Human Resource working process and Structure of Robi Axiata

Human Resource working process and Structure of Robi Axiata

The world is becoming closer day by day with the power of technology, internet and telecommunication. The strength of telecommunication industry has removed this distance from each other all over the world. Bangladesh is also blessed by this potency and Robi Axiata Limited is one of the major telecommunication organizations facilitating the consent. Robi is a joint venture company between Axiata Group berhad of Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc. of Japan. Robi draws from the international expertise of Axiata and NTT DoCoMo Inc. Services support 2G and 3.5G voice, CAMEL Phase II & III and 3.5G Data/GPRS/EDGE service with high speed internet connectivity. Its GSM service is based on a robust network architecture and cutting edge technology. The company has the widest International Roaming coverage in Bangladesh connecting 600 operators across more than 200 countries. Robi‟s customer centric solution includes value added services (VAS), quality customer care, digital network security and flexible tariffs. Robi is the third largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh with more than 20 million subscribers as of August 2012. It is the first operator in the country to introduce GPRS. Robi uses GSM 900/1800 MHz standard and operates on allocated 12.8 MHz frequency spectrum. “Robi‟ means Sun in Bengali.

History

Robi is the most dynamic and rapidly growing telecommunications operator in Bangladesh. It is a joint venture company between Axiata Group berhad of Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc. of Japan. It commenced operation in 1997 as Telekom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) with the brand name „Aktel‟. In 2010 the company was rebranded to „Robi‟ and the company changed its name to Robi Axiata Limited.

The company has the widest International Roaming coverage in Bangladesh connecting 600 operators across more than 200 countries. Robi‟s customer centric solution includes value added services (VAS), quality customer care, digital network security and flexible tariffs.

As a customer-focused information communications company, Robi believes in providing superior service that leads to good business and good development in the society. They believe that quality is continuous and never ending journey. Hence, every step Robi takes is continuously upgraded and expands their network for better and more efficient services to subscribers.

Robi is a truly people-oriented brand in Bangladesh. They stand as the people’s champion and are there for the people of Bangladesh, where they want and how they want. With local tradition at its core, Robi marches ahead with innovation and creativity.

As a subsidiary of Axiata berthed Malaysia , Robi draws on leading edge technology to provide its service in Bangladesh, covering almost 100% of the population, Robi is committed to provide best data and voice quality and will continue to ensure that its customers are able to enjoy the best experience through leading edge technology and innovative products and services.

Human Resource Department Working Process Structure

Summary

My main project for my internship topic is Human Resource department‟s working process, Structure and Financial ratio Analysis of Robi Axiata. In whole report my main focus was on the HR activities of Robi Axiata. The entire report has developed on the basis of different level of activities of HR and different aspects of my internship also. The report mainly explains about the HR activities, along with how it is done and how the processes are preceding step by step.

There are different levels of activities; some of them are recruitment, selection, arranging events, etc. The entire report has been explained about these activities, such as, how recruitment, selections, recruitments are done etc. On the basis of the explanation of the activities analysis has been done and some I have recommended my view at the end of the report.

Description of the project

The report is prepared as a requirement of the internship of BBA program of the BRAC University. The internship program has given me enormous opportunity to minimize the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge. My practical experience through performing different activities of HR including other process it enhanced my view, mission and acceptability as well as has increased my overall experience about to deal in real world phenomenon.

As per requirement, I have chosen the topic of “HR Working Process, Structure and financial ratio analysis” with the help of my three month working experience in Robi Axiata, I have tried my best to make this report effective and realistic and my endeavor will be fruitful if anybody is benefited from this one.

Objective of the report:

Introduction The objective of the report covers both general and specific objectives. These two types of objectives are discussed below

General Objective:

Having a glance on overall of the company of Robi Axiata Limited and also know each and every parts of the Human Resource department of that company.

Specific Objective:

To focus on major elements of HR Department.
To focus on the working process of Human Resource department.
To focus on the basic information of the organization.
To conduct some financial ratio analysis from the data.

Methodology:

For collecting the necessary information for the report, I had to rely on some primary and secondary data collection methods.

Primary data:

The primary information is collected through face to face interview who were involved in such activities, observation and by participation in the employer branding activities and process.

Secondary data:

The secondary information collected from official website of Robi.

Human Resource working process and Structure of Robi Axiata

Structure

Basically the entire HR division of Robi is called People and Corporate, since recently two divisions has merged together. I will discuss here about the resourcing department only and will try to give a short brief on it. I will discuss here about the HR Division only not the corporate one. The HR Structure is;

I was the part of Resourcing team, but I have worked other departments too. Each of the departments seat in a single room there is individual cabin for anyone, even the Vice presidents also sit together in the same room. It represents the unity of Robi. The other departments excluding the resourcing one short brief has been provided on the following.

Talent and Training Development

They work hard to train the employees and they also provide different training such as ethical issues in the corporate level, etc. they try to keep upgrade the employees. These are the main focus of the department.

Salary and Compensation

This department work hard to provide the employees on time salary and other benefits on need of situation. They work hard heart and soul to be available themselves for all the time to the employees.

Cultural Engagement

Employees have cultural environment and their other cultural activities are maintained properly is the main aim of the department.

Business Partner

Their main activities keep relate the employees to the corporate world and each of the employee has business partners where they help each other in job.

Resourcing Department

These people work hard and very carefully to recruit the suitable person for the suitable position. Their job is the most hard and important for the organization, since wrong recruitment may negatively affect the working environment and also the image of the organization.

Activities of HR

Recruitment involves locating individuals, with appropriate qualifications and in sufficient numbers and encouraging them to apply for jobs with a particular organization. The basic purpose of recruiting is to ensure a sufficient pool of applicants from which the most qualified individuals may be selected. On the other hand, selection process begins where recruitment ends with the applicant pool. Selecting is actually the process of choosing from a group of applicants that individual deemed to be best qualified for particular job opening. Recruiting and selecting candidates is very important for any organization as qualified employees can lead an organization to its success.

Robi Axiata Ltd. uses job band to gain certain advantages. They are:

Ranked and defined jobs
Effective salary administration
Effective use of reward investment

Different designation requires different level of skills. For example: the job functions of Vice president in HR operations are different from the job functions of Vice President in HR Admin. Robi Axiata Ltd. Is still developing their resourcing policy. So job specification for different designation is not defined yet.

Based on the responsibilities of the designation, they develop the job specification that is needed to perform the job successfully.

Internal Recruitment:

Robi Axiata Ltd. usually does not follow any internal recruitment process. They believe in equal opportunity for all. However the company does inform the employees about any vacant position through e-mail. But interested employees have to go through all the steps which are followed in external recruitment process.

External Recruitment:

Robi Axiata Ltd. always does in-house recruitment. That means the company does not outsource the recruitment and selection process to any other agencies. The Human Resource Operations department of Robi Axiata Ltd. controls the process very efficiently. The whole process is centralized.

Preliminary Steps for Recruitment:

There are some issues which are controlled by the administration of the company during the recruitment process. These are given below:

Requisition: Whenever recruitment is needed the respective department informs the HR Operations about their vacancy position and thus the HR starts their activities.

Timing: The HR Operations department usually gets 60 days to recruit and select a candidate. This time is not specified by the respective department in which a vacancy has been opened. Time period is totally controlled by the HR Operations. They claim that they never exceeds 60 days deadline. All the recruitments are done within 60 days.

Types of Contact:

Qualification needed to perform the job is provided to the HR operation by the respective department to make the recruitment process more efficient.

Recruitment budget:

Robi Axiata Ltd. allocates a fixed amount of recruitment budget every year. Division wise this budget is allocated.

Sources of candidates:

Robi Axiata Ltd. always prefers recruiting online. They have their own website where applicants send their CV‟s. Apart from this; the applicants can apply in “www.prothom-alojobs.com” and “www.bdjobs.com”. They take part in job fairs and also use Word of Mouth to attract competent candidates. Occasionally they take help from employment agencies. These agencies only provide CVs of competent candidates.

Recruitment Strategy:

Robi Axiata Ltd. prefers targeted recruitment. If any post becomes vacant or any new position is created then the company just advertises for that particular position with the specific requirements needed to apply.

Communication Methods and Medium:

Robi Axiata Ltd. uses targeted message for recruitment. They point out how the job matches the need of the applicant. They use advertisement as their medium. They give advertisement in their Robi portal as well as in “www.prothom-alojobs.com” and “www.bdjobs.com”. Robi Axiata Ltd. gives advertisement in “www.prothom-alojobs.com” and “www.bdjobs.com”. With Prothom Alo, they have one year agreement. The organization can post unlimited job advertisement within this one year. The organization also has their banner on the website. This also helps in terms of publicity. On the other hand, with BD Jobs, they do not have any contract based on time limit. Here, the organization post advertisement in bdjobs‟ website and for each job advertisement they charge a certain amount of money. After the job advertisement is post, they send the bill to the organization. Robi does not give advertisement in newspaper because they want to attract those people who are smart enough to use internet. Besides, taking soft copy make it easier to sort CVs. This saves valuable time. Moreover, they believe, giving advertisement in newspaper for only a few vacant positions does not add value to their organization. May be in future they will use newspaper as their medium of advertisement but currently they are reluctant to do so.

Recruitment and Selection Process

There are six steps in the recruitment and selection process of Robi Axiata Ltd, which are discussed in detail:

Requisition of employee recruitment:

The recruitment process of Robi Axiata Ltd. starts with a manpower requisition form. A manpower requisition form is a formal document that authorizes the filling of a job opening indicated by the organization by the signatures of top management. Whenever any department is in a need of employee, they send the manpower requisition form to HR operation to start the recruitment process. They pass different criterion, such as, type of employee they need, for which position they want to recruit etc. Then they verify the requisition form. For new position they basically verify whether their headcount figure supports it or not. Conversely for replacement, they verify whether they there is an actual need for replacement or not. If all goes well, then the manpower requisition form is signed by the HR head and divisional head.

Advertise about vacant position:

Once the manpower requisition form is signed, they give add on their Robi Career Site. They also advertise job vacancy on “www.prothom-alojobs.com” and “www.bdjobs.com”. In their job add they include title of the position, number of vacancy opened, their requirements, what kind of educational qualification in needed, how many years of experience is needed etc. Usually the deadline for job advertisement is seven to eight days. Interested candidates have to fill up a form and apply online for a vacancy. Robi Axiata Ltd. does not take any hard copy of CV. Because it makes the CV sorting time consuming.

Scanning of CV’s:

After getting CV‟s from the applicants the company then short list the CV‟s by analyzing them. They short list those candidates whose qualifications match the criteria of a vacancy.

Written Test:

For entry level position, short listed candidates have to sit for a written exam. Here the candidates are asked questions on general knowledge, work related questions etc. The questionnaire is usually designed by HR personnel in HR operations. However, sometimes the questionnaire can be designed by the personnel of the respected department where there is an opening of a vacancy. For upper level position, written test is not mandatory.

Oral Interview:

For entry level position, those who qualify the written exam are then called for interview. If they have many qualified candidates, they conduct two interviews

First interview
Second interview

The interview is taken by the divisional representative and HR representative. After the first round interview, they eliminate some candidates who are unable to perform up to the mark. The remaining candidates then faces second round interview. After the second round interview they select the best candidate who is suitable for a vacancy. On the other hand, if they have only a few qualified candidates, they go for only one interview. After the interview, they select the best candidate for a vacancy. For upper level position, candidates have to face interview. Selection of upper level employees is critical compare to entry level candidates. Sometimes candidates are evaluated by a competency evaluation. Robi evaluates seven competencies. Since these seven competencies are confidential, so I was unable to collect any data regarding it. In competency evaluation if they are evaluating a candidate‟s teamwork capability then usually they ask questions like, “Give us an example of teamwork where you have successfully succeeded, give us an example of teamwork where you have failed, why and what you have learned from it?”

Sometimes Robi evaluates candidates 31 by asking them to solve a case study. Occasionally candidates have to do a presentation on it. For example, for “Manager, Pricing” position, Robi asked the candidates to solve a case study and show it in a Microsoft Excel. Therefore based on the performance level, they select the best candidate for a vacant position.

Final Selection:

Robi Axiata Ltd. always selects those whom they think are most preferable. Once they have selected a candidate, they carry out reference check and background investigation. If everything is ok then they start salary negotiation. For entry level position, they offer the standard salary according to their company policy. And for upper level position, they ask the selected candidate to e-mail them his pay slip of his present organization in which he is working. They analyze the pay slip and send him an offer letter via e-mail. If the selected candidate agrees with the offer letter then he let the HR operations department know that he has accepted the offer letter. This process also occurs via e-mail. Once the salary negotiation is done, the HR department then closes the position. After that they prepare an approval note. This approval note is signed by the Chief Human Resource Officer and the Divisional Head.

Next, they send the candidate for medical test in their prescribed medical center which is Medinova Medical services Ltd. They do this to ensure that the selected candidate is physically capable of performing the work. The medical test reports are directly sent to the HR operation department. If the selected candidate passes the medical examination then he is provided with a joining letter. However, it is mandatory to pass the physical examination. If the selected candidate fails to meet the physical requirements, a new candidate from the panel is selected.

Appraisal and Probation Period:

In Robi Axiata Ltd, six months are counted as probation period. In these six months, they do performance appraisal two times –

Mid appraisal
Final appraisal

Mid appraisal is done after 3 months and all the documents are kept to the supervisor in the department in which the employee is working. Final appraisal is done after six months and all the documents are sent to the HR operation department. A PMS (Performance Management System) form is used to evaluate employee‟s performance. If an employee performs well and his supervisor is satisfied with his performance then they provide the employee a confirmation letter.

If the employee fails to perform well then he is terminated. However, Robi believes that most of the time almost 90% employees can perform up to the mark. This appraisal is done based on supervisor‟s perspective. During the probation period, an employee is entitling to only three benefits which are:

Provident Fund
Gratuity
Wedding Loan

After getting the confirmation letter, an employee is entitling to all the benefits which are:

Wedding Loan
Children Education
Handset
Hospitalization
Furnishing Alliance
Transport Car Allowance (Only for GM and above positions)
Gratuity
Provident Fund

Factors Affecting Selection Process:

There are some common factors that have affect on every organization‟s selection process. These factors are:

Organizational Hierarchy:

This has an obvious affect on selection process. At first the selection process for entry level employees and for upper level employees are not the same. The higher the job post is the more critical the selection process. For example; in Robi Axiata Ltd. the entry level selection process is quiet easy comparing to those of upper level.

Speed of Decision Making:

Making a correct decision in a very short time is very difficult. To avoid this difficulty Robi Axiata Ltd. has a policy that if any employee wants to leave the organization, they can leave but they have to inform the HR Operation before 30 days. So that the organization needs not to face any sudden vacancy and can select the employee through a proper selection process.

Employee Pool:

The greater the number of employee for the selection, the number of choices organization gets to select the right person for a vacant position is better. To facilitate the selection process, the Robi Axiata Ltd. stores many CV in their CV bank. Suppose a candidate may not be suitable for a specific job but he may have the potential to succeed in other position. So they store these CVs for three months. As a result, in case of need they can select their required person.

Steps Taken to Reduce Inefficiency in the Process:

To avoid loopholes in their recruitment and selection process and find the best job-person match, Robi makes sure that each step of recruitment and selection must be verified by a third person. When the CV sorting is that the list of shortlisted candidates are checked by the Vice President of HR Operation. If the Vice President feels that one or more candidates are not suitable then he can eliminate them from the list. The initial interview and final interview is another check point.

Here unqualified candidates are rejected. Only those candidates who have the caliber are selected. Finally, the Chief Human Resource Officer checks the final candidate‟s quality before signing the approval note. If he feels that the candidate is perfect for the job then he signs the approval note or if he feels that the candidate is not suitable for a vacant position then he can also reject the candidate.

Monthly Recruitment and Employee Turnover:

Robi Axiata Ltd. employs around five persons in a month. They said that about 90% of these employees stay in the organization. The rest 10% does not leave the organization right away. They leave after one to two years. The reasons behind this turnover are:

Migration
Educational Purpose
Better Career
Personal Reasons

They do not believe that there is any error in their recruitment and selection process. They are satisfied with the process they are using currently. In the last year (2010), 35 Robi‟s attrition rate was 7.21%. They employed 153 employees and 131 employees leaved the organization. After observing and collecting data regarding the selection and recruitment process of Robi, I found certain positive and negative aspects which are written in the next chapter of my report.

Analysis

Robi selects candidates from a pull of application so that they can choose most suitable candidates.
Robi Axiata Ltd. mainly gives importance to those candidates who have previous work experience.
Internally the organization discloses the positions of the job and announces it to all current employees. Nature of the position and the qualification needs for the job is described in the announcement so that the interested candidates can apply.
For external sources the organization gives advertisement in their portal as well as in bdjobs.com and prothom-alojobs.com.
Robi sometimes take help from employment agencies to recruit employees.
Robi take part in various job fairs to attract pool of candidates.
Interns are recruited based on their performance.
Robi Axiata ltd. has CV bank. Here they store CVs for three months.
In the time of calling the candidates for interview or written exam, if they cannot reach the candidates then they try hard to inform them.
No one who is below 18 years of age is hired as an employee for ROBI on regular, contract or temporary status.
Recruitment does not allow any favor or preferential treatment to anyone.
Once an employee is recruited, he/she is given a user id, e-mail address and id card. The employee‟s name is updated in SAP System (for payroll purpose) and in HRIS System.
Inter-departmental relation is very smooth, well defined & well structured.
Sometimes the divisional representative who is supposed to be there in the interview board cannot give the time. So this delays the selection process.
Often the selected candidate delays the joining because he/she has to collect the release
der from the organization in which he/she is working at present. Often this takes one to two months. So this also delays the selection process
Robi uses PMS form in employee appraisal.

After observing and collecting data regarding the selection and recruitment process of Robi, I found certain positive and negative aspects which are written in the next chapter of my report.

Recommendations

Though Axiata Group berhad and NTT DOCOMO (Robi) is a well-established company in Bangladesh and running successfully in the domestic market, it has a handful of internal weaknesses which are written below:

Currently the HRIS that Robi is using cannot provide much useful information. However, Robi is still updating their HRIS so that it can be useful in many purposes. They should do it as soon as possible to save valuable time and to become more competitive in the market.
At present Robi does not have any exact resourcing policy, they are still developing it. The resourcing policy must be developed as quickly as possible so that the employees who are in charge of recruitment can have a proper guide to follow.
Robi should sometimes go for open recruitment, because in targeted recruitment process sometimes for a less number, a good and efficient applicant failed to apply.

Conclusion

Comparing practical knowledge with theoretical involves identification of weakness in the branch activities and making recommendations for solving the weakness identified. Through all departments and sections are tried to cover in which I got the chance to gather practical experience for the internship program; it is not possible to go to the depth of each activities of branch because of time limitation. However, highest effort has been given to achieve the objectives the internship program. Robi Axiata Ltd. is one of the top mobile companies in Bangladesh. It covers the whole Bangladesh by its network. There are many product and services of ROBI that is available in market. At this moment the company is in growing position. Robi‟s decisions are based on facts from market research and coverage survey. The company also monitors it’s competitor’s activities and is proactive in marketing decisions. For any company, whether it is small or big like Robi, Human Resource Management is one of the major tasks to do, because without the proper support from the employees, the organization may find it difficult to achieve its goal. So recruitment and selection is very important for any organization.

Recruitment and selection allows an organization to assess the vacancy and choose the best personnel who will lead the organization in future. Robi‟s recruitment and selection process is a very developed and effective one. Robi is determined to achieve its goal and target and be e established in the market with the support of its each and every employee. However, they have some major changes to do in terms of resourcing policy and HRIS. If they can do so as they have planned, then Robi’s Human Resource Division will be more effective and efficient.