Recruitment Process of Employees on Pran RFL Group

Human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals. Recruitment and selection is an important part of the human resource management. Pran-RFL group of companies is one of the leading business institutes in Bangladesh. PranRFL group provides with good quality products conforming to local tastes, health and hygienic standards which are of affordable price and within the reach of target consumers. Its strategic strengths include strong recognition of brands, highly skilled work force and diversified business mix.

Objectives of the Report
Broad Objective:

Broad objective of the report is to apply my learning in the area of Human Resources so that I gain significant practical and understand the nature and importance of recruitment and selection process and identify the various strategy which they are use for their employees while recruiting and selecting them.Specific Objectives:

• To study the recruitment process and methods used in PRAN- RFL Group.
• To coordinate the theories of recruitment and selection process in a real life Situation.
• Delineate the different stages in a recruitment process and describe each step.
• To assess and evaluate the existing recruitment and selection strategies.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses of existing recruitment process  and selection strategies of PRAN- RFL Group.
• To perform in line with organizational needs & goals.
• To assist in achieving staff‘s personal & professional objective.

Research methodlogy

The study is mainly an exploratory one and survey method used to collect information from primary sources. I have used random sampling method to collect data. Total population size is 40,000 employees and I made a sample survey on 21 employees. In addition, related secondary information collected for research purpose. The primary data has been collected from face to face interview, and the secondary data has been collected from their annual reports and from web sites.

Primary Sources:

• Personal observation of the process.
• Informal interview with the employee

Secondary data are collected from Internet, different published articles, books, prospectus, journals, other publications and written information provided by the company. For collecting data from secondary sources, go through various web sites.

About Company

Pran-RFL is the pioneer in Bangladesh to be involved in contract farming and procures raw material directly from the farmers and processes through state of the art machinery at their several factories into hygienically packed food and drinks products. The brand PRAN has established itself in every category of food and beverage industry and can boost a product range from Juices, Carbonated Drinks, Confectionery, Snacks, and Spices to even Dairy products.

Now, Pran-RFL consumers not only value PRAN for its authentic refreshing juice drinks products , but also for its mouth watering quality confectionery products with high visual appeal and exciting texture. PRAN intend to expand their presence to every corner of the world and strive to make Pran-RFL a truly international brand to be recognized globally. Pran-RFL started its operation as a processors fruit and vegetable in Bangladesh. Over the years, the company has not only grown in stature but also contributed significantly to the overall socioeconomic development of the country. Pran-RFL is currently one of the most admired food & beverages brand among the millions of people of Bangladesh and other 94 countries of the world where Pran-RFL products are regularly being exported. All the Pran-RFL products are produced as per international standards maintaining highest level of quality at every stages of its production process.

Products of PRAN
Pran’s products can be categorized under a few categories, such as, Juice, Drinks, Snacks, Confectionary, Dairy, Beverages and winery products. Their juices come in a great variety of quality packing in eight different flavors; orange, mango, lemon, litchi, pineapple, mango-pine, guava and fruit cocktail, offers collection of refreshing choices.
From purified natural drink to processed fruit drink, Pran-RFL provides a wide range to many alternatives for quenching the thirst. In their winery section, they offer a wide range of products from tea, spices, pickles, chutney, sauce and ketchup, rice products, mustard oil, semai and molasses, etc. Pran snacks products are variously flavored consisting of biscuits, potato crackers and mini snacks.

Export History
Pran-RFL, the largest exporter of processed food from Bangladesh, had a vision of creating a huge demand globally of those agro based products produced by native farmers. The key was to process the agro products and increase shelf-life thereby. Starting successful journey to export market in 1996, PRAN currently exports to over 94 countries.
As Pran-RFL Group exports its products to foreign countries; the importance of the international forces really matters here. It has to monitor the consumer’s preference, price, promotional strategies, government policies etc. for an international market. It has to face the hard competition of the international market.

Subsidiary Enterprises

Pran-Rfl Group is one of the fastest growing corporate houses in the country. It has got quit good number of subsidiary enterprises, which includes:

• Rangpur Foundry Ltd. (RFL): This is an established engineering enterprise, which focuses to meet the demand of rural community of Bangladesh. A tube well made by RFL is most prominent in the country. Today the company has its wide range of products & has achieved the prestige as the largest cost iron foundry & light engineering workshop
in Bangladesh. RFL has introduced international standard Plastic & PVC products to the Bangladesh market which have already been cordially accepted by the mass.

• Introduction of RFL Plastics Ltd: In order to manufacture plastic furniture & allied products, RFL plastics started business in 2000. Currently RFL Plastics is dealing with different types of plastic products in different categories such as house ware, plastic furniture, industrial ware & garments accessories. The Company has been expanding its
product lines day-by-day & achieving diversified product range in the plastic sector.

• Property Development Ltd. (PDL): This is the oldest enterprise of PRAN Group. The Group was established on the profit made by PDL. This enterprise is one of the pioneers in apartment business in Dhaka.

• Property Lifts: It is a new enterprise of PRAN Group. It imports elevators and other accessories to meet the growing demand of modern lifts and escalators.

• Agricultural Marketing Co Ltd. (AMCL): AMCL was started as a fruit processing enterprise. Gradually, other sectors of food industry (e.g. Chips, mineral water, Tomato Ketchup etc.) were also incorporated in the manifold of AMCL. At present, AMCL has become the flagship enterprise of PRAN Group. Most of the resources of PRAN Group are now devoted for the growth and operation of AMCL. In the long run, the group intends to become a global leader in the field of agricultural industry.

Human Resource Department In PRAN- RFL Group

The Human Resource department

An organization success depends on its human resources. No matter how much an organization invests on other assets, if its human resource does not have the competence then the organization will be unsuccessful. Even when deciding on which fixed assets to invest, any organization goes through many industries. Therefore, when it comes to human resource it has to be even more careful. Pran- RFL group also consider their employees as their best asset. They have their own human resource department with a strong management system. They give values to their
employees’ creativity and innovation to get best output in return.

Objective:
The objectives of Human Resource Department are-

• Recruitment process policy and procedure
• Conformation policy and procedure
• Placement of employees
• Human Resource Development
• Organizational structure review and modification
• Career planning
• Hiring and firing
• Job description preparation
• Conducting appraisal at the end of each year
• Induction, Attendance and leave
• Maintaining and developing employees personal files
• General services
• Safety-security
• Welfare activities for employees 4.2 HRM Department in PRAN-RFL Group

In order to make HRM become more strategic in PRAN-RFL Group, management has reduced most of the administrative and paperwork from HRM that might holds HRM back. PRAN-RFL has organized HRM function as follows:-

Recruitment and Selection Process in PRAN-RFL:

PRAN-RFL is looking for top-caliber people who want the flexibility and resources to grow in their career. If someone is that kind of person who has always stood out, they offer a place where one can continue to excel. PRAN-RFL has thousands of diverse people from different cultures and backgrounds working in a variety of different jobs in different fields

· Merit is the sole criteria for selection.
· Attitude is given as much weight age as functional competencies.
· Panel interviews comprising of Functional Head & HR Head.
· Sources for recruitment are through campus, consultants, employee referrals, internal job postings and the internet.
· All positions involve written tests.
· Antecedent verification is an integral part of our recruitment process.
· Medical fitness is pre-requisite for all positions.
· They are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, community, religion or sex.

(a) Recruitment process:
A responsibility for recruitment usually belongs to the HR department. This department works to find and attract capable applicants. Job description and speciation provide the needed information upon which the recruitment process starts. The functions of the recruitment process section of PRAN-RFL are given below:

1. Need Assessment
2. Defining the position description
3. Checking the recruiting options
4. Advertisement
5. Screening and Short – listing Applications
6. Written test
7. Selection interview (3 – tier)
8. Employment decision (Application Bank)
9. Offer letter10. Orientation / Induction

(a-i) Source of Recruitment:
Bangladesh is done in four ways depending on the job category of the vacant position. Therefore, the recruitment process of this organization is classified into four types, which are done based on the job grade/ group. These are as follows:

• Entry-level management
• MT (Manager Trainee)
• Mid or / and senior level management
• Graded staff / Non- management staff

There are two most important sources that have been followed by PRAN-RFL.

1. Internal Source.
2. External Source.

Internal Source:

There could be a person competent for the required job working within the organization. If there is, the existing manpower is then shuffled to place the selected person in the new post. If there is no such person inside the company, then the management goes for the second step.

Job-posting programs:
HR departments become involved when internal job openings are publicized to employees through job positioning programs, which informs employees about opening and required qualifications and invite qualify employees to apply. The notices usually are posted on company bulletin boards or are placed in the company newspaper. Qualification and other facts typically are drawn from the job analysis information. The purpose of job posting is to encourage employees to seek promotion and transfers the help the HR department fill internal opening and meet employee’s personal objectives. Not all jobs openings are posted .Besides entry level positions, senior management and top stuff positions may be filled by merit or with external recruiting. Job posting is most common for lower level clerical, technical and supervisory positions.

External Source:

After considering above option, the company goes for external recruiting if needed. Those who best meet the skills, qualifications, experience and competencies required for the position should fill vacancies. Therefore, if there is no candidate within PRAN-RFL, who is suitable for the role, external advertisement should be placed to attract the potential candidates followed by the selection procedures.

Advertisement:

The Company gives advertisement in national dailies to attract the talents from the market. PRAN- RFL puts two types of advertisements in the newspapers. It sometimes keeps the identity concealed in the ads, mentioning a GPO BOX number only. The purpose of the concealed identity is to avoid the unwanted pressure from the stakeholders for the employment of their desired candidates. But this way the company may lose the talents out there in the market who would have applied for the same post had they known the name of the organization. This is why the company kept the identity open in their recent job advertisement when the quality of the candidate was a very important factor to consider. By revealing the BPL identify, the company attempts to attract the best potentials among all the others.

Employee referrals:

Employee referral means using personal contracts to locate job opportunities. It is a recommendation from a current employee regarding a job applicant. The logic behind employee referral is that “it takes one to know one”. Employees working in the PRAN-RFL, in this case, are encouraged to recommend the names of their friends working in other organization for a possible vacancy in the near future.

Employment Agency:

An agency finds and prescreens applicants, referring those who seem qualified to the organization for further assessment and final selection. PRAN- RFL also takes help from such employment agency. They post their job vacancies on job portal like: BD jobs, BITAC.

Walk-ins and Write-ins:

Walk-ins are some seekers who arrived at the HR department of BPL in search of a job; Writeins are those who send a written enquire .both groups normally are ask to complete and application blank to determine their interest and abilities. Usable application is kept in an active file until a suitable opening occurs or until an application is too old to be considered valid, usually six months.

Consulting the CV Bank:

The unsolicited applications stored in the data bank are consulted. If the quality of a person matches with the requirements mentioned in the position description, then he / she is called for interview. If not, then the third step is followed.

(b) Selection Process:

Selection is the process of gathering information for the purpose of evaluating and deciding who should be employed in particular jobs.

(b-i) Screening and Short-listing Applications

The responses to the advertisements are sorted and screened. The CVs as well as the Covering letters are judged. In the covering letter, the style and language of writing, the emphasis put on the areas asked for tin the advertisements and the quality of the letter (whether it is specifically tailored to the advertisement or just a standard response) are the aspects that are judged. Different weights are assigned to the selection criteria mentioned in the man specification depending on their relative importance. (For example, educational institutions like IBA, BUET
are given the highest weight among the local ones and the foreign universities of UK, Australia, etc. are put at par with the best of the country). Based on the presence of these factors to the desired extent (experience, educational degree, computer literacy, etc) the cumulative weights for all the applicants are counted and the short list of a sizable number of the top most candidates is generated.

However, the HR officials also study the CVs with the respective line manager to check whether any valuable deciding parameter is missed that are mentioned in the CVs. Then the candidates selected in the short list are called for the written test.

(b-ii) Written Test
Written test is a regular part of the normal recruitment process. It is conducted as and when required. Previously no written test was taken for the management employee; the applicants had to go directly through the interview process. After the introduction of the manager trainee program, the written test before the interview process has proved to be effective and a useful tool to select the desirable candidates. The written test includes psychometric test, test on behavioral competency, and written test on communication skills. The candidates are called for the
preliminary (first) interview based on their performance in the written test.

(b-iii) Selection Interview

The interview process is a three-tier one. A preliminary interview is conducted which follows the “elimination method”. After that, the second interview takes place with a very few number of candidates. Then they finally selected person is called for the final interview. The interview time is kept convenient for the candidate especially if s/he is working elsewhere at the time of interview. In that case the chosen time is after the business hour or in any holiday.

(b-iv) Reference Checks

Reference checks allow obtaining information and opinions regarding the person’s character, quality of the work and suitability for the position. It is an opportunity to validate the information received from the candidate via their resume and the interview. Speaking to the candidate’s manager or other people whom they have worked with should also check internal candidates. The opinion of a referee who has worked can for an extended period is likely to be more accurate than the assessment from one to two hours of interviewing.The candidate’s immediate supervisors are needed to be contacted. Permission should be obtained to contact the candidate’s referee especially if their current employer is contacted. It is not unusual for a candidate to be uncomfortable with the organization’s speaking to a current employer.

If they are uncomfortable, an alternative person other than the current employer has to be chosen by the candidate (work colleague, for example). Unless the candidate is a graduate or school leaver with no prior work experience, only contact work related referees should be contacted. At least two reference checks should be done, however the more the better. There is a sample reference-checking guide that is more or less followed. It is important to prepare a reference check guide that asks the referee about the key skills, competencies and experience
required for the position. Reference checks need to be done by line manager or personnel of the HR department. During the interviews, the candidates would have given some examples of incidents, tasks or projects that can be asked about. The referee should be asked what the candidate did in those examples, which ascertain whether the information received from the candidate is consistent with that of the referee.

(b-v) Employment Decision

If the candidate has no problem with the stated terms and conditions of the job and the organization mentioned and discussed in the final interview, s/he is offered an application blank. The application blank is a standard format of employee-information that includes all the information the organization needs regarding the personnel. The candidate has to fill this blank and submit this to the company along with a CV.

(b-vi) Offering the Role:

Once the above activities are done, the candidate is given an offer letter specifying the salary package, job responsibilities, utilities that will be provided by the organization. Even at this stage the selected candidate has the chance to withdraw her/himself from the job offer. S/he is always free to discuss whatever difficulty may arise regarding pay structure/ facilities, etc. the door of

HR is kept open for any sort of relevant discussion.

• Verbal offer:
The verbal offer of the role to the candidate is given once the employment decisions and reference checks have been successfully completed. The discussion cover the following:

• Tell the candidate that company would like to offer them the role.
• Congratulate them.
• Tell them the remuneration package that is being offered, including superannuating.
• Ask them if they are happy with it.
• Ask them if they verbally accept the position.
• Tell them that company will be sending them a written letter of offer and introductory package.

• Written letter of offer:
A written letter of offer forwarded to the candidate. Once the candidate has verbally accepted the position, the appropriate letter of offer is organized. This letter sends to the candidate within two or three days of making the verbal offer. An introductory package also sent to the successful candidate, along with the letter of offer. At least one week before the person commencing in their new position, an appointment notice will be placed on notice boards and/or the internet.

Findings And Recommendations

Findings:

The objective of the report is to apply my learning in the area of Human Resources so that I gain significant practical and understand the nature and importance of recruitment and selection process and identify the various strategy which PRAN-RFL are used for their employees while recruiting and selecting them.

To justify the objective I made a survey on existing employees of the organizations, so that I can get a keen knowledge on my study. After the factors of Recruitment process have been identified those were put in a questionnaire. Respondents were asked to rank the options according to their choice. The survey was done among a sample size of 21 people.

Question 1:

PRAN-RFL clearly define the position objectives, requirements and candidate specifications in the recruitment process : Before any job posting it is highly needed to clarify the position objectives, candidates’ requirements and specifications for any organization. So that candidates can get a guideline to apply for that particular position.
From the survey result it is very clear that, PRAN- RFL clearly define the position objectives, requirements and candidate specifications in the recruitment process as 15 of 21 respondent agreed with the statement.4 of 21 person doesn’t agree with tha statement and 2 people remain neutral about this matter.

Question 2: The organization is doing timeliness recruitment and selection process :

Employers must consider all applicants in a timely manner. Timeliness is an important ingredient. Employers who delay reviewing applicants’ resumes or who are slow to respond to applicants risk having their applications denied.
Survey result shows that, PRAN- RFL does timeliness recruitment process as 10 of 21 people agreed with the statement. On the other hand sometimes they failed to maintain the timeline as 8 of 21 people which means 38% total population does not agree with the statement.

Question 3: Do proper Job Analysis before Selection Process begins:

Every organization has jobs that need to be staffed. Job analysis is a procedure through which organization determine the duties of any positions and the characteristics of the people to hire for them. A job analysis will lead to information that will be used to write job descriptions and job specifications. Keeping the above idea in mind survey shows that. PRAN- RFL group does proper job analysis for each position before any selection process begins. From the data we can understand that 17 of 21 people agreed with the statement, where a few disagree with the statement.

Recommendation:

At the conclusion of the report I would like to say that the PRAN-RFL has practiced the standard human resource management. Here I have some recommendations that identify avenues for improving the recruitment process and selection policies of PRAN-RFL:

1. Timeliness is an important ingredient in terms of recruitment process. The recruitment department of PRAN-RFL should look into the matter of consuming less time in the process of calling the applicants after their responses very seriously.

2. To provide an adequate pool of candidates the organization could use more clear and specific statements in the ad in terms of the minimum educational degree, preferred institutions and other necessary criteria based on which the initial screening of the applications were conducted.

3. To increase the satisfactory level of current interviewing process they can choose group interview method to cope up the problem. Sometimes recruitment process section has to take interview of a large pool of candidates group interview method can be great solution to this problem.

4. From the survey we have seen that the organization prefer experienced people in the selection process. Sometimes they give advantage for the candidates who have experience even if the positions are not advertised for experience people. This will discourage new potential graduates apply for the organization in future. The organization should give more opportunities for fresh graduates.

5. Sometimes the organization provides advantages to the referred candidates. This is also a bad practice for organization reputation. Sometimes a highly qualified candidates cannot get the job because of less qualified referred candidates. PRAN- RFL is one of the best manufacturing companies which have seen tremendous success since its establishment .It has been possible only because of its skilled management, well trained, dedicated employees and excellent quality products. It has earned very impressive operating income over the previous years .The company tries to hold a good corporate governance by maintaining discipline and sincerity all over the organization through its skilled and dedicated employees.

Conclusion

PRAN- RFL group of industries are now one of the most successful industry in our country. They are trying to increase their business line and their own brand. From this report we will able to know about the recruitment process section of PRAN-RFL group of industries. After doing this report I would like to conclude by saying that it had been a great experience for me. Moreover the survey that I conducted gave me a stronger and more helpful knowledge about the entire research. This report may contain few flaws yet I have tried my best to maintain accuracy. I hope this report can be a helpful resource to use in future.