JEDDAH – Companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) value innovation, and encourage customers to participate in their innovation strategies, the region's number one job site Bayt.com said in its recent poll titled “Innovation in the Middle East and North Africa”. Seven out of 10 (69.4 percent) respondents said that their companies keep up to date with other organizations in their field and adopt best practices. The majority (82.9 percent) also said that their companies employ a long-term innovation strategy rather than a short-term one, which, according to 63.8 percent of respondents, has led to their companies' innovation performance surpassing that of other firms in their industry. 61.8 percent also say that innovation has led to improved financial performance. When it comes to problem solving, 81.1 percent of respondents say that pitching of ideas is welcomed, and reaching out to other departments for help is also encouraged within their organization. 79.2 percent of respondents say that their company involves customers in the innovation process by asking for their feedback. This is likely a contributing factor to 68 percent of respondents saying that their companies are perceived as innovative by their customers. “There is undoubtedly high value placed on innovation in the MENA region as our survey respondents demonstrate,” said Suhail Masri VP Sales, Bayt.com. “There seems to be strong emphasis on encouraging employees to be a part of the innovation process, making creativity an important skill for professionals to hone. At Bayt.com innovation is a core value and Bayt.com professionals are encouraged and empowered to think outside the box, suggest new things and explore creative solutions that enhance the customer experience and ROI. It is important for organizations to create a culture that fosters and rewards innovation, and companies stand to benefit from giving their staff the freedom, tools, encouragement and flexibility to ask new questions, seek new answers and experiment in new ways.” The majority of respondents to the Bayt.com Innovation poll (76.8 percent) claim that company leaders are, for the most part, willing to replace existing products with new and better ones. Eight out of 10 (78.3 percent) say that new ideas are encouraged and tried out, with sufficient time set aside for people to think and explore new possibilities (according to 49.3 percent). These new ideas are praised and rewarded to a large extent as per 43.5 percent of respondents, with a further 34.8 percent stating they are ‘sometimes' recognized for their innovative contributions. “In order for an organization to experience innovation optimally and for a culture of innovation to cascade fluidly across an organization,” Masri added. “There needs to be a fundamental emphasis placed on employee recognition. Going beyond salaries, rewards, and bonuses, recognizing employees with verbal support through formal and informal appraisals and a commitment to regular constructive feedback can go a long way.” — SG
