Dubai: Emirati employees prefer to be communicated important decisions directly by CEO's at their work place as compared to expatriates who prefer their immediate bosses to do the job, a new research has found.
Interestingly, the research also finds that none of the employees in the region prefers to be directly communicated by the human resources department in their office, which reflects the low level of credibility attached to the department.
The findings of the research, by Aon Hewitt — a global company that specialises in human capital consulting and outsourcing solutions — will shed light into what makes Arab nationals in the workforce tick.
Called Qudurat, the study was carried out by Acumena Centre, a research and innovation centre launched in March by Hewitt, dedicated to the development of Arab national talent across the Middle East. Qudurat is the inaugural research study by the centre.
According to it, women put more emphasis on intrinsic factors at work such as the work environment and derive more pleasure from it, while men rather focus on extrinsic factors such as their salary.
"Identifying the differences in their [Emiratis'] preferences is critical in integrating them better into the UAE's workforce," David Jones, Hewitt's senior leader for the Middle East practice, told Gulf News.
Not attributing credibility to the HR would mean that HR departments would have to make sure the CEO's and line managers are on the same page as them on important decisions and policies, he said. The complete findings of the research are expected to be released within few weeks.
Elaborate overview
The study is the first and largest of its kind in the Middle East and focuses on multiple facets of local talent, providing an elaborate overview of what drives and motivates national talent within the work place, Jones said. "It seeks to understand the innate potential amongst nationals and how best to nurture it."
As many as 4,500 employees across UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman were quizzed for the study.
The respondents were selected methodologically to represent 120,000 employees.
Last year, a survey conducted by Hewitt found that Arab nationals working in their home country are the least engaged at their work compared to foreign workers. "This prompted us to launch Qudurat to find out what drives and motivates Arab nationals, especially since it is strategically important to increase their presence and performance in the private and public sectors," Jones said.
Posing a challenge
The Qudurat study found engagement scores of Arab nationals to be the lowest this year too.
Jones added: "This presents a challenge to the organisations in the region. They need to ask — are we spending our training dollars effectively?"
Since the challenges in the region are unique, Jones said a unique solution is warranted.
Comparison between nationals and expats
Hewitt's Best Employers Middle East 2009 research study identified that in the GCC countries:
- Local talent has the lowest engagement scores as compared to foreign workers
- Local talent is typically less satisfied with their work-life balance as compared to foreign workers
- Local talent is typically less satisfied with the future career prospects and opportunities for skill advancement
Initial findings of Qudurat study 2010
- Arab nationals, including Emiratis, working in their home country have the lowest engagement scores as compared to foreign workers
- GCC nationals prefer to be communicated directly by CEOs as compared to expatriates who prefer their immediate bosses to do so
- None of the employees surveyed preferred to be communicated directly by the human resources department
- Women set more emphasis on intrinsic motivators at work such as the work environment and their contribution to the organisation, while men comparatively focus on extrinsic motivators such as their salary
