This anniversary marked a very special milestone for Knowledge E; we turned ten! The past thousands of work hours and team activities have been filled with growth, obstacles, accomplishments, challenges, milestones, and long days of planning to serve our clients in attaining their own strategic objectives.
Since the launch of Knowledge E, collaboration, trust, responsibility, and the commitment to delivering an outstanding service have been the very core values that shaped our company culture and enabled us to form close work relationships, both within and beyond the company.
Ten Fun Facts About Knowledge E
Musing over the Past
Ten years is a long time, and throughout our journey together, we have learnt a lot about the industry, the regional and global needs, and our abilities to address those needs. More recently, we’ve moved from office working to flexible working arrangements, tested our mental and emotional fortitude and our ability to adapt to new work environments during COVID-19; we’ve set up new policies to help us settle into the new work conditions and push our productivity and service quality levels past our already high standards.
To keep the team spirits high and our harmonious work rhythm up, we regularly come together on multiple occasions for team building, strategy days, welcome meals, and festive gatherings. From our overnight team building in Fujairah to mangrove planting under the rain in Ajman, and preparing the Ramadan fridges for food donations, we’ve co-created memories that we share and hold close to our hearts. Those experiences, as well as others, have solidified us as a team.
What We Love Most About Knowledge E
In a brief company-wide survey we conducted, more than 75% considered that our teams, colleagues, and management – i.e. ‘the people’ – were our favourite thing about working at Knowledge E. Our company culture, work ethic, and friendly atmosphere has really defined the way we work together and has empowered so many of us to think of and follow through innovative ideas throughout the years with no hesitation.
When asked about what makes Knowledge E stand out as a company, many of us agreed that it was the way in which Knowledge E treats its employees, its human-centric approach, the equal opportunities, and the management’s attentiveness to employee needs. Others felt that even more than that, what makes Knowledge E different was the company’s vision and mission, which it has remained faithful to throughout the years, whether through its admirable efforts of giving back to the community, or its devotion to creating a more knowledgeable world, within and beyond its own staff. Several others felt that it was our diversity as a team that made us such an especially colourful weave of colleagues.
Map of the world pinning where Knowledge E colleagues come from
Who We Are
Looking back at the time Knowledge E was founded, with a small team of fewer than 10 people, it seems almost surreal that we have now grown into a company of 60+ colleagues. In fact, across the whole of the Knowledge E team, we now speak a total of 28 unique languages and come from 27 different countries and five continents. You’d think that with this large number of nationalities and mother tongues, we might be facing some cross-cultural challenges or some communication setbacks. When, in reality, our diversity makes us a better team, enabling us to approach problems from various angles and perspectives.
We might come from different parts of the world, but at work, we speak the same language — that of professionalism, determination, and innovation. At our KnE offices, we have created a world of ideas, a wealth of knowledge, and a million solutions for the challenges that might come our way.
Why We Do What We Do
Knowledge E was founded with the aim of providing value added services to the region. Knowledge E was founded with just a small group of earnest, experienced professionals who came together to deliver outstanding knowledge-related services to clients who needed them. The region was unlike any other, filled with opportunities for growth, and as we adopted one client’s goals after the other, we came to know the region’s potential and needs by heart.
We’re incredibly touched by the fact that, throughout the years, our hard work, client-centred approach, and industry knowledge have always been appreciated by our partners and our clients whose trust fuels our motivation. We consider our clients’ satisfaction, our long-lasting partnerships, and our return clients defining our success.
The Glue that Holds Us Together
Perhaps one of the core values that bring us together is our affinity for helping one another provide excellent service to our clients. While we strive to do that, we also connect on many other levels, like our thirst for knowledge, our love of trivia, our great outings, and believe it or not, even our meetings.
A few years ago, we decided to start having a company-wide, knowledge exchange, monthly meeting – which we called Know E. During this meeting, we share sales numbers, the budget spends, new policies, and departmental updates; all of which help us stay informed about company news, goals, and happenings. We start off with a question or a poll, debating our non-work-related opinions, preferences, and what-ifs. Then, we go over our current vacancies, scheduled leaves, recent joiners, upcoming events, and any industry insights, newly discovered tools, or life-saving tips that we have come across during the past month.
Though we work hard, we’re always mindful to take a break every once in a while to disconnect from what we are doing and come back to it with fresh eyes. We hold trivia quizzes regularly, prepared by one of us knowledge nerds. The questions are always tricky, and the competition is always high. There’s no doubt that we learn so many new things every time we try to play and answer these mind-bending questions.
We also enjoy occasionally dressing up for Halloween, golfing, bowling, or playing dodgeball on huge trampolines for hours and then skipping work the second day because we forgot that, though our spirits may be young, our backs are ageing mercilessly.
The Man Behind the Vision
In a conversation with Kamran R. Kardan, founder and CEO of Knowledge E about the beginnings of the company, he remarked that the idea of founding the company was conceived on his lunch breaks in his previous role. Kamran saw the UAE’s potential and its ambition of placing research and development at the forefront of its national efforts. He wanted to create an entity that would be able to contribute to these visions and move towards knowledge economies, and one that could offer valuable professional services and support regional initiatives.
“The encouragement and support of friends and ex-colleagues who believed in our vision were instrumental to the launch of Knowledge E. Another element that contributed to our success is how dynamic Dubai was and the talent that we were able to find here. In ten years, we have achieved so much: we’ve designed and offered researchers and academics an Open research platform, empowered many people to grow professionally, provided smart and valuable higher education solutions to over 200 clients, created job opportunities for many young professionals, and helped impact many people’s lives and education through the company and the foundation, so that’s a victory that’s definitely worth celebrating!”
“In fact,” Kamran confessed, “the idea of the foundation was there from the beginning. I didn’t know how successful the company would become or how rapidly it would grow, but I always knew that there would need to be a percentage of the proceeds that go to worthy causes. When I look back at our achievements as a company, the work of the foundation is always closest to my heart.”
“Of course, there’s still a lot to accomplish, but we’ve been truly blessed with professional colleagues, great support, and amazing talent – all of which helped make Knowledge E become what it’s become – and we’re charging our energy for the coming ten years, ready to see what they will hold.”
It’s not easy to keep everyone aligned on the same goals, lead by example, and make everyone feel valued and respected. However, our CEO makes it look like it is. Kamran’s leadership style has, without a doubt, inspired an air of kindness across the whole of Knowledge E. His firm belief in the positive social impact of Open Access and its ability to contribute to social justice and promote access to education has been contagious. Through the initiatives of the KnE Foundation, we’re always reminded of the humanitarian contributions our hard work is able to procure and this fills us with a deeper sense of purpose.
The Philanthropic Side of What We Do
At Knowledge E, we believe that to make our vision of ‘a more knowledgeable world’ a reality, we need to reach remote areas, beyond the markets we operate in. This is where the Knowledge E Foundation comes in, with its many charitable and educational initiatives. We’ve sponsored the renovation and construction of multiple schools in rural areas, and partnered with local communities, and other non-profits to make it happen. Donating to alleviate suffering during natural disasters or partially funding emergency relief efforts, combatting hunger, and many other more pressing issues are equally important to the Knowledge E Foundation. We feel this is our way to contribute to the global community. Learn more about the activities of the Knowledge E Foundation here.