UAE-based businesses that do not address workplace culture are at risk of losing staff, according to a new survey.
The Together 2021 UAE Culture Survey results point to a growing awareness of the importance of culture in organisational success.
It also revealed that 88 percent of the UAE workforce would consider leaving their jobs because of a poor organisational culture.
Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) also said that the importance of culture had increased in their organisation in the wake of the global Covid pandemic.
The findings revealed by Together, the first dedicated Middle East workplace culture consultancy, are based on employees and management from 120 organisations surveyed in the UAE. Over 55 percent of the survey respondents were from director, C-Suite and department head level, and the remaining comprised of middle and junior management.
Survey findings underlined the critical role that culture plays in the workplace, with 61 percent questioned saying that organisational culture was extremely important to them.
Despite this, more than a third (34 percent) said their companies are failing to measure corporate culture, with a further 29 percent of respondents stating that a business leader’s priority should be to create clarity around a business’s vision, purpose, and values.
Lucy d’Abo, CEO of Together, said: “These statistics should ring alarm bells for UAE businesses. It has long been speculated that workplace culture directly relates to employee retention. Our findings prove the growing importance and highlight that many companies in the UAE are falling far behind in terms of culture measurement and communications.”
The report from Together highlights four critical gaps that UAE companies and CEO’s need to address including measurement, ownership, communication, and collaboration.
The survey results also suggest that there are parallels with the UAE experiencing similar sentiments within its workforce compared with the rest of the world.
According to the Global Microsoft Work Trend Index 2021, over 40 percent of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer this year while Forbes magazine ranked culture amongst its top three most important Future of Work trends.
d’Abo added: “Many CEOs either let culture go unmanaged or relegate it to the HR function, where it becomes a secondary concern for the business. Our findings show leaders need to re-evaluate their involvement and the importance of workplace culture, with a third of respondents saying their companies are not even measuring corporate culture and 43 percent of respondents saying that they looked to the CEO and board of directors to set the direction on corporate culture.
“With so many global statistics pointing to a dramatic shift in the workplace ecosystem, there is a need in the Middle East for a regional consultancy like Together that truly knows what it means to build, manage and perform in the business world with culture at the core,” she said.
d’Abo has been providing professional consulting services to global clients and businesses across the Middle East, Africa and Europe since 1998.
Follow us on
