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28 March 2024

Only 36% of Mideast employees 'highly engaged': survey

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

According to a new survey by Towers Watson, a human resource company, only 36 per cent of Middle East employees are highly engaged in their work, which indicates that the majority, then, are less serious and committed to what they do to make a living.

Another survey by Oxford Strategic Consulting indicates the same and has even more stark figures to reveal - less than 25 per cent of employees worldwide are actively engaged in their work and their organisation.

This is a crucial matter for employers, more so in the GCC, where a lot of planned growth depends on the right talent and their engagement levels.

Employed and engaged

However, this data is different from what a survey released by online portal Bayt.com in the first quarter of this year indicated.

The Bayt survey stated that 82 per cent of professionals in the Mena feel engaged in the workplace.

Six in 10 (57.1 per cent) believe that their company’s management makes job satisfaction a top priority.

Engaged mean better productivity


More engaged employees mean better productivity, which means better and profitable businesses.

Employees engaged in their work are likely to be motivated, remain loyal to their employer and to stay focused on achieving business goals and driving the organisation’s future.

On the other hand, disengaged employees can drag down others and impact critical business areas.

A more effective employee engagement model for GCC companies promises huge returns on investment.

Research found, for example, that organisations with the highest engagement scores averaged 18 per cent higher productivity than those with the lowest engagement scores.

Moreover, those companies in the top quartile of engagement returned seven times more to shareholders over a five-year period than companies in the bottom quartile, according to Oxford Strategic Consulting.

Three factors that determine employee engagement include the immediate leader or line-manager (40 per cent), an individual’s own propensity for enthusiasm and positivism (40 per cent), and finally the work environment (20 per cent).

Interestingly, an employee’s work environment is the least important factor in determining high levels of engagement but is the major focus of most engagement processes.

[Image via Shutterstock]