BUILDING CAPACITY

To accomplish our vision of being recognised as a leading nuclear regulator FANR implements and conducts extensive programmes to foster and nurture our organisation’s resources, skills and processes.

82

Qualified
inspectors

50

Emirati
Qualified inspectors

295

internal and external training

241

employees

68%

Emirati

41%

Women

At FANR we are committed to optimising the skills, processes and resources needed to excel and realise our corporate vision.

Our capacity-building efforts include steadfast support of the government’s Emiratisation initiative. The main goal of all education and training activities at FANR is to ensure Emiratis are trained and developed to have the required skills and knowledge to contribute effectively to FANR’s core functions.

Long-term career opportunities for Emirati employees at FANR are encouraged through focused recruitment, knowledge transfer and training and development programmes. In 2020 Emiratis accounted for 68% of the 241 employees. FANR continues to attract talented Emiratis to meet its business requirements.

Women at FANR

Women play a fundamental role in carrying out FANR’s mandate of regulating the UAE’s nuclear sector and ensuring the protection of the public, workers and the environment. Women make up over 41% of our overall workforce. They hold leadership positions and play key roles in our Nuclear Safety Department, Nuclear Security Department, Safeguards Department, Radiation Safety Department, and Education and Training Department. There are also female employees at FANR who have completed postgraduate studies in nuclear science.

Through our educational and vocational programmes, FANR conducted various training and development initiatives in 2020.

Leadership and Management Development Programme

This programme establishes a platform for FANR employees to become better leaders and contributors within FANR as well as valuable contributors to FANR’s broader regulatory and transparency goals. FANR’s leadership competency framework designed in 2019 serves as the base line for all leadership programmes. The first FANR leadership development centre was conducted in 2020 during which 40 of FANR’s directors, managers and successors were assessed against the FANR leadership competency framework.

Scholarship Programme

To develop our qualification portfolio, FANR awards scholarships to Emirati employees to complete tertiary qualifications at leading institutions such as Zayed University, Manchester University, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Khalifa University. Khalifa University is where the first FANR scholarship programme employee achieved her PhD degree and where another colleague completed her MSc Degree.

Internship Programme

The FANR Internship Programme offers interns the platform to discover life as a future FANR employee. In 2020 FANR could only accommodate three interns as the programme was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A virtual internship will be explored, which will give the programme more sustainability and offer further support for university students.

Competency Development Framework

The competency development framework is the foundation for continuously ensuring a highly competent workforce at FANR. In 2020, technical and behavioural competency assessments for both divisions were completed in an effort to highlight focused training and development needs. 2020 also saw the launch of the Competency Framework Automation System where employees and their managers can now conduct online competency assessments using their laptops and mobile devices.

Young ‘Developee’ Programme

The Young ‘Developee’ Programme at FANR is designed to provide fresh Emirati engineering and science graduates with the fundamental knowledge necessary to understand technical concepts applicable to nuclear engineering, radiation protection and regulation.

In 2020, FANR completed the Legal ‘Developee’ programme and two ‘developees’ joined the Legal Department of FANR. This programme was created to provide fresh law graduates with the fundamental knowledge necessary to understand concepts related to the agreements and legislation relating to FANR and the UAE’s peaceful nuclear programme in addition to other concepts relating to Federal Law by Decree No. (6) of 2009 Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. The ‘developees’ on this programme will learn about the day-to-day duties of the Legal Department in relation to the scope of work of the four technical departments in the Operations Division at FANR.

Internal Training Programme

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, 295 internal and external training events were conducted in 2020 for more than 93% of FANR employees. The mix included technical and non-technical training provided by both Emirati and expatriate staff. A variety of different training methodologies was used including classroom training, self-study, tabletop exercises, laboratory work and simulations. The suspension of physical training at the beginning of March due to the restrictions imposed during the pandemic gave rise to more online training opportunities as employees were able to continue their development whilst working remotely.

Inspector Qualification Programme

In 2020 the FANR workforce included 82 inspectors qualified to carry out inspections at nuclear and industrial facilities in the UAE. Fifty of those inspectors are Emirati. The qualification follows a rigid programme including initial training topics, an inspector job-shadowing programme and Ministry of Justice training to become authorised judicial officers. Every three years an inspector is required to participate in re-qualification training to renew their inspector card.

Knowledge is the nuclear industry's most valuable asset and resource; it is the foundation for the industry’s safe and sustainable operations. FANR management acknowledges this by investing in knowledge acquisition and retention.

In 2020 the FANR Knowledge Management Programme achieved new milestones towards its vision to be an internationally recognised leader for other knowledge management programmes. The focus during this year was on collaborating with quality management and adapting the lessons learnt in knowledge management practices to FANR’s process and procedures so as to enhance services to employees. A secondary focus was on increasing the communication channels between employees to ease knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer, which will contribute to operational safety and business continuity.

FANR Knowledge Management and ISO

This year the FANR Knowledge Management Programme achieved an international milestone. As FANR became the first nuclear regulator to achieve the ISO 30401:2018 on Knowledge Managements Systems. This is a result of management support, adapting the lessons learnt and continuous improvement of the programme’s process and activities.

Reviewing Knowledge Management Process and Procedures

One of the most important tasks of the FANR Knowledge Management Programme this year involved reviewing the knowledge management process, procedures and templates with the two-fold aim of adopting the lessons learnt over the last two years and reflecting on the actual enhancements related to knowledge management implementation activities. As a result of the review, FANR has started to develop work instructions for the knowledge management activities to preserve the operational knowledge of knowledge management programmes.

Experts Directory in Knowledge Management Portal

An ‘Experts Directory’ was introduced this year as a new and additional channel to facilitate the identification of FANR’s experts as well as increasing the possibility of communication between the knowledge seekers and the knowledge owners. The FANR Experts Directory is fully automated and incorporates clear approval steps for anyone applying to be an expert including verification of work-related experiences to ensure the system’s reliability.

e-Learning Videos

FANR began developing its own animated e-learning videos in-house, which will help to capture, share and transfer targeted knowledge. The FANR e-learning animated videos represent an important milestone in the cycle of mitigating the risk of losing knowledge through an attractive learning method. More innovative e-learning and knowledge sharing methods will be introduced.

FANR spares no effort to encourage a positive culture.

Cultural Diversity

FANR’s values and organisational culture are built on teamwork and excellence. Our Emirati and expatriate colleagues work together under defined objectives, and follow structured integrated management procedures to ensure quality and strong governance. Many initiatives are conducted internally to ensure there is harmonisation amongst colleagues, a social connection and togetherness with the aim of creating a strong working environment that promotes transparency, excellence and safety culture.

Employee Happiness and Well-being

Employee happiness and wellbeing, both of which are fundamental goals at FANR, are inspired by the UAE’s National Happiness and Well-being Programme. Our ongoing Employee Happiness and Well-being programme aims to create a positive and encouraging work environment to meet staff needs and cater for their happiness.

FANR recognises the value of innovation in ongoing technological advancement.

FANR’s dedicated Innovation Management Office created and implemented the FANR Innovation Strategy, launched in 2019. The strategy focuses on managing innovation processes at FANR, ensuring the optimal use of innovation resources, optimising the innovation project portfolio and securing the portfolio’s effective realisation. During the year under review, the Innovation Management Office worked on the main initiatives and activities designed to entrench an innovation culture within the organisational work environment, such as:

• Further implementing the Innovation Strategy including innovation drivers and enablers as well as the FANR Innovation Vision and Strategic Objectives for the identified focus areas.

• Launching the FANR Innovation Accelerator Programme, which aims to promote creative thinking and strengthen the innovation capabilities of FANR colleagues and the Innovation Management Office through online training sessions, physical and digital Innovation Lab sessions, and using innovative tools to enhance idea generation on the innovation platform entitled, ‘Thoughts’.

• Improving the Innovation Management Office structure with defined roles and responsibilities to consolidate the new team.

• Increasing collaboration and synergies with partner organisations and other external stakeholders.

• Conducting several benchmarking visits with other leading national, federal and governmental entities and with international leading organisations in the field of nuclear energy.

• Developing the 2020-2021 Innovation Communication Campaign to update FANR colleagues about all past, ongoing and future activities organised by the Innovation Management Office as well as all further important decisions relating to innovation at FANR.

• Developing a filtration and evaluation process for ideas and suggestions submitted through the innovation platform.

• Announcing the first two Intellectual Property certificates in FANR’s history (for FARAS and NuTech Portal).