Rami Haffar on how New Metrics helps build CX and EX experiences

Hot on the heels of his promotion to partner, we sat down with Rami Haffar to discuss how New Metrics helps its clients, along with his personal highlights across his first seven years at the homegrown Middle East consultancy firm.

It was back in 2018 when Rami Haffar first walked through the door of New Metrics. Over the years, he has witnessed a transformative journey for both the company and himself. Initially arriving as a senior consultant, he was promoted to partner in early 2024. Meanwhile, the firm’s offering has expanded rapidly.

“Observing New Metrics evolve across various growth stages has been truly remarkable,” he tells Consultancy Middle East. That growth has seen New Metrics evolve into a 100-person business with 5 offices.

“But for me personally, what stands out the most is the parallel growth in the region's understanding and adoption of experience management. When I first joined the firm, experience management was an emerging practice, met with skepticism and challenges in comprehension. New Metrics recognized this gap and strategically aligned its capabilities with the evolving market maturity.”

New Metrics specializes in customer experience (CX), providing a full offering from consulting and execution through to enablement – something which Haffar describes as ‘experience management’ (XM).

“Our XM business provides end-to-end support for both public and private sector entities and covering all facets of CX, from conceptualization to implementation. The practice meanwhile helps clients with building XM analytics programs leveraging the global leading technologies.”

“Additionally, we employ AI tools to enhance our comprehension of insights within the collected data. This enables us to operationalize these findings, orchestrating a transformation within the organization while consistently placing the customer at the forefront of each decision.”

Middle Eastern leader

These efforts have helped position New Metrics as “the leading consultancy in experience management in the Middle East” according to Haffar. While New Metrics remains “a pan-regional player” with a presence in four offices across the Middle East and one in Europe and is “committed to delivering consistent and exceptional services regardless of the geography”, he admits that the firm is particularly strong in two of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s largest economies.

“One of our key markets is Saudi Arabia, which holds a prominent position as the largest economy in the Middle East and is currently undergoing a comprehensive country-wide transformation. New Metrics is actively engaged with key public and private sector institutions, contributing to the country’s wide-ranging transformation centered around citizen-centricity across all sectors.”

“Given the significance of this transformation, Saudi Arabia is our main focus and the primary market where we channel our expertise. At the same time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stands as another core market, where we have been actively involved for six years.”

In that time, New Metrics has contributed significantly to laying the foundations for XM practices across the country, and is currently dedicated to “operationalizing and scaling these practices” amid rising demand in the UAE. This includes one of New Metrics’ flagship engagements, Haffar notes.

“We have worked with the largest asset management groups in the UAE on CX analytics implementation projects,” he continues. “Our accomplishments not only showcased our ability to deliver sophisticated solutions but also demonstrated our impact on the customer experience landscape within the financial sector.”

“Our XM business provides end-to-end support for both public and private sector entities and covering all facets of CX and EX, from conceptualization to implementation.”

In KSA, meanwhile, the firm’s contribution to the realization of the country’s Vision 2030 campaign is also something Haffar takes pride in. The firm’s initiatives have actively supported “a more inclusive and interconnected society” he explains – pointing to one project in particular.

He recalls, “Our engagement with Riyadh Municipality stands out as a flagship project where we collaborated with their customer experience department. The goal was to elevate the citizen experience across the entire city. This initiative reflects our dedication to enhancing the lives of residents by implementing effective CX strategies based on robust analytics programs.”

Expanding offering

In more recent years, New Metrics (which is 11 years old) has also rolled out an employee experience (EX) line of business. While chief human resources officers (CHROs) traditionally monitor key HR operational metrics related to employee attraction, retention, performance, and competencies, the EX practice helps them add “a crucial dimension by addressing the emotional aspect, a primary driver of operational success.”

“We assist CHROs in gaining a deeper understanding of employee emotions and perceptions throughout the entire employee lifecycle,” Haffar explains. “By tapping into the emotional dimension, we provide valuable insights that complement traditional operational metrics, offering a more holistic view of the employees.”

“We also help CHROs bridge the perception gap. By quantifying employee emotions and identifying the drivers behind them, we enable organizations to focus on specific areas that matter most to employees but may require improvement.”

New Metrics’ approach to this involves “quantifying emotional metrics”, allowing CHROs to translate abstract feelings into measurable data.

“This data-driven approach empowers CHROs to make informed decisions and investments in areas that have the highest impact on employee satisfaction and engagement. Subsequently, CHROs can strategically invest in high-impact areas that directly contribute to improving the top HR metrics crucial for the organization’s overall success.”

Ambitions

Looking forward, Haffar is excited for what the future holds. Having seen so much growth over his first seven years at New Metrics, he is keen to see what kind of continued growth and impact he and the firm can achieve together, now that he is a partner.

Haffar concludes, “What I cherish most about my journey is the daily interaction with some of the brightest minds who share a common vision – whether they are fellow New Metrics colleagues or our valued customers. The collaborative spirit and shared commitment to enhancing experiences have created a vibrant and fulfilling work environment.”

“Knowing that our efforts contribute to positively touching the lives of individuals in the Middle East is not just a source of professional pride but also a personal source of happiness.”