The path to sustainable HRM in the Middle East

The human resources department faces difficulties in keeping up with the game of a sustainable workforce, despite the fact that many of these changes aim to guarantee business continuity and improve the employees' work-life balance.

Human resource managers have a lot on their plates these days, what with employees tiring of their jobs, a rise in attrition rates, a greater demand for flexible workplace arrangements, and so on. According to Ellen Fullido, president of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), this trend can be summed up by the phrase "great reawakening of employees," in which workers come to terms with the fact that they require a job that allows them to thrive professionally, find meaning in their lives, and support their loved ones.

“Veteran workers must adapt to new technologies, shifting markets, international crises, and, of course, the unavoidable incorporation of Generation Y, a group of ambitious young adults born between 1982 and 2002,” stated Fahad Al Abdulkarim, Human Resource Director, Procter & Gamble, Arabian Peninsula.

The Middle East's ultra-competitive labour market has been profoundly altered by the confluence of demographic shifts, institutional reform, and the strong forces of globalisation. In addition, it has reinforced the importance of implementing cutting-edge human resources practices that make employee satisfaction a priority in every company. Indeed, in the modern era, the key to maximising peak performance, maintaining low employee turnover, and accomplishing long-term business objectives is to cultivate a dynamic, diverse corporate environment that encourages productivity, creativity, and innovation.

“We think it's high time for competing businesses to adopt a similar approach to staff motivation. Job security, optimism, and confidence are all things of the past in today's job market; long gone are the days when a fresh college grad would join a business and remain there until retirement. The old rules no longer apply, and high job turnover, rising recruitment costs, and poor employee retention rates are problems across all sectors,” stated Fahad.

Hybrid Workplace

The mixed workplace is here to stay, and HR professionals should adjust accordingly. Even though the hybrid setup was initially implemented in 2021 as a safety net to protect people, by 2022 it had become the standard. Rethinking performance reviews and providing more leeway for deskless employees in order to reduce the impact of proximity bias in the workplace.

In order to limit the spread of the highly contagious virus, video conferencing apps like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and FaceTime have largely replaced in-person meetings since the advent of remote work and their broad acceptance.

According to Sam Tayan, director of Zoom's Middle East and North Africa division, "video communications have helped maintain a sense of normalcy and continuity in life's important duties" throughout the pandemic. Tayan was speaking to Arab News.

More than two years later, the shift from constant face-to-face contact to intermittent remote interaction is seemingly irreversible, with people in all walks of life increasingly reliant on various forms of electronic communication.

Ali Rao, CEO of Dubai-based Elixir Establishments, told Media that the demand for serviced workspaces is expected to increase in the Kingdom in the future years.

Over the next five years, Rao predicts that the market for flexible office space in Saudi Arabia will expand at a CAGR of more than 6%.

As a result of the global pandemic, foreign businesses are flocking to Dubai, the economic hub of the Gulf, driving up demand for office space to levels not seen in five years. The first quarter of 2022 saw the delivery of office units totaling 480,000 square feet, increasing the city's supply to 107 million square feet, as reported by 6Wresearch.

Remote Jobs and Talent Pooling

Permanent remote work positions pose a serious threat to the status quo. Companies that are prepared to pay recruitment agencies large sums of money in order to have their applications for foreign jobs screened might as well use that money to find and train employees who are capable of working effectively across geographic, cultural, and organisational boundaries.

Young people in the Middle East are adapting social networks like Facebook and Twitter to meet their employment requirements, joining them alongside more established professional social networks like LinkedIn and Bayt.com. With the help of online communities, businesses can find and recruit qualified candidates in their area without having to spend a fortune on relocating them.

In countries such as Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and even Morocco, where the economy is already struggling, the number of young people who are literate and trained to work in the internet sector has grown faster than the country's ability to absorb them.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies, which have long encouraged workers to relocate from other Arab countries in order to expand their service industries, can now more effectively manage this migration flux while still fulfilling their aid commitment to other developing economies in the region by assisting in the integration and training of the local workforce from these countries thanks to easy access to the internet. The flexibility of working remotely, combined with the ability to reinvest earnings from one market into another, makes remote work the ideal way to combine professional education with financial independence.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

The region's extensive cultural legacy is a major strength. Since many countries are eager to have skilled workers from other countries join their workforce, we have a great opportunity to benefit from the richness of cultural variety. Companies are making greater strides to promote female equality. Policies and practices that make it easier for women to join, advance in, and return to the workforce are examples of this.

Companies in the Middle East, both foreign and domestic, are progressively incorporating policies that promote gender equality into their selection and advancement procedures. Training to combat unconscious prejudice is also being introduced. Even more encouraging is the fact that an increasing number of businesses are investing resources into long-term strategy. The current push isn't just about filling positions, but also about spending in the training and advancement of women in order to create more inclusive pipelines for the future.

“It is encouraging to see that many boards are placing female representation high on the agenda and taking steps to foster women in their workforce as part of their commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion. This trend is likely to persist as more and more businesses realise the benefits of incorporating diverse perspectives into collaborative decision-making,” Maliha Jilani, member of the global social impact practice and partner at Heidrick & Struggles (Dubai).

“Creating opportunities for women to advance their careers and assume leadership roles is a problem that needs to be solved on a worldwide and regional scale. Although there is a sizable pool of qualified women from which to choose, their representation dwindles dramatically at higher levels. So, we need to figure out how to encourage and support women to remain in the employment and advance in their chosen fields,” she added further.

Here's where mentoring programmes come in handy, by connecting aspiring female leaders with successful role models they can look up to and emulate. Promising female abilities will not only receive mentoring, but also receive financial support.

Having someone to speak up for their interests and lobby on their behalf. The combination of mentoring, sponsorship, and female role models is crucial to increasing the number of women in leadership positions and accelerating their advancement.