Sia Partners hosts inaugural Knowledge Talks in Saudi Arabia

Earlier this month, Sia Partners held the inaugural edition of its Knowledge Talks in Saudi Arabia. A roundup of the event’s key takeaways.

Organised by Sia Partners’ offices around the world, the Knowledge Talks are a series of talks for senior executives in both private and public sector, centered around the latest trends and knowledge. The first edition in the Kingdom was conducted in partnership with Delivering Happiness, a company founded by Zappos founder the late Tony Hsieh (Zappos is known for how it re-invented customer service and was later acquired by Amazon). 

In her keynote, Sunny Grosso (Culture Chief at Delivering Happiness and a well-known happiness coach for executives) explained why an emotionally healthy and happy workforce is not just good for business, but is moreover essential for employees. In the new and rapidly evolving world of work, wellbeing has come centerstage as a key factor of engagement, happiness and hence productivity.

“Organisations are increasingly realising that without employee wellbeing they will soon face the urgent problems of burnout, disengagement, stress and loss of impact,” warned Grosso. As a result, “leaders who may have previously viewed wellbeing as outside their role, are now in the position that they need to act: innovate, collaborate and engage to create impact at an organizational and individual level, as well as in communities.”

Amancio Torres, Managing Partner of Sia Partners in Saudi Arabia, highlighted how Grosso’s vision aligns with what the management consultancy sees in practice. “Customer happiness and employee happiness are among the highest priorities in business and the public sector.” 

“The modern workplace must be re-imagined to include employees’ new needs and emotional wellbeing. Meanwhile, from a customer experience perspective, putting their happiness at the epicenter is what drives a competitive edge.”

As Grosso put it, “consider happiness as a business model. Happy customers together with happy employees drive profits and positive impact.”

During the event, a number of real-life cases studies demonstrating the impact happiness can make were showcased, including the case of a large healthcare organisation that managed to “ramp up motivation and multiply employees effectiveness” – all thanks to a concerted focus on wellbeing and culture.

Experts from Sia Partners went on to share a framework for nurturing happiness and several practical steps for how leaders can start building wellbeing and integrate the concept into their ‘business as usual’ operations.

The first Knowledge Talk in Saudi Arabia was attended by 20 senior members of human resources and organisation development functions in the private and public sector.