Employees urged to preserve performance during Ramadan

AMMAN — The productivity of Jordanian workers decreases during Ramadan, negatively affecting the national economy, economists and employees from various sectors agreed in separate interviews with The Jordan Times. 

They cited culture, work ethics and varying standards in different sectors as contributing factors to the drop in productivity during the holy month, as well as the direct, physical impact of fasting. 

Economist Zayyan Zawaneh attributed the “low productivity” of Muslim employees to a culture that accepts and supports decreased work efforts for those who are fasting in Arab and Muslim countries. 

 “Productivity is the amount of time needed to do a certain task. The productivity of Jordanians, and Arabs in general, is low in ordinary months, compared to other countries, and decreases even more in Ramadan”, Zawaneh said. 

Jordan’s economy will be affected by the drop in employee’s productivity during the holy month, the economist told The Jordan Times. 

The government has shortened working hours in Ramadan for all sectors to five hours, from 10am until 3pm, with the aim of mitigating the difficulties for fasting Muslims.  

Zawaneh argued that the productivity of the private sector’s employees is better than public sector workers during Ramadan, arguing that this is largely due to the “stricter” performance standards expected of employees in the private sector, particularly regarding customer service and consumer satisfaction. 

Mazen Irshaid, an economist, said that the productivity of an employee decreases as working hours are shortened, and as the employee’s attitude changes. 

The decrease of productivity has a “great impact” on tax collection and the workflow of investment projects, he said, explaining that such projects take longer than at any other time of the year.

“No one would go through the process and apply to form an investment company,  because they know how long it would take ... which leads to millions of dinars of losses,” Irsheid said. 

He also added that the “deficiencies of the bureaucratic system” are accentuated during Ramadan.  

 “People must be made aware that Ramadan is not a month to be lazy, but rather a month to work to the fullest and take advantage of this month’s spirituality… because [Ramadan] is not about eating and drinking”, Irshaid insisted.

Najwa Kobti, social performance manager at Microfund For Women, said that the performance of the employees in her company is not affected by the fasting month, as they are encouraged to reach targets through a system of incentives. 

Sally Abu Ali, founder of Aman Human Capital fund, said that employee’s performances and productivity usually decrease after four continuous working hours on an ordinary day where employees eat, drink and have regular routines.

“Fasting, not getting enough sleep [most Jordanians tend to stay awake till Suhour time; dawn] and suffering from headaches and migraines during fasting due to sudden change of lifestyle; all of these would decrease the performance of some employees,” Abu Ali explained. 

Hasan Zubi, a bank employee, said that despite the fact that the productivity of employees is lower in Ramadan than any other month, the employee should preserve performance standards related to one’s work. 

 “I personally do my work to the fullest, but in a quieter and less active way than in the ordinary days,” Zubi said. 

Meanwhile, Abdullah Khader, an accountant, said that the proficiency of an employee is not affected by Ramadan. 

Khader thinks that the ones who are not used to work under pressure in other months would feel lazy and would not be productive in Ramadan, unlike those willing to improve themselves and who are highly committed to their jobs. 

A Bayt.com’s poll recently conducted across the MENA region on thousands of professionals sought to depict workers' sentiments, behaviours and plans during the holy month of Ramadan. 

63.7 per cent of the respondents said that they are more productive in Ramadan despite the hunger and lowered alertness without their daily dosage of caffeine, 21.9 per cent said that their productivity would be the same and 14.4 per cent said that they would be less productive.