Saud Bahwan Group - Feel Good Factors

1. The Saud Bahwan Group is known to be the best employer in the middle east. It employs nearly 11,000 people and the annual turnover is around 5 billion US dollars. It is a trading company dealing with a lot of brands, all of which are market leaders. These are Toyota, Ford, Kia, Man, Hino, Komatsu and Thermoking to name a few. The company buys, stocks and sells products belonging to these brands. It has a very strong service and spares backup owing to which it has 50 % of the market share in passenger vehicle sales. It has 63 branches all over Oman with the aim of having a branch within the reach of every Omani resident. The sales, service and spares in each vehicle category are distinct profit centres. The company has well established and tested systems and procedures. It lays great emphasis on customer as well as employee satisfaction.

2. I have completed a week at the Saud Bahwan Group and am enumerating some feel good factors which I have experienced :

(a) An officer from the HR department along with a vehicle was

present at the airport to receive me. This is done for every new appointee.

(b) I was taken straight to my flat which had brand new furniture and furnishings. The caretaker was there to explain the functioning of various gadgets and to hand over the keys.

(c) The following items were kept in the kitchen which did not form part of the inventory :

(i) Tea rations viz : Sugar, tea leaves and milk pkts.
(ii) Two bottles of mineral water.
(iii) A can of ‘Mountain Dew’
(iv) A packet of biscuits.
(v) One steel ‘thali’, two ‘katoris’ and a glass.

(d) Home delivery of packed food (all three meals) for one week from

the nearest single officers mess (there are kitchens catering to nearly 4000 single guys)

(e) Assistance in paperwork related to obtaining the civil card, opening of Bank account etc.

(e) Provision of advance of salary in cash on the first working day.

(f) A structured and well organised induction programme.

3. That’s it for now. Will post more experiences in due course.

Muscat Musings II

Positives

1. Neat & clean environment (voted second cleanest city after Singapore).
2. Well planned city with excellent roads and lot of greenery.
3. No flies or mosquitoes.
4. No power cuts.
5. Clean drinking water round the clock.
6. No traffic jams.
7. No stray dogs (or any other quadrupeds !!)
8. No beggars.
9. ‘Feel’ of India – 80% expats of which most are Indians.
10. Strict implementation of rules and regulations.
11. Incorruptible officials in public life.
12. Strong economy – hardly any effect of recession.

Negatives

1. Some items prohibitively expensive if converted to rupee terms.
2. Telephone calls very expensive – a 3 Rial mobile card gives only 10 minutes of talk time (ie for nearly Rs 400/-)
3. If you don’t have a car – you are dead ! Public transport system not good as everyone is rich and has a car.
4. Driving classes expensive (4 – 5 Rials per hour ) and getting a driving licence is a pain. If you fail in the first attempt (which is a likely scenario) the next date allotted may be only after a month.
5. Crossing of the road (any road) can be fatal as vehicles regularly ply at speeds in excess of 100 km per hour.

Muscat - First Impressions

1. I have started the ‘fourth innings’ of my career with the Saud Bahwan Group on 15 December 2008. I have not been able to catch up with my pending mails and I know that a lot of you guys must be wondering what’s up with me ! Well, the company has an induction programme which they conduct in right earnest and I am in the thick of it till 24th December after which I will be posted to my department. In addition to this, me and some other new appointees have been busy with a series of medicals - (company medical and then the all important ‘Ministry Medical’) After the report is found OK we will be required to get our fingerprints registered with the Ministry and then we get the ‘Civil Card’. This is the most important document without which one is NOT eligible to get even a telephone connection. The Govt here maintains a database of all the nationals as well as the expatriates. Commit a misdemeanour or a breach and one can be traced in no time and then it is cooling time in the clinker – no questions asked. Added to all this was the mandatory filling up of various forms etc. I am now ‘Code No. 21217’ in the company records.

2. With all this happening at a furious pace, I would say it is too early for me to form an opinion about this place. The one thing which struck me first was the fantastic condition of the roads lined with greenery and flowers and the speed at which vehicles ply on them. Despite the official limit of 100 kmph (and 120 kmph on some roads) everyone meticulously follows the rules of the road and is very disciplined. No honking and no overtaking – just follow the guy in front and make liberal use of ‘flashers’. Otherwise there would be a pileup at every crossing.

More later !!

Parting Shot

Folks,

Today is my last day of service in the Bank and I am being relieved 'at close of business hours' !! Being a vehement proponent of the fact that Security Officers should only be doing 'Security Management', particularly in these 'terrible' times, I have penned a couple of lines on this occasion :

" कह चले हम अलविदा RBI को सथियो ,
अब तुम्हारे हवाले 'झाडू-पोचा' और 'trolley' साथियो "

PS : To be sung to the tune of the famous song from the movie "Haqeeeqat"
PPS : My friends who believe that we should take on whatever additional tasks are dished out to us may find this post 'offensive'. My apologies !!

Lungar Gupp L

This happens to be the 50th (and also the last !) post in the ' Lungar Gupp' series. I feel that it would be inappropriate for me to 'Gupp' further as I will cease to be a part of the 'Lungar' soon.

1. Faux Pas. I was in Delhi recently when I happened to read an unflattering article in the HT supplement 'Lutyen's Delhi' dated 29 Nov 2008 (Saturday) regarding the hassles of the common man in getting soiled notes exchanged for clean ones at RBI. The last para was particularly startling. Click on the article to enlarge it :

2. Promotion Fever. It seems that the ball is in motion as regards the promotion interviews for Grade 'B' to 'C' in our cadre is concerned. Capt Sudershan just told me that his particulars have also been called for. Looks like we may have 6 new AGMs (in case the vacancy created by my leaving is also taken into account !). This was the general topic under discussion when I visited the P&S Cell at New Delhi - Col Roy (who was a bit under the weather) was in command.

3. Posting - Lady Officer. A newly recruited lady security officer who was posted to New Delhi has achieved the 'impossible' - she now stands posted to Bangalore and is likely to report on 15 Dec 2008. She managed to convince the powers that be (either you convince me or I will convince you !!) that she should be posted to Bangalore.

Lungar Gupp - RIP !!!