Emirates Group: ‘We need to have the courage to challenge old ways of working to meet the needs of a changing workforce’

“I think I have one of the best jobs in the world,” Oliver Grohmann said as he sat down for his exclusive interview ahead of UNLEASH World 2025.

As the Executive Vice President of Human Resources for the Emirates Group, Grohmann oversees the full people agenda for more than 121,000 colleagues in Dubai and around the globe.

In a company renowned for its customer experience, his mission is to ensure the same standard of excellence is delivered internally, creating a workplace where people feel valued, empowered, and inspired to give their best.

For Grohmann, HR is not simply a support function, but a strategic driver of growth, culture and innovation. From scaling talent development to embedding recognition in everyday life, UNLEASH sat down to have an exclusive conversation with him to find out more.

Building the best place to work in aviation

Part of the businesses People Strategy is its roadmap to make the Emirates Group the best place to work in aviation. 

To achieve this, there are six core pillars: Talent attraction; talent development; Emiratisation; diversity; health and wellbeing; and rewards and recognition – these are all enabled by technology and data, communication, and values and culture. 

These pillars have therefore been translated to become clear initiatives with owners, milestones, and KPIs across the Group. 

“It’s already sharpening how we hire, grow, recognize, and care for our people, but most importantly, its future proofs us for the ambitious future growth of our organization – of Dubai as well as of our aviation industry,” Grohmann says.

He explains that these core pillars have been instrumental to the businesses success, helping the Group achieve a numerous milestones over the past few years. 

There are a number of things which my team and I can be proud of,” Grohmann adds. “We have been able to ramp up our business post-COVID much faster than others, we recruited thousands of employees across the globe under challenging circumstances.”

Emirates is well known for its cutting-edge customer experience. To ensure this translates to the wider business, the Group has started several initiatives to ensure that its people have a similar premium experience.

For Grohmann, this includes elevating services to not only look at ‘what’ they serve, but also ‘how’ they serve and enable their workforce.

“I’m proud of how we’ve elevated recognition – making it part of everyday life, not just an annual moment,” he shares. “It sits at the heart of our culture and celebrates the dedication and achievements of our people.”

Emirate’s flagship Najm Chairman’s Awards, led by our Chairman & Chief Executive, is a large part of this success, as it honors excellence across six categories: Customer, innovation, safety, environment, social and governance. 

What’s more, their end-to-end recognition programme that values day-to-day simple tools, clear criteria, and timely appreciation means more ‘thank you’ moments more often. As a result, Grohmann reports a clear impact: “People feel seen, company values come to life, and performance follows.”

This investment in recognition also translates to cultural awareness, ensuring every colleague feels part of something bigger than themselves – an initiative that’s particularly important as the Emirates Group has 121,000 employees from 180 different nationalities. 

Grohmann shares: “We can truly say we have a diverse culture! It starts with respect and understanding. 

“We celebrate diversity but also unite around shared values, a common vision, and our pride in the Emirates Group. We are proud of our unique culture and the loyalty of our people, I have never seen so many long serving colleagues.”

Navigating a future shaped by data and people

As Grohmann mentions, the aviation industry has seen major disruption over the years, with the Emirates Group demonstrating a strong track record of managing these events.

“Financial crisis, Gulf war, SARS – no matter what it was, we have managed to only become stronger!,” he exclaims.

We are reimagining HR to anticipate change, see opportunity in change, not just respond to it. 

“That means, for example, workforce and succession planning, real-time dashboards that give leaders the insight to act fast, and learning programmes that build both future technical skills and human skills.”

Part of this is using technology to scale while staying people-first. For example, Masar, the Group’s new recruitment platform, streamlines the journey and cuts application time from 11 minutes to just 3 minutes. 

Additionally, the 24/7 AI policy assistant answers staff queries instantly and keeps learning, and the Groups VR onboarding system immerses new joiners in the airlines culture and operations before they land in Dubai. Grohmann explains that the outcome to this is “faster decisions, greater resilience, and a better employee experience at every step.”

He adds: “We have great products, a strong brand, excellent service, but our most important asset is our people! 

“We are blessed, because this is in our DNA and constantly highlighted by our Chairman Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, and our President of the Airline, Sir Tim Clark.

“Dubai’s momentum and the strength of our industry are fuelling a significant growth trajectory for the Emirates Group – we’ll develop our people and recruit thousands in the years ahead. HR is a strategic driver of that growth.”

Part of this is leveraging people analytics to provide powerful insights to help leaders make smarter workforce decisions – from optimising recruitment to predicting attrition. 

As a result, immersive onboarding is helping new joiners connect with the Emirate’s brand, culture, and operations from day one. Both are accelerating time-to-performance and strengthening engagement across the employee lifecycle. 

We are realistic, the journey has just started, and we need to ensure that we keep leveraging technology and data,” Grohmann notes.

“We build the talent, capabilities and culture that deliver the business plan: shaping future skills, advancing inclusion and wellbeing, and developing leaders who can navigate change with confidence. We don’t just align to strategy – we accelerate it.”

Flying into the future

When asked how the Emirates Group is shaping leadership development, Grohmann shares that the talent and development team is focusing on behaviours that matter to the business: Empathy, adaptability, resilience, tech-savviness, and inclusive leadership – not just functional expertise.

To do so, flagship programmes, such as coaching and 360 feedback are being blended with always-on digital learning and real-world stretch assignments. 

Leaders set the tone, so we expect them to listen deeply, decide with empathy, and create space for every voice,” Grohmann says.

This, he explains, is reinforced through clear expectations and continual feedback, so leaders can “connect, inspire, and lead through change”.

As the business plans for the next few years, Grohmann predicts that the biggest shift to focus on will be the need to fully embrace data and technology, while doubling down on the human connection. 

“The future of HR is about being insight-led, agile, and adaptable – and having the courage to challenge old ways of working to meet the needs of a changing workforce. 

“At the same time – and this might sound old-school, but is my strong belief – we need to ensure that we keep the human factor and the human touch.

“Leaders shouldn’t be afraid of technology, they should be using it to embrace new ways of working.”

Grohmann will soon be attending UNLEASH World 2025, taking centre stage to host his session: Reshaping and Powering Up the Employee Experience Through Analytics and AI, Whilst Maintaining the Human Touch.

As the event is less than two months away, Grohmann reflects: “I’m looking forward to the exchange of ideas — hearing how other organisations are tackling similar challenges, and exploring the latest thinking in technology, talent, and transformation.

“Most of all, I’m excited to connect with my HR peers who share the belief that people are the ultimate driver of business success.”

Make sure you get your UNLEASH World 2025 ticket now to attend Grohmann’s session and to hear more about the Emirate Group’s journey.