The job market is a living being, a being that grows, and evolves.. And it all depends on what you nourish it, may this nutrition be laws, be cultural habits or other things that help this fetus grow either into something amazing or a monstrous beast that gorges down anything it in its path..

To address the job market there are to parts to this equation, first the employer and second the employee.. I will focus perhaps on my first article on the employer but definitely I will not forget the employee.

Having worked myself in a number of local and multinational companies and having been exposed to a large portion of the region of Middle East and Africa this gave me, dare I say a helicopter view on how things work in our market.

I will be tackling some of the point that I believe to be quite serious and need to be addressed urgently. But before I start I would like to highlight two things. First I’m not biased to any entity neither employee or employer and second I will criticize the employees later on in a second article so there’s no pure evil vs good scenario.

So I will start with how we culturally view jobs in Egypt and how a large portion of companies deal with their employees. It’s quite simple “أنت تحمد ربنا و تبوس إيدك وش وظهر إننا مشغلينك” to translate that to “You should thank God and be extremely grateful that we gave you a job!” From that ivory tower perspective and despite this message is not literally sent out but is sent a lot of times in indirect and subliminal ways.

So first, normally everyone is happy to get a job but employers go the extra mile to make the employee feel the job he has been given is a mere miracle, not because he’s qualified or has the required skills and character! An employer shouldn’t treat the employee as such, directly or indirectly! It’s a simple equation really, you had an opening 5000 people applied, 1 of them got it it’s a choice you made based on your need. If you didn’t have the need this man wouldn’t be there so the employee should be happy he/she got the job. BUT employers shouldn’t later on in their career make it sound as a favor.

Second, ‘loyalty’ yes a word hardly existing in our today culture to begin with, if it exists at all. Companies push their employees away, because they do not want to invest in them ‘DESPITE’ having the budget but it’s because unfortunately a lot of Egyptian companies have followed the path of thought that believes that saving the company money from a forecasted budget is actually an intelligent move! While it is not. Company development and staff development not just helps develop the employee’s skill but gives them a sense that they are appreciated by the company and the company is willing to invest in them to help them grow in their career. And because that mentality a lot of employees now when they know they get a job in some company their mind is set to default that they will try to make the best out of it and punch out of the company to another.

Salaries, a lot of companies do not offer employees salary increases one way or another, and no one can say anything it is all legal. But dear employer please remember by squeezing your employees for 2-5 years without a decent increase is as similar as telling your employee ‘Please go find something else’ while he’s achieving and doing everything he/she can to get a foot in on the job.

After hours, a taboo topic.. Every company has after-hours but while putting this subject in the correct perspective we need to clarify that people have lives that get more expensive by the minute, not helping the company staff make sure that all employees are able to live a decent life, is a major problem.

Companies do not realize that by actually fairly treating employees and developing them, this will leave a positive mark on the employee and even encourage him/her to do more. Making employees feel like part of the team, they’re not just another cog in the machine. This has a tremendous impact employee’s self-esteem and hence productivity. Companies have an enormous chance by empowering, growing and developing their employees into creating an unmatched creative edge and generations of competitive employers across all companies.

An employee will go to work because of his salary, he/she needs it to make ends meet. But if we develop them right, the employees will do more and push the company into places the company has never been before.

Dear employer, consider that the human factor in your company is not just a number but in-fact a dormant turbo engine which will rocket you to success and a treasure. The more you take care of it, maintain it. It will always give you great results.. Please take these few words to heart and drive your company towards a better future.

By: Tarek Hassan Refaat

Photography: Mahmoud Mansi