BizBahrain April 2016

Interview | Bayt.com
the region to help jobseekers improve
their CVs and find jobs.
When Bayt.com was created in 2000,
there was one main goal, and that was
to address the unemployment issue in
the region by using the Internet as a tool
to give job seekers easy access to more
jobs and opportunities and enable them
to build successful careers. We took a
technology-centric approach, because
we believe that great, useful and welldirected
technology has the power to
do amazing things, and can completely
change the way we live.
In your experience what are the three
primary qualities that an employer looks
for?
The recent Bayt.com Middle East Job
Index Survey (February 2016) revealed
the top skills sought-after by employers
in the MENA region. Communication
skills emerged as the top skill, with 63%
claiming that it is the most important
they look for in candidates. This was
followed by, team player/cooperative and
efficient at 50% and 38% respectively.
With regards to experience, Bahrain
employers listed Managerial skills,
computer skills and sales and marketing
as the top three at 38%, 38% and 33%
respectively.
What would you say is the biggest
change in the job market in the last
decade?
There have been several changes in
the past decade.
1. The advent of social. Having a
professional online presence has become
absolutely essential for job seekers in the
Middle East: 84% of employers take the
time to research candidates online before
making a final hiring decision (Bayt.com
‘Hiring Management in the MENA’ poll,
August 2012). That’s why we released
the Bayt.com Specialties platform. It
enables professionals to express their
thought leadership in their professional
areas of expertise, and allows employers
to tap into this with innovative tools for
finding professionals whose true abilities
surpass those represented through
traditional CVs.
2. The ability to assess candidates
on the fly. Technology now empowers
employers to assess candidates before
they hire them, make it much easier
to pinpoint the perfect hire. Check out
Bayt.com Tests for example, which
cover topics as diverse as IQ and EQ to
negotiation skills and finance basics.
Employers have a better idea than ever
before on who they are hiring.
3. Availability of data. Data today
is very accessible, for both job seekers
and employers. For example, job seekers
can access tools like Bayt.com Salaries,
which give them vital information about
salaries, and employers can use very
comprehensive tools like Bayt.com’s
Talentera - an A-to-Z recruitment solution
- to get actionable data on the number of
people applying to their vacancies, and
pipeline stages to better plan for future
recruitment.
In Bahrain would you say there is a
mismatch between college education and
actual skills needed on a job?
A lot of graduates in the MENA region
leave their universities with very well
developed hard skills but still tend to lack
in soft skills, such as communication,
teamwork and the willingness and ability
to learn. We have yet to develop a culture
of people starting to work earlier in their
lives, in the region, to get a taste of what
the professional life looks like, and a true
experience of the workplace. For the most
part, people graduate from university
never having worked a day in their lives
and that creates issues. Simple steps like
teaching interviewing techniques could
have a lasting impact.
How can vocational training help in
boosting Bahrainisation levels and what
initiatives are under way?
According to the Bayt.com
Nationalization Practices in the GCC
poll (2015), 84.1% of GCC respondents
believe that their country of residence
relies more on expatriates for
specialized or knowledge-based jobs.
More than half believe that the best
way to improve the hiring of national
talent is by bettering educational and
vocational training facilities.
How have local companies kept up with
competitors internationally to match
employee benefits and facilities?
Our latest report, “Workplace
Satisfaction in the Middle East and
North Africa” (April 2016) revealed that
satisfaction levels among the MENA
workforce is running high. With 86.7% of
employees satisfied with how enjoyable
it is to go to work in the morning, it
is safe to say that local companies
have been able to keep up with what
employees need in order to remain
content and happy at their jobs. This
comes down to a multitude of factors,
such as satisfaction with work-life
balance, the amount of work required, job
security, recognition received at work,
and opportunities for career growth and
for learning in the workplace.
In a report published by Bayt.com titled
“Workplace Satisfaction in the Middle
East and North Africa (MENA)’, “an
overwhelming 86.7 per cent of MENA
respondents claim they are ‘satisfied’
with how enjoyable it is to go to work
every morning”, with 67.6 per cent of
them being “completely satisfied” and 19.1
per cent being “somewhat satisfied”. Your
comment.
At Bayt.com, we spend a huge
amount of time, effort and passion in
empowering people, and that always
starts with our very own. We focus
on ensuring that all our employees
are satisfied with all aspects of their
jobs, such as training opportunities,
growth opportunities, the physical
environment, and the honest and open
relationships we build internally.
It is very pleasing to see that there
is an overall positive outlook with
the satisfaction levels of employees
generally in the MENA workplace. It
is very important to acknowledge and
evaluate all aspects of satisfaction and
dissatisfaction in the workplace, and
improve upon what exists. Employee
satisfaction is important for both the
reputation of an organization, as well
as it’s growth, as your employees truly
are your brand ambassadors, and loyal,
motivated employees will always put
forth their best efforts towards the
company’s success.
May 2016
37