![[PHOTO] Light streaming through a key hole illuminating an old iron key.](../images/ph_findings.jpg)
(The Company, names and situations are disguised due to confidentiality agreement. The actual client approved the case)
Mel was a recent arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He had just been appointed General Manager of a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant established here three years ago by a multinational health company. The plant had been financed by the Saudi government as part of a technology transfer and economic offset program in conjunction with a mega- project undertaken by a consortium of U.S. corporations.
Mel's company had been coming under increasing pressure from the Saudi Arabian government agencies to increase the number of Saudi citizens employed in the plant and promote more of them to management positions. In the past this had been an easy problem to solve: you just hired some locals and called some of them managers, but gave them no real tasks or decision-making responsibilities. Sometimes these managers held two jobs and were not even required to come to work.
Those days were over. Now the Saudi government was strictly enforcing percentage quotas for employing Saudi citizens and insisting that they have real jobs with real management responsibilities. Indeed, it was no longer possible to get visas for foreigners to enter and work in many occupations, including all administrative areas, Accounting, HR and a number of other areas.
Mel's first problem was the resignation of the plant's HR manager. Phil had done a wonderful job during the difficult startup phase of the plant and had the whole HR area running like clockwork now. Phil had not dealt a lot with the local Saudi employees but he had a bright young Saudi, Saleh, working with him as a staff assistant. Phil consulted Saleh on many topics and received much good advice on what he should or should not do in various situations. Very progressive in his thinking, Saleh had a master's degree in HR management from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) and, according to Phil, "really knew his HR stuff'." Saleh, Mel decided, was the logical man to replace Phil.
"Saleh is the right man, Mel," Phil concurred. "He's earned the opportunity and I know he can handle this job with no difficulty."
Mel called Saleh into his office first thing the following Saturday morning. (Saturday is the start of the business week in Saudi Arabia). "Saleh, as you know, Phil is leaving us and heading back to the States. I've discussed his replacement with him and the other managers and all agree that you should be our next HR Manager. Congratulations, Saleh."
Saleh paused, shook Mel's hand rather weakly and thanked him.
Some time after Phil's departure, Mel started to get complaints from employees that the local hospital the company dealt with was refusing to provide certain services. Also, the required visas that company foreign employees needed when going on vacation were sometimes not delivered, upsetting employee and family vacations. This concerned Mel, as workforce morale was key to the plant's ongoing success. He decided to phone Phil back in the States before he approached Saleh.
"Ah, well," said Phil. "The guy in HR who deals with the hospital, Yassin, is a very good administrator, but you have to watch him closely and push him a bit. He's an older guy, very capable, but if you don't stay on his case he lets the paperwork build up and that delays accounting in processing payments, and if the hospital isn't paid promptly they start being awkward. You have to avoid that. Just be sure Saleh rattles Yassin's cage from time to time. It's pretty much the same with Mohammed, who is in charge of visas. He is a very useful guy, has all the right contacts in the government to get things done promptly, but tends to take a few days off without telling anyone, so again, you have to watch his output and attendance."
"Ok, I see," said Mel. "I will speak to Saleh."
Mel was meeting with Saleh formally each week to go over pending HR matters and next week's priorities. At the next meeting he raised the Yassin and Mohammed situations.
"Saleh, we're slipping up on the paperwork required to process our medical accounts and I gather we have missed getting some visas on time. Our employees are justifiably upset as they make their plans 6 months in advance. I think you need to be a little more strict with Yassin and Mohammed and make sure they get their jobs done when required, not when it suits them. What do you plan to do?"
"It is very difficult for me," replied Saleh. "I know they're not performing well, but there is little I can do. They are old men, I cannot admonish them. They are my elders, and I must respect them."
"Well, yes," responded Mel, "respect them, but you have to call them into your office and lay it on the line. The way they're doing their jobs at the moment is not acceptable. We know and they know that they can and have done their jobs better. I know it's a difficult problem but we can't have these men undermine the systems and authority of the organization. The problem has to be solved promptly."
"I am sorry, Mel, but I simply cannot do what you suggest. In the West you are able to compartmentalize business life, social life and personal life but it is not easy to do this here…they are often one and the same. The opinions of family, close friends and employees matter…the small circle of family and friends and work groups--those are people whom I know personally and am related to. It's just not acceptable to treat these elders as you suggest, especially as they are distantly related to my mother's family. I would lose all credibility with my family and work friends and neither Yassin nor Mohammed would take any notice of me anyway. I am sorry but I cannot do what you expect of me."
Mel had just received his first lesson in several of the socio-cultural pressures that young, talented Saudi managers face in organizations. These pressures may include a different value on time, an aversion to systems and procedures, and an individualistic approach to work. And respect for one's elders overrides all.
Moravec and Associates consultants have extensive experience in Saudi Arabian and Middle East business and culture. They help clients like Mel and his company anticipate difficult issues and solve them before they become embarrassing, costly problems.