When you have a firm of over 11,000 employees that specialises in services ranging from aircraft below the wing solutions to oil tank cleaning, and from C-Suite recruiting to recycling education for children, it needs an agile, motivating, and enthusiastic leader to keep everyone on track. Dulsco is the name of the corporation, and David Stockton is the CEO.
The UAE has earned a reputation as a country where new worlds of technology and creativity meet with more traditional cultures and businesses.
As this network of enterprises gets increasingly complicated, only a few companies are able to efficiently deliver the diverse spectrum of services that the market requires.
The COVID epidemic affected the Middle East hard, as it did all other regions, yet the region is noted for its hardworking attitude, enthusiasm, and reluctance to give up. Companies, governments, and communities have been able to not just survive, but in some circumstances prosper, by working together.
This collaborative effort is being led by Dulsco. Since its inception in 1935, when it provided blue-collar labour, the integrated service provider has grown to deliver a range of high-quality products on which top companies rely. David Stockton, CEO of Dulsco, was interviewed by Business Worldwide Magazine to discover more about how he manages such a diversified organisation through difficult times.
Thank you for joining us, David. As we speak, the globe is opening up after a year of being affected by COVID. Would you mind updating us on how Dulsco and its employees have responded?
It’s been a clearly difficult period for everyone, but I have to say that Dulsco is coming out of the epidemic in great health.
It’s been a lot of effort for everyone involved, but by concentrating on the well-being of our employees and communities, as well as embracing the chance to innovate, we’ve been able to produce a lot of highlights.
That seems fascinating. Could you possibly provide any instances of this strategy in action?
Of course, yes. A few examples spring to mind. First and foremost, it was critical that we continue to care for our people. I formed a Covid Action Group to ensure that we continued to provide the best possible service to our clients and partners while never jeopardising our employees’ well-being.
We made COVID HSE training mandatory for all employees, and as our employees returned to work, we produced a Return To Work package for everyone. We wanted individuals to always feel protected and supported.
In terms of innovation, we collaborated with local government bodies to reuse some of our equipment to develop a mass spraying system to sanitise streets. We thought that this was a true opportunity for us to make our neighbourhood safer for everyone.
Putting the pandemic aside for a moment, you’ve had excellent success at Dulsco, as seen by your selection as a Leader in Waste Management 2020 and a member of the 2020 Facilities Management Power 50. What are the major changes you’re noticing in your world?
I believe that the industry is evolving in a variety of ways, but one general notion that I believe is emerging is the ability to be more holistic in our approach.
That is, we have had to consider how we may weave together various components of our services in order to make it simple for our clients to engage with various areas of our expertise in the way that they require.
I’ve discovered that when businesses develop, they can easily wind up siloing off their services in an attempt to be more organised. This, however, may make it difficult for various elements of the organisation to learn from and assist one another, and it can be extremely confusing for clients as they attempt to figure out how to connect with you.
We’ve also discovered that all of our stakeholders want us to lead by example when it comes to thinking about our environment holistically.
That sounds logical, David, but could you give us an example of how you’ve made it a reality?
Take, for example, EXPO 2020. We were overjoyed when we were named EXPO’s Official Waste Management Partner. To gain that opportunity, though, we had to think much beyond the brief’s fundamental requirements.
We spent a lot of time thinking about the overall tone of the event, Dubai’s aspirations, and how we might play a part in educating everyone involved.
Of course, we wanted to do the fundamentals well, but we also wanted to consider how we might get everyone engaged with EXPO thinking differently about garbage and recycling.
We conducted intensive training for cleaners, caterers, and workers to educate them on the necessity of recycling and trash reduction. We worked hard to guarantee that the objective to divert as much rubbish as possible from landfills from EXPO 2020 was completed effectively. We have built a Waste2Resource facility to reuse trash and contribute to the circular economy.
Taking a holistic approach to the problem of waste management at EXPO has allowed us to provide a terrific service while also having a really good influence on the community, economy, and environment.
You mentioned education; is it a big component of Dulsco’s offering?
Yes, and it is provided in a variety of ways. We certainly give training to our clients in a variety of sectors, but we also take education to all segments of the community extremely seriously.
We just built a repurposed Recycling Bus to engage youngsters and teach them about the necessity of recycling and thinking about all elements of our environment.
You also stressed the significance of agility previously. Is it feasible for a corporation the size of Dulsco to be agile?
It needs to be that way. If the recent year has taught us anything, it is that we must learn quickly and adapt to changing circumstances.
Agility, in my opinion, needs to be present in our people just as much as it is in our processes and companies. Empowering people to embrace change and innovation might be frightening, but I’ve always felt that if you show people that you trust them and care about them, they will achieve amazing things together.
I tell our employees all the time, but Dulsco is more than just a service provider to me. We’re all about creating responsible, vibrant communities, and the best way to do it is to work together.
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