Saudi Workers in the Private

¶ … Saudi workers in the private sector in Saudi Arabia.

This project draws on various primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources consist of interviews and surveys I have conducted with Saudi employees and managers.

A number of secondary sources are used, such as economics papers which examine the economic implications of private sector performance in Saudi Arabia. These studies will be used to provide context for the behavior of Saudi employees at private sector firms. Also included is literature on psychology and performance theory, which will provide the analytical lens with which to make sense of the behavior of Saudi employees.

This study will analyze the behavior of Saudi employees in terms of incentives and motivation. This is the fundamental indicator by which we will measure expected performance throughout the study.

Chapter I. - Introduction

Background

While working as an administrator at a private school in Saudi Arabia, I was involved in the process of selecting teachers for the school. While observing this process, I noticed that the foreign managers preferred to select foreign teachers of the same nationality over local Saudi teachers. Moreover, the owner of the private school usually approved the selections of the foreign managers even though there were strict regulations from the Saudi government encouraging employers to hire Saudi Nationals, many of which were available in the education sector at that time.

I understood the reason for the foreign managers' hiring decisions. Foreign managers might feel more comfortable managing employees of their own nationality, especially while working in a foreign country. However, I was puzzled as to why the Saudi managers agreed to these choices as well, even going so far as to ignore the government regulations encouraging the employment of local Saudis.

Most observers would conclude that the performance of Saudi employees in private firms might explain these hiring decisions observed. Saudi employees are very appreciative and quite motivated when they first get a job, considering the lack of jobs in Saudi Arabia and the even lower chances of getting a job in the private sectors. However, this appreciation and motivation goes down as Saudi employees settle into their jobs, perhaps taking those jobs for granted.

The attitude of Saudi employees is frustrating for foreign managers and domestic managers alike. The discrepancy between the employees they are accustomed to, foreign workers, and the employees they are now being asked to train, Saudi workers, is quite hard to come to terms with while under intense pressure to perform.

Problem Statement

The lack of initiative and motivation among domestic employees in the Saudi Arabian private sector threatens to hamper the performance of Saudi SMEs, which would not only hurt the Saudi economy but would also inhibit the development of human capital in Saudi Arabia.

Research Objective

This paper will attempt to explain the traditional underachievement of Saudi employees when working at SMEs.

Scope of the Study

Chapter II. Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter will explain employee motivation as an academic field of interest. It will identify the leading motivation theories and examine whether they have any bearing the current situation with Saudi workers in SMEs. The behaviours recommended by those theories will then be compared to the management practices of managers in Saudi SMEs.

In order to explore the subject of employee motivation, the issues of compensation, security, morale, leadership, and basic human nature have been speculated on. These issues have been addressed in varying degrees by the great employee motivation theories of the past century.

2.2 Theories of Employee Motivation.

The precursor to management literature was the field of psychology. Many of the foundational theories and controversies regarding the effective management of employees are inspired by advances in the study of psychology. Psychological theories have been useful for understanding the deeper reasons for performance and achievement.

One of the foundational theories in management literature is Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" Theory. The "Hierarchy of Needs" theory posits that human beings cannot move on to higher achievement unless their more basic needs are satisfied. (Maslow, 1962). People need to be evaluated based on where they are in this hierarchy in order to be effectively coached into higher performance and achievement.

Although Maslow was not thinking about the workplace specifically when conceived of this theory, it often been used in workplace settings and other organization settings. Other management thinkers after Maslow have looked at the worker as a being with particular needs. (McGregor, 1967). This school of thought tends to look positively on the worker as someone who will perform and achieve largely on their own if given the right circumstances. Douglas McGregor's work proposed that people actually want to learn and that their desire to work itself produces development and productivity in their occupation. (McGregor, 1967). People's main need or desire was not actually money, but rather the capability to do interesting work themselves. Thus, the job of managers was to channel this natural need for achievement into production for the company.

Management literature of this variety tends to be humanistic, focusing on the worker as a human first and a labor input second. According to Mayo, workplaces are more than just centers of economic production, they are social environments and they should be understood in terms of the worker's social needs. (Mayo, 1949). A sense of belongingness and acceptance by the group was just as important as salary and would motivate workers to achieve things that monetary compensation would not. (Mayo, 1949). This phenomenon been termed the "Hawthorne Effect" and many companies currently seek to make their employees feel like part of a "team" or a "family," creating loyalty and a sense of responsibility for the fate of the company.

The most current management theory focuses on the different styles of management and the level of trust and incentives present in the relationship between manager and employee. (Argyris, Likert) Chris Argyris classifies management styles into two basic types: bureaucratic/pyramidal and humanistic/democratic. (Argyris, 1970). Argyris understood employee motivation as being stifled by bureaucratic/pyramidal systems and encouraged by humanistic/democratic systems. Rensis Likert classifies management systems into four types: the exploitive -- authoritative system, benevolent -- authoritative system, consultative system, and participatory -- group system. (Likert, 1967) The worst system, the exploitative -- authoritative system, would be the kind where employees have work dropped on them and are threatened with dismissal if they do not do the work, such as sweatshops. The best system, the participatory -- group system, would be a system where even employees at the most junior level are included in decision-making and where managers can trust employees to perform without supervision, such as Google.

The body of management literature points to the increasing preference for group-oriented, participatory styles of management. The focus is on trust and common goals between management and employees. Essentially, it is about management creating a situation in the workplace where employees will manage themselves.

Chapter III. -- Research Questions and Hypothesis

Hypothesis

This study will analyze the behavior of Saudi employees in terms of incentives and motivation. This is the fundamental indicator by which we will measure expected performance throughout the study.

Research Questions

What methods are managers currently using to motivate Saudi employees, if any?

How do Saudis compare to the other employees in Saudi Arabia, South Asians and East Asians, in terms of motivation, competencies, and work habits?

What are the distinguishing characteristics of Saudi workers?

What type of motivating mechanisms are present in the traditional Saudi workplace?

What kind of motivating mechanisms are present in Saudi schools and universities?

What larger social and economic trends are having an effect on the motivation and performance of Saudi workers?

Chapter IV. -- Research Method

4.1 Research Procedure

The study will use both qualitative and quantitative research methods to determine the motivations of the employees and the motivational mechanisms currently used by managers. The Quantitative information will be retrieved through surveys passed out to current employees and managers at various firms. The surveys will pose very narrow questions so as to make the responses definite and easy to answer. The survey questions will attempt to gauge opinions and attitudes towards work and will be inspired by Maslow's hierarchy of needs in order to provide some structure to the answers of the respondents.

The qualitative information will be retrieved through in-depth interviews with open-ended questions that will allow the respondents to speak at length about their motivations for working and any other work-related concerns. This will help identify issues not provided for in the survey questions.

4.2 Sources of Data

The sources of data will include both written answers from surveys as well as verbal answers taken from in-depth interviews. The sample interviewing population will be employees and managers in both the production and administrative levels of SMEs in order to provide a more accurate sample and also to identify whether there are issues specific to certain sectors of SMEs. The sampling will take place at three types of SMEs which have traditionally relied on foreign employees. The sample population is meant to represent the industries that are going through the most drastic changes in workforce dynamics as a result of the Saudization policy.

1) Education

2) Construction

3) Information Technology

4.3 Data collection method

I will distribute the following surveys to the employees and employers in my sample population. I will give them two weeks to complete the surveys, after which I will collect them and analyze them.

4.4 Sample size and sampling method

The sample size will be between 40-50 people. The sampling method include surveys as well as direct conversations. The employee surveys will gauge satisfaction with salary, job security, work environment, feedback, training, and other factors relating to job satisfaction. The employer surveys will ask employers to rate Saudi employees in areas such as work ethic, ability, attitude, and skills, especially as compared to workers of other nationalities.

4.5 Method of Data Analysis

The surveys should yield a set of simple, definite answers which be compared on the same criteria. The open-ended interviews should yield a deeper, more diverse set of answers which will be analyzed for patterns and common concerns. Any patterns not reflected in the survey questions will be set aside for further inquiry.