Investment experts have urged the business community to pay special attention to employee skill development for improved productivity.
Adnan Aziz Khan, project manager of Delta Desert Contracting, said: “If business owners do not invest in employee development and appraisal, loyalty and performance will definitely see a slide. There should be internal training and quarterly performance-based appraisal programs to boost morale, productivity and performance.”
Ali Alrajab, a Saudi automobile businessman in the Central Province, said: “The government is doing an excellent job of legalizing everyone's work status with official work permits. Once people earn as much as they deserve, loyalty losses will fall.
“Compensation should be greater but should also be measured and based on both punctuality and productivity.”
“Lack of competitive employee engagement is a leading factor alongside strong progress planning. Employers need to reconsider maintenance strategies to keep young employees engaged and ensure a structured training and development plan is implemented to increase their knowledge base and reduce staff turnover,” said Mohammad Kamran, a customer service executive at Emirates NBD in Riyadh.
Hassan Sahi, an import-export businessman in Riyadh, said: “Business losses due to low productivity and performance can easily be rectified. I acknowledge that some disparity does exist between locals and expatriates, which sometimes can lead to a negative impact on employees’ morale.”
He mentioned that the new system of checks, balances and quotas in most businesses for Saudization, as well as employee development, have all contributed to less losses. “It is human nature to want to perform well once interest and effort is invested in an employee, both in the form of encouragement to progress in ones field and in the form of monetary compensation,” he said.
According to estimates provided for the first time in the Kingdom following a recent survey, Saudi Arabia’s business sector was losing SR35 billion annually in terms of loyalty due to poor employee performance, low productivity and a lack of interest in work.
Businesses need to invest in employee development
