Hi all! My name is Elea Claudelle Karam, I am currently a second year student in Communication Science. I would like to tag you along my journey as an intern at Network International, in Dubai.
The company’s has headquarters across MEA (Middle East and Africa), while the corporate head office is in Dubai, where I was lucky enough to be stationed in and amongst other colleagues. Network International has been the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region for the past 25 years. They are well known for their N-Genius POS machine, which in simple terms translates to the software used by card machines to enable phone payments such as Apple Pay and others. They have positioned themself at the forefront of adopting the digital realm in every sector from HR solutions, and internal and external communication to sales. Fortunately, I was able to operate within the HR sector, focused on internal communication.
Upon arrival, you are confronted with a new environment, and in my experience, the corporate world is both fascinating and quite intimidating. Unsure of how to begin, I was lucky to have a great team beside me who inspired me and taught me the essentials. I worked closely with the Head of Human Resources and was given a primary goal, employee engagement. Thus, while taking into account Network’s core values I implemented a couple of initiatives that I believed could increase overall employee relationships. Hence, I have curated a monthly newsletter titled “Network Spotlight” that would include the key HR achievements, goals per region, internal events, corporate social Responsibilities initiatives, and a page titled “Beyond the Desk” tailored to focus on employees. For example, for World Health Day held on April 7th, we have asked employees to share a recipe, health tips, and fitness journeys which we would like to feature in the newsletter. Additionally, as the company has offices across countries certain concerns were put forth by employees, and discussions were raised in HR. One of the issues was a lack of women empowerment in one of the offices. Thus, as I was focused on internal communications I deemed it highly important to foster an environment where women could feel included and recognized for their efforts. I proposed the idea of curating a Women Empowerment Award, whereby colleagues can nominate women across all regions for different awards such as “The Diversity Champion”, “The Women Empowered” and “The Women Innovator”. Such an initiative fostered a community of allyship and inclusivity and was well appreciated by employees as well as the HR Team.
The daily routine consisted of heading into the office early morning, discussing with my collogues what the tasks of the week were and equally I found it important to come up with personal input in areas I felt could be improved. It was fun being able to learn and also contribute as a team. I could definitely see myself working there, I feel as though it’s a place that allows you to grow both professionally and personally. Being in internal communication is a sector I see myself in, however, I feel as though in the future it would be interesting to experience external communication, where I can focus on working with the press.
I strongly believe that is is important to do an internship in the field you’re studying to gain experience and understand how to interact in the corporate environment. A thanks to UVA for implementing this block dedicated to internships! Overall, an incredible experience both on a personal and professional level.