As a social media company that provides digital media analytics, we've analyzed 6 social media posts published on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, most of them were actually posted by Wael Fakharany himself, trying to figure out possible reasons why Careem Egypt fired such a great ex-Google guy.
1- PR Director that never came up!
One month after joining Careem as Egypt's managing director, Wael Fakharany published a Facebook post saying Careem Egypt is looking for a public relations director.
LinkedIn doesn't list any PR director (or even PR manager) working (or had worked) for Careem Egypt! We only found a job ad for a Careem's PR manager position that wasn't fulfilled for some reason.
Apparently, Wael Fakharany wasn't able to convince his senior colleagues to agree on hiring a PR director, so the job was advertised for PR manager that never came up so far!
From a point of view of a social media company, we may not recommend hiring a PR Director as Careem's priority should be given to optimizing operations and satisfying both drivers & customers.
Simply, PR activities could be outsourced on an on-demand model to a PR firm for mass media stuff, or a social media agency for digital public relations.
Another lesson to be learned is:
If you did not succeed to lobby for a hiring decision, it is better to think twice before announcing it publicly especially when your head office in Dubai doesn't even have a similar director-level position (Careem employs a VP for communications, and another manager for communications, both are based in Dubai).
2- Ignoring criticism!
Four weeks before leaving Careem Egypt, Wael Fakharany published a Facebook post on 31st of January 2017 saying "Feedback is a blessing.. especially the most critical.. الحمد لله".
Apparently, Wael got a feedback in a form of criticism, and seems to admit that publicly.
Interestingly, this Facebook post has been liked by both his successor Ramy Kato and Careem's general manager Hadeer Shalaby, unlike many other posts.
3- It's Tuesday!
Two weeks before leaving Careem Egypt, Wael Fakharany published a humorous Facebook post on Tuesday 14th of February 2017.
Tuesday marks the day when Wael got fired from Emitac Group in Dubai after six months.
It was Tuesday 26th of June 2006 when the owner of the group (85 years old) asked for something that Wael felt, according to his own words in TEDxCairo 2010 video, that he can't do it.
The Emirati owner thought Wael Fakharany was joking, so he repeated his request again but Wael Fakharany insisted on not doing it. Wael Fakaharany said Emitac Group fired him because company owner felt he wanted to do something right!
Interestingly, Tuesday 14th of February 2017 marks the last day Wael Fakharany shared a post from the official Facebook page of Careem Egypt. He did not share a single post from Careem's official social media accounts afterwards.
4- The bad tweet!
Yesterday, Careem issued a press release announcing Wael's replacement. Careem sources told media that Wael Fakharany met with company executives in Dubai and the meeting ended with his resignation. CEO of Careem Mudassir Sheikha clearly told Daily News Egypt that Wael "fulfilled his role at Careem with honesty and integrity".
Earlier today, Wael Fakharany published his bad tweet against Careem. It seems Careem wanted to give sometime for him to understand and realize some management decisions, but he resisted, and left Careem Egypt with no choice but to dismiss him and to announce publicly that Wael Fakharany resigned (not fired).
5- Questionable Facebook behavior!
* Wael Fakharany was frequently sharing Uber vs. Careem price comparison posts as if Careem Egypt fights a price war against Uber Egypt. Sometimes he shares calls for boycotting Uber itself!
* When terrorists attacked the church, Wael Fakharany published a Facebook post mentioning his Uber Egypt counterpart urging him to do free rides for hospitals for blood donation similar to what Careem did.
Only one hour after Wael Fakharany's Facebook post, he published another one, with a partial corrective action, saying promo code is applicable now to all hospitals not only those two hospitals!
Two more hours passed before Her Excellency Minister Ghada Waly commented saying "No need for blood donations as government has ample quantities and the Red Crescent has a 24/7 operating blood bank"
It was clear that no coordination was there between Careem and governmental authorities before urging both Cairo residents and Uber Egypt to use free rides to donate blood.
Logically speaking, this may had caused a crowd inside hospitals where medical staff members were already busy doing surgeries and taking care of the injured worshipers while also security officers were collecting evidences, inspecting the nearby church, and questioning rescued victims.
6- Stock options?
In a YouTube video interview with EgyptInnovate published couple of weeks ago, Wael Fakharany said clearly that he is a shareholder in Careem. Many companies offer their employees an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) where an employee receives the cash equivalent amount of her/his shares upon resignation or retirement.
Will firing prevent him from selling his shares or stock options?
Had Careem fired Wael to avoid paying more in the future given the company's continuous financial value growth? Or had it faced issues with Wael's management style so they decided to let him go?
Had Wael Fakharany planned to stay in Careem benefiting from its growth? What about Wael's contract with Careem, is it activating ESOP in case of resignation and before completing a year?
Message to Wael Fakharany's True Friends & Lovers:
If Wael's contract with Careem protects his rights legally, why he is promoting his tweet using Twitter paid advertising service instead of heading to Dubai courts (His Twitter account shows he is already in Dubai now).
Even if his contract doesn't document his rights, why he is insisting on negatively affecting his own career future and his personal reputation?
Why YOU; family relatives, friends, connections, and colleagues of Wael Fakharany are not coaching and advising your guy in such a difficult situation before things worsen more and more?
Conclusion:
New Egypt Consulting recommends public figures and corporate executives to pay attention to their online mentioning and social media engagement.
Social media is not only affecting companies and organizations, but it does affect individuals and their career & reputation.
1- PR Director that never came up!
One month after joining Careem as Egypt's managing director, Wael Fakharany published a Facebook post saying Careem Egypt is looking for a public relations director.
LinkedIn doesn't list any PR director (or even PR manager) working (or had worked) for Careem Egypt! We only found a job ad for a Careem's PR manager position that wasn't fulfilled for some reason.
Apparently, Wael Fakharany wasn't able to convince his senior colleagues to agree on hiring a PR director, so the job was advertised for PR manager that never came up so far!
From a point of view of a social media company, we may not recommend hiring a PR Director as Careem's priority should be given to optimizing operations and satisfying both drivers & customers.
Simply, PR activities could be outsourced on an on-demand model to a PR firm for mass media stuff, or a social media agency for digital public relations.
Another lesson to be learned is:
If you did not succeed to lobby for a hiring decision, it is better to think twice before announcing it publicly especially when your head office in Dubai doesn't even have a similar director-level position (Careem employs a VP for communications, and another manager for communications, both are based in Dubai).
2- Ignoring criticism!
Apparently, Wael got a feedback in a form of criticism, and seems to admit that publicly.
Interestingly, this Facebook post has been liked by both his successor Ramy Kato and Careem's general manager Hadeer Shalaby, unlike many other posts.
Also, Wael Fakharany kept ignoring many top liked comments on his posts that raised too many red flags over Careem's customer service operations given both high growth volume & excessive discounts.
3- It's Tuesday!
Tuesday marks the day when Wael got fired from Emitac Group in Dubai after six months.
It was Tuesday 26th of June 2006 when the owner of the group (85 years old) asked for something that Wael felt, according to his own words in TEDxCairo 2010 video, that he can't do it.
The Emirati owner thought Wael Fakharany was joking, so he repeated his request again but Wael Fakharany insisted on not doing it. Wael Fakaharany said Emitac Group fired him because company owner felt he wanted to do something right!
Interestingly, Tuesday 14th of February 2017 marks the last day Wael Fakharany shared a post from the official Facebook page of Careem Egypt. He did not share a single post from Careem's official social media accounts afterwards.
4- The bad tweet!
Earlier today, Wael Fakharany published his bad tweet against Careem. It seems Careem wanted to give sometime for him to understand and realize some management decisions, but he resisted, and left Careem Egypt with no choice but to dismiss him and to announce publicly that Wael Fakharany resigned (not fired).
5- Questionable Facebook behavior!
* Wael Fakharany was frequently sharing Uber vs. Careem price comparison posts as if Careem Egypt fights a price war against Uber Egypt. Sometimes he shares calls for boycotting Uber itself!
Only one hour after Wael Fakharany's Facebook post, he published another one, with a partial corrective action, saying promo code is applicable now to all hospitals not only those two hospitals!
It was clear that no coordination was there between Careem and governmental authorities before urging both Cairo residents and Uber Egypt to use free rides to donate blood.
Logically speaking, this may had caused a crowd inside hospitals where medical staff members were already busy doing surgeries and taking care of the injured worshipers while also security officers were collecting evidences, inspecting the nearby church, and questioning rescued victims.
6- Stock options?
 |
| Wael Fakharany said while answering above question saying he considers Careem his own business |
Will firing prevent him from selling his shares or stock options?
Had Careem fired Wael to avoid paying more in the future given the company's continuous financial value growth? Or had it faced issues with Wael's management style so they decided to let him go?
Had Wael Fakharany planned to stay in Careem benefiting from its growth? What about Wael's contract with Careem, is it activating ESOP in case of resignation and before completing a year?
Message to Wael Fakharany's True Friends & Lovers:
If Wael's contract with Careem protects his rights legally, why he is promoting his tweet using Twitter paid advertising service instead of heading to Dubai courts (His Twitter account shows he is already in Dubai now).
Even if his contract doesn't document his rights, why he is insisting on negatively affecting his own career future and his personal reputation?
Why YOU; family relatives, friends, connections, and colleagues of Wael Fakharany are not coaching and advising your guy in such a difficult situation before things worsen more and more?
Conclusion:
New Egypt Consulting recommends public figures and corporate executives to pay attention to their online mentioning and social media engagement.
Social media is not only affecting companies and organizations, but it does affect individuals and their career & reputation.
لو شركة حضرتك محتاجة استشارة قبل بدء حملة إعلانية أو لتطوير أداء التسويق الرقمي بهدف زيادتك مبيعات متجرك الالكتروني 10أضعاف بدون إعلانات كما نجحنا في ذلك مع مونجيني مصر تواصلوا معي:
m.abdulmuttaleb [at] yahoo [dot] com
محمول 01212430121
https://www.linkedin.com/in/muhamedabuahmad
Very very well thoughts and analysis and you are connecting the dots quite well. At the end of the day there are some other aspects that will Paolo obably remain hidden like fund raisers contributions or reccomendations for key players in such a unicorn getting all the funds from others. Careem took fatal/critical wrong mistaken decisions in the past 7 months and one of the worst was not revealing or trying to be nice when firing Wael. If I will fire anyone, I will clearly expose the true reasons without going personal against the fired person regardless his title. I am the owner and I fire whomever I want, period. Now, this is causing collateral damage on Carem but major damage for Wael, and the worst is yet to come with Ramy :)
ReplyDeleteI like your investigation. Nice work
ReplyDeleteWell structured report. It reveals some hidden factors. Not All factors though.
ReplyDeleteMy question is : are you (as a company) hired by Careem to do this ? If yes, you should state that clearly. If not, then I wonder about the motive and the source of information. Appreciate an answer for my question.
Good comment 👍
DeleteChapeau ;)
DeleteVery Good Comment :)
Delete"Simply, PR activities could be outsourced on an on-demand model to a PR firm for mass media stuff, or a social media agency for digital media public relations."
ReplyDeleteIt looks Careem take your advice into consideration and hired you to write this report :)
Vague conclusions based on clueless facts...I'll use your methodology and persume you're hired by Careem :)
ReplyDelete