… and the winner is…

The National used the results of the AonHewitt “best employer in the Middle East” survey as the theme for their editorial yesterday. The title ? “Work can reward in different ways”  – OF COURSE I had to write about it today 😉 !

DHL Express UAE was declared best employer, with 2 other DHL branches (Oman and Kuwait) making the top 5 in the region, along with Microsoft  Gulf and Procter and Gamble Near East. Congratulations to these organisations ! They clearly have been able to put in place a work culture that suit the needs of their employees – and therefore, they (the employers) reap the benefits of better performance, productivity, and reduced costs of hiring/rehiring.

I was interested to read how mainstream the concept of employee retention is becoming. Companies are now more and more aware that, even in parts of the world with large expatriate numbers like in the GCC, “it is in any business’s best interests to work to retain its employees, especially top performers.”

The article goes on to explain that “money is not the only motivating factor for people in the workforce; job satisfaction is vitally important.”

I fully agree with this point. In Remuneration, engagement and the GCC employee, I explored how remuneration is not the main motivator for GCC-based employees, who say they value learning, growth and clear career paths as main drivers of their engagement at work. In another article on pay and motivation at Fortune 100 Best Places to Work for, I recall my time at Microsoft to give a glimpse of what it feels to work in one of these organisations. It’s good to see that year over year, these tendencies still show in survey results.

I wish more companies would hear this message, and focus on creating holistic approaches to Employee Value Proposition.

Because yes, it is important to pay employees right, and Compensation pros have a very important role to play there. But retention is not a question of money only. And so all parts of HR must work together in order to create an environment where employees thrive and want to stay and give their best.

This topic of how Compensation and Talent approaches need to converge or synchronise will be the topic of my presentation next week at the 17th Compensation & Benefits Forum in Dubai next week. I will share examples of how synergies between the C&B and Talent functions within HR can support the business. I hope to see you there !

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Comments

  1. Hello ..

    Yes I fully agree. Also I believe that Employee Engagement is one the major reasons why most organizations thrive and this mantra is a common one. I personally feel that Employee Engagement should be part of every board meeting and has to be implemented fully. When employees are satisfied they are more focused on pay satisfaction, benefits satisfaction, physical working conditions and other factors that satisfy (What do I get?). However, Employee Engagement is somewhat an emotional connection, feeling of ownership, involvement in their job, passion safe culture, and having meaning / purpose as an employee. Hence, what you give back to the organization?

    Looking at the size of your article… looks that your finger has healed well 🙂 Be careful with barbeque next time … lol

    See you soon !

    • Sandrine says

      Hi Samir,
      Yes you are right, employee engagement goes beyond satisfaction to include more “emotional” aspects. It’s a bit like moving up on the Maslow pyramid !

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