Great Place to Work® recognizes GEA among Saudi Arabia’s ‘Best Workplaces’
The General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has been officially recognized as one of Saudi Arabia’s Best Workplaces by leading global workplace culture authority Great Place to Work® Middle East.
This year, Great Place to Work® recognized 25 private and nine public and non-profit entities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The official list is based on the confidential feedback of employees and an audit of management policies and practices.
The General Entertainment Authority is an initiative that stems from Saudi Vision 2030. It was established on May 7, 2016, to organize and develop the entertainment sector to support the Saudi economy by diversifying the sources of income, contributing to an increased gross domestic product (GDP), supporting small and medium enterprises and attracting foreign direct investments leading to job creation in this promising industry.
GEA organizes a wide array of events across Saudi Arabia in different fields to suit everyone’s interests and issues licenses to offer many services.
Within just three years of its establishment, it created a complete calendar for all events across the Kingdom. In 2019, the Authority along with many government and private entities took part in the Saudi Seasons covering all Saudi regions.
Riyadh Season was the biggest of one of 12 festivals organized by GEA as part of ‘Quality of Life Program’, which is one of 13 programs of Saudi Vision 2030 that aims to further improve the quality of life in the Kingdom.
It helps achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 objective of establishing the entertainment industry as a key component of the national economy by creating 250,000 job opportunities for Saudis by 2030 and diversifying the economy that contributes to the development of the gross domestic product.
Riyadh Season was part of Saudi Seasons aimed at attracting not only foreign tourists but also Saudis who spend approximately $22 billion in tourism and entertainment abroad.
Expressing pride at the recognition by Great Place to Work® Middle East, GEA Chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said, “This honor proves that we value human capital development. GEA promotes a conducive work culture and encourages volunteerism.”
To select the ‘Best Workplaces in Saudi Arabia’, Great Place to Work® Middle East conducts an evaluation of each participating company. Two-thirds of the company’s score is based on the results of the Institute’s proprietary Trust Index© survey, which is sent to the employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about the management’s credibility, employee engagement and job satisfaction. The other third of the scoring is based on the company’s responses to the Institute’s Culture Audit©, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefits programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring, communication, and development.
Each entry is judged according to performance in eight key areas: Leadership, wellbeing, giving something back, personal growth, fair deal and how members of staff feel towards their manager, company and team.
Commenting on this year’s Best Workplaces list, Michael Burchell, CEO, Great Place to Work® Middle East, said: “The Best Workplaces list recognizes organizations that have demonstrated a truly serious commitment to creating workplaces that foster trust, pride and camaraderie amongst their employees. Every organization that made it onto the list should be proud of this noteworthy accomplishment. Based on our annual benchmarking study, we can say, without a doubt, that these 34 entities are the best workplaces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Congratulations to all the list makers.”
