About 98.2 per cent of employees in the Mena region find it important to work for an organisation that provides learning and training, according to a new report.

While 79.7 per cent of the respondents considering it “very important”, 18.5 per cent finding it “somewhat important” added the ‘Learning in the Workplace in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey, recently conducted by Bayt.com, a leading career site in the Middle East.

Almost all of the respondents surveyed (97.2 per cent) are dedicated to lifelong learning, with seven out of 10 being “very dedicated” and 22.9 per cent being “somewhat dedicated”.

In terms of organizations and learning, the majority (74.3 per cent) of respondents say that their organizations provide ‘lessons learned’ to their employees, and a further 74.6 per cent feel that people in their organization view problems as an opportunity to learn.

In fact, 72.8 per cent of respondents have stated that their organization encourages people to openly discuss their mistakes in order to learn from them. Additionally, 30.6 per cent of respondents are rewarded for learning “all the time” in their organization, and 33.7 per cent are rewarded “most of the time”.

The poll also reveals that organizations in the Mena “encourage both new ideas and changing the way things are done”, with half of the participants “strongly agreeing” (51.7 per cent) and 29.4 per cent “somewhat agreeing” with the statement. Furthermore, seven out of 10 respondents (68.3 per cent) claim that their companies have a systematic approach to learning and training their staff.

Just over half of the employees polled (54 per cent) consider themselves to be at the top of their game when asked about their knowledge of their industry. At the same time, 40.1 per cent say they aren’t at the top of their game, and 5.9 per cent say they are unsure of the same.

Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com said: “With 98.2 per cent of respondents saying that learning opportunities are very important to them, our latest poll cements just how essential it is for organizations to have a systematic approach to learning.  Indeed, organizations that provide learning opportunities tend to have high employee motivation, productivity, and loyalty.”

“A good place to start is to assess where employees need most training. Companies and individuals can search for knowledge gaps through standardized tests, like Bayt.com Tests which can be access from the Resources section on bayt.com.

“In line with Bayt.com’s efforts to empower people with the tools and information to build their lifestyle of choice, anyone can take these professional tests that cover large amounts of topics like business management, soft skills, and technology,” he added.

While the survey found that employees definitely wanted to learn, it is obvious that preferred learning methods vary greatly among the respondents. The majority of respondents prefer one-on-one coaching (26.2 per cent), followed closely by the traditional classroom method of learning (20.6 per cent). Two out of 10 respondents (17.7 per cent) favour self-paced reading; 12.8 per cent prefer industry seminars; and 11.4 per cent like to learn online.

A majority of the respondents (40.5 per cent) state that the cost of learning is what prevents them most from future education. Another big preventer is time constraints (23.8 per cent), and 15.2 per cent of the respondents feel that there is a lack of learning options. Only 4.3 per cent of those surveyed say that they don’t enjoy learning.

Aside from the salary, the top motivators at work for respondents include having a good work-life balance (24.6 per cent), getting learning and training opportunities (24.5 per cent), and having a good relationship their manager (17.4 per cent) and co-workers (16.8 per cent). – TradeArabia News Service