Employee Stories from Silal

About Silal

Silal is part of ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabi’s diversified economy. Silal was established in September 2020 to diversify sources of food products and stimulate manufactured and agri-food sectors. Silal’s mandates include managing procurement programs and strategic stocks of foodstuffs. The company also executes specialised knowledge transfer programs on desert farming techniques and devises research and development projects.

Why is Silal committed to being a parent-friendly workplace?

At Silal, we value the role played by parents in uplifting their children’s capabilities. Work-life balance enables employees to accomplish their tasks and advance their careers while meeting the needs of the family in a healthy manner.

To us, work-life balance means better mental and physical health, increased creative thinking, bolstered productivity, increased engagement at work, and most importantly, it brings fulfillment and happiness to employees.

At Silal, we are driven by our commitment to expand our operations, but we are also keen to improve the wellness of our employees’ families. Therefore, we ensured that our policies enable our employees to carry out their responsibilities at work while respecting family time.

Share a parent-friendly workplace initiative that your organization excels with and the impact it is having on the workplace culture.

We implemented flexible hours, enabling parents to drop their children off at childcare, nursery or school in the morning or to go home early to be with their families
We implemented personal hours, giving parents the flexibility to attend to their family’s needs and events
We implemented emergency leave, allowing employees/parents to handle urgent obligations and emergencies

What are some of the business benefits you see from being a parent-friendly workplace?

We see productivity is now up while there has also been an increase in loyalty and commitment, and we are seeing more resilient, happier and healthier employees. In addition, family-friendly practices allow our employees to invest in their children – who are our future workforce.

Additionally, from a business perspective, the parent-friendly workplace helps us achieve good staff retention rates and ensure higher employee engagement. It also makes our team members our true advocates who will keep boosting our reputation in the marketplace.

Employee Stories

Eman Abdulhameed Ali Alhayki - Manager, Performance Management & Training

A few months ago, I decided to change my job as I was looking to achieve a greater work-life balance. It was then that I agreed to join Silal, which, looking back, was the best decision I’ve made, not only as a mother of four children, but also as an employee, where I have flexibility and support.

During my 14-year career working in the private sector, this is the first time I have been supported to be among my family members when it is needed. Silal’s policies are tailored with a sensible understanding of employees’ needs and personal commitments. This is demonstrated through the option of personal hours to handle obligations and emergencies; as well as the medical leave to care for family members.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Silal went the extra mile to maintain staff wellbeing, and supported all working mothers with different arrangements – such as flexible hours and, where needed, working remotely – to allow them to accommodate their family needs, while always feeling safe.

Today, while working with Silal, I am closer to my family and my children are happier, which strengthens my loyalty to the company. My children have even started talking about Silal with great pride and smiles – it seems they have become its hidden ambassadors!

I am a proud team member with great enthusiasm, who gives my best in order to contribute to the company’s aspirations and goals. I believe that Silal is an amazing place to work.

Mariam Al Mazrouei - Employee Relations Manager

I benefit from the option of flexible hours, which allows me to spend more time with my children in the morning. Since I am a single mother, the emergency leave helps me attend to any emergency at home.