Employees in the Kingdom may be in for a surprise when they learn that undercover agents are filing secret reports on their job performance. Some private companies have outsourced job evaluation to specialized agencies which send evaluators impersonating customers, sales representatives, or job seekers to professionally assess employees using a wide range of criteria. This is being done to make sure that employees are professionally and fairly evaluated without any prejudice and favoritism, Al-Madina Arabic daily reported. The assessors evaluate the employees' appearance and behavior in dealing with colleagues, customers, direct bosses and subordinates, and also whether they deal equally with everyone without favoritism and nepotism. The evaluators place a great deal of importance on the way an employee receives people requiring services believing that the employee's approach is a key measure in assessing his personality, and is even more important than punctuality and office discipline. They also professionally assess bosses' attitudes towards their subordinates, and if they are impartial when recommending them for annual raises and promotions. Companies employing outside evaluation believe that this will improve company performance since their employees are the ones who run the day-to-day affairs of the company, and that the success of their company depends upon the dedication of their employees, their implementation of company policy, and the way they deal with customers. The banking sector was the first in the Kingdom to use this type of employee assessment, after which it was widely adopted by perfume shops, hospitals, and contracting firms. The field evaluation staff, who are highly trained in psychology, evaluation, and management, usually make several visits to the company being evaluated. Once the evaluation is completed, a secret report is submitted to the company's owners and board of directors. These reports, which are completely impartial, are used by management to make important personnel decisions. Ra'id Al-Agaily, the executive director of a contracting company and a member of the Real Estate Committee at Jeddah's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, described these studies and evaluation reports as very important because the assessment comes from a neutral party and gives a genuine picture about the employees. Nawal Ibrahim, a statistician, said these reports serve as an important guideline which can help management make informed decisions about employee productivity and discipline.
