Retaining staff is vital for the future

Career development opportunities will help maintain a level of maturity in the workforce

It is hardly surprising that the declining prospects of internal career development are causing companies to lose valuable employees. Reem Mohammed / The National

It is hardly surprising that the declining prospects of internal career development are causing companies to lose valuable employees. This phenomenon is not unique to the UAE labour market and is evident in most developed economies. Workers want to feel appreciated and have room to grow inside the organisation that employs them but if those chances are absent, it is natural they will seek to move to an employer that will.

For Gulf economies with transient workforces, this natural fixture of the marketplace presents several special challenges. Because of the institutional knowledge lost when veteran workers depart and the high cost of recruiting and relocating their replacements, the real cost of retaining an employee can be lower than recruiting a new one, even if the new salary is lower. Such institutional knowledge takes a long time to acquire and is often one of the most valuable currencies in the workplace.

According to a new survey, a lack of career progression is the number one reason people look for other jobs in the UAE. This is striking, considering that 94 per cent of the 1,500 employees surveyed said they wanted to stay with their employer for at least three years and 47 per cent for at least five years. The message is clear: while employees are loyal to their companies, the lack of internal growth opportunities is forcing some to look for other options.

That a large percentage of employees surveyed expressed a desire for long-term work commitments is encouraging. It is up to employers to understand the costs and benefits of retaining staff. To realise this, we have to change the prevailing ideas that workers are expendable and there will always be people queuing up to relocate here. While there will always be people ready to move to the Gulf, the retention of good staff is paramount to maintaining a healthy and mature workforce.

With the push towards a knowledge economy, the retention of experienced staff is all the more crucial for employers. It is up to organisations themselves to understand the economics at work and encourage internal growth because our workforce is key to the diversification and development of the economy.