In business organizations across the globe rewriting the recipe of success as agility, innovation, foresight and resilience, one constant remains people are still at the center. Organizations who construct culture as an organization imperative are the ones who win. Rita Abi Saab, Senior Director of People & Culture, is not only reimagining the leadership of human capital she is redefining what it means to lead with compassion, strategic intent, and unwavering passion.
The Early Calling: From Recruitment to Intentional Culture Stewardship
Rita started out in her working life with the simplest yet most profound insight: organizations are at their best when their people can do their best work. She entered recruitment, and soon realized she didn’t enjoy bringing in the best talent but unleashing it assisting individuals to move beyond barriers, to make the transition powerfully, and step into full expression.
Whereas others enter HR as a business facilitating function, Rita entered it as a step-changing strategic force. This was the choice that governed all her career realignments. Working in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, logistics, and consulting, she has accumulated for herself a clean record of being a transformational leader who centers human experience at the core of organizational success.
What sets Rita apart is the intentionality of her leadership. “People-first doesn’t mean performance-second,” she emphasizes again and again. “It means setting the right conditions where performance is the inevitable outcome of genuine engagement,”; Rita says: in our shift toward outcome-driven HR, we must guard the human core of our role. While processes bring structure, empathy brings trust, like a compass and a map one gives direction, the other context. Today more than ever; HR to ask are we achieving outcomes without eroding empathy? To measure this, track engagement, retention, and the quality of conversations, not just performance & financial metrics Because in the end, if we lose the human touch, we lose the culture that drives EBITDA & cash flow.
The Philosophy of Leadership: Clarity, Commitment, Courage
At the heart of Rita’s leadership is her compass three “CCC” values she lives as “deeply experienced principles”: Clarity, Commitment, and Courage. They are not cliches but deeply held values. She leads with clarity to give purpose and direction; commitment to establish trust and responsibility; Culture isn’t created by posters on the wall it’s shaped by the values we live every day.” and courage to make difficult, sometimes painful, choices that propel lasting change.
She also built her leadership on three irrevocable values:
- Empathy, so that organizational decision-making can be based on real human experience.
- Courage to disrupt the status quo and take decisions which introduce changes.
- Accountability and determination to get everyone on the team aligned behind shared goals and results.
Rita inspires emotional intelligence and unwavering dedication she provides them with the space to be vulnerable without losing excellence. This is how she believes in psychologically safe spaces, where people feel comfortable about questioning, inventing, and leading for themselves.
Driving Culture as Strategy
Today, as Senior Director of People & Culture in Middle East’s premier EPC conglomerate with marine dredging, energy, and renewables business, NMDC GROUP, Rita’s role is several orders of magnitude more than HR administration. She is a strategic culture custodian whose charge is to ensure people practices are in synch with the group’s international ambitions. The People & Culture function is a critical business enabler for the organization today in the care of Rita. Her work includes:
- Workforce transformation
- Digital empowerment of HR functions
- Leadership pipeline development
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs
- Culture embedding and change leadership
Culture is not sidelined it’s a core business driver. Rita makes this a reality by weaving cultural transformation with leadership alignment, talent development, and operational agility &excellence within the Group’s global presence.
Transformation Through Connection
While change begins at the top, Rita believes it is driven by authentic, earthy relationships. She’s renowned for dropping in at field locations, choosing lunch and having actual conversations with teams, and meeting up new recruits to greet them personally. These surprise visits affirm her argument that connection comes before engagement.
Rita ensures that performance is built on honesty, trust, and collaboration and not fear or burnout. Her culture design involves:
- Open communication
- Visible, genuine leadership
- Transparent, clear career paths
- Honoring People empowerment for a collective outcome
- Psychological safety
She’s a strong believer that rituals can ground teams circles of appreciation, cross-functional wins, or Friday moments of pause. “These small things keep the energy human,” she’s convinced. “People need emotional anchors in complexity.”
Thriving Adversity with Purpose & Agility
Rita’s leadership resilience was severely tested when she experienced a recent health condition that pushed her physically and emotionally. But it was purpose that kept her grounded. “Purpose is strong,” she says. “It provides the energy to continue to show up, even during difficult times.”
She stayed committed during this challenging period, tapping into the team resilience while still mentoring, coaching, and inspiring others.
“In times of uncertainty,” she maintains, “purpose is your anchor. It keeps you focused on the ‘why’ of it all.” She continues: “Nothing better than connecting a personal moment with the very themes we are exploring worldwide nowadays: not only resilience; but scenario building for nonlinear changes. Life, like business or geopolitics, can shift overnight testing one’s purpose and capacity to adapt. For me, foresight is no longer a strategy; it’s a mindset. That is why growth mindset alone is not sufficient anymore; it is a must to be associated with a strategic agility for ultimate readiness. These are personal insights I carry into every scenario planning & long-term visioning in our HR world.
Promoting Inclusion That Goes Beyond Policy
Inclusion, according to Rita, is not a box to be checked it’s an attitude. She emphasizes that, of course, diversity in hiring matters, but inclusion only happens when all voices, regardless of title or origin, have an influence. She regularly chastises the mentality that inclusion is solely about demographics: “To me, diversity is also about thought. It’s about the ability to adjust perspectives based on the situation and context,” she shares.
At NMDC, she has initiated several firsts:
- Cross-generational mentoring, balancing experience with creative thought.
- Gender-balanced shortlisting for hiring, promoting equality in choice.
- Leadership training with an inclusive mindset, including empathetic decision-making.
She also promotes women’s empowerment initiatives across the organization and always exercises inclusive leadership by herself looking for potential where others do not.
Energy Alignment over Time Management
When asked how she manages her busy job with private life and continuous academic studies she is also working toward a Global Executive MBA Rita responds with candor: “Balance is less about time blocks and more about energy alignment.”
Her personal habits are:
- Reflective journaling
- Returning to nature
- Family time
- Deep global conversations with friends who are fellow scholars and thought leaders
She also sets an example in what she does for her health. “If I want others to take care of themselves, I have to do the same,” she says. “That means taking regular health check-ups and thoughtful breaks to rest up.”
Mentorship, Legacy, Impact, and Human-Centered Leadership
Rita’s impact reaches far beyond her role. She mentors the next generation of HR practitioners freely, makes frequent keynote appearances at national HR and leadership events, and contributes to global dialogues of the future of work.
The challenge? Balancing compliance with care. The opportunity? To shape cultures where purpose, agility, and wellbeing coexist and where HR earns its seat by shaping outcomes, not just policies.
Her legacy vision is distinct: “I want to be remembered as someone who built bridges between systems and people, between strategy and heart. Someone who dared to ask uncomfortable questions, challenge norms, and still believed in humanity. What drives me daily is the desire to leave behind not just frameworks, but a culture where people feel seen, heard, and empowered to grow. A legacy of courage, connection, and care.”
Rita continues: Her final goal is to revolutionize how the corporate world is viewed. “There’s a perception that the corporate world is cold or cruel,” she expresses. “I want to make that shift. Work can be a place of fulfillment, connection, and meaning,” she further shares.
This more human vision of leadership where accountability supplants structure, and trust generates results is the type Rita is convinced exists.
Looking Forward: Scaling Impact with Innovation
As people & culture continue to evolve, Rita looks to the future. She is spearheading the initiatives to onboard:
- People analytics to inform strategic workforce decisions
- AI and automation within HR
- Leadership development programs for fast-growing markets
- Agile work behaviors to address a growing increasingly uncertain business landscape
- Scenario- Building rather than only Predictable
But what remains constant is her conviction that culture is the differentiator and leaders lead first in embracing it.
“Models, systems, and data are valuable,” she cautions, “but in the end, it’s the human factor that counts. Be inquisitive, be humble, and always wonder how your work improves someone’s life at work.”
A Beacon of People-Centered Leadership
Rita is not only an HR leader, but a culture leader, values strategist, and vehemently human champion of meaningful work. Her path is not one of professional accomplishments it’s one of reimagining the future contribution of leadership in a world where individuals are humanity’s most profound source of innovation, growth, agility & resilience.
While companies across the globe are trying to keep pace with breakneck speed, Rita continues to emanate what it takes to lead with heart, passion, and purpose Throughout this process, she is not just creating an organization, but a movement towards a future of work that is more impactful; human, inclusive, and inspired.
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