Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: Haifa Al Khaifi, the 26th most powerful woman in the Arab world, has appealed to Omani women to support one another and understand each other’s unique challenges to be successful.
In an e-mailed interview with the Times of Oman, Petroleum Development of Oman’s (PDO’s) Chief Financial Officer (CFO), spoke about her achievements, qualities and message for the young Omani women and upcoming leaders.
“My plea and usual mantra is for women to continue to support one another. Appreciating the types of unique challenges and demands faced by fellow women in the workplace and society at large, female leaders should ideally facilitate the fair representation of women’s needs in an organisation,” Al Khaifi said.
She also suggested that this can be achieved through “championing policies, which result in equitable chances for women to succeed or to drive specific management training and career development that can help close gender gaps.”
She appealed to women in leadership positions to ensure that female advancement is not impeded, by ensuring an appropriate sustainable balance of gender equality in the organisation’s talent funnel.
Al Khaifi expressed her delight on being featured in the Forbes list for the fourth consecutive time as a source of great pride and a tribute to all of those who have been influential in her life.
“In addition to my parents and family, this honour is extended to my teams in the Finance Directorate, and to Petroleum Development Oman, including my peers, and our Managing Director Raoul Restucci, for his guidance. It also provides further visibility of our beloved country, the Sultanate of Oman, and with seven Omani ladies named in the top 100, it is a demonstration of the unwavering support towards women, by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said,” she said.
Al Khaifi has been the Finance Director at PDO since 2012 and served on the Board of Directors of the company. She also thanked PDO for its unwavering support in her career development.
Her role at PDO includes being the Company and Board Secretary with responsibilities in other areas, including contracting and procurement, treasury, payroll, strategic financing, legal, risk and assurance/compliance, business partnering and finance in projects. Her team members are pegged at about 450.
“PDO runs in my veins. This company has been there for me, since I joined at a tender age of 21. I received first-class training and development, was sponsored to pursue a professional accountancy qualification, given stretching on-the-job development opportunities and the chance to work abroad (United Kingdom, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates) in various sectors (upstream oil and gas, gas and power, oil products) and working for companies, such as Shell, with a wide span of control. I was trusted to deliver demanding projects at varying levels of seniority. This helped instil a sense of discipline and accountability very early on in my career. PDO is instrumental in helping me achieve this recognition. It is a privilege to work for such a professional and pioneering organisation,” she stated.
Commenting on her strengths, she said “I believe my strengths are centred on an ability to stay focused, a willingness to take calculated risks, commitment to building a shared vision and relentlessly driving change. What may have placed me above a lot of other successful women in the Arab business world is the combination of an exceptionally capable team reporting to me, a very supportive family, and an unwavering support network of wise friends and dedicated mentors. Additionally, I am very passionate about what I do, and am rigorously dedicated towards ensuring that staff realise their true potential through talent management. I proactively coach talent within PDO as well, and externally. It gives me immense pleasure to give back to society in a selfless manner, and I am tenaciously committed and dedicated towards serving my country.”
