E-book of Culture Stories

Our Culture in Action for
High Performance

2018

The Team Behind This Initiative
“Sharing stories is a powerful practice. Stories help us connect with each other as we relate to experiences. And this
is precisely the intent of this e-book: relating culture concepts to the day to day experiences across all teams makes
these concepts “live” and show how they contribute towards the high-performance culture that defines us at Majid
Al Futtaim Ventures”. Elsa Goutveniger, Director Risk and Compliance, Finance
“Our culture is what unites us, where we can feel we are ‘speaking the same language’ or are ‘on the same page’.
The compilation of stories in this e-book are literally on the same page, or, at least, in the same book. They
illustrate the Ventures way of thinking, doing and being. The slice of our lives as employees of Majid Al Futtaim
Ventures unfold through impressions, feelings and interactions, each contributing to the sense of the overall
Ventures experience that delivers on quality and consistency’’ – Kate Stacey, Risk Analyst, Finance
“Our Company’s culture is an important element in our employees' working life, which shines though when it
comes to completing tasks, and interactions with colleagues and customers. As I started collecting stories, I realized
that Ventures employees are truly living and breathing the company’s culture to deliver the Majid Al Futtaim vision
and Ventures strategy.”
“Majid Al Futtaim Ventures is very diversified, we have 83 nationalities that all live the same culture !”- Bader Al
Hashimi, Former Management Trainee, Tomouhi
“Through this journey I completely understood why culture is the key to success, while interviewing the employees
I knew that by change the culture we need to start changing ourselves first in order to move forward. Most
importantly the beauty of the workplace culture is each one of us has different diversity. ” – Maryam Al Suwaidi,
Former Management Trainee, Tomouhi
#MyVentures #MyCultureStory

About Our Culture In Action for High-Performance
MOMENTS OF TRUTH & THE STRATEGY
Creating great moments is what we’re about; for our customers and
between Majid Al Futtaim Ventures employees. Advancing on our journey,
as we do, also presents us with moments of truth in our Ventures
aspirations, business targets and evolving market conditions that test our
ability to consistently deliver in accordance with our three key company
pillars: growth, profitability and sustainability.
In these times, we work together showing our passion to make our business
strategies a reality; the employees are the greatest assets and our culture is
our best tool.
• As Majid Al Futtaim Ventures expands in new regions and countries,
there’s a need to ensure that operations are set up smoothly, our
offering fits the new market and new team members are inducted into
our culture.
• As the economic climate changes, we need to distinguish ourselves from
competitors, maintain revenue and keep up the team spirit.
• As changes in consumer trends become more apparent, we need to
consider how to adapt our offering and meet new demands and
expectations of our customers.
Majid Al Futtaim Ventures optimizes these moments of truth through four
strategies:
• Fast Forward – Accelerating the growth of our businesses
• Next Horizon – Entering new markets
• Digital Transformation – Becoming a digital leader on the market
• Efficiency Drive – Driving internal efficiency in the way we operate and
generating cost savings
OUR GREATEST ASSETS
Business success relies on the people - us. Without our employees embodying and
aligning on the same mindsets, we will fail together. The key is in supporting:
Growth
• Get ready to drive and support the increase in size of the business – new stores,
new operations, new team members, additional support requirements
• A Growth mindset helps effectively maintain – not dilute – our culture when
entering new markets and integrate new team members when we acquire new
businesses
Transformation
• Welcome change, be open-minded and bear with the difficulties at first to be
challenged into doing things differently, lead and be the change
• A Transformation mindset supports effective change management
Efficiency
• Adapt to and embrace smarter, faster & more cost-effective ways of working.
• An Efficiency mindset contributes towards embedding effective behaviors to
foster our high- performance culture
Innovation
• Stay curious, think out of the box to translate an idea into something - a service,
an improved process - that creates value either for our customers or internally for
our people
• An Innovation mindset underpins our transformation journey by laying the
ground for thinking outside the box and promoting creativity
Ahmed Ismail – Chief Executive Officer
Nasma Abbas – Vice President – Human Capital

Ventures Mindset
Innovation
Innovation is about delivering new goods and
services, enhanced business models, and
introducing new or improved methods of working.
Innovation complements efficiency and
profitability. Innovation is truly in our DNA in Majid
Al Futtaim Ventures. We are known for introducing
new concepts and brands, acting as pioneers on
the market. Innovation also translates into
revolutionizing how we work, how we run our
businesses by challenging ourselves as we strive to
constantly improve.
Efficiency
In a general sense, efficiency is the ability to do
things well, successfully, without waste, and with
minimum amount of effort. Efficiency is a key pillar
in our strategy; it helps us run our businesses
smarter, quicker and more cost-effectively in order
to enhance the value we deliver to our customers.
Transformation
In an organizational context, transformation is a
process of fundamental change that takes an
organization to an entirely different level of
effectiveness. Our transformation in Ventures is
articulated around our digitization journey. Going
digital is a requirement of today. It helps us be
more efficient in what we do and address our
customers’ evolving expectations pro-actively.
Growth
Majid Al Futtaim Ventures’ growth objectives are
about increasing the size of our operations
organically (i.e. growing our businesses by building
new Fashion stores, new Magic Planets, new
cinemas, new clinics, selling more credit cards &
developing new products…) and through
acquisitions of new businesses (i.e. acquisition of
new cinemas, development of franchise & joint
ventures agreements with new brands or leisure
concepts…).

Culture Stories
Our Culture Concepts
About this collection
This book is a compilation of testimonies
from the people who make Majid Al
Futtaim Ventures. They illustrate how our
culture has, so far, enabled us to achieve
results. These stories reflect how our
essential mindsets towards growth,
transformation, efficiency & innovation
enable us to perform better and
collectively form the high-performance
culture we can be proud of in Majid Al
Futtaim Ventures.
Here, we celebrate how our shared
mindsets have been embedded across our
company, which shall be passed on as an
example to new team members and
beyond to draw inspiration from and
strengthen our key mindsets to, in turn,
deliver value.
Don’t forget to keep spreading and living
such high-performance habits. This is
dedicated to all of us!
Here’s what we covered:
❖ 700 hours of visits
❖ 50 stores and head offices
❖ 4 malls
❖ 150 employees shared their stories
❖ Over 16 weeks
Energy
Our energy fluctuates and affects our
effectiveness and our life. As team members
or leaders, we have an obligation to help
manage and direct our own energy, and that
of our teams for best results.
The Results Cone
The Results Cone illustrates that our thinking
drives our behaviors, which create our results.
The role of thought segment also reinforces
the notion that our thinking creates our
moods.
Teamwork
This concept demonstrates how as individuals
we tend to revert to counterproductive habits
or individualistic behaviors.
Mood Elevator
A way to describe different feeling states;
from gratitude at the top to depression at the
bottom.
Be Here Now
Be Here Now is simply being present, in the
moment, with a quiet, undistracted mind.
Appreciation
It’s the glue that holds teams and people
together, so increasing its frequency supports
organizational health and teamwork.

Blind Spots
Positive Intent
Behavior Styles
The principle is that we each see things
differently because we have our own blind
spots and different filters.
People are only doing the best they can (or
what they think they need to do), given the
state of mind that they are operating in at the
moment.
People’s behavioral styles provide added clues
to their own beliefs and selective perception.
We each have our own unique behavioral
style.
Shadow of The Leader
Accountability
Coaching & Feedback
Shadow of the Leader is an awareness of the
notion that as leaders and people, our
behavior is a strong influence on the behavior
of others.
Accountability is an attitude toward life that
incorporates high expectations, a focus on
results, and a “make it happen,” or “can do”
mindset.
Creating a feedback-rich environment is a
critical part of the culture-shaping process. It
is also one of the lowest scores reported on
the Corporate Culture Profile for most groups.
Blue Chips
Levels of Listening
A Curious Mindset
Developing a Blue-Chip mindset means giving
more thought to the things that have the
greatest value and choosing to focus time and
energy on them.
By becoming aware of one’s habits, an
individual can recognize more often when
he/she is listening appropriately to the
conversation.
Openness to new ideas, to learning and
growing and to change is fundamental to
healthy, high-performing individuals, teams,
and organizations.

10/24/2018
Transformation
We all have blind spots & a selective
perception. Being aware of those will help
us remember that we all see things from
different perspectives and remind
ourselves that sometimes we should
consciously shake these perspectives off to
see the same things collectively, especially
new things – new processes, new ways of
working - we may be less familiar with.
Providing coaching and feedback to each
other is essential to be able to go through
transformation effectively. Acknowledging
what we do well and less well helps
identify these areas for improvement
opportunities. Addressing those with
constructive feedback provides concrete
steps to drive change therefore making
transformation smoother.
Be aware of the shadow we cast around
ourselves. Our energy, moods and attitudes
are a mirror of ourselves that our teams as
well as our customers pick up on. Being
aware of our state of mind is the first step
towards deciding which shadow we want
to cast. An open-minded and change
embracing mindset will channel the
transformation journey.
“As much as coaching is
important for our teams for
their personal development,
their feedback is equally
important for overall
development” - Mihajlo
llic, All Saints, Mall of The
Emirates
“Coaching and receiving
feedback from my staff
highly motivates me; it
helps in solving issues.
This makes me really
happy to run the
operations smoothly and
to keep the happiness and
warmth among us all.
Being a team leader, I
always try to keep my staff
highly motivated.” - Malik,
Team Leader at Snow Pro,
Ski Dubai
#CoachingAndFeedback
“Be weary of the fact that you
do cast a shadow and make
sure that it is a positive one.” -
Michelle Walsh, COO, VOX
Cinemas
“Being appreciated makes
you more motivated to
exceed their expectations” –
Raymond Beredo, Customer
Service, VOX Cinemas
#ShadowOfTheLeader
#Appreciation
“Once a customer showed up
angry to the store but I decided
to assume positive intent and
smiled even though the
customer decided to avoid me.
But at the end when he came to
pay he smiled and apologized
and said that he had a long day.
I learned that when comes to
interpreting situations, we
should always be positive for a
change.” - Adam Halabi, A&F,
Deira City Center
#BlindSpots

#ShadowOfTheLeader
#ShadowOfTheLeader
Luz, from Prolog recalls a moment in which she
applied her manager's behavior after shadowing him
for some time!
Hisham El Atrash, Store
Manager at All Saints, Mall of
the Emirates, talks about how
important coaching and
feedback is to build a healthy
environment in the store and
keep up the good figures.
#CoachingAndFeedback
“I learned working in VOX
Cinemas that being aware
of blind spots when we
have a lot of customers
from different nationalities
is important. Therefore it is
really important to
understand what the
customer wants, treat them
all equally, and go an extra
mile to ensure they all get
the same service in order to
create their next great
moment.” Edline, VOX
Cinemas
#BlindSpots
#ShadowOF TheLeader

Efficiency
Being Here Now – or being fully present
in the moment without distractions –
and listening fully and openly to others
increases both productivity and
creativity as our efforts can be focused
to reach the highest levels of
performance.
Assuming positive intent helps keep the
bigger perspective in mind when
dealing with new situations. Changes
associated with new and efficient ways
of working will challenge ourselves.
Reminding ourselves that we’re all here
working with the same goals in mind
will help go through challenges!
Appreciation is the sign of a healthy,
growth-oriented organizational culture.
Our digital rewards and recognition
programme allows to appreciate each
other whilst acknowledging and
celebrating what we do well.
Appreciation is the glue that holds
teams together.
“I believe that in order to be fully
present at work, we should leave
all problems at home every
morning before coming to work
to ensure we provide the best
customer service for our
customers so that they visit
again”- Islam, Orbi
Tarek, from Ski Dubai,
who works as Ski Patrol
reflects on how much
appreciation motivates
him!
#BeHereNow
#Appreciation
Hera, Penguin Trainer at Ski Dubai
reflects on the importance of high
energy at work, especially when
dealing with animals.
She also talks about how she recharges
her energy at work.
#Appreciation
#Energy
#Appreciation
“Appreciation is important
to me because it makes my
day, whether it comes from
the workplace or customers.
Appreciation motivates me.”
- Heresha, Orbi
“It is very important when
someone is appreciating
you. If it comes from
customers before the
manager, it means you
working very hard.
The most important thing is
when people know you by
your name.”- Dareen, Stylist
at All Saints, Mall of the
Emirates
#Appreciation
#Appreciation

“Energy is all what makes us act
and empowers us and it’s our
choice the right energy to walk
in with at work everyday”
“We at Najm, are a great bunch
of people with high and
positive energy and we always
assume positive intentions
when we work as a team.”
- Head of Cards Products, Najm
#Energy
“Working at VOX cinemas, I’ve
learned about the importance of
energy especially with the learning
and development team.” “Having a
positive and fun energy is the
secret to our dedication.”
“we are constantly developing an
environment were people want to
be part of and that is because we
want to create great moments for
everyone everyday” - Pauline Rizk,
Learning and Development
Manager, VOX Cinemas
#Energy
Renata Plessinger from Najm talks
about the importance of listening
when it comes to engaging with
clients but also colleagues at work.
#LevelsOfListening
Afaf, Area Manager from VOX
Cinemas, shares her view on
the power of appreciation.
#Appreciation
#Energy
#Energy
“I always have high energy
because of my team, so
whenever my energy is down ,
my team always cheer me up’’
– Shiva, Ski Instructor, Ski
Dubai
Joyce from VOX Cinemas shares
her thoughts on the importance of
having good energy and how it
transfers between an employee
and the customers.
#BeHereNow

‘‘Managing our energy is very
important for us as instructors, as we
are constantly dealing with customers
closely in the tunnel.’’ - Alaa, Instructor
at IFly
#Energy
Lina Chahine, Internal Communications and
CEO’s Office Manager, reflects on how she
radiates her energy at work!
#BeHereNow
#Energy
#Energy
Mohammed from the L&E IT projects team
reflects on his application of the ‘Be Here Now’
concept.
Not only does he apply it at work but also at
home with his family.
#BeHereNow #Energy
Mitchell from Lululemon, Dubai Marina Mall,
reflects on how he leaves personal issues at
home in order to show up to work fully present.
‘‘Having energy is really important
when dealing with kids who ae
always energetic and are ready for
any challenge that you throw at
them’’ - Alvin, Sales Assistant,
Lego, Dubai Marina Mall
Lucy, Store Manager at Monsoon, Dubai Marina
Mall, shares a passionate story of appreciation.

“It is very important to
be attentive listeners
for us as employees of
Little Explorers since
our customers are all
kids. They require a lot
of attention.
Once they are dropped
over here, they become
our responsibility.”
Salah, Little Explorers,
Dubai Marina Mall
Muhammad, Financial
Accountant from FSSC
shares his appreciation
story.
#LevelsOfListening
#Appreciation
Marie, Senior Animator, at
Little Explorers shares an
appreciation story on
when they were voted as
‘Best Entertainment
Centre’ by Time Out Dubai
– “being appreciated is
such a great feeling…’”
Shiela, P2P supervisor,
FSSC, ‘‘I have been with
FSSC for 2 years. I have
suggested one innovation
for AX that is called all
entity report, where
everyone is already using
this platform, I’m proud
that I’ve been appreciated
because of that and all the
operating companies in
MAF are using it, so I am
really thankful for that’’
#Appreciation #Appreciation
Sneha from FSSC, ‘‘I have
was part of the AP team
preparing KPI reports for
them, but later I moved
to another department
where I was handling
accounts receivable. The
AP team has asked me to
prepare KPI reports for
them which have been
appreciated by the Head
of FSSC, which was a
great turn in my career.’’
H. Mohammed from
Little Explorers talks
about the importance of
having high energy in his
workplace.
#Appreciation
Durash from Lego, Dubai
Marina Mall says,
“Working in the Lego
store, our customers are
mainly kids, so listening is
really important to us to
provide them what they
are looking for and what is
better for them in terms
of finding toys that match
their age. In general,
listening is really
important to our business
in order to improve and
give the best customer
experience.”
#LevelsOfListening
John, instructor at IFly, “It
is amazing to see guests
experience IFly for the
first time; it feels amazing
when you get appreciated
by them. It means that
I’ve worked hard gave the
best first experience, it
makes me work harder
and become more
dedicated to my work’’
#Appreciation

#Teamwork
10/24/2018
Growth
Keep our eyes on the ball, prioritize our
efforts, basically focus on our blue chips
Living our value of togetherness –
Teamwork is our key to be able to
negotiate the best deals, minimize our
costs by leveraging our size as a collective
business thus improving our bargaining
power.
Be aware of our strengths and weaknesses
as a collective team and leverage them.
We each have different behavior styles –
controlling, analyzing, promoting &
supporting - to complement each other
“In Majid Al Futtaim we
work together, we sit and
eat together also and that’s
a great moment for us. And
most of all, we respect each
other and the culture and
we care about each other
and that’s a great moment
we create for us and
everyone.” – Joseph, Lego,
Store Manager, Mall of the
Emirates
#Teamwork
“I always come to
work with a blue chip
mindset. In fact, I
always come to work
with a to do list to
ensure that I’m
always on track and
meeting deadlines on
priority basis.” -
Lorena, Prolog
#BlueChips
Don Dee, our
passionate Penguin
trainer at Ski Dubai
shares his view on
the importance of
teamwork.
#Teamwork
Zainab Khan,
Senior Human
Capital Manager,
remembers a
moment when
accountability and
teamwork join
forces!
#Teamwork

“I’ve been with the
company for the past
11 years and counting.
What I really like about
MAF culture is that
regardless of your
nationality, your
gender, your beliefs,
your tradition, your
religion, it does not
discriminate you.
It allows you to be
yourself, which leads
to performing to your
best abilities.
With this type of
culture, you can
behave in your own
behavior style, and it
makes you understand
other behavior styles
and accept them
which leads to
understanding each
other and having
fantastic teamwork.” –
Aga, Compliance
Manager, L&E
#BehaviourStyles
“Team work makes our
dream work!”- Janet,
Sales Assistant at Lego,
Dubai Marina Mall
“For the play area and
the trampoline, we
encourage the kids to
play together and
interact which other
especially if they are
from different
nationalities. We also
teach them that they
should be treated
equally.” – Games
Operator, Magic
Planet, MOE
#Teamwork
#BehaviourStyles
#Teamwork #Teamwork
“Teamwork is
important as it’s a
strong spirit of
togetherness with the
team understanding
each other, helping
each other and I truly
believe that two heads
are better than one” -
Alona, Monsoon, Mall
of the Emirates
“I have learned about
team work; we work
together despite being
from other
departments to make
great moments for
everyone” - Michael
Sebastian, CPO
#Teamwork #Teamwork

#Teamwork
h
#Teamwork
#Teamwork
“What I like about Majid
Al Futtaim culture is our
strength of teamwork. We
All work towards one goal,
which is fulfilling Mr.
Majid’s Dream, which is
creating great moments
for everyone everyday” -
Nigora, Excellence &
Quality Assurance Officer,
Majid Al Futtaim Fashion
“The main point of teamwork is
to achieve goals easily. If you
have teamwork, unity, and
motivation you can easily get
things done” - Shahryar, Cash
Office, Ski Dubai
#Teamwork
#Teamwork
“Teamwork is very important
in VOX to attain our target.” -
Rose, Customer Service
Assistant, VOX Cinemas
“Teamwork to me is
working all together,
finishing our tasks,
completing our tasks to
meet our target in VOX.”-
John, Customer Service
Assistant, VOX
“Teamwork is very important, because when we are together and working as one, it
gives us more energy, more strength. That leads to creating great moments for all our
guests, even our colleagues and managers.
For me everyday is new experience with teamwork with Orbi; we all support each other
with work, we really need that since we recently launched and I recently joined”
- Samuel, Orbi, Mirdiff City Centre
#Teamwork

Hussain, Ski Instructor at
Ski Dubai talks about how
he gets his motivation
from work.
#MoodElevator
Princess from Lego, Mall of the
Emirates, talks about what
elevates her mood when she’s at
work.
“Every morning before we start
the shift, I make sure “clearing”
is part of our briefing. This
helps in letting out all of the
emotions or distractions that
will prohibit us form being fully
present, which then increases
our mood, ready to interact
with our guests.” - Samir, Team
Leader, Lululemon, Mall of The
Emirates
#MoodElevator
#MoodElevator
Sanjar, a Customer Service Officer
from Ski Dubai talks about how
customers impact his mood at work.
Rahul, Merchandiser for
Lululemon and Sacoor Brothers:
“I believe that coming to the
office with my mood at the
highest peak of the elevator,
does not only have an impact on
the team at work and keeps
everyone happy, but also
impacts the quality of the work
produced.“
#MoodElevator
#MoodElevator
“My responsibility is to
prepare all exhibits for the
day, checking every part of
this business unit, like
cashiers, workshop, and
exhibit. I'm so thankful to
be given this responsibility
as it makes me proud to be
held accountable.” - Shiela,
Customer Service Assistant,
Mirdif City Centre
#Accountability
#MoodElevator

10/24/2018
Innovation
Stay curious and open to new horizons –
Resistance to change is a natural human
reality. When we remain curious we can
discover new ideas. Having an open
mindset allows us to view change as
opportunities for self-development and
contribution towards the future.
Accountability – Accountability &
empowerment to drive ideas go hand-inhand.
When we feel accountable for the
results of our own actions and behaviors,
we take more control over those results.
Being accountable is a cornerstone for
successfully implementing new ideas and
driving innovation.
Gravity – Whilst embracing an
accountability mindset is essential to drive
innovation, being able to identify those
things we cannot control – gravity issues –
also helps focus our time and energy on
what we can impact directly, thus gaining
peace of mind, being more effective in
what we do and more creative, precisely
to take innovation to another level.
Being a accountable
means you are a
teamwork player, you
listen to your colleges,
you try deliver the best
service’’- Noha,
Marketing and
Communications
Manager, Najm
Lucciana from Magic
Planet shares a story on
how a curious mindset
leads to innovation.
#Accountability
#CuriousMindset
“Fostering innovation and
openness to new ideas is very
important to the company’s
success.”
“Actually this is what I found
here at VOX Cinemas, that
everyone is supporting new
ideas. In fact this what I noticed
when I introduced the new staff
verification tool - Philip Abdou,
Training Executive, VOX
Cinemas
Despite joining L&E recently,
Farida, who works in Orbi
shares a success story of
accountability.
#CuriousMindset
#Accountability
Meshael Al Bloushi, Human
Capital Manager, Najm,
shares the importance of
having a curious mind and
adapt to change
Lorie, instructor, IFly Dubai,
talks about the importance
of not letting customers
sense that your mood is
down.
#CuriousMindset
#MoodElevator

#MoodElevator
“One day, when I just finished work
and was getting ready to leave.
While taking my stuff, I spotted a
regular customer. He told me that he
came with the family to play and
that they were looking for me as
they always prefer me to operate
the games that they choose to play.
This incident really lifted my mood
up and motivated me to stay over
my shift.
For me interacting with customers
really lifts my mood up.”
Mohammed Ameen, Games
Operator, Magic Planet, Mirdif City
Centre
“We are only human beings, so
sometimes we come to work with our
mood down the mood elevator due to
work-related issues or personal issues.
However, when we come to work we
are expected to give 100% in terms of
performance.
For me when I come to work and my
mood is down, I would go around my
colleagues, talk to them, joke with
them and have fun in order to lift my
mood up.
We are always interacting with
customers - we need to make sure they
don’t sense when our mood is down.”
- Paulfa, VOX Cinemas, Mirdif City
Centre