium and large business enterprises will avail the benefits envisioned through these workshops.

Government and semi-government professionals are also expected to attend these workshops. There will be ten different workshops in the Leadership track and six generic and specific areas addressed in the Human Resource track of workshops.-TradeArabia News Service