How LinkedIn Learning enabled Majid Al Futtaim to accelerate its digital transformation journey and switch its focus to “just in time” learning

Majid Al Futtaim is the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Established in 1992, it has grown into one of the United Arab Emirates’ most respected and successful businesses, spanning 17 international markets and employing more than 43,000 people.

The global challenges of 2020 caused many organisations to look at their business processes, operations and strategies. It was vital that the organisation continued to support its employees, continued investing in their development and continued its digital transformation journey. Also, there was a shift to more personalised learning, from learning “just in case” to learning “just in time”.

Dr Regis Chasse, Dean of Majid Al Futtaim’s Leadership Institute, explained: “Majid Al Futtaim was already on a well-paced digital evolution journey. When COVID-19 hit, the organisation accelerated its efforts, effectively rewiring the company to deliver a transformed digital offering in just 10 days. This impetus included shifting our learning delivery model from 90 per cent being class-based to being 100 per cent online.”

Regis continued: “LinkedIn proved to be an invaluable resource. At the beginning of 2020, approximately 2,000 MAFers were regularly tapping into LinkedIn Learning resources. That figure soon jumped to 8,000 active users who, by the end of 2020, had collectively watched more than 955,000 videos, equating to 36,007 hours of content.”

Supporting personal journeys

Majid Al Futtaim’s Leadership Institute provides MAFers access to innovative and hands-on development programmes, nurturing empowerment and growth.

Regis added: “Our drive is to provide all MAFers with valuable learning and development opportunities that will stretch, challenge and support every person in their journey with us. We have set out learning paths to help MAFers grow and achieve their personal goals – and with a disparate workforce scattered over the entire region, LinkedIn Learning has been a big part of that solution.”

Shifting our learning culture

“At the Leadership Institute, we position learning within the business, embed a culture of development and help MAFers to understand the learning paths available to them and how those paths can support their career objectives,” said Regis.

“LinkedIn Learning helps the Leadership Institute to support the common development needs of our MAFers,” concluded Regis. “Our goal is to provide all MAFers with learning and development opportunities, empowering them to choose what they want to learn and not just what they need to learn. LinkedIn Learning supports that effortlessly.”