Building Belonging in the Gulf's Multicultural Workforce

Belonging is a word we hear a lot in HR, but usually among people who share a language, a culture, a hometown. Now picture a workforce where almost everyone has come from somewhere else, often far from home. There, belonging isn't a survey metric, it's what decides whether someone just works for you, or truly stays and gives you their best.

And nowhere is that more real than in the Gulf. So, let's explore what it takes to build belonging across a multicultural workforce with Manjeet Sahota, Human Resources Director at Gulf Catering and Support Services.

Host of this Episode: Sanjeevani Saikia

Guest Bio

Manjeet Sahota is an HR leader with 25+ years of experience in Human Capital Management across hospitality, retail, catering, facilities management, and support services. Passionate about aligning people strategies with business objectives through talent acquisition, organizational development, HR transformation, employee engagement, and leadership development. A postgraduate in Training and Development from ISTD, with an MBA in HR, certified trainer, and Associate of CIEH and CIPD, with interests in HR analytics, AI, and data-driven decision-making.

He has developed training content on hospitality and people management and is currently pursuing doctoral research on how sustainable HR practices can reduce employee absenteeism and enhance organizational performance. A strong advocate of continuous learning, they believe lasting organizational success comes when people feel respected, valued, engaged, and empowered to grow.

Connect with Manjeet on LinkedIn

Timestamps

01:24 Manjeet shares his corporate journey so far.

03:14 Building genuine belonging after two decades leading teams across the Gulf's expatriate workforce.

10:57 Creating one shared culture out of thirty plus nationalities, languages, and faiths.

16:45 Personalizing recognition across cultures without it ever looking like favoritism.

23:42 Making sure communication and appreciation reach every employee, regardless of language.

28:00 One practice from the Gulf that HR leaders anywhere can borrow for multicultural teams.