Takaud, a leading savings and pension specialist provider in Bahrian, has introduced its unique employee savings plan, a first for the region, which will help retain staff by providing them with a saving mechanism.

The product services the growing demand across the Middle East for innovative employee benefit packages, which will help retain staff by providing them with a saving mechanism.

Takaud had recently commissioned a research on regional mid-size employers with a mix of national and expat employees and found that 93 per cent of employers deemed long-term staff retention a critical business issue for long term success.

According to additional research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average employee with the Mena region moves jobs every 5.2 years compared to 11.7 years in France, 11.2 years in Germany, 10.6 years in the Netherlands and 8.7 years in the United Kingdom.

The implication for Mena employers is significant as they are losing their major investment in well trained employees, often to their competition.  

Takaud’s research highlighted that employers would welcome a formalized staff savings solution that would cost-effectively recruit, reward and retain their employees. This was endorsed by around 70 per cent of staff also interviewed in the survey, who believed their current savings were not enough to support them long term.

Takaud’s new employee savings plan provides companies with the ability to motivate and retain employees by creating an efficient saving structure for each member of staff.

This is funded by an agreed contribution from an employee’s monthly salary with the option for their employers to make additional contributions depending on the agreed remuneration package. To encourage and establish a savings culture within the region, Takaud’s employee monthly contribution features unprecedented flexibility, and it can start from BD10 a month per employee.

Commenting on the new plan, Takaud’s CEO Abdallah Kubursi said,"It is easily affordable and totally transparent with market leading online accessibility for both companies and their employees. Also it addresses a fundamental need from all parties for simple and affordable saving solutions."

"The plan provides such a mechanism within a well regulated environment and has been structured in such a way that it incorporates leading, best-in-breed conventional and Sharia compliant investment funds to ensure optimum diversity in meeting investment needs. It also puts no administrative burden for the employer, as it is handled by Takaud."

The employee savings plan can be customized to suit all types of businesses from small privately owned entities to large multinationals. Once a company enrolls in a Plan, Takaud takes complete responsibility for its administration, he added.

Takaud’s chairman and Kipco’s COO Samer Khanachet said the employment market is changing both here in the Gulf and across the region with employers having to be more innovative with how to retain and reward their staff.

"By enrolling in an Employee Savings Plan, forward looking companies will be responding to the growing demand from across the region for modern employee benefits which in turn will benefit their employee productivity, their long term success as well as their corporate reputation," he noted.

"Takaud is a ‘leader’ within this space and with more product launches pending, strives to become the ‘go to’ adviser for pensions and savings in the corporate and retail markets," he added.-TradeArabia News Service