What’s Driving Saudi Women’s Stronger Workplace Engagement?

Women in Saudi Arabia engage with their work more than men do, according to the recent employee engagement survey by Engagesoft. The survey compared employee engagement in Saudi Arabia across more than 30 engagement drivers and among several employee groups.

‍

Female employees are more engaged than their male counterparts

‍

Overall engagement of female employees is higher than that of male employees in Saudi Arabia. Females scored 7.8 out of 10 in terms of general engagement compared to 7.3 by males.

‍

It’s interesting to see that employee engagement among women is higher than that with males in the Kingdom. Coupled with the increasing efforts to give women equal rights, the outlook for Saudi women in the workplace looks quite promising.

‍

With this in mind, let's have a deep dive into some of the specific engagement drivers behind the gender engagement divide and what HR professionals and organizational leaders could do to help close the gap. 

‍

What drives the engagement gap between the genders

Engagesoft's employee engagement survey shows that females in Saudi Arabia reported higher scores across a wide range of engagement drivers. 

‍

We will highlight a few of these drivers in this article below:

‍

Work Autonomy & Independence 

Women in Saudi Arabia feel that they have more control over their work, with a score of 7.6 compared to 7.3 by men. Women feel that they have more freedom to make decisions about their work compared to men in Saudi.

‍

Organizational Attention to Employee’s Wellbeing

Male employees in Saudi Arabia feel that their wellbeing and mental health aren’t being catered to, scoring this driver the lowest at a 6.4. Female employees in Saudi Arabia have scored this driver a 6.9 putting them in a better place compared to their peers.

‍

Mentoring and Coaching 

Female = 8.3

Male = 8.0 

‍

Females in the Kingdom are receiving slightly better mentoring and coaching opportunities in their work environment. Could this be linked to the recent spotlight on empowering women and enhancing their presence in the Saudi workforce?

‍

Compensation & Benefits  

Female = 7.8 

Male = 7.6 

‍

Recognition

When employees feel they are being recognized and appreciated and when they receive regular and effective feedback, they will be significantly more engaged in their work. Females have scored this driver higher than their male counterpart at 7.8, compared to men scoring a 7.4.

‍

What organizations could do to close the engagement gap

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to addressing the engagement gap between women and men. Organizations should tailor their engagement initiatives to the specific needs of their employees. 

‍

Some general recommendations include:

‍

Creating a more supportive and collaborative environment: Organizations should create an environment that is more supportive of everyone and caters to the needs of their employees both personally and professionally.. This may include things like flexible work arrangements, better work-life balance policies, and more opportunities for mentorship and career development across the board. 

‍

Improving communication and feedback: Organizations should improve cross-organizational communication with employees and make sure that their feedback is heard and acted upon.

‍

Fostering a sense of belonging: Organizations should make sure that employees feel like they belong and are valued members of the team. This may include things like creating employee resource groups, empowering employees through recognition and feedback and increasing diversity and inclusion initiatives.

‍

Next steps

‍

While the Saudi Arabia employee engagement survey offers a clear call to action for organizations to address the engagement challenges of their male employees, it is important that each organization tailor its engagement initiatives to the specific needs of its workforce.

‍
Organizations should consider conducting their own employee engagement surveys and launch their employee engagement initiatives to get a better understanding of the needs of their employees and where there may be engagement gaps. Employee engagement surveys can help organizations to identify the root causes of engagement issues and to design targeted engagement initiatives that can make a real impact.

‍