According to a report published in the Saudi Gazette, there has been an increase of six per cent in the job-engagement rate of public-sector employees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over a period of about three years. The same reached 74 per cent in 2020, from 68 per cent in 2017, as per the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD).
That means, there has been a half per cent increase than the targeted percentage of 73.5 in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 for the year 2020.
The Ministry said that the number of public-sector employees in the KSA was over 1.254 million during the year 2021. These include around 7,34,000 men, who account for 59 per cent and around 5,20,000 women employees, who comprise 41 per cent of the workforce.
The improvement can be attributed to spreading awareness about the culture of performance, training supervisors on methods of performance measurement, and automating job measurement procedures.
The report also stated these figures were updated periodically to determine the level of employee engagement at various government agencies.
These periodic measurements contribute to improving the work environment, creating a stimulating workplace and raising employee productivity.
The Ministry said that the aim is to enhance the level of professional engagement, while remaining on track with the objectives of the Vision. The Ministry also honoured the government agencies that scored the highest indices in terms of job engagement for the year 2020.
The endeavour is to attract competent Saudis who have freshly graduated and focus on their development through various training programmes. This will help them acquire skills and knowledge and integrate them into the work environment with more competence and higher levels of effectiveness in the government sector. Several graduates have been trained and employed through this project.
As many as eight ministries have made the shift from performance measurement to performance management, to enhance the performance culture in the public sector and link employee performance measurement with specific goals and targets.
