A recent poll conducted by Bayt.com has revealed that while 77 percent of employees across the Middle East feel engaged in their workplace, only 29.2 percent are familiar with the concept of an employee reward program.

Just less than half of the employees surveyed state that their company offers an employee reward programme, with the majority 56.4 percent claiming that their company is one of the 62.9 percent across the region that offer none of the following incentives: awards to employees, recognition or appreciation, employee of the month or year, or peer-to-peer recognition.

Only 12.7 percent of professionals said their employers offer all four of these motivational stimuli, the poll showed.

Lama Ataya, chief marketing officer at Bayt.com, said: “The responses we received to our latest online poll study show that employees in the Middle East are engaged at work, despite the fact that the majority of companies appear not to offer many of the traditional incentives that are used elsewhere in the world as motivational tools.”

“At Bayt.com we strive to provide employers and employees with detailed, relevant information that reflects issues that are current to them, while offering a comprehensive, invaluable online resource for all employment needs,” she said.

While 62.2 percent of poll respondents say that they do receive recognition or praise at work, 23.8 percent state that they do not find it necessary to have someone encourage their development.

Of those who do have their efforts lauded, 44.4 percent receive encouragement from their supervisor or manager, with colleagues being a boost source for a further 25.5 percent.

Results show that 77 percent of poll-takers do feel engaged at work, with 68.4 percent understanding what is expected of them in their current role.

Companies that are attempting to boost engagement levels are doing so by showing more recognition (25.3 percent), giving more rewards (22.5 percent), encouraging open communication (24.5 percent), increasing transparency (13.3 percent), and empowering staff (14.5 percent).

However, 44.7 percent of employees claim that first and foremost, more opportunities to learn and grow within the company are needed to make them feel more engaged. A better salary and benefits package comes in as a distant second with 17.1 percent placing it as a priority; trailing behind is a clear career path, 13.7 percent; good relationship with colleagues, 9.1 percent; and good relationship with their manager or supervisor, 8.6 percent.

Results showed that only 6.8 percent believe that more recognition or appreciation will increase their level of engagement at work.

“Clearly, beyond getting the compensation equation right, there are very many variables that influence employee satisfaction and engagement and Bayt.com’s regional HR research has shown time and time again that opportunities for career development and training are paramount amongst these,” added Ataya.

Data for the Bayt.com reward programmes and employee engagement in the Middle East survey was collected online from September 27 to November 13, with 14,063 respondents from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, KSA and UAE. – TradeArabia News Service