AL SALEM Johnson Controls (a joint venture with Saudi Bin-laden Group) said at the 2nd Summit of Saudi work environment that it has improved work environment and raised its Saudization percentage during 2011 to 22.5 percent, for a total of 357 Saudi employees, and has also decreased the turnover rate for Saudis from 40 percent to 12 percent. Asharqia Chamber of Commerce hosted the summit which was recently in Dammam. Al Salem Johnson Controls raised the percentage of its Saudi workforce from 7.4 percent in 2009 to 8.6 percent in 2010, achieving 22.5 percent in the last year, for a total of 357 Saudi staff members out of the company's 1,590 working force. Factors that have contributed for the decrease in Saudis' turnover rate are the company's commitment to train and develop its staff members in their various fields and coaching and mentoring new recruits who need experience. The company also provides its employees with compensations and benefits benchmarked and aligned with the best international companies within the Kingdom, in addition to enforcing a mandatory performance review within three months from the recruitment date, and an annual performance evaluation for all employees. Al Salem Johnson Controls also requires a Saudization target from all departments, and enforces a minimum wage in line with that which the Saudi government has approved for the public sector. The company recruited 245 Saudis and 44 non-Saudis during 2011, a figure that clearly demonstrates its commitment to employ Saudi skills and invest in them. The company has frozen all recruitment of non-Saudis in February 2011. One of the top projects Al Salem Johnson Controls completed is the preparation of the first smart government building in Saudi Arabia. In this project, all systems in the building were connected by a unified data network that offers quality services to its visitors, in addition to establishing a comfortable work environment, a factor that positively affects employees' productivity, and the ability of the integrated technical system to decrease electricity consumption. Engineer Basel Abdulaziz, Managing Director of Al Salem Johnson Controls, commented on this achievement: "We owe our earnings to the Saudi economy, and this is the time to repay back and share some of our experience with the young creative and ambitious Saudi talents.”
