Retaining UAE National in the First Three Years - Assignment Example

Week 4: Project Plan Outline Project Working Title: Retaining UAE National in the first three years Problem statement / research issues … and why this is a problem. Stated most simply, a problem is the difference between what is, and what might or should be. "No child should go to bed hungry, but one-quarter of all children do in this country," is a clear, potent problem statement. Another example might be, "Communication in our office is not very clear." In this instance, the explanation of "what might or should be" is simply alluded to. Write down a "problem statement" – a comprehensive definition of the problem. Before you do, remember to define the problem in terms of needs, and not solutions. If you define the problem in terms of possible solutions, you're closing the door to other, possibly more effective solutions. "Violent crime in our neighborhood is unacceptably high," offers space for many more possible solutions than, "We need more police patrols," or, "More citizens should have guns to protect themselves." Retaining the UAE nationals in the first three years in the United Arab Emirates is increasingly becoming intricate. The retention rate of UAE nationals is decreasing which is negatively impacting on the employers. The employers incur more costs by carrying out recruitment process from time to time in order to replace the employees who have left. The lack of job satisfaction, lack of proper employee engagement and search for career advancement are the factors that contribute to the difficulties in retaining UAE nationals in the first three years. Retaining the UAE nationals in the first three years is therefore great concern to most companies as they cannot utilize the knowledge and skills of most UAE nationals for a long period of time. Gather information on the problem. Start with what you know. Write down what you know about the problem. Then decide what information is missing. Information is the key to effective decision making. If you are fighting child hunger, do you know which children are hungry? When are they hungry – all the time, or especially at the end of the month, when the money has run out? If that's the case, then your problem statement might be, "Children in our community are often hungry at the end of the month because their parents' paychecks are used up too early." You might collect any of several types of information available. Most commonly, what you hear or read will fall into one of the following categories: Facts (15% of the children in our community don't get enough to eat.) Inference (A significant percentage of children in our community are probably malnourished/significantly underweight.) Speculation (Many of the hungry children probably live in the poorer neighborhoods in town.) Opinion (I think the reason children go hungry is because their parents spend all of their money on inappropriate things.) In the United Arab Emirates, about 26% of the UAE nationals leave the company within three years. Retaining the UAE nationals is becoming a major challenge for most of the companies both in the public and private sector. The first three years for most of the UAE national is usually used with an aim of gaining experience before moving to other companies. It is due to this problem that most of the UAE nationals work for more than five companies before settling down in one company or starting their own businesses. This problem is increasingly becoming common in the United Arab as most people who are currently being employed are below the age of twenty five years. The employees at this age are still interested in developing their career. Job satisfaction is one of the major factors that determine their ability to be retained within an organization. Motivating this group requires a lot commitment by the management which is lacking in most cases and hence contributing to the problem. In the United Arab Emirates, there are a lot of employment opportunities for the UAE nationals both in the public and private sector once they are qualified. This has also contributed to the problem which is not common in other countries with little employment opportunities. The percentage of locals UAE nationals in the labor workforce and the entire population is also low as compared to that of the foreigners (Sidani & Al Ariss, 2013). This gives the UAE nationals an advantage as they can easily secure jobs. Retaining the UAE nationals in the first three years requires a lot of commitment by the management. The management has to ensure that the employees are fully satisfied with their jobs. This requires a lot of motivational strategies. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the UAE nationals earn more than the foreigners which gives them a lot of privileges. On boarding is an important process of ensuring that the new employees are welcomed at the company and they are familiarized with the operations of the company. This process is important in terms of promoting employee retention. However about 32% of the global executives are not satisfied with the onboarding process (Dai & De Meuse, 2007). The situation is same in the United Arab Emirates; most of the new employees are not satisfied with the onboarding process which makes it difficult for them to adjust for 1-3 years of their employment. Retaining the UAE national in the first three years is therefore complicated with the lack of a proper onboarding process. In the United Arab Emirates, although onboarding is carried out by 90% of the companies, it is viewed as a checklist as opposed to being an integrated process. This has negative impacts on the new employees as most of them are unable to settle within the company in the first three years promoting most of them to leave. Onboarding is important for the employees in terms of inspiring confidence and a sense of security and it has positive impacts on retention of the employees. The levels of employee engagement among the UAE national is low and this negatively impacts employee retention practice. It is also important to note that the concepts of employee engagement play an essential role in ensuring that the employees are loyal and fully committed to the organization (Glodstein, 2014). Loyalty and commitment has been useful to some of the organization in retaining the UAE Nationals. Some of the departments in the public service have put in place employee engagement measures and it has seen new employees adjusting and working for more than three years in the department. Job satisfaction is one of the important factors that determine the level of retention. Most of the UAE nationals do not achieve job satisfaction and this impact negatively on their retention. It is the search for job satisfaction that drives the UAE nationals from one company to the other making it difficult for them to work for more than three years in a single company. Most companies have to struggle with the high cost of recruitment and selection as a result of the employee turnover. Since the number of UAE national is low in terms of the workforce, it is usually difficult for the organizations to recruit the new employees. The productivity of the companies is usually affected as most of the UAE nationals hold key positions in the company. The positions may remain vacant for sometimes which may affect the ability of the operations of the company. Options for a logical ‘argument’ … What is the problem? Why does the problem exist? Who is causing the problem, and who is affected by it? When did the problem first occur, or when did it become significant? How much, or to what extent, is this problem occurring? The problem is the retention of the UAE nationals in the first three years. This problem is not limited to a few companies but is faced in both the public and private sector. This problem exists due to various factors. The intrinsic as well as the extrinsic factors contribute to the problem. The extrinsic factors can be attributed to the employees while others can be attributed to company. The inability of companies meeting the expectations of the employees usually prompts them to leave the organization (Claiborne, et al, 2014). This trend is likely to continue in future if adequate measures are not put in place to address the problem. The table below shows some of the extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Extrinsic factors Intrinsic factors Lack of motivation by the company. Inability of companies to value employees. Lack of employee engagement concept. Lack of competitive pay rates. Employee ambitious. New graduates uncertainty about their careers. Anticipated outcome/opinion … how will this problem be solved? The concepts of corporate social responsibility as well as the employee engagement process can be used for the purposes of addressing the problem. There is a correlation between the corporate social responsibility and employee retention. The employees tend to work for long in companies that they feel impacts positively on the society (Mirvis, 2012). This can be useful in the United Arab Emirates as the problem is based on the UAE nationals. The organizations can therefore ensure that they are able to improve on their working relationship in order to attract the locals. Putting in place an employee engagement mechanism may also have a positive outcome on the process of retaining the UAE nationals for more than three years. Employee engagement is useful in ensuring that the employees are loyal to the organization. This is achieved by developing a sense of belonging among the employees once they enter the organization. A development approach should be taken by the organizations when dealing with the employees of UAE nationals. Career development needs of the employees have to be addressed by the companies through further training in order to improve on their productivity. This can be useful in ensuring that the new employees of UAE nationality are motivated to stay long at the company. Retaining the UAE nationals will also require changes in the approach taken by the organizations when dealing with the employees. The onboarding process should be effective so as to gain the trust and loyalty of the UAE nationals and hence retaining them for more than three years. How would this solution be implemented in context? Is it practical? Implementation of the solution will require full commitment of the organization for it to be successful or practical. The personnel in the human resource departments have to be trained on the issues of employee retention and specifically the retention of the UAE nationals. This will be useful during the implementation process as the human resource personnel are responsible for the process. The implementation process for the solution should be carried out once the employees are hired at the company. This will play an important role in ensuring that the employees are loyal to the company. The boarding process is also important during the implementation of the solution. It has to be carried out as an integrated process until the new employees are fully satisfied with the company. The implementation process should be carried out in a manner that satisfies the new employees. Employee satisfaction should be the main of the solution. An evaluation process should be carried out for the purposes of ensuring that the implementation process is successful. The results of the evaluation should be used for the purposes of making improvements. A reduction in the employee turnover rate among the UAE nationals will be an indication of success. If the problem persists, then the solution will be considered unsuccessful and a new way out should be put in place. Employee retention is beneficial to the organization is in terms of ensuring that the costs is of recruitment and selection is reduced (Al-Hummadi, 2013). The amount saved can be saved in other activities that improve on the working conditions of the employees and the UAE nationals. Read More