No matter what the salary, Mena employees loyal: poll

Who says money is the driving factor at work? Employees can remain loyal to the company they work for even when the package they might be getting may not be considered competitive enough in the market, according to the findings by a Bayt.com poll. 

The poll reveals that 90 per cent of MENA employees consider themselves to be loyal to their company. This is despite the fact that majority believe they are not being paid well. Sixty one per cent of the respondents said that they are not well compensated by their employer. 

The findings show that the majority (58 per cent) of people in the MENA region are satisfied with their current employment, with 27 pert cent of these being ‘very satisfied’. Seven out of 10 (71 per cent) like the company that they work for, while eight out of 10 (80 per cent) are proud of their employer’s brand and 94 per cent say that their job is meaningful to them. 

When asked if they feel challenged in their current position, 83 per cent stated yes, with a further three quarters claiming that their job stresses them either ‘occasionally’ (39 per cent) or ‘most of the time’ (35 per cent). Most feel that they are growing and learning in their job (although 35 per cent would like to grow more), says the survey. In terms of possibilities for promotion, a quarter (23 per cent) say there are ‘plenty’ of opportunities in their company, while 38% state that there are none. 

However, many candidates would like to see their personal finance improve. “There has been a lull for a couple of years now. I really need an increment as rents and school fees are rising,” said an Indian national in Dubai. 

A third (32 per cent) of poll respondents claim that the thing they would most like to change about their job is their salary. But it’s not just the change in the salary they are looking at. Other respondents would like to change their role and responsibilities (23 per cent), or their training and development path (20 per cent). 

“There is a general level of satisfaction with their employment situation amongst the majority of people across the MENA region, though there are clearly areas in which employees wish their company would improve. These seem to be mostly incentive-based, which suggests companies looking to reduce churn should consider more training and motivation schemes for their staff,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com. 

Management style plays a significant role in employee levels of satisfaction, with the majority (45 per cent) of poll respondents stating that they are supervised ‘just right’; that their management’s expectations of them are mostly realistic (according to 60 per cent), and that the communication channels in their company are open (70 per cent - though 36 per cent of these state that they are not open enough). Only 28 per cent of polled professionals believe that their management is unprofessional. A further 13 per cent claim that their co-workers are unprofessional, though 95 per cent state that they do in fact get along with their co-workers.

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