The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision

When Helen Keller, the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904, made this statement she was not referring to the importance of physical eyesight but to that of having a vision – an ambitious dream that drives everything you do.

At Meirc Training and Consulting, we believe in Helen Keller’s saying and support it with words and actions. That's why we work hard to define every vision that guides the strategies we adopt and then work harder to achieve those visions, no matter how challenging.

Since the firm was founded more than 56 years ago all the visions that were collaboratively set by management and staff focused on providing the firm’s clients across the Middle East with quality training and consulting products. Despite the tumultuous periods the region went through, from regional wars to financial crises, Meirc’s quality products, steadfast leadership, and loyal clientele ensured that all set visions were achieved, if not surpassed.

Today, Meirc has set its sight on yet another challenging vision, one that transforms clients to partners and transcends quality by elevating it to trust. Today, Meirc is proud to launch its vision for the years 2015-2020 which is “To be our clients' most trusted partner in developing excellence for generations to come”.

What this means for our clients is that the utmost level of a trusted partnership, both earned and maintained, will be the foundation we will rely on to design, deliver and follow through on any training or consulting service our clients entrust us with. Be it a 2-day training workshop for improving interviewing skills or a year-long modular program for developing tomorrow's leaders, our clients can count on us – can trust us the most – to deliver the product or service that will meet their expectations on all fronts.

Meirc knows that a partnership with clients built on utmost trust is hard to earn and harder to maintain. That is why our new vision will be fuelled by a mission driven by five core values which will form the basis for every decision we take affecting our clients. These values are purposely reflected in the letters which make up the name of our organization: MEIRC.

The first of these core values is Mastery. Meirc is quite selective when it comes to hiring team members, at any level. Although talent and expertise permeate the market, finding a subject matter expert who is competent in making subject matter experts out of others is not an easy feat. That is Meirc’s definition of Mastery; for what good is it to master a subject if one cannot pass this mastery to others? At Meirc, we demand from our experts to be masters in their fields and masters in developing others as well.

The second core value is Excellence. Ever since the firm was founded, Excellence, in one form or another, was part of its credo. The prospect of doing a good job might help a company climb the success ladder but it won’t keep the company ‘up there’. For success to be sustainable, it needs to be built on Excellence. Whether it is the promptness with which we respond to our clients, or the engaging environment we create in our training programs, we strive for Excellence in everything we do. We did it since we were established. That's what kept us among the leaders in this crowded industry. We will do it again going forward.

Innovation is the firm's third core value. Tom Peters (the global management guru) said it best when he proclaimed “Innovate or Die!” At Meirc, we are strong believers in the importance of Innovation. We were industry pioneers on many training fronts and we will continue our pursuit of innovation and creativity to ensure we stay aligned with our progressive clients. Be it the new products we launch every period, or the novel learning methodologies we introduce into our programs, or the creative solutions we provide to our demanding clients, we work hard on maintaining our innovative edge. We do so because we know how critical innovation is, in pursuing our new vision of earning and maintaining our clients’ trust. Incidentally, our own periodic field research and publications ensure that our products and services are in line with the contextual and cultural environments of the geographical region we serve.

The fourth core value that will drive our mission is Reliability. Personally, I don’t know of any similar firm in the region who is as reliable as we are. I realize it is a bold statement to make but Meirc is the only well-established training and consulting firm that totally relies on full-time professionals, across all levels. We insist on this criterion when we hire because we know that freelancers and part-time staff, despite their cost effectiveness, cannot be continuously relied upon whenever our clients need them because they have their own agendas and plans. Our permanent professionals, on the other hand, are always at our clients' service. This is what sets us apart from the rest and makes us the most reliable firm in the industry. Our clients have relied on us for decades. Our new vision will ensure they continue to do so.

Client-Centricity is our last and most important core value. In Meirc, every fibre in our organizational fabric is designed with our clients in mind. The modular structure of our training programs, the client-focused mindset of every professional we have, and the flexible pricing structures we offer make our ability to customize client-centric products almost endless. That is why many of our clients have been with us since we were founded and why we will stop at nothing to keep them with us for generations to come.

Mastery, Excellence, Innovation, Reliability and Client-Centricity or MEIRC for short. Going forward, these are the values we will embody in every action we do to remain at the forefront of the training industry in this region. These are the pillars we will rely on to become “our clients' most trusted partner in developing excellence for generations to come”.