When Akram Moideen took charge as Operations Director of Thumbay Builders, he could see great potential beyond the initial charter of the company, which was to support the infrastructure requirements of the large and diverse Thumbay Group.
In a short time he identified the core competencies of the division and restructured it into three key segments, each focusing on Construction, Renovation & Maintenance and Real Estate.
It compartmentalized the activities of Thumbay Builders into well-organized sectors, thereby facilitating better efficiency and sustainable scalability.
Soon the company grew into a niche building company in its own right as today it not only serves the requirements of its parent organization but also delivers world-class construction and real estate services to global customers.
The key elements of Akram’s success were his deep convictions in team building and workforce management, which are also the key drivers in the success of any organization.
Over the years of his experience in the Thumbay Group of Companies, he realized that efficiently managing and coordinating the workforce proved to be crucial to building a strong organization.
As Operations Director, he spends a minimum of 12 hours every day fully at work and so the need to have a skilled and experienced team, as well as the workforce to meticulously execute and diligently deliver the work on time, is all the more important. As a young leader, Akram firmly believes that leadership has to be achieved and not bestowed.
In order to lead a good team for a good organization, one needs to earn the trust and respect of all the employees, especially those who had offered many years of service in the institution, much before he joined it.
That single knowledge and the attitude to go with it, was the cornerstone of Akram’s acceptance among colleagues as an upcoming leader and a worthy one at that.
During his college years, Akram was the President of the Indian Cultural Club at the American University of Sharjah.
He was an enthusiastic sportsman who headed the Football, Hockey and Cricket teams at the school and university levels. Apart from that he has won several prizes and accolades in swimming and athletics.
Always looking for new challenges, he had also taken an interest in snowboarding. But when it was time to take a call on the future and on a full time career, a reluctant Akram put aside his sporting interests to focus on his studies and take his rightful place handling the responsibilities in the family business.
Finding One’s Calling
Born on the 1st of January 1987 in Mangalore, India, Akram completed his schooling at Lawrence School, Lovedale in Ooty and International School of Choueifat, Sharjah, UAE.
At an early age, he moved to the UAE to join his father Thumbay Moideen, along with his mother Zohra Moideen along elder brother, Akbar Moideen.
Akram hailed from a notably accomplished business family with an entrepreneurial history. His father, Thumbay Moideen is the Founder President of Thumbay Group and his brother, Akbar Moideen is the Vice President of the Healthcare Division of Thumbay Group.
His grandfather too was an accomplished entrepreneur who had built a respectable business house in Karnataka.
After his schooling, he completed his graduation in Business Administration from the American University of Sharjah with a specialization in Management and Finance.
Adding to it, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Management (Honours) from the University of Northampton and a Masters Degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of Surrey, UK. At a very young age, Akram started his career in the family business as a trainee.
That was in 2001, from when he spent the next six years learning the nuances of day-to-day business operations, actively contributing with innovative ideas and recommendations, partaking in brainstorming sessions and assisting in everyday operations of the company.
In 2006 he took a short break and explored work cultures in the outside world by taking up internships in leading MNC’s.
He gained practical skills and hands-on experience on diverse fields including automobile, manufacturing and construction sectors.
Later he returned to the Thumbay Group as Director in 2009 and took charge of day-to-day office administration and accounting, growth/budgeting/strategic planning, consultant/subcontractor coordination in addition to overall supervision of projects, costing, inventories, HR, stores and materials, analysis and personnel.
What seemed to be his calling evolved from the team that he formed and headed, comprising of eight engineers and fifteen site-supervisors.
After a second stint of more than a good six years in those multifaceted roles Akram formally became Director Operations – Construction & Renovation Division of Thumbay Group.
Currently, he directs the operations of Thumbay Builders, a premium general construction company operated by the Construction & Renovation Division of Thumbay Group.
The Thumbay Group
The Thumbay Group is the brainchild and hard work of Akram’s father Mr. Thumbay Moideen. He was instrumental in creating one of the largest Medical and Healthcare institutions in UAE with a futuristic vision.
He then expanded the Thumbay Group of Companies with global operations across 20 diverse sectors including Healthcare, Construction & Real Estate, Press & Publishing, etc. through sheer dedication and foresight.
As Founder President of Thumbay Group of Companies Mr. Thumbay Moideen has been Akram’s biggest inspiration over the years.
On his part and as a dutiful father, Mr. Thumbay never spoon fed Akram or his elder brother Akbar during their entire business careers and always inspired them to work hard and achieve leadership acceptance through their genuine contributions to the running of the organisation.
The Group established the Thumbay Foundation in a co-ordinated effort to serve society. It conducts extensive CSR and philanthropic activities which inlude funding people from low socio-economic groups in the form of scholarships, grants, bursaries, awards, fellowships, endowments and donations. The educational funds are open to students from all fields of study.
In addition, it also contributes towards Sponsor-A-Medical-Professional program of Gulf Medical University, through its Care & Share initiative.
The program conferred scholarships to deserving, meritorious students for pursuing medical courses of their choice.
Apart from its CSR and philanthropic initiatives, Thumbay Group’s hospitals have dedicated Patient Affairs Departments and organizes free medical camps to ensure access to quality treatment for the poor, at subsidized charges.
The company’s motto, ‘affordable healthcare for the masses’ along with the Founder President’s vision states that no patient is denied treatment because of his or her inability to afford it.
Akram is also the Director of Thumbay Technologies, an independent business line that deals with IT solutions and services.
With key solutions in the areas of IT infrastructure, Application Services, Analytics, Digital Security, Business Process Consulting, Thumbay Technologies is a reputed technology innovator in the region.
Partnerships with top industry names like Microsoft, Fujitsu, and Huawei among others, is a testament to their global reach and recognition.
Looking Ahead
Akram foresees Thumbay Builders venturing more into external projects catering to global customers. The company also plans to effect a backward integration into the consruction raw materials sector within the next 5 years, making it a fully integrated and single window product and services building company at an international level.
With this in mind the target is to become completely self-sufficient in raw materials supply for its construction sector.
As a young and energetic businessman who has achieved eminence at an early stage in his career, Akram likes to share his experiences and advice with aspiring entrepreneurs and young professionals looking to make it big in the corporate world.
He encourages them not to give up their initial goals and says, “Your ideas are unique, stick to them and watch them come alive”.
This is based on the reality that each young aspirant dreams up an opportunity by thinking of unique products or services that are not existent at the time.
But as they get into corporate life they tend to follow the system and take the easy way out by not exploring change initiatives.
Though Akbar had a good start in his career he was determined to make his own mark in the organisation and constantly contribute to change and development by coming up with ideas and ways to execute them.
He measures his success each day by the extent to which his unique ideas have made an impact and helped bring about positive change.