Dubai: Employee productivity has remained stable even during the month of fasting as employees work harder to finish their tasks during the reduced six-hour work day, employers in the UAE said.
"Reduced productivity is not an issue. Employees are well aware of their responsibilities. We agreed with them to work for six-hour days and they achieve the objectives set to them that they normally do on a regular work day," said M. Rajendran, Country Manager for insurance company AXA UAE. "Muslim employees seem to be quite energetic during this month."
Muslims who have been fasting for many years are used to this ritual and can still function at work, he said. "Some Emiratis even work more than six hours to ensure their work is completed before they go home. Some put in the extra hours without being asked."
Flexibility
The overall reduced level of activity in other companies down the chain means there is less work to do and employees can manage, he noted. "The level of activity reduced in market. It's a unique time of Ramadan, holidays, and August is just an average month for insurance. The number of inquiries and quotes reduce substantially. This impacts the company's activity, so staff performance is normal."
To help their fasting employees during the month, employers take measures to ensure the loss in productivity is kept to a minimum: flexible work hours, task sharing and financial planning for reduced hours in Ramadan is helpful, employers say.
"Productivity did not change because we gave them the flexibility of working to the natural rhythm of Ramadan — among other things, we were closed during iftar times and then kept our Silkor centres open at night," said Lara Tarakjian, Founder and Executive Board Member of Silkor, one of the largest laser medical centre chains in the region.
"We were understanding of the difficulties that some of our staff faced during this month and provided them with the flexibility to assist each other and manage their work internally, so that our customers were not affected."
One way to motivate employees to work hard when their energy is low or they spend long hours at night in prayer is to communicate, according to Rajendran. Employers should ask if their staff is facing any issues at work and talk clearly with them about their responsibility.
Experienced companies should not face a loss of hours or finance during Ramadan if they plan well, said Andrew McNeilis, Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa at Talent 2, an HR consultancy and executive head-hunting firm.
"Sensible businesses will factor in expatriate holidays, national holidays and the fasting month during their business budgeting and financial planning. You would be a pretty naive manager or leader to expect Ramadan to be your best ever financially performing month unless you run an iftar specific niche!" he said.
The bigger challenge to lost time and financial productivity is not Ramadan, but rather the number of public holidays and the 30-day holidays that employees get, he added. "Combine these and you are often having to accept a ten month year from employees which clearly places challenges on productivity."
