Call for more transparent communication channels

DUBAI, 22 January 2011 (Khaleejtimes): The vast majority of respondents (87.7 per cent) across the Middle East said that they are loyal to their current employers, according to the latest online poll series conducted by Bayt.com.

The results of the 'Employee Motivation at the ME workplace' showed that 66.4 per cent of respondents are very loyal to their current employers, 21.3 per cent are quite loyal, 6.5 per cent are not very loyal and 5.8 per cent are not loyal at all.

Data for the 'Employee Motivation at the ME workplace poll' series was collected online between December 1, 2010 and January 7, 2011, with a total of 10,929 respondents from across the Middle East.

When asked what their number one loyalty motivation was, 27.9 per cent of respondents said salary, 18.7 per cent said available growth opportunities, 16.5 per cent said relationships with their boss/management/colleagues, 14.2 per cent said the nature of the job, 7.2 per cent said training and development schemes, 6.9 per cent said the company's position in the market, 5.9 per cent said corporate culture, and 2.6 per cent indicated that reasons other of the above are keeping them motivated.

Participants in the poll were asked how important transparent communication channels are to their loyalty motivation levels; 73.7 per cent said very important, 19.2 per cent said important to a certain extent, 2.7 per cent said not too important, 4.5 per cent said not important at all.

The respondents were also asked how transparent the communication channels are in their companies.

About half (50.5 per cent) stated they are not transparent as employees are not kept in the loop of any corporate happenings or developments while 49.5 per cent stated they are transparent to varying extents.

"Respondents for the majority agree that transparency is very important however not really very well practiced in the region. Luckily the region is seeing an increase in efforts to gain more transparency such as the UN's Pearl Initiative", said Amer Zureikat, VP Sales, Bayt.com. When asked if respondents would consider leaving their current job, only 5.8 per cent said no. More than half (64.2 per cent) said they are actively searching and 30 per cent said they would for a better salary but are however not searching at the moment.

When asked as to what would most boost their job loyalty, 28.3 per cent said a salary increase, 25.8 per cent said more promising career growth opportunities ,20.2% said a better life-work balance, 13.5% said more room for recognition appreciation , 6.7 per cent more compelling training/development, 3.1 per cent said clear corporate communications channels, and 2.4 per cent said more group activities outside the work place.

"With such a large number of ME Professionals emphasising on the importance of work life balance, the time for employers to stand up and take notice has come. Western countries have long been trying to promote a better work- life integration and it seems that the MENA's work driven societies are all starting to feel the need for it as well", added Zureikat.