Employee satisfaction

SEVERAL studies have shown that employees who work under the supervision of an honest and fair manager report greater job security and happiness on the job, something which carries over into their personal lives as they also tend to enjoy a more stable family life and better relationships with their spouses and children. When superiors are anything but fair and honest and mistreat subordinates and deprive them of their rights, not only are employees who work under them dissatisfied, but also their productivity suffers as does the company’s overall performance. Al-Riyadh daily looks at the employee-supervisor role and how Saudi law protects employees who are mistreated by their supervisors. According to Dr. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, a psychology professor, a manager or director should be selected carefully and based on rigorous criteria such as leadership skills, tolerance, sociability, cooperation and ability to interact well with others. A person who runs a department or a business should be aware of how his subordinates interact and respond to them in the right way. “Sometimes the workplace itself has poor monitoring measures. In such environments, a manager or director will be given full powers to act the way he wants and nobody will be keeping a close eye on the way he deals with his subordinates and the way he conducts work,” he said. In his opinion, a director should only be given the responsibility of running a department after he has been rotated through a variety of positions through different departments. Certain key performance measurement indicators should be applied to the head of department every six months to assess his performance and the way he deals with employees. Any person who holds a senior position should be held accountable if he engages in any activities that compromise integrity and honesty. “I have heard many stories about managers who mistreated their subordinates for no reason just because those managers suffer from psychological problems and lack of self-confidence. Usually, such managers were at some point of their careers mistreated by their superiors,” he said. Ayed Al-Bogami, as associate professor of law and dean of the law school at Prince Sultan University, pointed out that the regulations that outline the duties of employees clearly state that each employee should perform his duties with honesty and integrity and superiors should not abuse their powers nor should they accept bribes or gifts. The Kingdom has several monitoring agencies such as the Control and Investigation Board and the Anti-Corruption Commission. Employees should be aware of the regulations so they would know what to do if they are mistreated by superiors who abuse their powers, he said. “Some employees might hesitate before filing a complaint against their superiors for fear that they might pay a hefty price for it. Those employees should always remember that the laws guarantee their rights and will protect them against any retaliatory actions by the superior. At the end of the day justice will prevail. There are several cases where employees emerged victorious in cases raised against their managers who abused their powers,” he noted.