About

In the five years she has been DMCC’s general counsel, Kiran Scarr has enjoyed a uniquely successful and remarked-upon chapter in her career. Alongside a number of professional highlights, she has received numerous awards from the industry press both for her as an individual and collectively as part of the DMCC legal team, on the back of her and her team’s innovative approach and courageous commitment to doing things differently. In Scarr’s opinion, the three achievements that she is most pleased with during her tenure at DMCC are the expansion of the DMCC Dispute Centre into a trusted community partner, the transformation of DMCC Compliance into a business enabler and her own personal transition from trusted adviser to business strategist and change leader. The dispute centre expansion involved introducing three key services of workplace mediation, legal clinics and employment law training, with the primary objective of ‘assisting DMCC’s member companies and their 60,000 employees with navigating the complex employment law landscape, in a user-friendly and cost-effective manner through a best in class workplace mediation service’. Scarr’s transformation of DMCC’s compliance function, as head of the regulatory arm of DMCC’s various businesses, has involved her ‘developing a comprehensive roadmap for change which comprises seven strategic projects that implement a comprehensive risk based approach to regulating companies and members’. Finally, her own move towards being a major strategic business mind at DMCC has been extremely impressive. ‘I have had to develop my leadership skills through learning and development’, she explains. ‘I fulfil the role of adviser and decision maker, business strategist, leader of change management and high performance growth, ethical compass, blue sky thinker and risk enabler at every step of the way. Amidst the ever-changing landscape of economic, regulatory, and geo-political change in the region, I have influenced change at DMCC to assist in its vision to sustain and grow Dubai’s position in the future of trade’. She also leads the DMCC team diligently, while also allowing them to retain their independence. ‘I dedicate my time to communicating organisational and department strategy, objectives and goals with team members, and doing so in a meaningful way’, says Scarr. ‘My team members are empowered to make decisions, and encouraged to use their initiative in a culture of innovation and transparency. I use wide and varied tools including monthly strategic download meetings, coaching and mentoring sessions with individual team members, transparent dashboard reporting of key achievements and thought-leadership messages designed to enhance collaboration and team recognition’.