Human resource activities 1. Introduction It is becoming very difficult for organizations to survive in their respective industries. The difficulties are being built by the strong competition among the companies, drastic change of technologies, rapid growth of the companies etc. So, in order to survive in such sophisticated the manpower regarded to be the most important assets of the organizations are being uplifted. Therefore the application of HRM is becoming very important for the organizations. The HR department is playing a very important role in the profit generation for any company. Considering the above facts, the study of HRM is integrated in most of the under graduation and graduation courses on Business. Being the scholars of Business Administration we need to complete a number of courses on HRM of which the course “Fundamentals of HRM” is a necessary part. The report is a requirement for the above course and it is being supervised by our course instructor. 1.1 Origin of the Report This report on “Pran Group” has been prepared as a fulfillment of partial requirement of the course “Human Resource Management (MHR 301)”. The course instructor Rabeya L Yousuf, Department of Business Administration, The University of Asia Pacific (UAP), has instructed us to prepare a report on Human Resource Management. This report has been assigned to submit it on 3rd August, 2006. 1.2 Objective of the Report The primary objective of the report: The primary objective of this report is to analysis the major activities that are performed in an organization. some of the activities that were considered to be studied are:
• Recruitment and selection process • Job analysis • Development function • Compensation • Discipline • Motivation The secondary objective of this report is to • Fulfill
the
requirements
of
our
course
“Human
Resource
Management”. • Gather experience and knowledge of doing a professional report. • To build a relationship with a reputed company. 1.3. Sources of information The information required to prepare our report were collected from many sources. But the primary source from where we collected the major part of the information was the HRD of Pran Group. We visited their office and collected the needed information. We needed the help of some other sources also. Such are: • Company’s brochure • Text books • Class lecture 1.4. Methodology of the Report The methods that we followed to prepare the report are as follows: • We have made a face to face interview with the Human Resource Manager of Pran Group • We Studied Various Human Resource Books. • We discussed with our course instructor while preparing the report.
• We also arranged for group discussion. 1.5. Scope of the report As it is a part of our Human Resource management study, it will be very helpful for us in the future because while preparing this report we visited the head office of a well reputed food company named Pran Group from where we gathered some ideas of crucial factors of Human Resource Department that is – how to prepare and present a HRM report more effectively and efficiently. We have also gathered a little experience of a work place and many more. This will help us in performing better when we will go for our work in work places in the real life situation. 1.6. Limitations of the Report While preparing the report we faced many problems. Some of the factors which limited our report are as follows: • Lack of adequate information • Restriction of using Internet • We have no experience for preparing HRM report though we are in learning position • Unwilling to give company’s sophisticate information • As a student we are facing money problem for collecting information in this report • Work load during the scheduled class time at the university was also a barrier to prepare this report. 2.0 Organization overview Pran Group is largest fruit processing company in Bangladesh. It came to existence in the year 1980. Pran Group is a product based company. The major products of Pran Group are juice, sauce, cola beverages, snacks and dairy products. It maintains a large distribution channel. The products of Pran are found in the remotest corner of Bangladesh.
The corporate office is located in (Property Height, 12, R.K.Mission Road) Dhaka. The factories are situated in many locations but the major two of them are in Rangpur and Narsingdi. The major departments of Pran Group are: Marketing, sales, Administration, Group Accountant, Finance, Export & Import, Distribution, Transportation, R&D, PDL, HRM, Dairy, beverage, T. None of the department are inter related. Pran has Around 9000 card holder employee and around 4000 casual employees working in each factory. The bankers of Pran Group are: • • • •
Prime Bank Ltd.(Motijheel Branch) Bank Asia Ltd.(Tejgaon Branch) HSBC Bank (Sonargaon Road Branch) Standard Bank Ltd.(Topkhana Branch)
A Imam & Associates act as their legal advisors. M.J Abedin & Co (Chartered Accountants) of Sonargaon Road are their auditors. 3. Human resource Department The department that manages the human resource of an organization is said to be human resource department. Drastic changes in technology, growth of organization, rise of trade union, government concern and intervention concerning workers etc. resulted in development of human resource department. HRD today is concerned with much more than simple filing, house keeping and record keeping. Today it would be difficult to imagine any organization achieving and sustaining effectiveness without efficient HRD. The reason behind such fact is that HRD is concerned with building and protecting the most valuable asset of the enterprise: people. Because of the recognition of the crucial importance of people HRD has become a major player in developing a strategic plan. HR manager like any other manager is expected to play crucial role in improving the skills of employees and firms profitability. HRD now viewed as profit center and not simply as cost center. 3.1. Human Resource Department of Pran Group
HRD of Pran group was established from the very beginning of the company came into existence in 1980. HRD of Pran group is situated in 12 R.K. mission Road, Dhaka. Around 60 employees are directly engaged with the activities being perform in the HRD of Pran group. The HRD of Pran group is divided into four wings. The four wings along with their related activities described below: I. Recruitment Department: This department does the recruitment and selection of the new candidates. II. Training and Development Department: It manages and provides all the development functions for the needed employees. III. Personnel Department: All the personal information about each employee is recorded by this department. IV. Quality Management System Department: Job descriptions, Job specification, Promotions, Transfer, ISO and audit are maintained by QMSD. A Chief heads the department. Some other designations of the HRD are senior manager, Manager, Assistant manager and sub assistant manager. 3.1.1. The Structure of Management of HRD Chief
Senior Manager
Manager
Assistant Manager
Sub- Assistant Manager
4.0. The Functions of Human Resource Management • Acquisition: It is here that management ensures that it has the right number and kinds of people, at the right place, at the right times, capable of effectively and efficiently completing the work required. So that the organization can achieve its overall objectives. • Development: Competent employees will not remain competent forever. Upon entering organization some employees require additional training and education, some skills become obsolete overtime, and the organization must ensure that there is an appropriate match of individual’s abilities with organizational needs for the future. • Motivation: High performance depends on both abilities and motivation. Many employees with extraordinary talents do not perform satisfactorily because they will not exert the necessary efforts. Organizations need capable employees who are highly motivated. • Maintenance: The objective of this function is to retain people who are performing at high level. The organization wants competent employees who are committed to the organization and satisfied with their jobs. The Functions of HRD of Pran Group The Human Resource Department Of Pran Group plays a very important role and performs all the related HRM activities in order to uplift the human resource and thus increase the profitability of the food based company. The major activities of the HRD of Pran Group are divided under the four main groups and these are as follows:
HR Components
Acquisition H R Planning Recruitment Selection Employee Socialization
Development Maintenance Safety & Health Employee Relation
External Internal
Employee training Employee Development Career Development
Motivation Job Analysis Performance Appraisal Compensation / Benefits Discipline
4.1. Acquisition 4.1.1 Human Resource Planning: The process by which an organization anticipates future staffing needs, plan programs to ensure that the correct number and type of people are available when and where needed is rightly said to be Human Resource Planning.
HRD people considered to be partners in strategic planning. They provide input as to the HR implications of the business plan. In Pran Group the planning is done by a group of top level HRD employees and is passed through the Chief of the HRD of the company but the top level’s recommendation is also required while passing the plan. The Planning is done at aggregate level as well as individual level. The plans integrate the individual’s and company’s goal. Firstly the information is collected based on technology, competitors, labor market, organization’s plans, current human resource, rates of turnover etc. After the information collection, the demand for the human resource to carry out the organization’s plan in the future is forecasted. Forecasting is done by top-down forecasting method. The top-level management makes the estimation. And then finally, the supply of human resource is forecasted. The plan is then implemented and evaluated by observing whether the plan met the needs or not.
• The managerial succession plan of Pran Group: The HRD of Pran Groups also maintains the Managerial Succession Plan. The MSP is also planned by the top management and passed by the chief. The MSP serves the company’s purpose by positioning the right person in the vacant managerial position immediately. It also helps the HRD to provide the right persons with the right development programs. The HRD also helps to develop the Career Planning of the employees to build their satisfying career.
4.1.2 Recruiting: Recruiting is the process by which organizations locate and attract individuals to fill job vacancies. Pran Group makes recruitment for the vacant position or for any new positions created in any department of the organization. In the first step of the recruiting process the HRD goes through the Job description and job specification of the vacant job or performs Job Analysis for the new job. Secondly, Pran group invites the interested applicants through advertisement in newspapers, job site and internal advertisement. CV boxes are also set up in each factory. Campus recruitment is done for technical based employees.
4.1.3 Selection: The selection of the applicants for the lower- mid and mid level positions goes through three steps: I. Written test II. IQ test( interview) iii. Simple medical test The written and the IQ test are done to check the skills, knowledge and ability to work. The medical test is done mainly through blood test in order to avoid contaminated diseases. For the upper-mid and top-level positions, testing is done orally. Recently, Pran Group while selecting the Manager of Marketing Department, the HRD asked the applicants about how much would the company benefit if it agrees to sponsors the drinks of cricket World Cup 2007? The applicants that fit the job most accurately are finally selected. As the positions go upwards the recruitment externally decreases. Very few toplevel employees are selected through external sources. Pran Group also maintains Performance Appraisal of the employees. It helps them while promoting and transfer of the employees. But while transferring or promoting employees the HRD observes whether the achievements of an employee match with the Job Description. Different factors are evaluated differently for different jobs. • Experience counts the most for the top-level and mid level employees of any department. • Sales representatives and Marketing Representative must be a good communicator, smart and bear a good outlook appearance Qualification is also very important but experience is not a major factor for such jobs.
• Technical jobs require good knowledge about the technology, rich skills and also the level of qualifications. Experience comes the next but outlook and smartness are the least important factors.
4.1.4 Socialization: The process of helping new employees adapts to their new organizations and work responsibilities. Socialization programs are designed to assist employees to fully understand to assist employees to fully understand what working is about in the organization and to get them to become fully productive as soon as possible. The employees have to understand and accept the behaviors that the organization views as desirable, and that when exhibited, will result in employee attaining their goals. Pran group provides Induction Program to the new employees. This program is held for two days. The Induction Program makes the new employees familiar with the rules and regulations of the company. 4.2. Development In order to increase the productivity of the employees, The HRD arranges for development function. Development function consists of Training and development. •
Training: Present oriented training focusing on teaching employees skills required for performing their current jobs.
•
Development: Future oriented training focusing on the personal growth of employees. It teaches skills needed for future promotions and jobs.
The HRD of Pran Group arranges for a number of Training and Development Programs. These are provided to the employees according to their needs. The training is mostly on the job training.
New employees are provided with basic orientation course training. The program is held after every three months. The program helps the new employees adapt to their new organization and work responsibilities. The BOC training focuses on making these new employees productive as soon as possible. Technology based jobs are provided with frequent trainings. The HRD of Pran Group provides Development Program mostly to the employees likely to be promoted to the mid-level or top-level management or to be transferred to the branches situated in other countries. To acquire some useful skills the employees are also sending abroad to attend important seminars. But driving of vehicle, outlooks, level of English are some of the factors that arse considered while sending an employee to abroad for training or development program purposes. Malaysia, India, Thailand etc are some of the frequently visited countries by the employees of Pran Group for training or development purposes. HRD of Pran Group also arranges for various useful seminars within the organization. The lower level employees are also trained. Lower level employees of Sales and Marketing are trained on communication tools. Production workers and even the security guards are also trained. The employees are tested based on the training or development provided to them. The employees failing in the test are punished. Such for example, Employees failing in the test regarding BOC are prevented from incrimination and their jobs are not confirmed. The CEO of the company must approve any new Training or development program before it is implemented.
4.3. Motivation The employees must be continuously motivated to keep their good works ticking on. The employees not putting up good works must also needed to be motivated to bring him on the track of productivity. An organization can
motivate an employee by defining his need and trying to fulfill it. Money, Position, status, Power etc are some of the motivational vehicles. Some of the tools used by the HRD of Pran Group in order to motivate its employees are as follows:
4.3.1 Compensation System: The money, goods, services that the employer provides to the employee constitutes the employer’s compensation system. Employees exchange work for rewards. Probably the most important reward and certainly the most obvious is money. Employee work for money. Employees can also be motivated through benefits and rewards. Benefits are provided to all the permanent employees in Pran Group. But benefits provided to the lower employee are less compared to the top or mid level management. Some of the benefits that Pran group Provides are: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Sick Leave Paid Vacation Medical Leave Compensate the employees for the loss caused due to mismanagement. 5. Health Securities for the permanent employees as well as non-exempted employees during the working time. The well performers in Pran Group are rewarded either with the following or the combination 1. 2. 3. 4.
Promotions A lump sum amount for reaching a target Commissions Crest for various annual awards for employees including the award for the oldest Employees. 5. Training 6. Incrimination 7. Festival Bonus etc.
4.3.2 Performance Evaluation: It is very necessary for an organization to evaluate the performance of the employees before rewarding or punishing them. The HRD of Pran Group maintains performance appraisal (PA) and performance feedback(PF) to assess the employee’s contribution to the organization during specified period of time . The PA &PF are maintained formally by the HRD. PA & PF is very important for the Sales and Marketing department’s employees. Employees with good performances are rewarded while the employees not meeting the goal are punished. The reward might be the bonus, promotion or holiday package. But for the bad performers there might be a warning in the first case and if the poor performance continued then it might lead to termination. • Discipline: Discipline is the management action taken to enforce organizational standards. The employees are informed about the discipline being followed within the organization in their Inductive Program. The consequences of disobeying these rules are also narrated in this program. Some of the discipline that are followed within the organization are as follows: • The employees excluding the top-management dress themselves in a particular colored and designed dress provided by the organization. The employees wear Blue color shirt and black color trousers. • The employees must always carry their punching card. In case an employee forgets to bring his/her card or for get to punch the card then he must inform his/her superior within the next twenty four hours. • Smoking within the premises is completely prohibited. • Employees are instructed to avoid taking any intoxicated elements while duty hours.
Employee charged of violating the disciplines is handled strictly. The faulty employee is given a oral warning and a written warning for the next violation. For any further violation the employee is separated from the job until the investigation. And finally if he still carries on then the employee is terminated. The punishment is given by a group of body consisting of the chief and senior manager of HRD and the superior of the violator or by the superior in normal cases.
THE FLOW CHART OF PUNISHMENT
Oral Warning
Written Warning
Separation
Termination
The Flow Chart is not necessarily followed in may cases
4.4 Maintenance 4.4.1 Safety and Health: Pran groups claims that they are highly concerned about the heath of their employees at work. They also maintain a healthy work environment. The HRD of pran group has formulated and implemented the following tools to safe guard their employees: • Smoking is prohibited in the work place • A number of large windows are constructed to provide fresher • Arrangement for pure water for drinking purpose is maintained • Any workers will be compensated if he/she is physically harmed while working. • The HRD pays a high attention to workers’ complaints about the work environment.
4.4.2 Labor & Management Relation: The relation between the labor and management is a very important factor that influences the smooth running of the organization. The labor and management relation in Pran Group is pleasing. Therefore the HRD of Pran needs not to have many worries about their relation. The labor of pran has no trade union except that labor in Narsingdi’s plant. The labor of Pran in Narsingdi maintain a union namely AMCL. They are not very problematic. They have only one demand to be fulfilled i.e. while selection for the employees in Narsingdi plant the organization must select 50% of the employees from their local area.
5.0. Findings
While we were learning about the HRD of Pran group we discovered the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.
•
5.1. Strength
The rules and regulation of the company is
strictly followed.
•
SOP (Special Official Procedure) is established in every wings of every departments.. It provides responsibilities to all the employees individually.
•
Performance Appraisal, Job descriptions, Job Specifications etc are maintained accurately.
5.2. Weakness •
Demands of the employees based on compensation are not met.
•
Equity Theory is not met in some of the cases.
•
The methods for training and development are not of modern days.
•
Turnover rate is not very low.
•
Tracks and records of the human resource are maintained with the help of computer but some part of recording is also done manually.
6.0.Recommendation
The recommendations have been made in the light of the finding of the study. To improve the pattern of Human resource department of Pran Group the organizational should do the followings: The organizations should take more sophisticated way for establishing & implementing The Human Resource Planning & administration. The authority of the organizations should provide appropriate moral training satisfied salary to the employees to decrease their resign. The company authority should create a systematic way to deal with employee’s objection. The organizations should try to free from bias which may increase intelligence of personnel in the organization. Computer based soft ware can be introduced to track, record & Conduct the total Human resource of the company. The training session can be provided with Adequate & Proper facilities to increase the productivity. Environmental influences should be considered.
7.0.Conclution
Foods are directly related in human life and therefore its manufactures have immense social responsibility of providing safe and unadulterated products. Pran is the largest fruit processing company in Bangladesh. But the food based companies are facing strong competition and the consumers are becoming more health conscious. Therefore, to survive in such environment Pran need to fulfill its customers demand efficiently. And to do so, the company needs to i mprove their Human Resources Department so that it can nourish and develop the human resource effectively .
Appendix
1. When & How was the Company Established? 2. Is your company product based or service based? 3. How many employees you have? 4. When was your Human Resource Department established? Is it from
the beginning?
5. What are the major functions of your HRD? (Acquisition, Development, Motivation, Maintenance) 6. Why HRD necessary for your organization? 7. Who performs HR activities? (Line Manager/ Operation Manager) 8. Which type of labor market do your organization consider for recruitment &selection? 9. What is the procedure of Recruiting personnel? 10. Do you make any advertisement for the recruitment process? 11. What are the important factors that you consider while selecting an employee? ( Experience, skills, education e.t.c) 12. How do you asses the Demand, Supply of your Human resource?
13. Who prepared the HR Plans, and who are involved in these plans? (Individually, Group, Others) 14. Do you apply mental ability test and personality test for the managerial job selection? 15. How do you evaluate managerial job after selection process? 16. How do you conduct Job analysis? 17. How many types of employees are engaged in your organization? 18. Are the employee provided with training and development 19. What are the elements that are considered within development function? 20. Are the lower level employees trained? 21. What are the ways of training and development? 22. How the successful employees rewarded? 23. How an employee is compensated? 24. Are the employees punished? If yes what type of punishment? 25. What does your organization do for the laid-off people? 26. Do your organization have any assessment centre? If yes what are the characteristics of the assessment centre? 27. What type of discipline your organization follow and why? 28. Who takes disciplinary action in your organization? 29. Do you have any guidelines for disciplinary action? 30.What’s about retrenchment Procedure?
31. Have you any future plan? What is it? 32. Is there any weak point of your HRM Planning? 33. Which is the strong side of your HRM Planning? Why? 34. HRM planning at a glance including the questions…………… 35. How Effective the HRM Department is? Do you think the HRM Planning of Your Company is standard? If Yes, Explain Briefly ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………................................................... Any further recommendation ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………....................................................…………………………….
Glossary Assessment Center
:
A
facility
where
performance
simulation
tests
are
administrated. They are made up of a series of exercises & are used for selection, development & performance appraisal. Discipline
:
A condition in organization where employees
conduct
themselves in accordance with the organization rules & regulation. Employee Relation
:
Functions Activities is HRM
concerned with effective
communications among organizational members. Employee Planning
:
Process of Determining an organizations Human Resources needs.
Job Analysis
:
Provides information about the jobs currently being done & the knowledge, skills, & abilities that individuals needs need to perform job adequately.
Job Description
:
A written statement of what the job holder does, how it is done & why it is doen.
Maintenance
:
Activities in HRM concerned with maintaining employees commitment & loyalty to the organization.
Orientation
:
The activities involved in introducing new employees to the organization & their work units.
Recruitment Training & Development :
:
The process of discovering potential job candidates. Activities in HRM concerned with assisting employees to develop up-to-date skills, knowledge.
Bibliography
Texts: Human Resource Management (7th Edition) Devid A. Decenzo & Stephen P. Robbins Personal/Human Resource Management (3rd Edition) David A. Decenzo & Stephen P. Robbins Dessler.g (1978) Personnel Management.
Website: www.google.com Others: Brochure of Pran Group