A recent study on government employees revealed 69 percent of workers in government sector were absent from work without a valid excuse. It also revealed that 59 percent of workers leave work before time and 68 percent of workers regularly take three-hour breaks. The study went on to say that 47 percent of supervisors do not monitor the productivity of their employees and the majority of the absentees from work are married. The conclusions arrived at by the authors of this study is truly alarming. It points unerringly at the basic fault of the public sector in failing to deliver. With high numbers of absenteeism and non-performers, it is no wonder the performances in most government departments are poor. Why are Saudi government employees careless to this level? Are they demotivated? Is there is no reward-and-punishment system? Is no one supervising their attendance and productivity? These are questions that need immediate answers. If these numbers continue to remain high while evoking no reactions from higher authorities to redress the issues as soon as possible, then the situation will only go from bad to worse. Also if these trends continue the Saudi government employee tag of being called lazy would be deserved. It is no wonder why most of the government offices are empty during work hours with the employees either not showing up or either doing the vanishing trick soon on arrival. I remember the time I visited an education department office in Jeddah to finalize some paperwork for my wife. The official start of working hours was 7:30 a.m. but I, just to be on the safer side, showed up at 8:45 a.m. only to find the offices where I had to receive my papers were empty, and sans employees. I asked the cleaner working there all alone, ‘where were the employees?' and he told me they were having breakfast down the hall. I went there and asked for the specific person from whom I was to receive my wife's paper, and I found him digging in with gusto into the Ful plate. He asked me to join them in the morning breakfast, while continuing to enjoy his fare. I told him that I had other work and could he sign my wife papers so I could be off. He simply asked me to wait for 15 minutes till he finished his breakfast and tea. This is not a joke, but a true incident. I am not surprised at the findings of the study as in some government departments the entire employees, including the manager, are engaged in such rituals during office hours. Just because of the actions of these people, all employees are tarred by the same brush though in some offices employees are efficient, however few and far between. Years back I visited Riyadh to attend a conference and I stayed with my cousin, who is a government employee. My conference was at 10:00 a.m. while he had to be at work at 7:30 a.m. He told me that he would go to office and sign in his attendance and come back with breakfast. I thought he was joking but he did just that. When I asked him why he was not at work, he told me the most important thing for us public sector employees is to sign in and sign out, what you do in between does not matter. He then told me that he would be back two hours later, and he did. He confessed when I repeatedly told him that one needs work ethics. He said that no matter what do one does, all — those who work hard or those who do not work at all — are equal, so why waste one's energy? I believe that this belief is rampant in most of government sectors with the employees feeling, in every department, lack of appreciation and no motivation. I still remember the scene in one government department where more than 50 people were waiting to be served with only two employees in their seats while the other six seats were empty. The employees were either absent from work or relaxing in the back rooms. On a personal level, I would like to point out that these employees should adhere to the work ethics of serving people the full time for they are recruited for that. They should fear God and should know that any time they relax or feel just plain lazy at work, a man suffering as a direct consequence of their actions, or lack of it. Before we ask to punish the lazy, we should first ask what had the government provided for them. It was clear from the study that the majority is demotivated at work. The majority, that I know, is complaining of the poor salary that does not stay in tune with the rising cost of living. Most of them are also asking for insurance in good hospitals for them and their families, which is the main demand. There is no clear system that allows for the implementation of rewarding good employees and giving them promotions, and not those with good connections. People who do not deserve it get promoted because they have a relative at a higher place or know somebody close who is holding a position of authority. Most employees are stuck in the same position with the same title for a long time. This has turned the working environment into an unproductive one, where the government employee does not care if you are served or not. Once these demands are met, then a system of supervision and evaluating employees and monitoring their productivity should be implemented. It is a dream of mine to see all government departments turn efficient and all people served quickly, as fast as the Al-Baik customers are served. But on reality check, this may just be a dream for some time to come. – Mahmoud Ahmad can be reached at [email protected]
