ENARA: developing nuclear leadership in the UAE

Enara is a leadership training programme developed by the Nawah Energy Company, the operating and maintenance subsidiary for the Barakah nuclear plant in the United Arab Emirates, with the support of EDF Energy. The programme is provided to employees of Nawah and its parent company, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC).

Four APR1400 reactors are now in advanced stages of construction at the Barakah site, 300km west of Abu Dhabi. Units 1&2 have been completed and preparations for operation are now underway. Both ENEC and Nawah are members of WANO.

Enara is a strategic initiative designed to harness safety culture principles and leadership skills and create robust organisational leadership capabilities for safe operation at Barakah. The programme enables employees to develop their skills in many ways, including:

Safety culture: Enara is designed to impart soft skills and developmental leadership tools that are required as part of the nuclear industry framework. The programme is designed with a culture of safety focus.

INPO traits: Enara supports behavioural change across the organisation and is founded on the INPO ‘Leadership and Team Effectiveness’ attributes.

Leaders teaching leaders: Executives, senior management and subject experts facilitate specific modules and share their nuclear knowledge and experience, as well as their anecdotal stories. In addition to line managers, each leadership cohort or class has an ‘executive sponsor’ assigned to support the learning journey.

Learning by doing: The programme is based on offering leaders the opportunity to practice their new skills and tools in the workplace to ensure these are embedded, and thereby increase the effectiveness of the training.

Multi-cultural: In light of the multi-cultural, multi- national nature of the organisations, which comprise employees from over 40 nationalities, the programme participants are carefully selected to ensure cultural diversity, which is used as a springboard to encourage discussions on cultural differences and similarities. This is leveraged to build strong teams with a focus on safe operation.

Cross-departmental and organisational cohesion: In addition to developing leaders, the programme enhances organisational effectiveness. This is achieved by connecting leadership cohorts with participants from different functions and different parts of the hierarchy (such as department heads, managers, directors and chiefs). The mix of experience and functions allows participants to build personal relationships with colleagues outside their usual circle, and supports effective knowledge transfer and knowledge management. 

Participants are provided with tools to address ineffective behaviours and coaching and solutions for positive outcomes. Many leaders have learned new skills and improved their confidence in effective communication, group participation, and constructive coaching and feedback.

Leadership behaviour is a key driver for organisational performance. Delegates continue to report positive changes in their approach due to the knowledge and experience gained through the leadership training, and the positive impact these changes have on their teams. The changes include leaders taking more initiative and believing in themselves, leading by example and listening more, and having better functioning teams. They also result in a more inclusive leadership style, focusing on the important issues and removing barriers to performance. All of these benefits result in more cohesive, effective teams.

To date, the most significant benefits of the Enara programme are in enhanced understanding between the various cultures across the multi-cultural workforce, and enabling leaders to develop strong relationships with diverse groups, which helps to break down barriers and enhance organisational cohesion. In addition, leaders are provided with dedicated time to explore their own management styles, and become more self-aware in a safe environment, which is very effective for generating meaningful change in a short period of time. 

First image: Many leaders have learned new skills and improved their confidence through the Enara programme.

Second image: Participants in Enara are provided with tools to address ineffective behaviours and coaching and solutions for positive outcomes.