by Abdulrahman Inayat, Director & Co-Founder, W7Worldwide
Islam is a cornerstone of life in Saudi Arabia, including the corporate world.
A company with a strong corporate culture that prioritises people will create an environment for growth, community, and mutual success. Employers need to build personal connections with employees that reinforce humanity, gratitude, and kinship. Companies with a great culture engage their people, cultivating a workplace that encourages participation and enables excellence to produce and grow.
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As I discussed recently in a panel discussion with international marketing leaders – Persistently Agile: The Key to High-Performance Marketing Lies with People, Not Projects – defining and establishing a strong company culture is an important step to any business from the outset, as it can pre-empt challenges further down the line. Saudi Arabian corporate culture is based on the most important social unit being the group, close family, extended family, extended relationships, including the workplace, to which loyalty and respect is due. Creating a productive, meaningful, and welcoming work environment gets the right people to join the team and keeps them motivated to perform. Company culture will encompass your goals, mission, values, and ethos.
When people feel supported by their company and team, their loyalty increases, which will have a positive effect on your business from the inside out. Customers who know that a business treats its people well will want to support that business. Happy employees will help companies build their reputation as important brand advocates. Company culture is the catalyst for better performance across the entire business when it supports better teamwork, space for feed-back, and a higher sense of satisfaction.
The right corporate culture inspires people to bring out the best in each other, so striving for a respectful, thoughtful and human environment is vital. There are many creative ways for companies to recognise and show appreciation for their people with company events, annual gifts, volunteer opportunities, paid time off and recognition awards spotlighting team members who go above and beyond.
Corporate social responsibility efforts during Ramadan have long been associated with an increase in charitable giving and volunteering in Saudi Arabia. Giving back to the community is one of the five pillars of Islam both as a religious duty and to secure the blessings associated with charity. Show your company cares about the community by supporting a cause your team is passionate about and where they can volunteer together, or offer to donate to a charitable organisation on your employees’ behalf. Engaging employees in the partnership with a chosen partner creates a common sense of purpose and motivation. Volunteering says a lot about a company’s sincerity. By doing good deeds without expecting anything in return, companies and their employees are able to express their community spirit.
Company culture is what sets you apart from competitors, inspires the best talent and right people to join you, and enables an excellent environment in which everyone can grow. Creating a strong corporate culture is halfway through for a company to demonstrate the value within its organisational ecosystem, and this includes the nurturing and appreciation of its employees.
W7Worldwide has been producing award-winning, culture-changing corporate communications campaigns for leading Saudi and GCC brands.
