In today’s business environment, globalisation has created many challenges in the hospitality industry particularly how to manage the increasing culturally diverse workforce.
Diversity has become a significant factor in the human resource management of the tourism industry as tourist organisations across the globe have become more diverse as a result of differences in race, culture, ethnicity, national origin as well as dispositions and personal characteristics in the workforce (Baum, Devine & Hearns 2009, 1).
Managing diversity in a workplace requires that the workforce comprise of diverse population which includes both the visible as well as the non-visible differences so as to harness such differences to create a productive working environment where each individual feels valued and free to engage their talents in contributing towards the organisational goal (UNESCO 1999, 23).
The cultural diversity in Saudi Arabia has had a huge impact on the country’s labor market. The essay is therefore an attempt to assess labour market issues in Saudi Arabia. In particular, the essay examines how cultural diversity in Saudi Arabia has impacted on its workforce.
The benefits attained by the labour market and organisations in Saudi Arabia due to cultural diversity are addressed, in addition to an examination of the challenges facing the success of cultural diversity in the workplace. Finally, the essay suggests various solutions that could help improve cultural diversity in the workplace in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabian culture is built around strict Islamic religion as well as ancient social customs which often clash with modern technical realities (Needle 2004, 76).
The country has increasingly relied on the foreign workforce particularly in the private sector such that about 60% of its workforce is foreign (Al-Dosary, Shahid & Rahman 2005, 1).
Most of their foreign workforce is from Pakistan, India, Philippines, Kuwait, Sri Lanka and the East European countries like the UK, Germany and France (Guirdham 2005, p.5).
Diversity in the workforce within the hospitality industry in Saudi Arabia enables the hospitality organizations effectively provide for customers from a wide social as well as economic spectrum. The country’s tourism industry has majorly depended on pilgrimage season (Gatrell & Kreiner 2006, 765).
Diversity within the hospitality organizations in Saudi Arabia has significantly changed the behavior of the native Saudis. Generally, Arabs undertake their tasks in less hurry and are not very active during the day in the month of Ramadan; this has sometimes affected their service delivery.
Inclusion of employees from other countries especially the Christian countries enable them achieve continuous functioning and speed in service delivery in the hospitality industry.
Foreign workers in the industry have made it possible and easier for tourism organizations to provide for religious tourism especially for the large number of Muslims who travel for the Hajj. They provide the workforce needed during the month of Ramadan as well as for the leisure tourists (Gatrell & Kreiner 2006, 769).
Diversity in the workforce within the hospitality industry in Saudi Arabia enhances quality service to customers as it gives them the capacity to understand the cultural diversity among customers (UNESCO 1999, 37).
Managers are therefore better placed to identify the uniqueness of customers from different countries or regions in terms of styles, practices, expectations as well as processes. With this knowledge, they can adapt complex ways of dealing with the various visitors that tour Saudi Arabia including the domestic tourists.
They are also able to avoid stereotyping of cultures. According to Henderson & Sadi (n.d, 95) the international tourists have been increasing at the rate of 4.3% and the trend is predicted to increase.
This has been attributed by many factors and among them being workforce diversity in the tourism industry (Mustafa 2010, 46). Cultural diversity enhances marketing research for the tourist organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Managers also use the cultural framework to manage the workforce. It is used to enhance cross-cultural training in the workforce to develop skills and provide experience which can enable them better meet the expectations of the culturally diverse customers.
The training has been used in most hospitality organizations in Saudi Arabia to develop culturally-sensitive workforce that is able to effectively deliver services to the culturally diverse customers that they meet everyday. Diversity in the workforce has enabled the hospitality industry to adopt flexible labour strategies particularly in the tourism industry.
The foreign workers provide the necessary public relations needed to neutralise the fears expressed by the international communities especially towards the Arab countries concerning security matters (Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities 2010, 5).
According to Henderson and Sadi (n.d, 98) selling to non-Muslims internationally has become quite challenging mainly because of cultural sensitivity (Henderson & Sadi n.d. 98)
In terms of social composition, the main ethnic group in Saudi Arabia is the Arabs, who constitute 90 percent of the population. The remaining 10percent is made up of the Afro-Asians (Al-Dosary, Shahid & Rahman 2005, p. 2). The county is 100 percent Islam.
All the citizens of Saudi Arabia speak Arabic, as well as about half of all the immigrants in the country. The Koranic, modern standard and high literary classical Arabic finds use in religious rituals, prayers, lectures, poetry, broadcasts, speeches, and written communication (Al-Dosary, Shahid & Rahman 2005, p. 2).
With regard to architecture, in 1950, approximately 40 percent of Saudi’s population led a nomadic life. As such, tents were the main residence, in otherwise highly dispersed patterns. The population led a nomadic form of life, moving from one place to another in search of pasture and water for their animals.
The other 40 percent of the Saudis led an agricultural life, in the rural areas. Only 20 percent of the population lived in the old cite of Medina, Mecca, Taif, Jeddah, and Riyadh. However, by 1992, two thirds of the Saudi population lived in the urban areas.
This was as a result of major changes that were taking place in the Saudi Arabia, buoyed by rapid expansion of the oil industry (Guirdham 2005, 56). Older cities expanded very rapidly, and new ones sprung up very fast. The new cities in Saudi Arabia are a sharp contrast of the old cities.
The local citizens and guest workers in Saudi Arabia are characterized by a key social division. Temporary immigrants form the largest part of the working class. This is the same group that occupies few positions in the Saudi’s upper class, with the rest occupying the middle-class positions (Guirdham 2005, 57).
The different social classes in Saudi Arabia experiences diversity in terms of wealth accumulation. Individuals across diverse social divides share common beliefs, practices, and attitudes. This common sharing is further strengthened by the strong religious and kinship ties in society.
The nature of employment relationship in Saudi Arabia is unique. As the number of foreign workers increase in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the private sector including the tourism industry have been able to diversify their operations and nature of jobs as organizations hire workforce from different regions and societies who come from different backgrounds and with different attitudes (Pizam 1978, 10).
The tourist organizations as well as other organizations respect the diverse cultures and have put in place policies and strategies which ensure that employees from different backgrounds work hand in hand no matter their cultural beliefs.
In an attempts to effectively handle cultural diversity in employment, the government mostly employs local managers to run public organizations including parks and to manage the locals and the firms in an efficient manner.
In private organizations, foreign workers are employed on the accounting approach so that they can deal with performance management, systems as well as control of individual’s activities to enhance efficiency of the organizations (Guirdham 2005, 57).
The mission statement of most tourist organizations in Saudi Arabia articulates their commitment to diversity in the workforce as well as the customers they serve. Individuals are designed roles which enable them utilise their cultural expertise to achieve the organisational goals.
The co-workers are aware of the cultural diversity that exist in the workplace and are therefore respectful of that (Gee 1997, 32). Cultural diversity has enhanced social cultural exchange as well as understanding among employees and different committees during their meetings (Gee 1997, 32). This has helped in preserving the cultural identity of the Saudis.
There are a number of challenges that face the issue of cultural diversity in Saudi Arabia. Human resource management practices in Saudi Arabia are heavily influenced by religion as well as tribal and family relationships.
This limits the ability of foreign workers to provide their all to the organizations particularly in decision making. The Saudi cultures also limit women’s participation in workplaces or even in acquiring employment opportunities.
Tribal and family’s influence in the workplace create authoritarianism to foreign workers as well as to other tribes which are not members of the tribe or clan. The tribal culture of Islam also limits their tolerance to new ideas or initiatives in the workplace.
Exploitation of oil in Saudi Arabia has led to increasing influx of foreign workers in the country seeking to get employment opportunities. According to Al-Dosary, Shahid & Rahman (2005, 1) about 60% of Saudi Arabia’s workforce is foreign, but at the same time, Saudi Arabia experiences unemployment rate of about 30%.
This has made the government rethink its strategy on employing foreign workforce. The government announced in 2003 that it will have had a significant cut on foreign workers by 2013. This has started limiting the number of foreign employees in organizations and thus reducing the level of cultural diversity in the workforce.
The influx of foreign workers has also affected the salaries and wages paid to workers in Saudi Arabia. Foreign workers provide cheap labour as compared to the salaries demanded by the Saudis themselves. Foreign workers who have come from countries of lower economies easily accept these salaries; however, managers from Saudi Arabia and Oman demand higher salaries.
Besides, the government has increased the cost of work visas as a strategy for limiting the number of foreign workers. This has raised the cost of maintaining foreign workers thereby impacting on the advantages which come with cultural diversity in the workplace.
In addition to that, the increasing high cost of living also affects foreign workers stay in the country thereby reducing the level of cultural diversity in the workplaces (Pizam 1978, 12). (Pizam 1978, 12).
On the basis of the foregoing arguments of the essay, a number of recommendations have been arrived at. First, there is need to educate the Saudis on the importance of national integration and respect for different cultures in order to achieve cultural diversity which is able to drive business organisations to greater levels.
The awareness should be aimed at helping them overcome tribal and clan/family considerations in workplaces. Saudis have to learn to separate some aspects of their religion in the workforce so that they can effectively deal with gender diversity in the workforce and also be more receptive to creative ideas that employees contribute in the running of organisations.
It is also important that the government develops mechanisms for dealing with the disparity that exists in the workforce in terms of the ratio of foreign workers to local workers. The locals have to be given more employment opportunities to help combat the increasing poverty levels in the nation.
In conclusion, cultural diversity has significantly improved the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia. It has provided the necessary expertise needed to drive the industry into the global economy.
The private sector has achieved efficiency that the government has also borrowed in public organizations. However, tribal and family relationships pose negative challenges that the country needs to overcome in order to realize greater cultural diversity in the workforce.
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