Ninety-five per cent of the respondents to a survey expressed the willingness to receive a formal career development plan, said Bayt.com, a leading job site in the region, and market research agency YouGov in a new report.

The ‘Career Development in the Mena’ survey aims to underscore the high demand for training opportunities at the present stage within and beyond the traditional workplace. Currently, over 9 in 10 respondents (91%) in the Mena are trying to identify learning opportunities inside and outside of their company. In fact, 86% of professionals believe their skillset to be competitive and up to date.

Ola Haddad, Director of Human Resources at Bayt.com said: "The region is demonstrating exceptional leadership in inspiring its skilled workforce towards growth. As demonstrated in the Career Development survey, Mena professionals especially ranked high in career development satisfaction. We expect this survey to inspire more channels to provide the kind of online training that is so much in demand this year."

Setting up a career development plan
Overall, 59% of professionals state their role is a good match to their abilities while only 3% believing they are underqualified. When it comes to setting up a career development plan, 55% of the respondents shared they already formally set development plans with their manager. So far, 70% have a good idea about the career opportunities open to them at the company.

Current employees state that company training by external professional trainers (44%), online courses (43%), certified study programs (42%) and company training by internal teams (38%) are the most preferred training methods.

Opportunity for growth
Within the career development path, 69% of respondents believe that there are opportunities to cross-train and learn new skills, whereas 63% believe that the training and development opportunities are explicitly linked to the strategic direction of the company.

Having a mentor is critical to professionals’ careers, helping them to grow, learn, and excel at their profession. In the Mena, 56% state that their supervisor has taken an interest in their career development, 55% are satisfied with the mentoring received from senior peers, and 53% believe that their organization is dedicated to their professional development.

Training areas
Technical/ job-related skills (18%) emerged as the most important training area for career development, followed by team management skills (14%).

In terms of challenges faced by professionals in an effort to develop their careers, lack of motivation (38%) and no clear objectives (32%) are the most mentioned internal barriers for career development.

Zafar Shah, Research Director at YouGov said: “Technical/ job-related skills are the most widespread training foci in the workplace. Our survey positively showcases a great demand for career development in general and we expect this trend to rise steadily as more formal opportunities surface for professionals.” – TradeArabia News Service