Ernst & Young, the region’s largest professional services firm, has announced the results of its Middle East Human Capital Practices Survey 2006-07. The findings reveal that private sector organizations need to place greater focus on their leadership development, succession planning and employee rewards systems. Findings also show that only a low percentage of regional organizations involve their human resource functions in business strategy formulation.
Participating CEOs declared that the top three business challenges impacting HR in their organizations were retaining and hiring talent, management of rapid business growth and nationalization. They believe that implementing a system of individual development planning, improving the effectiveness of performance management and offering employees market-leading pay and opportunities for rapid career growth are key strategies to winning the war for talent.
Outlining key areas examined by the survey, Omar Bitar, Managing Partner, Business Advisory Solutions, Ernst & Young Middle East, said: “The survey looks at leadership and succession planning, Total Rewards systems, the alignment of the HR function with organizations’ business strategies and the effectiveness of organizational structures. Through this survey, Ernst & Young seeks to assist organizations in evaluating and benchmarking their HR practices with those of their regional peers and with global leading best practices.”
