Business & Money | Monday 15 June, 2015 6:09 am |

The Bayt.com ‘Hiring Practices in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey, recently conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s leading career site, and YouGov, the leading market research company, has revealed that 93% of respondents hiring managerial staff and 92% of respondents hiring non-managerial staff in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) believe that first impressions in a job interview matter.

The Hiring Process of Managerial and Non-Managerial Employees
In the MENA region, the private sector is responsible for the majority of all managerial (83%) and non-managerial (82%) hires. Specifically, multinational companies account for 26% of managerial and 28% non-managerial; large local companies for 25% and 24%; and small and medium companies are involved in 15% and 17% of all respective hires.
The construction industry is mostly involved in hiring both managerial employees (12%) and non-managerial employees (13%). Of those responsible for hiring management positions, 41% are a part of the Human Resources (HR) department; 25% of those responsible for hiring non-managerial employees are part of HR. 14% and 11% of managers/ senior managers and 12% and 13% of directors/ department heads are respectively involved in the hiring process of managerial and non-managerial staff in the MENA.

Sources of Recruitment
74% of respondents in the MENA have said that online recruitment has facilitated the hiring process; 35% saying that it has facilitated it ‘greatly’. However, a majority of respondents (53%) still say that they do not use an applicant tracking system during the recruitment process; 22% say that they do. The usage of applicant tracking systems is higher in the GCC (27%), and especially in the UAE (40%).

Referrals appear to be the most popular source of recruitment in the MENA for both managerial and non-managerial employees, with 40% of respondents involved in the hiring process of both managerial and non-managerial employees saying so.

Among users of social media channels for recruiting candidates for managerial positions, 79% do so for posting jobs, while 52% do so for finding candidates and another 40% for pre-interview candidate screening. On the other hand, among users of social medial channels for recruiting candidates for non-managerial positions, 78% do so for posting jobs, 37% for finding candidates and 35% for checking referrals.

While employee referrals may be the most popular source for recruitment for hiring managerial employees, 67% of firms in the MENA don’t offer a referral bonus, although firms in the GCC are more likely to offer a referral bonus (39%) than companies in other areas in the MENA. The same is true for hiring non-managerial employees with 74% of firms in the MENA not offering a referral bonus despite employee referrals being the most popular recruitment source.

“Employee referrals are cited to be the most popular source for recruitment,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com. “With that discovery, it is not surprising that one of our most successful features is a referral tool on Bayt.com, where members can refer their friends to certain jobs and where people can see if they have any friends working at companies that currently have open vacancies. It’s the power of word of mouth and the power of referrals – multiplied! In terms of social media in the recruitment arena, Bayt.com Specialties and Bayt.com People are also pioneering social platforms that employers use to qualify and cross-reference potential candidates and leverage the full power of referrals. In fact, we are always developing tools and features to best empower employers to engage with these specialists and get to know them at a level that was never possible with a traditional paper CV. At Bayt.com, we are very proud to go beyond being a traditional job site and to offer both professionals and employers a wide and constantly expanding array of innovative tools that harness the full power of social media in a specific career context, in line with our mission to empower people with the tools and technologies to build better lives, beginning with optimal careers.”

The Hiring Process: Duration, Interviews, and More
More than 7 out of 10 MENA respondents claim that the hiring process can last up to 2 months in their organization. Hiring process in the GCC tend to be longer than in North Africa though, with approximately 7 out of 10 organizations in the GCC needing at least 1 month to complete a hire.

Approximately 1 out of 2 companies have a 3-month probation period for managerial and non-managerial positions. GCC organizations (GCC: 56%, KSA: 72%, UAE: 28%, Kuwait: 72%) are more likely to use a 3-month probation period than those in North Africa.

Managerial Employees
Approximately 4 out of 10 companies use pre-employment tests and academic certificates as methods in the hiring process. The interview (55%) is still the most popular method used in the hiring process across the MENA. Interestingly, the pre-screening phone interview is more popular in the GCC as compared to North Africa.
For 37% of organizations, the potential candidate for a managerial position is interviewed by 3 different people. Being interviewed by ‘4 or more people’ is more likely to happen in the GCC as compared to North Africa. In the MENA overall, and according to 46% of the respondents, the typical job interview lasts 16-30 minutes; 24% say that it only lasts up to 15 minutes.

About 7 out of 10 companies need 2 weeks to make the hiring decision, and for 73% of companies a phone call is the most popular method of informing prospective candidates that they have been selected for a managerial position. On the other hand, when the candidate is not selected for a managerial position, email is the most popular (44%) way of informing them, followed closely by a phone call (41%). A higher proportion of organizations in Egypt (32%) give no notification to an unsuccessful candidate for a managerial position as compared to other countries.

Non-Managerial Employees
The interview (57%) is the most popular method used in the hiring process of non-managerial employees in MENA; 45% companies use pre-employment tests; and about 4 out of 10 use academic certificates as methods in the hiring process. Interestingly, a higher proportion of organizations in the GCC use academic certificates, personality tests, reference checks, pre-screening phone interviews and work samples or portfolios during the hiring a process, as compared to organizations in North Africa.
For approximately 7 out of 10 organizations in the MENA, a non-managerial candidate is interviewed by 2 or 3 people, and the interview lasts for 30 minutes – at most – for 75% of organizations.

Approximately 8 out of 10 companies need 2 weeks to make the hiring decision, and for 74% of companies a phone call is the most popular method of informing a prospective candidate that they have been selected. Organizations in North Africa tend to take less time to make a hiring decision after having interviewed all prospective candidates with more than half (55%) needing less than 1 week to decide. This percentage is even higher for organizations in Egypt (62%).
When the candidate is not selected, phone call (38%) is the most popular way of informing them, followed closely by emails (34%), while almost 3 out of 10 MENA firms do not inform a candidate at all.

“The hiring trends of management and non-management staff are relatively similar across the MENA region. Interestingly, around 4 out of 10 organizations expressed that they needed specialist help with conducting face-to-face interviews,” said Suhail Masri, Vice President of Sales, Bayt.com. “Employers can benefit greatly from our new product, Bayt.com Tests, which will help them qualify candidates early on in the application process. It’s a very exciting tool that lets employers choose from a bank of professionally-created technical tests to qualify candidates. These tests are very diverse in terms of topic, ranging from ‘Mechanical Engineering’ to ‘EQ’ and ‘Sales Knowledge’. It’s a great and simple way to map job vacancies, candidates, and appropriate job knowledge. Bayt.com specializes in bringing employers together with their ideal candidates. Likewise, it provides essential information for job seekers to properly arm themselves with the tools required to make a difference in today’s robust and competitive market.”
“With 74% of respondents saying that online recruitment has facilitated the hiring process – 35% saying that it has facilitated it ‘greatly’ – it seems that more and more employers are using online recruitment methods to source, screen and hire potential employees,” said Elissavet Vraka, YouGov. “Potential candidates now have thus to ensure that they have an online presence that is well-thought-out and reflective of their skills, qualifications and professional experience.”
Data for the Bayt.com ‘Hiring Practices in the Middle East and North Africa’ survey was collected online from May 5th to May 22nd 2015, with 1,178 respondents interviewed, from MENA countries including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.