Giordano Saudi Arabia recently rolled-out its new internship program, in conjunction with the Jeddah Chapter of the Entrepreneur Organization (EO). The innovative internship program has been tailor-made for the Saudi market, offering participants a full range of site visits and tours, followed by work experience in both Giordano's retail stores and in their preferred functional departments at the company's regional headquarters, taught sessions in the realms of sales and marketing and visual merchandising, and culminating with a final assessment and the issuance of a completion certificate. Ahmedullah Abdul Hadi, chief operating officer of Giordano KSA, said, "The Giordano KSA internship program is completely bespoke. We have taken elements from the Fast-Track Management Scheme operated by Giordano's global headquarters, which has successfully produced a number of young senior executives, and injected our own local expertise and knowledge, culminating in a truly unique experience for participants." He concluded, "Our aim is to maximize the interaction between the company and the participants, striking a balance between conveying our core values while allowing the interns to make decisions about their participation early on, with a view to identifying potential talent for long term development." The EO is a global, peer-to-peer network of more than 4,000 influential business owners with 198 chapters in 61 countries. Founded in 1987, the EO enables leading entrepreneurs to learn and grow, with a view to creating greater success in business and beyond. The Jeddah Chapter of the EO was founded in 2004, and currently has 26 members, representing more than 16,000 employees. — SG
