A recent poll conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 job website, has revealed that while the majority of employees across the Middle East (77%) feel engaged in their workplace, only29.2% are familiar with the concept of an employee reward program.
Just less than half of the employees surveyed state that their company offers an employee reward programme, with the majority56.4% claiming that their company is one of the62.9% across the region that offer none of the following incentives: awards to employees; recognition or appreciation; employee of the month or year, or peer-to-peer recognition. Only12.7% of professionals said their employers offer all four of these motivational stimuli.
“The responses we received to our latest online poll study show that employees in the Middle East are engaged at work, despite the fact that the majority of companies appear not to offer many of the traditional incentives that are used elsewhere in the world as motivational tools,” commented –Lama Ataya, Chief Marketing Officer at Bayt.com. “At Bayt.com we strive to provide employers and employees with detailed, relevant information that reflects issues that are current to them, while offering a comprehensive, invaluable online resource for all employment needs.”
While62.2% of poll respondents say that they do receive recognition or praise at work,23.8% state that they do not find it necessary to have someone encourage their development. Of those who do have their efforts lauded,44.4% receive encouragement from their supervisor or manager, with colleagues being a boost source for a further25.5%.
Results show that77% of poll-takers do feel engaged at work, with68.4% understanding what is expected of them in their current role.
Companies that are attempting to boost engagement levels are doing so by showing more recognition (25.3%), giving more rewards (22.5%), encouraging open communication (24.5%), increasing transparency (13.3%), and empowering staff (14.5%). However,44.7% of employees claim that first and foremost, more opportunities to learn and grow within the company are needed to make them feel more engaged. A better salary and benefits package comes in as a distant second with17.1% placing it as a priority; trailing behind is a clear career path (13.7%); a good relationship with colleagues (9.1%); and a good relationship with their manager or supervisor (8.6%). Only6.8% believe that more recognition or appreciation will increase their level of engagement at work.
“Clearly, beyond getting the compensation equation right, there are very many variables that influence employee satisfaction and engagement and Bayt.com’s regional HR research has shown time and time again that opportunities for career development and training are paramount amongst these” added Ataya.
Data for the Bayt.com Reward Programs and Employee Engagement in the Middle East survey was collected online from September27 – November13,2011, with14,063 respondents from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, KSA and the UAE.