Growing Success: CID Consulting Celebrates 15th Anniversary

CID Consulting is celebrating its 15th anniversary this December. Over the years, CID Consulting has become a trusted name for top-tier marketing communications, management and community development solutions serving leading local, regional and global organizations in almost every sector. Through its dynamic in-house team of consultants and over 300 affiliate consultants, CID Consulting is working with passion for delivering results and offering high-quality expertise. CID Consulting is proud of its achievements whether through the strategic management, organizational development, public awareness campaigns supporting different governmental entities or the perception management service offered to clients through its marketing communications division or by bridging the gap between marginalized people working in the informal economy into thebusiness network of the private sector through its community development division or for the strategic and organizational interventions to more than 100 private companies, and public organizations through its management division. CID is committed to continuing to serve its clients with unmatched enthusiasm and passion in the future.

Getting Involved: TA Telecom's CSR Initiative

CID Consulting was recruited by TA Telecom, one of the most recognized telecommunications companies in the Middle East, to conduct a situational analysis for prospective CSR projects. CID has been working on creating a situation analysis to assess key social problems within the community and identify the drivers behind these issues.

The report was developed with the objective of building a comprehensive overview of specific social issues that CID believes would be a good fit for TA Telecom's CSR program. Its focus is on women's education in rural areas and youth employment as well as the potential stakeholders and relevant systems' issues. The CID team presented their findings to TA Telecom and is now in the preparation phase of program implementation with the goal of combating youth unemployment in partnership with the Youth Association for Population and Development (YAPD).

Protecting Children: Development of a Child Protection Toolkit

As part of UNICEF’s Child Protection project, CID Consulting has recently developed a toolkit for UNICEF, designed with policy-makers in mind, in an attempt to improve the pilot program of the child protection project ongoing in Alexandria.

The toolkit includes an updated procedural manual to guide the formation and operation of child protection committees at the governorate and districts level. The guide also identifies guidelines on how to operate a child protection program. The CID Community Development team also worked on updating the current monitoring system and reporting structure, including data collection, database structure and monitoring tools, to allow the committees to draw relevant data for effective decision- making.

Achieving Success: GrowIT Program and CID Receive High Praise

ITIDA together with the support of CID Consulting recently organized a special event to celebrate the kickoff of GrowIT's Implementation Phase for Batch 1 and 2 beneficiary companies. GrowIT aims at improving the international competitiveness of 100 Egyptian IT/ITES companies to be capable of successfully managing market-led development, production, and business management process of products/services.

The event took place at ITIDA’s premises in Smart Village. During the event, ITIDA announced the assessment phase findings for Batch 1 and 2 beneficiary companies. Throughout the event, ITIDA representatives and consortium members headed by ATOS Origin and CID Consulting discussed the results from the SWOT-based assessment process for Batch 1 and 2 beneficiaries. They also spoke about development plans set for implementation to enhance strategic and management capabilities. The event ended with an open Q&A session where companies asked ITIDA officials and the consulting teams questions on the process and the next steps.

Employing Egypt: Vocational & Technical Training with TVET Reform Program

The CID Marketing Communications Team has developed a public awareness and communication strategy to promote Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) in Egypt. It is part of the implementation phase of the national TVET Reform Program, which supports the development of human resources and institutional capacities to improve the overall competitiveness of the Egyptian enterprises.

Between May and November of 2010, CID Consulting developed a communication strategy to promote technical education and vocational training as an equal, alternative route to academic studies, as well as a viable pathway to employment in the fast growing sectors in Egypt. The CID team also created tailored, sector-focused communication programs to increase awareness about the importance of vocational training among employees, employers and stakeholders in Construction, Tourism, Chemical Industries, Leather and Tanning, and printing sectors.

Hosting Fourth Conference: Xerox and CID in Suma Bay, Hurghada

CID’s Marketing Communications Team was an integral part of Xerox Egypt’s fourth annual conference on document management solutions. The conference was attended by Xerox strategic customers including IT managers from leading organizations and government officials.CID team also attended the event to provide the necessary media support needed. Part of its media engagement activities, the CID team has prepared the event’s media kit, as well as being engaged in facilitating communication between the media and Xerox top management.

Titled “Smart Growth”, the conference was held in Hurghada from October 29 to 31 and sponsored by Mantrac and Microsoft. It shed light on various innovative solutions and services that enable IT managers to enhance business flexibility and manage documents more efficiently ? solutions that are key to helping companies boost growth, reduce costs and achieve the “Smart Growth”.

Communicating to Media: CID Supports Citibank during Euromoney 2010 Conference

CID Marketing Communications team worked closely with Citibank before, during and after this year’s Euromoney event at the end of September to provide unparalleled communications support. In light of Citibank’s co-sponsorship for this year's Euromoney Conference, the CID team progressively engaged the Egyptian media as Citibank’s partner. This included facilitating over 10 one-on-one interviews, supplying quality media content, and more. The event was a success with Citibank receiving a large amount of exposure across key media publications.

Tips & Trends

Time management is strategic thinking on a micro level!

Correct ongoing problems: Recurring problems are likely issues that were not solved the first time you encountered it. Understand the root of the problem and work on it.
Delegate: Many managers fear delegating tasks because the result may not be the same as if they had done the job themselves. However, delegating allows you to use your time more efficiently. Refusing to delegate may also deprive your employees of a learning opportunity.
Replacing email with a chat: Instead of writing an email to a person next door, stand up, stretch your legs and go talk to them face to face. You are much more likely to achieve your goals in addition to reaffirming a social bond lost in electronic communication.
Reacting & anger management: Everyone feels pressure at work at some point. In order to maintain a professional work environment, try to always maintain control the tone and loudness of your voice; it will help you control your anger and maintain a calm and professional appearance.
Be proactive: When you see an issue, take the time to solve it once and for all. If you do not, it will likely happen again you may develop the bad habit of ignoring these issues instead of solving them and benefitting the entire organization.
Organize your mind: Nowadays, we have notepads, reminders, calendars, etc, to help us organize ourselves, however, do your best to practice your memorization skills and use your brain as an organizational tool.
Don’t forget to smile: It will help you get through the day and studies have shown that even if you’re nervous, smiling to yourself for one minute will make you feel better.