Zuhair Murad

Zuhair Murad emerged onto the fashion scene at Paris Fashion Week in 2001 and the company has been growing internationally ever since. As a result, management decided to make structural changes to the company in order to support the new operational capabilities needed to serve the international marketplace. This led to a new product-based organization structure followed by the creation and modification of several key job roles at the company.

Zuhair Murad hired Omcore Consulting to transform the HR department from an administrative to a strategic function. At the time, the HR team simply assisted with recruitment, calculated payroll, and completed day-to-day administrative tasks. Furthermore, Zuhair Murad requested full implementation support for all our deliverables, including knowledge sharing with the HR team.

1. The Situation

The organizational structure changes at Zuhair Murad were not reflected in the HR department. The HR team did not have a strategic direction or any operational framework to follow. It was business as usual in the HR department.

A thorough HR audit revealed many problems that were having a negative impact on the company’s operations:

• The organization structure was no longer clear to employees. Some positions, including managerial ones, reported to multiple people while others did not know who they should report to in certain situations.
• The HR team was not involved in any strategic planning. Decisions related to job openings, manpower planning, compensation and benefits, and budgeting were not taking place in the department.
• The company did not have formal policies and procedures that govern the HR department and staff. There was no consistency in how the department operated and employees were not treated equally.
• Clear job descriptions for most positions were not available. All existing job descriptions were created for the purpose of posting the vacancies online at the time of recruitment.
• Compensation and benefits were assigned randomly with no budgeting or benchmarking to market data.
• The company didn’t have a formal performance management system. Employees lacked the motivation to perform at full capacity since no clear incentives existed. They complained of subjectivity in raises and promotions.
• The HR department performed most of its functions using a paper-based approach and used basic technology, such as Excel spreadsheets, to manage data. The operation was inefficient and prone to human errors.

2. Our Approach

The company’s growth trajectory and changing structure presented us with multiple challenges, so we had to approach the project with a tailored methodology to ensure a successful implementation that will yield positive results:

Zero-based Design

We approached the project with a blank slate and no reference to existing HR operations. Our only points of reference were the company’s strategy and existing pain points to solve.

Change Management

Engaging key stakeholders throughout the project was critical. We set a change management strategy and communications plan throughout the life cycle of the project to create awareness and secure buy-in from all stakeholders.

International Applicability

Zuhair Murad operates in countries with different business regulations. Therefore, our work had to comply with the legal requirements of seven countries while maintaining consistency in the HR function’s global strategic approach.

Operational Integration

The HR team lacked technical knowledge in the project’s scope of work. Consequently, it was essential for our team to integrate into the HR department’s operations in order to facilitate implementation and hand-off.

Capability Building

For the implementation to be successful, our team had to develop the skills of the existing HR team and build the HR department’s capabilities to lead the change and manage the newly transformed HR function moving forward.

Zuhair Murad needed each phase to be fully implemented before moving on to a new phase of the project. A repeatable cycle was utilized to meet Zuhair Murad’s needs:

Design Solution

Omcore’s consulting team conducted research on-premises to fully understand the company’s operations and designed solutions to enable the achievement of strategic objectives.

Submit Deliverable

Each deliverable was first submitted to top management and discussed in a series of meetings. Feedback was gathered and integrated into our proposed solutions.

Receive Approval

Revised deliverables were submitted to top management for final approval.

Socialize to Stakeholders

Our consultants facilitated workshops with the relevant stakeholders for each project phase in order to communicate the deliverables and changes.

Implement Solution

Omcore consultants implemented solutions with the assistance of the HR team. This step also included training and development for the HR team members.

3. The Solution

The first step in our project was to map out the existing organization structure and recommend changes. The structure was still being modified at the time, so our team was involved in assessing the changes proposed by top management and making recommendations accordingly. We were able to create a detailed organization structure for the entire group of companies, including international operations, and clarify the span and scope of control for each position.

Next, Omcore developed HR policies and procedures and created different versions to comply with labor laws from different countries of operation. An employee handbook was also created from the core policies and procedures document.

We also conducted a thorough job analysis at Zuhair Murad’s premises in order to write all the job descriptions, which included information on the duties, requirements, competencies, and other relevant factors.

In the following phase, Omcore’s consultants created a custom performance management system to accommodate Zuhair Murad’s operations. All Line Managers received training on how to administer performance appraisals.

In the final stage, Omcore conducted a market salary survey in Lebanon to benchmark Zuhair Murad’s salaries to similar companies in the same industry. We were able to acquire data from 70% of fashion design companies with headcounts of 100 employees or more. A salary scale and grading structure was developed using internal and external salary data. This led to salary adjustments for key positions and the implementation of a clear policy for raises, promotions, and bonuses.

Throughout the project, Omcore participated in the identification, assessment, and selection of the HR software provider to digitize all project deliverables.

The final project deliverables allowed Zuhair Murad to:

• Optimize their organizational structure across international operations and clarify operational reporting lines
• Clarify the duties, responsibilities, and performance requirements for all job roles
• Implement a talent management framework that enabled manpower planning, talent assessment, and talent development practices
• Apply clear and standardized HR policies and procedures across all international operations
• Improve accountability by implementing an objective performance appraisal system
• Decrease employee turnover by benchmarking and aligning salaries for key positions
• Propose a departmental budget which accounts for recruitment, performance bonuses, training, and other related factors
• Fully digitize the HR function and increase the operational efficiency of the entire department