Tariq A. Al-Maeena

 

A major portion of the male Saudi workforce is employed in the government sector or in public service sectors that serve a large segment of the Kingdom's population. A recent chance encounter with one such employee in a public sector of high demand disclosed unpublicized revelations about the inner workings of this government organization whose primary mission is to serve the public.



The man whom we shall call Ahmed is retiring soon. And he is visibly elated. After 32 years of service in that particular company, he is counting the remaining days until he bids a final farewell to an organization to which he has given his all. During our talks, I wondered whether there were any regrets among all that joy.



“Oh, yes, my friend, there have been many, but they are no longer my concern. I am leaving and let those who remain attempt to sort out the mess we have become. I can no longer fight against the immovable brick wall of bureaucratic incompetence that I have had to put up with for many years.”



He elaborated: “I joined this organization when it was vibrant and dynamic. It was foreigners in the capacity of advisers who ran this company and were quick to recognize local talent and allow it to develop and flourish. If you were good, you were recognized and moved upwards. And if you were not, then you were quickly shown the proverbial door.



“Back in the eighties, the growing infrastructure of this country and the challenges we faced were of such a magnitude that we all pitched in to create a quality service product. In the early nineties, things started to change. Expatriates were gradually replaced with Saudis, some from within and some who were appointed from outside the company. And it was then that the seeds of incompetence were sown.



“The Saudis who came in from outside at executive levels exercised their authority within the company as though they owned the outfit, and soon transformed the company's mission into what this organization could do for them rather than what they should do for it. They pushed their less qualified relatives and friends forward into key positions, thereby commanding undiminished loyalty. Public service was soon replaced by private greed as increasingly the culture of the workplace turned into a temple of worship of our CEOs.



“Our monthly company newsletter began glorifying the activities of our CEO, while the increasing public discontent with our service in the press was quickly met with incredulous denials. As we are a monopoly in our field, the public had no other option except to stomach whatever was dished out to them.



“Even conscientious employees were soon forced into a situation to accept this new form of devotion to the boss or else seek work elsewhere. Those who joined the bandwagon and trumpeted the loudest horns were quickly targeted for promotion, regardless of their incompetence. We took nepotism and favoritism to a new level. And those of us who chose to make the company our career and expressed alarm and discontent at this avaricious trend were labeled troublemakers.



“Today, this place is reduced to what we can harvest from it for our own personal gains, and not the other way around. Forget the paying public. If they don’t like it, tough luck! Let them go somewhere else. As long as the government keeps pouring money into our operating budget, do we really care about what the public thinks?



“And since there is no qualified and independent accountability, our executives will always view this company as a cash cow, created for their own personal gains. This is how the corporate culture in this company has changed over the past few years. And so if I have misgivings, it is about what could have been and what it actually is today.



“But Ahmed, why didn’t you just pack it in and leave earlier as others had done?” I inquired. “Why stay in an outfit that is obviously doomed by ineptitude? You are a bright man, and your services could have been used anywhere.”



“My training is very specialized. And from the feedback I got from the few other public sectors who could have used my talents, the message was the same. Once on board, I would have had to hail the mighty chief and his inner circle of cohorts. And turn a blind eye to  some of the unethical business practices. It’s like Ali Baba and the 40 thieves. I am not made like that.



“A few years ago, we heard that several public sector companies including ours were going to be privatized soon. That gave me hope, as new investors would have quickly done away with this bureaucracy and greed, along with these bloodsucking mites, and qualified and ethical Saudis would be brought in. But our executives fought this concept through delaying tactics and false information that must have scared away a lot of investors. They simply did not want the cow to run out of milk.”



Indeed with so many public sector companies being run with this degree of inefficiency, I wonder how much milk these Ali Babas are going to siphon off the cow before we see positive change.

 

— The author can be reached at talmaeena@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @talmaeena