Gender and Human Resource Management in the Middle East

Written by: Rachel Wells

This blog post is based on The International Journal of Human Resource Management article “Gender and Human Resource Management in the Middle East” by Beverly Dawn Metcalfe.

Women as Top Talent

As more women enter the workforce it has become an increasing concern that women in workplaces encounter a glass ceiling. The text refers to a glass ceiling as discriminatory practices that have prevented women and other protected-class members from advancing to executive-level jobs (85). This is especially true in the Middle East where Islamic values affect women's work experiences and Islam shapes gender and HRM policies.

This issue of gender and HRM polices in the Middle East is important because of the increasing support for equality between men and women in the workplace. There is also a growing importance of women's employment in the Middle East. As the economy in Middle Eastern states grows and changes, there is a greater need for government and organizations in the Middle East to integrate with government and organizations in different countries. “It is shown that Islamic banking, finance and insurance services offer significant growth potential in the global market, and that these sectors are likely to require female labor” (Metcalfe 56).

Study

Beverly Dawn Metcalfe is a Senior Lecturer in HRD, International Development at University of Manchester. Her study is based on an assessment of 53 survey responses and 27 interviews. All the survey and interview participants were female professionals from Arab states who currently work in Bahrain, and attended career development workshops. Out of the 102 attendees to the workshops, twelve had PhDs, 20 percent had postgraduate qualifications and 33 percent had professional level qualifications (Metcalfe 62).

The results identified key barriers to career development. Survey respondents identified child care responsibilities, limited female role models, and business culture and the limited support of organizations for women’s work as barriers (Metcalfe 62). Interview data identified the lack of HR policy planning relating to women and equal opportunities, limited training and development opportunities for women, and the significance of Islam in a work environment including Islamic dress as barriers (Metcalfe 63).

HR Policies

Two common means the text says are used to “break the glass” are: (1) allow for alternative work arrangements for employees, particularly those balancing work/family responsibilities, and (2) establish formal mentoring programs for women. But in the Middle East flexible work schedules or part-time work is not encouraged. For example, in Bahrain women are given eight weeks unpaid maternity leave, but are expected to look after the children and not return to work. Those that do return to work are given about a one hour reduction in work hours. As for mentoring programs, it would be difficult for organizations to implement formal ones because of a lack of female professionals to act as mentors. In Bahrain, most mentoring opportunities are often built on informal female relations and networks. Not through organization support (Metcalfe 68).

Metcalfe states that the lack of equal opportunity policies reflects the equal but different philosophy underpinning Islam. This philosophy holds men and women as equals, and respects and values the different, not lesser, skills and characteristics of women managers. Islam is so strongly embedded in the workplace that some organizations in Bahrain support sex-segregated work spaces (Metcalfe 64). However, this philosophy does place massive constraints on women's career development, especially relating to training and development. Because of this philosophy most training opportunities are given to men before women, if offered to women at all.

Conclusion

It is hard to tell if HRM policies in the Middle East will ever change to give women equal opportunities. It is something that probably won’t change for a long time, if at all. But I do think it is important for students to be well informed about HR related issues that are going on in other parts of the world. Learning about these issues gives you a greater understanding of things that we do and have here in America like equal employment opportunity laws and regulations, affirmative action plans, and Title VII.

Metcalfe, Beverly Dawn. “Gender and Human Resource Management in the Middle East.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management 18.1 (2007): 54-74.

Committed Employees Are the Key to Talent Retention

Written by: Stephen Grassi

This blog post is based on The China Business Review article “The Key to Retention: Committed Employees” by Jim Leininger.

An Emerging Market

In the emerging business market of China, companies face the double-edged sword of high turnover and high salary increases. In this increasingly competitive market, employers struggle to keep their employees. While traditional business logic indicates that the salary increases should be enough to ward off high turnover, this is simply not the case in China. Human Resource Management by Mathis and Jackson states on page 160 that turnover in the United States alone costs businesses billions of dollars each year. This is a situation that companies in China want to avoid, and a unique solution must be implemented. Jim Leininger has found that in order to combat high turnover and to retain top talent, a company must offer programs that inspire employees to a deeper commitment to the company.

Talent Shortage in China

In a land of over a billion people, it seems silly to think that there would be a talent shortage in China, yet this is the reality. Only in the last 20-30 years have the Chinese put an emphasis on business. Because of this, only the younger generation has the talent and tools necessary to perform in the international world of business. Young workers who have strong business acumen and technical skills are in high demand by both international companies and local Chinese firms. By recognizing that there is a talent shortage in the highly competitive Chinese market, it is a little bit easier to understand why turnover is so high and so problematic.

These workers are leaving their companies because they want better pay, better opportunities, and better training. These reasons for leaving align with traditional business logic, but because of the market conditions in China, the issue of high turnover and talent shortage cannot be dealt with in a traditional way. Because salaries are being increased by businesses across the board, companies must find a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. Companies must attain this by achieving long-term employee commitment.  

Drivers of Commitment

We have now discovered that employee commitment is the most effective way to curb high turnover in this unique business market, but what can be done to ensure employee commitment? Leininger offers several solutions:

1)      Clear communication

-        As discussed in my previous blog post, open and honest communication between management and employees is critical. Management must be clear about their expectations for employees, and employees must clearly state their goals and needs in the work environment. When both management and employees have a clear understanding of each other because of open communication, employee commitment will be increased.

2)      High job satisfaction

-        People who are satisfied with their job are likely going to be more committed to it. This seems to be an obvious fact, but job satisfaction isn’t always a straightforward thing. It is highly subjective and requires a large amount of work for a company. It stands to reason, though, that if high job satisfaction can be achieved, high turnover rates will then be reduced.

3)      Inspired leadership and management

-       Company leaders who encourage employees and inspire employees to do their best will likely reduce the high turnover rates. Having managers who motivate employees to success will also help build the loyalty and commitment of employees.

4)      Effective performance management

-        Establishing clear, objective goals and performance measures for employees and pay for performance initiatives are both helpful in improving employee commitment.

5)      Positive work environment

-        Employers who provide safe, healthy working environments and give employees the tools they need to succeed are likely to experience higher employee commitment. This factor goes hand-in-hand with job satisfaction.

Conclusion

In the highly competitive business environment in China, companies are fighting to attract and retain top talent, but the talent shortage and high turnover rates in China are keeping companies from achieving this. Leininger contends that employers must do something more than simply increase wages. He concludes that companies must take strong action to ensure that employees have a long-term commitment to the company. By taking the steps proposed above to improve employee commitment, companies can ensure that they will be able reduce high turnover and be able to attract and retain top talent.

“The Key to Retention: Committed Employees”

Jim Leininger

The China Business Review, Vol. 31, Issue 1 (January/February, 2004), pp. 16-17, 38-39

Published by: U.S. China Business Council

Article Stable URL: http://huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bft&AN=510329789&site=ehost-live

Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent

Written by: Jeffin Johnson

My last Blog post is based on an article published on Forbes.com on April 10th 2012. This article titled “Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent” is written by Eric Jackson. Jackson is the Founder and Managing Member of Ironfire Capital LLC. He completed his Ph.D. in the Management Department at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York, with a specialization in Strategic Management.

As the title states, Jackson covers the top ten reasons why large companies fail to keep their top talent. In this blog post I will summarize the ten reasons he illustrates in his article. Jackson states that the number one reason why top talent quit is due to “Big Company Bureaucracy”. No one likes rules that make no sense. Employees feel more attached to their employer when they have a chance to voice their opinion and impact the decisions made in the organization.  

The second reason for departure is that top talent cannot find a project that ignites their passion.  Having meetings with employees to find out if they are enjoying what they do is vital to retention.  Jackson states that “Top talent isn’t driven by money and power, but by the opportunity to be a part of something huge, that will change the world, and for which they are really passionate.”

The third and fourth reasons run hand in hand. The third reason is poor annual performance reviews and the fourth reason includes not discussion career development.  Poorly conducted annual performance reviews and a lack of discussing about career development leave top talents wondering if the company even cares about his or her long-term future at the organization. Jackson states that “If your best people know that you think there’s a path for them going forward, they’ll be more likely to hang around.“

The fifth and sixth reasons are also related. The fifth reason is a lack of support or consistency from organizations on individual projects, and the sixth reason is a lack of accountability. Jackson states “top talent demands accountability from others and doesn’t mind being held accountable for their projects...they’ll appreciate your insights/observations/suggestions — as long as they don’t spillover into preaching.”

The seventh reason argues that you should surround top talent with other top talents. Incompetent employees are a very frustrating factor for top talents. The eighth reason is the fact the organization lacks a vision, this ties in with the fourth reason.  A vision for the organization is a future and purpose for the top talent.  
Reason number nine (A lack of open-mindedness) is closely related to reason number one. Top talent “want to share their ideas and have them listened to.” Narrow minded organizations are unattractive to Top talents. 

Bad bosses are the last reason why top talent leave. Jackson states that “If a few people have recently quit at your company who report to the same boss, it’s likely not a coincidence.” He concludes by saying that if you have a leader in your organization that is not getting along with others, it’s better to move them to another part of the organization. If this is not possible, it is a good idea to move your top talents that you want to keep to another part of the organization under the authority of another leader. Taking these reasons in account can help you become a better leader in the future.

Jackson, E. (2011, December 14). Top ten reasons why large companies fail to keep their best talent. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2011/12/14/top-ten-reasons-why-large-companies-fail-to-keep-their-best-talent/2/ 

Talent Retention

Written by: Stephen Grassi

This blog post is based on the Hotel-Industry.co.uk article “Staff Retention: A Guide to Talent Retention” by Caroline Cooper.

Understanding

“Understanding people’s aspirations can … put you in a better position to retain your valued team members.” Caroline Cooper opens up her article by acknowledging the fact that employers must understand their employees if they wish to keep them with the company. Cooper states that better understanding between employees and employers can be gained through regular meetings, such as performance appraisals. This gives the employee the opportunity to talk about issues such as his career goals or things in the workplace that might be bothering him. This gives the employer the opportunity to better understand the employee and help him achieve his goals while also achieving the goals and strategies of the company.

Support

Even when employees are performing well, they need support. Management cannot assume that if you just leave employees alone, they will continue to perform at a high level. While it is true that employees should be left alone from micromanaging meddlers, employees should not be left completely alone. Employees need organizational support in order to perform well. This support can be emotional support, such as recognition for a job well done. It can be on-the job support of giving employees the tools they need to get the job done well. It can also be support of the employee’s long term career goals by offering advanced training and pushing employees to fulfill their potential. By supporting an employee’s long-term well-being, the employer can improve the retention of its employees.

Security

The economic crisis of the past few years has left the job markets very volatile. Many companies have had to lay off employees amid this recession. In order to retain your top talent, Cooper contends that you must make them feel secure in your organization. There is always risk involved with taking on a new job with a different employer, so offering extra security to your top talent can help ensure that they will remain with your organization. Keep your employees informed about management’s business decisions and keep lines of communication open so that you can establish and preserve the trust of your employees. This will help prevent your top talent from jumping the ship to other organizations.

Recognition

Recognition of performance was touched on briefly when talking about support, but it was not further explained. Recognizing the accomplishments, contributions, and successes of employees is a key way to keep job satisfaction high among employees. This recognition can come in many forms. It can be as simple as hearing a co-worker say “Good job!” or “Thanks for your help!” It can also be something more tangible, such as bonuses, raises, and promotions within the organization. Recognition is essential to motivating employees and keeping morale high. By using employee recognition to accomplish these two functions, it is very likely that retention of top talent will be successful.

Responsible Employer

Employers must recognize that all employees will eventually leave the organization. There is nothing an organization can do to change this. Therefore, Cooper admonishes employers to recognize this fact and take steps to deal with it. Keep lines of communication open with employees so that you can know about organizational departures in advance and plan for them. Have succession plans. Let employees know when higher-level positions are available and promote from within whenever possible. These steps will help build a strong positive culture and a good reputation, which in turn will help the organization in its long-term quest for success.

Conclusion

Retaining top talent is something that all organizations wish to accomplish. The steps outlined here will help organizations reach that goal. Understand your employees’ needs. Be supportive of employees and help them accomplish their professional goals. Ensure that employees feel secure with their jobs. Be quick to recognize the accomplishments of employees. Finally, organizations must recognize the reality of situations and be ready to deal with those situations. All of these assessments are in alignment with Human Resource Management (the text) by Mathis and Jackson. In chapter 5, the text offers up several issues that are key to talent retention. The text states that management factors, work relationships, rewards, and career training and development are all factors that intersect with the statements by Cooper. If the steps outlined by Cooper and the text are followed, they will help an organization retain its talent.

“Staff Retention: A Guide to Talent Retention”

Caroline Cooper

Hotel-Industry.co.uk, March 2012

Article URL: http://www.hotel-industry.co.uk/2012/03/staff-retention-a-guide-to-talent-retention/

The Intangible Costs of Human Resource Outsourcing

Written by: Rachel Wells

This blog post is based on the Human Resource Management International Digest article “The Intangible Costs of Human Resource Outsourcing” by Mandy Sim.

Outsourcing

When we think about attracting and retaining top talent we rarely think about HR professionals. Somehow finding the best people possible to perform an organization's HR functions seems to get overlooked. And wanting to retain the HR professionals that an organization does have never prevails over a cost savings. Outsourcing of transactional functions of human resource management has become more popular over the years. The text defines outsourcing as the process of “transferring the management and performance of a business function to an external service provider” (57). While the text emphasizes that outsourcing can save an organization a lot of money, and it can also allow in-house HR to function more strategically, Mandy Sim believes there are dangers to outsourcing HR functions.

Dangers to Outsourcing

Mandy Sim is a professor at the Nottingham University Business School in Malaysia. In her article she outlines several different dangers that could arise from the outsourcing of HR functions. Sim first says that major organizational change can be more difficult to achieve if HR functions are outsourced (3). This happens because when outsourcing occurs there is little communication and interaction between employees and HR. Trust is then lost. When trust is lost between the employees and HR, it becomes very difficult for the workforce to accept major organizational change.

Secondly, Sim says that there is a danger of outsourced recruiters giving prospective employees inaccurate information about the job. When an outsourced recruiter has not experienced the job first hand, the information given to the candidate about the client company and the job itself is most likely not correct. This can cause an employee who accepted the job based on inaccurate information to leave quickly. Another round of expensive recruiting will then be needed, and employee turnover will increase.

Thirdly, Sim says that outsourcing HR functions can lead to HR staff not being trained in the outsourced areas such as payroll, training and development, and recruiting. When HR staff moves into managerial positions, they might lack critical knowledge and skills.

Sim also points out that there is less flexibility when using an outsourced company for something like payroll, which the text identifies as a common HR function to outsource. Most outsourced payroll companies charge on a per-transaction basis. Extra charges can occur when you have an increased labor force during certain times, which is common in manufacturing, or wish to have an additional pay period one month. Also, when requesting changes to payroll on short notice it is more common that mistakes will occur. If mistakes are made on the payroll, employee problems can increase. Sim believes that high levels of employee dissatisfaction, low morale, more grievances, low productivity, greater frustration, higher turnover and even law suits may follow (4).

Conclusion

Even though outsourcing reduces an organization's costs, there are many non-financial costs associated with it. An organization should consider carefully all outcomes before deciding to outsource some or all of its HR functions. If an organization is set on outsourcing HR functions, Sim suggests a shared service center where all transaction-based activities are centralized in one place. For recruiting, the text suggests recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). RPO is used to outsource placement of advertisements, initial screening of resumes, and initial telephone contacts. Once these activities are done, the organization's HR staff takes over the rest of the recruiting activities. For training, the text supports the use of computer software vendors to help employees obtain technical certifications on their software. Such certifications provide items for employees to put on their resumes and benefits employers.

For someone like me, who hopes to become a HR professional, this article really made me think about some of the challenges I might run into in the future. It might become standard for organizations to outsource some of their HR functions, but I sure hope it doesn't become standard to outsource all of them. Or else I might be out of a job.

Sim, Mandy. “The Intangible Costs of Human Resource Outsourcing.” Human Resource Management International Digest 18.6 (2010): 3-4.

Employee Voice & Employee Retention

Written By: Jeffin Johnson

Dr. Spencer

My second blog will discuss an article written by Daniel G Spencer. Dr. Spencer is an associate professor of business at the University of Kansas. He received his Ph.D degree in organization and management from the University of Oregon. His current research interests include turnover, absenteeism, and processes of resolution of employee-organization conflict. 

His article was published by the Academy of Management in their monthly journal, and portions of his paper were also presented at their 42nd Annual Meeting in the state of New York.  In his article, titled “Employee Voice and Employee Retention”, Dr. Spencer presents the results of two studies he has conducted in efforts to reveal a relationship between employee opportunities to voice dissatisfaction and voluntary turnover. 

Introduction and Foundation

Dr. Spencer initiates his article by stating that “The relationship between the job satisfaction and employee turnover has been one of the most widely studied but least understood relationships in organizational behavior literature.” He continues on to say that the most prominent studies from the past focused on the number of alternatives dissatisfied employees had and the nonwork-related factors that affected their decisions.

                 

                     Dr. Mowday

Dr. Steers

Richard M. Steers and Richard T. Mowday (University of Oregon) were the first academics to suggest that there may be a relationship between employee voice and employee retention; however, Dr. Spencer goes on to state that although Steers and Richard were the first to verbally acknowledge this relationship (in 1981), it has been heavily implicit in the works of an European economist named Albert Hirschman a decade earlier. Hirschman’s concepts are gaining increasing attention in the organizational behavior arena and his concepts are also the theoretical foundation for Dr. Spencer’s studies.

Study One

Objective

Determine if there is a direct relationship between the amount of opportunity an organization gives its employees to voice dissatisfaction and the organization’s rate of employee retention.

Hypothesis

There will be a significant and negative relationship between the total number of voice mechanisms for employees that an organization has and the voluntary turnover rate among the organization's employees.

Methods

First, a systematic sample of executive directors of hospitals in the north central United States was drawn from the American Association membership directory. Second, Dr. Spencer sent them questionnaire packages with a request to forward the questionnaire to their hospital's personnel directors. Out of a sample of 278 hospitals, 129 of them completed and returned the questionnaires for a response rate of 46.4%.

The questionnaire asked whether or not each hospital’s register nurses were subject to the following employee-retention practices:

• Grievance procedures
• Suggestion systems
• Employee management meetings
• Counseling services
• Ombudsman services
• Non-management task forces
• Question & answer programs
• Survey feedback 

Each hospital was also requested to supply the rate of voluntary turnover for its registered nurses for the previous 12-month period.

Results

Table 1 presents the mean and standard deviations of the study’s variables. Dr. Spencer concludes that “All the correlations between variables and turnover were in the predicted direction with the exception of the positive correlation between wage rate and turnover.” He provides a detailed explanation for the correlation in the footnotes of his article. 

Table 1 (Click to Expand)

Study Two

Objective

The first study did not weigh the quality of the hospitals' voice mechanisms; as a result, a second study was necessary. The second study examined the relationship between the number of mechanisms offering employees the option to voice their issues, and the employees' perceptions of its effectiveness.

Hypothesis

A high number of employee voice mechanisms will be positively related to high expectancies of problem resolution among employees and high levels of effectiveness for the organization's problem resolution procedures.

Methods

Four hospitals that participated in study one also allowed Dr. Spencer to survey their nonsupervisory registered nurses. As the objective stated, the survey’s goal was to assess the registered nurses’ perception of the effectiveness of the available voice mechanisms.

Results

Dr. Spencer concludes that all the correlations were again in the expected direction. More voice mechanisms can lead to higher levels of expectancies for problem resolution in an organization. Table 2 (Table 4 in the article) paints a clear picture of study 2 and its results. 

Table 2 (Click to Expand)

In conclusion, the results of these studies conducted by Dr. Daniel G Spencer sheds light on the importance of providing employees with venues to share their concerns and complaints. Although it may be time consuming, in the long run it will save you more time and money since your retention rates will be higher. In other words, the more time and money you devote to cooperating with and accommodating your current employees, the less time and money you have to spend finding and training new ones. 

Source Citation

Spencer, Daniel G. "Employee voice and employee retention." Academy of Management Journal 29.3 (1986): 488+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

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