Investment in training and better co-ordination between the industrial and educational sectors are the key factors identified as essential to the success of the Kingdom’s Saudisation campaign, according to human resource (HR) managers who attended a recent roundtable in Jeddah.
The discussion, hosted by the Middle East’s number one jobsite Bayt.com, gathered the insights of a number of industry representatives on the nationalisation programme undertaken by the Saudi government. The HR managers discussed the most effective methods way of harnessing the skills of the Kingdom’s citizens who are keen to make a difference in their country’s workplaces.
The event featured HR managers representing a number of leading Saudi-based companies; including Saudi Arabian Mining Company, Saudi Aramco, Jameel Accessories and Conversion Services, SEDCO, Abdu Allah and Nasser Al Soraya Co and Munya Al Muhaidib Contracting Co.
The roundtable was held against the backdrop of recent Saudi Arabian government statistics that suggested that there are nearly470,000 unemployed Saudi men and women – a figure accounting for12 per cent of the total Saudi work force.
“We decided to initiate an open forum for discussion about the current state of workforce nationalisation in Saudi Arabia and the roundtable format has proved to be ideal for an open and honest exchange of views and experiences,” said Rabea Ataya, CEO of Bayt.com. “For this particular meeting, we invited a cross section of HR managers from the Kingdom’s various sectors of industry to help achieve a realistic across-the-board picture of Saudisation at this current time,” he added.
When first asked about the numbers of Saudi nationals working within the attendant HR Managers’ own companies, the replies given varied widely. Alaa Al Sharef, representing Jameel Accessories and Conversion Services located outside Jeddah, claimed that100 per cent of his employees were, in fact, Saudi nationals.
Hisham Kamal, HR Manager at the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, stated that half the workers at his company were Saudi nationals and for Aiman Ergesous, HR manager of Abdu Allah and Nasser Al Soraya Co, the figure was approximately one-third.
All of the attendees at the discussion were unanimous in highlighting the need for better communication and co-ordination between the industrial and educational sectors in Saudi Arabia. They advocated the enactment of more workplace internships, which would improve the expectations of new employees and also agreed on the importance of enhanced training schemes for those about to enter the local job market.
A number of other points were also stressed, including the belief that the private sector within the country wasn’t working hard enough to promote the attractive options available and were failing to use suitable recruitment tools to place the right candidates in the right jobs. Jamal Khushaim, HR Manager of SEDCO Co., was particularly concerned about the lack of development available.
Concern over the future impact of failings within the Saudisation programme was also brought to the fore, with acknowledgement that this could impinge on staffing numbers within the country’s industry in the future. Abdul Rahman, representing Munya Al Muhaidib Contracting Co., suggested that if steps were not taking to remedy the situation soon, the reverberations would be felt in seven to10 years, as the Saudi economy undergoes progressive expansion and growth.
The roundtable meeting concluded on a positive note, however, with Mr. Alaa Al Sharef commenting that events such as this were a great example of partnership between service provider and client and that suc h discussions could only be beneficial for improving the process of Saudisation.
Recent success stories were also revealed, with Saudi Aramco’s programme in particular coming in for praise; the company’s commitment to training and performance incentives being highlighted as motivational factors that have prevented the attrition of national employees.