Day in the life: Al Maha Arjaan's Ahmed Al Belushi

Daily routine of the Rotana property's government relations officer

7:00am — I wake up early and start preparing for my day.

8:30am — As I live close to Al Maha Arjaan, I come in early to review my pending activities from yesterday evening. I also find out if there are any urgent visa issuances or cancellations.

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9:00am — As I play an integral role in the HR team with our colleagues’ visas and medical processes, I always attend the morning HR briefing that involves our HR manager, HR officer and employee accommodation supervisor. I share a review about the previous day and update them on the priorities for the day.

9:30am — If there are no urgent visa actions, I head off to Abu Dhabi Medical Center to handle the medical renewals for our employees. We have 180 colleagues, which means I sometimes have up to seven employees’ medicals to renew or set up. This is my way of facilitating their joining procedure. It can be a long process that can take up to three or four hours so it requires some patience and diligence.

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12:00pm — Back to the office and I do a quick check again on urgent needs. Sometimes I have time to take a quick lunch break with my colleagues.

1:30pm — I head off to the immigration office to follow up on any pending residence visa procedures.

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3:30am — I usually spend my afternoons supporting my HR team with Arabic translations and ensuring that government documents are prepared for the next day.

4:30pm — Once all my documents are prepared for the day, I spend some time meeting colleagues who I have been working with during the week to update them on the latest status of their government processes. This may range from medicals to driving licenses or visas.

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5:00pm — I check if any Emirates and Rotana ID cards need to be issued.

6:00pm — When my new colleagues complete their induction training I register their thumb prints into our security system. I used to work as a security officer in the Duroob programme in 2008, before I was promoted, so this process is extremely familiar to me.

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6:30pm — I usually leave work around this time and go home.

7:30pm — If the weather permits, I like to cycle on the corniche.

8:30pm — I usually spend my late evenings watching a movie at a nearby cinema.