Khalid Alkhudair A couple of years ago the Ministry of Labor launched Nitaqat which was a landmark in the Saudi labor market system. Whether you liked it or not, it truly put things in order and shed a lot of light on the most important function at any organization — Human Resources (HR). Working at an organization that puts women to work has given me a chance to reflect on best practices and what could help increase the percentage of women in the labor market. One idea is to establish a new “Nitaqat” system and call it “Diversity Nitaqat”. The concept would be that in every industry and sector they should hit a certain Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in order to receive a subsidy from the government. For example, in the banking sector a KPI of 30 percent diversity should be rolled out. Now to make this work more effectively and to score more in the system, women at entry level would be counted as a point, women at senior level positions would be counted as two points, those with disabilities would be counted as x points and so on. So not only would the system look at employing women but also at a variety of other traits that increase the balance in the workforce and that allow women to start taking on senior roles in organizations. Once a company hits its target, for example 30 percent, it would be entitled to benefits, such as transportation subsidies and childcare subsidies as well as subsidies for establishing better working environment facilities for women and to enhance premises to meet the needs of those with disabilities and special needs. We could even break the Diversity Nitaqat category into Platinum, Green, Yellow and Red. Quotas always serve a purpose and this system would allow employers to innovate instead of trying to beat the system. The carrot-and-stick method has worked with Nitaqat and all other Ministry of Labor initiatives, and if the right tracking system is put in place and incentives are offered to the private sector, then the Diversity Nitaqat system should lead to the creation of a more competitive and diverse workforce. An initiative like this could allow Saudi Arabia to set a benchmark for other countries to follow in the field of diversity. Once companies start following the guidelines, they will not need to rely on a quota or KPI; they will in turn make it part of their internal strategy and it will become self-driven. I proposed this concept during the recent World Economic Forum meeting at the Dead Sea in Jordan, and government officials from all over the world applauded the concept and expressed an interest in implementing something similar. I look forward to having the Kingdom set the benchmark when it comes to diversity. Khalid Alkhudair is Founder and CEO of Glowork. He can be contacted at:[email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @khalidalkhudair
