Introduction
People know the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a strict and traditional state. While this ideology may be true, Saudi Arabia is also a rich country with a diverse cultural heritage that suffices through economic, political, and social processes.
Therefore, while many people appreciate that Saudi Arabia has a wealthy and robust financial system, some people find that the country’s strict laws and customs are great deterrents for expatriates to work in the country (Loe, 2012). These sentiments have however not dampened the spirits of several expatriates who live and work in the kingdom.
While some sections of the economy may not suffer from insufficient staffing (from local and international staff), other sectors of the economy still suffer from significant under-staffing. One such sector is the educational sector. More specifically, teaching English as a foreign language in Saudi Arabia suffers from significant under-staffing (Loe, 2012).
Adequate staffing is an important facilitator of any learning objective. Its importance in foreign language learning is especially critical in Saudi Arabia because English is not the first language for most students in the kingdom. Therefore, unlike a situation where students may learn a language through their surroundings, students in Saudi Arabia learn foreign languages through the input of their teachers.
Having qualified teachers therefore manifest as an important component for having the best outcomes in foreign language learning within the kingdom. However, the challenge in teacher recruitment hinders the realization of (EFL) learning in Saudi Arabia.
This paper appreciates this problem by proposing a research paper to focus on Al-Andalus School, in Jeddah, as a case study of the challenge that many Saudi schools experience when recruiting new teachers.
Problem Statement
Saudi Arabia has suffered significant shortages of English teaching staff (Loe, 2012). This shortage manifests in many of Saudi’s private and public schools that teach English as a foreign language. Al-Andalus School, in Jeddah, is one such school that has experienced significant staffing challenges. The school mainly teaches three language curriculums – Saudi Curriculum, Egyptian curriculum, and the English curriculum.
The school does not experience many problems in finding teachers to teach the Saudi and Egyptian curriculums. In fact, there are enough Egyptian teachers in the school because the institution has had proud Egyptian teachers who do not mind taking more classes and students to advance the Egyptian learning agenda. However, there has been a lot of difficulty experienced in recruiting English teachers to the school.
Traditionally, the main English teachers in Saudi Arabia come from America, India, South Africa, and England. Some of these teachers have no experience in teaching the American curriculum, but their mastery of the English language is their main strength.
Officials at Al-Andalus School, in Jeddah, have tried to attend career welfares programs in the US to recruit many English teachers, but their efforts have not been widely successful. San Francisco and New Jersey outline a few locations where school officials have attended career welfare programs.
From the minimal successes registered in these endeavors, the school admits that it needs better strategies to recruit English teachers. The process of formulating these strategies therefore manifest as the main problem for the proposed paper.
Literature Review
Observers say Saudi Arabia is an attractive destination for teachers who want to teach English as a foreign language (Loe, 2012, p. 5). This assertion stems from the fact that some of the highest paid teachers in the world (who teach English as a foreign language) work in Saudi Arabia (Loe, 2012, p. 5). In fact, a teacher who teaches English language in Saudi Arabia may earn up to $4,000 per month for their services (Loe, 2012, p. 5).
This pay is tax-free. The government also gives teachers free accommodation, while they undertake their duties. Since Saudi Arabia has a high standard of living for most of its citizens, the government houses these teachers in large and modern apartments.
Muslim teachers may also find Saudi Arabia to be an attractive destination for work because the kingdom hosts two of the main Islamic holy cities (Mecca and Medina). Therefore, Muslim teachers may find it appropriate to work in the kingdom because Mecca is only 60 miles away.
Besides this motivation, Saudi Arabia also outlines a new market that may be useful to English teachers who may find it difficult to get employment in their home countries. Albeit many of such advantages exist in Saudi Arabia, most schools in the kingdom still face severe challenges in attracting English teachers in the kingdom.
AFT Teachers (2012) explain that many issues attract teachers to different schools. These issues are unsurprisingly the same issues that push teachers away from schools.
After conducting a study to explore the reasons that attract teachers to different schools, AFT Teachers (2012) said student discipline, poor administrative leadership and support, unhealthy physical plant, lack of faculty influence (that affects teacher decisions), and lack of student administrative success are the main reasons that attract teachers to different schools.
These findings remain plausible, despite the existence of the belief that class and race are prominent reasons that motivate teachers to work in different schools (AFT Teachers, 2012, p. 5). Relatively, one school of thought draws a strong correlation between working conditions and student characteristics as the main driving forces that affect the motivation of teachers to work in different schools.
For example, AFT Teachers (2012) say students coming from low-income families tend to frequent schools that have poor working conditions. Under-staffing and low-quality teacher inputs normally characterize such schools (AFT Teachers, 2012, p. 5).
The main explanation for this phenomenon stems from the fact that many teachers feel less motivated to work in such conditions, and therefore remain hesitant to work in such schools (Mababaya, 2003).
Consequently, a student who is unable to frequent schools that have a good working condition may experience from poor teacher input. Therefore, the poor working conditions in some of these schools force teachers to look for employment elsewhere.
However, the commitment to create and maintain high levels of teacher support should not only manifest at the local school level (Collin, 2005). Here, Collin (2005) introduces the importance of having state and federal support as critical factors for the attraction and retention of teachers.
Therefore, while schools may create and maintain a supportive environment for teacher and student learning, they also need to have the support of the state and federal governments (AFT Teachers, 2012, p. 5).
Therefore, if the statement made by Collin (2005) were to apply in the context of the proposed study, Al-Andalus School would need state and federal support to create and maintain the right working conditions for teachers (to attract and retain its teachers as well). Indeed, educational authorities need to evaluate the educational needs of their jurisdictions and generate new strategies for curbing the challenges faced.
From the above understanding, teachers are therefore more likely to be attracted to schools that have the right environment for teaching and learning. Through this understanding, safety and order are some of the main attractions for teachers (Al-Omrani, 2012).
The willingness of school administrators to incorporate the input of teachers in the curriculum development process, and the presence of administrative support for teaching activities, also manifest as some of the main attractions for teachers to work in specific schools (AFT Teachers, 2012, p. 5).
From this understanding, AFT Teachers (2012) say that specific schools that want to attract the most competent teachers should strive to complement the creation of supportive administrative conditions for teaching and learning. This way, teachers may appreciate that they are in the right environment for the advancement of their professional endeavors.
Sharifian (2009) also believes that hard-to-staff schools should pay close attention to the above factors because they outline the bedrock for the creation of the right strategies for attracting teachers to schools. Indeed, such schools should always strive to create and maintain an environment where teachers and students would want to learn and work.
Relative to this assertion, AFT Teachers (2012) say, “The people who most want to teach at these sites must be enabled by efficient interview-and-placement procedures; and relevant high-quality programs and policies must be in place to support these individuals once they are hired.” (p. 5).
If private and public partners in education create these environmental factors to attract new teachers to Saudi schools, many school administrators will find it easy to recruit teachers in job fairs as outlined below.
Indeed, job fairs provide an alternative recruitment strategy for Al-Andalus school because they provide an opportunity for school heads to meet potential employees. In such job fairs, recruiters may meet prospective employees through the exchange of business cards and resumes (a usual occurrence in such forums).
Experts say job fairs have demonstrated a high degree of success in identifying employment opportunities for first-time job seekers. Through such forums, the administrators of Al-Andalus may interact and familiarize themselves with the needs of teachers – to have a better understanding of what they can do to attract more teachers to the school. Ideally, Al-Andalus should be able to find some prospective employees in such job fairs.
Employee referrals offer the most effective way for recruiting new teachers to Al-Andalus school (Schmitt, 2012). Unlike other forms of employee recruitment methods, this form of recruitment is internal.
Obtaining new employees through existing employee social networks may provide an effective way for Al-Andalus school to get new teachers because existing employees are already familiar with the requirements and expectations of the institution.
They would therefore only recommend new teachers that they believe would “fit the bill.” Existing employees may also familiarize potential employees with the working conditions of the organization, thereby managing the expectations of the new teachers as they seek new teaching jobs.
Since existing employees have a stake in the school (already), they are also unlikely to recommend somebody that would not meet the expectations of the school. Certainly, they would want to protect their reputation, even as they recommend a new employee to join the institution (Schmitt, 2012). For example, a non-performer would portray a bad image for an existing employee who has introduced them to the school.
Comprehensively, administrators of Al-Andalus school may enjoy the many advantages of pursuing a referral program because a referral program would complete their recruitment processes by expanding their pool of prospective employees, who have a good set of credentials.
This strategy also manifests as a motivational tool that would encourage existing employees to participate in talent acquisition programs (by referring qualified teachers to the school) (Schmitt, 2012). Moreover, the strategy may persuade the teachers to believe that they are also part of the school’s administrative structure. Consequently, everyone in the school will work as a recruiter.
Lastly, the time and physical resources needed to undertake a referral program is also negligible. The administrators of Al-Andalus school would therefore find this strategy to be the most effective way of recruiting new teachers.
Evaluation
It is a common philosophy in many institutional circles that it is difficult to improve new strategies if they are not measured (Arthur, 2001). It is therefore imperative for institutions to measure the success of new programs because this is the best way of improving the same.
The success of the recruitment strategy for Al-Andalus school will depend on several factors, including the achievement of the school’s vision/mission, changes in employee recruitment and replacement costs, and employee retention rate. These measurements will be the key performance indicators for the school’s recruitment strategy. This paper discusses these performance indicators below.
Achievement of the School’s Mission/Vision
Albeit many factors may complement the achievement of Al-Andalus school’s vision/mission, the contribution of teachers in achieving and sustaining the school’s vision/mission is important. Through this understanding, it is crucial to highlight the existence of the relationship between teachers’ contributions and the achievement of the school’s mission/vision.
The sustained achievement of Al-Andalus school’s vision shows the success of the school’s recruitment strategy because teachers are the main stakeholders in the achievement of this vision (Solmon, 2007). Without effective teacher contribution, it is often difficult to sustain a school’s mission/vision, or even achieve it in the first place (Solmon, 2007).
Conversely, the failure of the school to achieve its vision also mirrors the failure of its recruitment strategy. For example, the failure to attract highly competent teachers may lead to the provision of low-quality EFL education, thereby falling short of meeting the school’s education goals of imparting quality EFL education to the students.
Therefore, the achievement of Al-Andalus school’s vision is an indicator of the success of its recruitment strategy.
Changes in Employee Recruitment and Replacement Costs
An institution’s recruitment and replacement costs provide a correct indicator of the success of its recruitment strategy (Arthur, 2001). Successful recruitment strategies always manifest through reduced recruitment and replacement costs, while unsuccessful recruitment and replacement costs manifest through high recruitment and replacement costs.
Through the proposed recruitment plan of the school, Al-Andalus school may attract competent teachers through the institution’s desirable working conditions and the prevailing conducive working environment in Saudi Arabia. However, if the recruitment strategy fails to attract this caliber of teachers, the newly recruited teachers may easily leave the school and seek other employment opportunities elsewhere.
The school would therefore have to embark on replacing such teachers through a new recruitment plan. Such an eventuality would lead to high replacement and recruitment costs (Arthur, 2001).
However, if the recruitment strategy proved to be successful, the institution would not have to replace the teachers, or adopt a new recruitment plan. From this understanding, the changes in recruitment and replacement costs therefore provide a reliable indicator of the school’s recruitment strategy.
Employee Retention Rate
The understanding of an institution’s employee retention rate as an indicator of the performance of a school’s recruitment strategy is reliable (Arthur, 2001). This measure shares a close relationship with the understanding of changes in recruitment and replacement costs as measures of the success of a school’s recruitment program.
This relationship manifests through the understanding that a high employee retention rate would signify the reduction of recruitment and replacement costs. Indeed, if Al-Andalus school is able to retain most of the newly recruited teachers, it will incur minimal recruitment and replacement costs.
Consequently, a high employee retention rate signifies the success of its recruitment strategy. Conversely, if the school has low employee retention rate, it would be correct to assume a failure of its recruitment program (Arthur, 2001).
Implementation
The implementation plan for Al-Andalus school’s recruitment strategy is the main basis for the success of the school’s recruitment plan. This paper proposes a three-tier plan for the implementation of the proposed recruitment plan. The three tiers include developing a timely plan, reviewing and identifying important stakeholders, and establishing an effective communication system.
Establishing the Implementation Committee
The goals that are set forth in the implementation plan largely depend on the strength of the foundation for carrying out the plan. However, the strength of this foundation largely depends on the commitment by the school administrators to implement the recruitment plan.
To secure the commitment of the school’s administration, Al-Andalus school needs to establish a committee to spearhead the entire recruitment process. This team should have a clear set of goals and responsibilities that outline the framework for the recruitment process. This team should work closely with the top school administrators for maximum efficacy.
Developing a Time-frame for the Plan
Developing a period for the completion of the recruitment strategy is also an important component of the implementation process because most recruitment strategies need to have a definite time for the achievement of every objective (Arthur, 2001).
While many institutions allocate about five years for the full implementation of their recruitment strategies, this paper proposes that Al-Andalus school should take a shorter time to implement its recruitment strategy because the institution’s human resource needs are urgent.
Reviewing and Identifying Important Stakeholders
While implementation is supposed to be a smooth process, some educational stakeholders may pose a hindrance to the achievement of the recruitment goals (Celce-Murcia, 2000). From the above concern, the recruitment implementation plan of Al-Andalus should have a stakeholder review process to identify the stakeholders that may support the plan, and those that may hinder the adoption of the plan.
After assessing the relevant stakeholders, it will be crucial to seek the support of stakeholders who would benefit from the program. Similarly, it would be crucial to devise mitigation plans for overcoming any challenges that may arise from other stakeholders who may hinder the implementation plan (Celce-Murcia, 2000). This way, it would be easier to get the most stakeholder support.
Establishment of a Communication System
The importance of a good communication system in the implementation of Al-Andalus school’s recruitment program cannot be overemphasized. Indeed, it is crucial to have a clear and sound communication system between the school’s central office and the site working teams.
This communication system will be instrumental in coordinating the activities of recruiters who are on the site (say at job fairs) and the recruitment committee that sits at the school. Through this communication channel, the school may exchange information about hiring needs and teacher candidates to synchronize the entire recruitment process.
Comprehensively, Reynolds (2007) says that the establishment of this communication channel is beneficial to the school’s recruitment plan because it may improve productivity, improve problem solving, enhance the efficiency of the recruitment process, and create a better working relationship among all parties that are involved in the recruitment process.
Summary
Inadequate staffing at Al-Andalus school is a serious problem that may compromise the quality of education in EFL learning. The findings of this paper show that there is no major problem in attracting teachers to teach the Saudi or Egyptian curriculums. The problem only exists in attracting new teachers to teach the American curriculum.
The main issue associated with this difficulty is the stability of Saudi Arabia as an attractive destination for foreign teachers to live and work in Saudi Arabia.
This paper has shown that many advantages exist for foreign teachers to live and work in Saudi Arabia, including a high pay, adequate accommodation, tax-free salaries, and a new experience. This paper has also shown that Muslim teachers may find Saudi Arabia to be an attractive destination because the country hosts the two main holy cities of Mecca and Jeddah.
These dynamics present the main framework that Al-Andalus school may use to attract foreign teachers in the country. Stated differently, the school should communicate its attractive qualities to new teachers so that it can secure the interest of foreign teachers who form the traditional source of EFL teachers.
This paper also suggests several strategies that Al-Andalus school may use to attract new teachers including visiting job fairs, seeking employee referrals, and creating the right working environment for new teachers to work. Such strategies should form the main part of the institution’s recruitment plan.
To evaluate the success of the recruitment plan, this paper proposes that the school should evaluate its employee retention rate, its achievement of the school’s mission/vision, and its recruitment and replacement costs as the main measures of the program’s success or failure. The success of the program however depends on the success of the implementation plan.
This paper therefore suggests that the success of the implementation plan depends on the establishment of an effective implementation committee, the establishment of a clear communication channel, the identification of important stakeholders, and the development of a workable duration to achieve the goals of the recruitment plan.
Conclusion
After weighing the findings of this paper, the best strategy for recruiting new teachers at Al-Andalus school manifests through the understanding of the main environmental factors that would attract new teachers to the country.
Al-Andalus school’s recruitment package should market these environmental factors (like tax-free pay and high salaries) to attract foreign teachers who do not have any idea of how living and working in Saudi Arabia may be. Such a strategy should however be supported by a robust and realistic implementation and evaluation plan to improve any areas of weakness in the school’s recruitment plan.
Al-Andalus may also use this plan to recruit other staff in the institution (say, school workers). Nonetheless, in the context of this study, the adherence to this plan may solve the shortfall of English teachers at Al-Andalus school.
References
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Celce-Murcia, M. (2000). Discourse and context in language teaching: a guide for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Collin, S. (2005). The Guide to English Language Teaching Yearbook 2005. New York: Modern English Publishing.
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Mababaya, M. (2003). International Business Success in a Strange Cultural Environment. New York: Universal-Publishers.
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