Immediate Manager Engagement in Saudi Arabia

Our recent employee engagement survey by Engagesoft has provided valuable insight about how employees feel about their immediate managers. The key finding shows that in general, employees in Saudi Arabia have scored their immediate managers an average score of 7.8 on a scale of 1-10 (1 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 extremely satisfied), this is the second highest category in the Organizational Engagement Pillar, according to the survey results.

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This suggests that employees in Saudi Arabia are highly engaged with their managers and the people they work most closely. We’re highlighting some of the key findings from our survey and also addressing the main sub drivers of immediate manager engagement and how they affect the overall engagement scores within an organization.

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How can managers influence engagement levels within an organization?

The added value of being a good people manager is often overlooked. Knowing employees professionally and personally, having a good working relationship and treating employees with respect are all part of good people management. When immediate managers achieve this, both employee engagement and productivity within their team increases.

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To help identify which actions affect immediate manager engagement the most, Engagesoft surveyed employees in Saudi Arabia around the top 4 sub drivers:

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Relationship with immediate manager

Score: 8.2 out of 10
Thanks to their ability to build relationships and give feedback, employees have a high level of trust in their immediate managers, who are seen as open and approachable. Because of this, employees in Saudi Arabia scored the relationship with their immediate managers a 8.2. This is the highest subdriver of immediate manager engagement.

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Support and Guidance by immediate manager

Score: 8.1 out of 10

Employees in Saudi Arabia feel supported and guided by their immediate manager. They scored this sub driver, which represents the provision of information, training and advice by managers, an impressive 8.1 out of 10.

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Communication with immediate manager

Score: 7.9 out of 10

In Saudi Arabia, employees report communication with their immediate manager is strong, scoring a 7.9 and coming in 3rd place among the sub drivers. Overall, this is a positive score for managers as it shows employees trust their managers enough to be able to share important information. 

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Recognition by immediate manager

Score: 7.1 out of 10

Recognition by the immediate manager had an overall score of 7.1, the lowest score in this category. Recognition is a vital part of giving employees more engagement and makes them feel better about themselves. Managers need to put in more effort when it comes to recognizing the work of staff members and rewarding good performance.

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What the data proves about Immediate Managers in Saudi Arabia 

Engagement levels with immediate managers in Saudi Arabia are great and stand among the top of the engagement driver but they can be improved further. Recognition given by managers to their employees, and the ability of leaders to establish trust with their team members are two important aspects that will help boost engagement as a whole. Engaging leaders improves the likelihood of engaging employees. Managers are the closest to the front lines of your organization, so they’re in the best position to keep engagement levels high across all employees. To help managers do this, educate them on the sub-drivers that play a big role in overall engagement and ensure they’re taking action towards better engagement from their team. 

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Next Steps

This article highlighted the general numbers in Saudi Arabia when it comes to employees' relations with their managers.

However, it’s vital that HR leaders take initiative to assess and survey employee engagement drivers among their employees and create plans of actions tailored to their organization. 

The Engagesoft team will be happy to give you a demo of how you can leverage Engagesoft to survey your employees, and gain access to a rich set of dashboards and reports to identify the best plan of action to drive higher employee engagement in your organization.

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