Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment is the Process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The
Process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted.
The result is a pool of application from which new employees are selected.

The Recruitment Process:

The recruitment process begins when you know you need someone new in the Department,
either because an existing staff member has left, or because there is new work to be done. It
doesnt finish until after the appointment has been made.
The main stages are identified in the below flow chart

Identify Vacancy
Prepare Job Description and
person Specification

Advertise

Managing the Response

Short-listing

References

Arrange Interviews

Conduct The Interview

Decision Making

Convey The Decision

Appointment Action

PRE-INTERVIEW
# Preparation of recruitment /selection document for the position
# Advertising

Preparing advertisement
Media selection
Positioning
# Response handling

Initial interview online or telephone

Short-listing for interviews
Interview arrangement
Sending emails or calling short listed candidates
Interview details to the short listed candidates
# During Interview

HR interview

Technical interview
Conducting tests [Aptitude / Mathematical / Analytical etc.]
Initial final list of candidates.
Reference check (if required)

Steps in the recruitment process

The following figure outlines the important steps involved in the recruitment process. These
steps are briefly described below.

Form Selection Committee

Selection committees generally consist of a minimum of two members but not more than four
persons, including the chairperson.
Members of a selection committee should be chosen on the basis of their objectivity,
professionalism and ability to exercise good judgment in selecting the most suitable person for
the job vacancy.
Where possible, there should representation of both genders.
Members of a selection committees should not have a bias in favour of one candidate prior to
the start of the selection process. A perception of bias or lack of impartiality can be damaging
to the selection process, and can undermine the successful candidate.
The members of the selection committee should have a reasonable level of:

the requirements of the job in question; and

the principles of equal employment opportunity

There should be no change in the members of a selection committee once it has been been
convened, except it may be reduced in size if there is genuine emergency or illness.
Selection committee members are responsible for:

determining an appropriate method of assessing applicants that will be free from bias,
transparent and stand up to scrutiny
conducting the interview/screening process
ensuring candidates are selected on the basis of merit
ensuring that selection documentation remains confidential

Review Position Description

Before advertising the job vacancy, members of the selection panel should review the position
description for the job. If there is not a position description available, one must be prepared
before the selection process can continue.
The purpose of reviewing the position description is so that members of selection committee
can:

Familiarise themselves with the objectives and duties of the job

Review the selection criteria, if stated in the position description, or formulate
selection criteria if not
Ensure that applicants for the job are well informed about the nature of the job on
offer

Review the condition of employment (pay, hours of work, leave, superannuation, etc)

There should always be a position description for applicants to review. This principle should
also extend to voluntary positions.
For more information about position descriptions click here.

Advertise
A job vacancy may be advertised in a variety of ways including:

Employment section of newspapers

Notifying a recruitment agency
Employment websites such as Seek (www.seek.com.au)
Your organisation's own newsletters
Your organisation's own website
Calling a vocational education and training institution
Putting notice in local shop windows
Putting notice in own shop/office window
Community radio announcement

The extent of the advertising is important.

If the selection process is "closed merit" then the position is advertised only to people within
the organisation.

Receive Applications
Applications for employment must be treated with considerable diligence and respect. Failure
to appropriately handle applications for a job can severely jeopardise someone's employment
potential, and thereby cause annoyance, distress, financial hardship and career prospects.
Employment applications should be acknowledged as soon as possible, and filed in appropriate
place to ensure none are missed.
The chairperson of the selection committee should review all incoming applications and
attempt to determine a short list of candidates. If the number of incoming applications is very
large, it may be necessary for the chairperson of the selection committee to obtain assistance
from other staff.
In determining a short list, the chairperson of the selection committee should eliminate all
candidates who have not provided all the necessary information, especially statements in reply
tokey selection criteria.

The next elimination should be those candidates whose skills, abilities and experience are
insufficient to score well against the key selection criteria.
These eliminations can be carried out reasonably quickly.
The remaining applications will all warrant a closer examination and awarding of points for
each key selection criteria. Then a number candidates with the highest points score are
selected for the short list depending the available time and energy for interviewing.

Arrange Interviews
Each candidate should be personally notified by telephone. It is unadvisable to notify by email,
as an email sent is not necessarily an email received. Notification by letter is better that email
but not as good as telephoning.
The notification should contain:

Start time of interview

Name of the chairperson of the interview panel
Contact details of the chairperson of the interview panel
Job title of the vacant position
Address of the venue for the interview
Advice on the format and duration of the interview
Advice on the number of panelists

Chapter: 2
Human resources in Grameen Phone

Grameen Phone is the largest private sector investment in the country with over USD 130
million already invested. It is the leading mobile phone operator in the country in terms of
both coverage and number of subscribers, commanding more than 70% of the market
share. The fast expansion and coverage area of the GP network and the aggressive

marketing of existing and new products greatly contributed to increase the number of
subscribers.
Mission:
Leading the industry and exceed customer expectations by providing the best wireless
services, making life and business easier
Vision:
Company exists to help all customers get the full benefit of communications services in
their daily lives and want to make it easy for customers to get what they want, when they
want it. Were here to help

Values:
Make It Easy
Keep Promises
Be Inspiring
Be Respectful
GP HRM Department: Background
GP as any other successful organization has an established HRM department. The
function of this department is to provide as much support as possible to the other
departments of GP. They have realized the fact that in order to be successful the
organization needs a department that will deal with all the matters involving human
resources of the organization.
The HR department was established in 1997. The total number of employees working in
the HR department at the moment is 2200. Most of the employee worked at call center
(1300)
The HR department of GP consists of four separate sections. These are:
n Recruitment and selection
n HR management
n Training and development division
n HSE (Health Safety Environment) division
The recruitment and selection department of GP deals with all the recruiting and selecting
matters of the organization. This division carries out all the functions in meeting the
demand for employees when the organization needs to recruit them.
The HR management division of the Human Resource Department is responsible for
supporting the process of HRM. This division is maintaining all the functions that need to
support the proper functioning of the HR department so that they can support the
organization in carrying out the function.

The training and development division of the HR department is responsible for assessing
the training needs of the employees of the organization. According to the need, they
suggest the appropriate training method and thus suggest to the HR director. As a result
the development needs of the employees are ensured.
The Health Safety Environment division better known as the HSE division is responsible
for providing safety and better working condition for the employees. This division is
responsible for ensuring that the health and safety standards set about by the
government is enforced by the organization.
The organogram of GP is as follows:
There is a director of HR department who undertakes all the functions of this department.
There are deputy managers in every division of the department. These managers are
aptly supported by an officer.
To give an idea as to the need for the existence as well as the importance of the HRM
department in GP we can but look at some interesting statistics. In the 2000-2001 fiscal
yearn they had a phenomenal growth of around 200%. This growth had to be supported
by a growing workforce. Thus the HRM department has carried out their activities in full
force. In the year 2001 they recruited around 200 employees. In the year 2002 they
recruited around 170 employees. In the coming year of 2012 they plan to hire or employ
around 1000 more employees to meet the demand of the growing organization.
The Hierarchy of HRM in the Grameen Phone:

1. Organizational Excellence and Recruitment.People and Organization

1.1 Center of Excellence. Organizational Excellence and Recruitment
1.2 Center of Excellence. Organizational Excellence and Recruitment
1.3 Planning and Recruitment. Organizational Excellence and Recruitment
1.4 Center of Excellence. Organizational Excellence and Recruitment
1.5 Learning and Development. Organizational Excellence and Recruitment
1.6 Employee Engagement. Organizational Excellence and Recruitment
2. Security and Risk Management. People and Organization
2.1 Security and Risk Management. People and Organization
2.2 Risk Management and Network Security. Security and Risk Management
2.3 Process Assurance. Security and Risk Management
2.4 Liaison and Stakeholder Management. Security and Risk Management
2.5 Project and Initiatives. Security and Risk Management
2.6 Premises Security Crisis Mgt and Support. Security and Risk Management
3. Transport. Property and Facility Services
3.1 System Administration and Data Management. Transport

3.2 Food Beverage and Event Support. Property and Facility Services
3.3 Legal and Contract. Property
3.4 External Affairs and Vehicle Administration. Transport
3.5 Reporting and Control. Transport
3.6 Regions. Property and Facility Services
3.7 External Affairs and Vehicle Administration. Transport
3.8 External Affairs and Vehicle Administration. Transport
3.9 TPT Maintenance. Transport
3.10 Property and Facility Services. People and Organization
3.11 External Affairs and Vehicle Administration. Transport
3.12 FleetOperationCenter. Transport
3.13 Estate and Asset Management. Property
3.14 Facility Services. Property and Facility Services
3.15 Estate and Asset Management. Property
3.16 Help Desk. Property
3.17 O and M. Property and Facility Services
3.18 External Affairs and Vehicle Administration. Transport
3.19 TPT Service Management. Transport
4. Compliance. People and Organization
4.1 Compliance. People and Organization
4.2 Compliance. People and Organization
4.2 Compliance. People and Organization
5. People Excellence and Rewards. People and Organization
5.1 Rewards. People Excellence and Rewards
5.2 Payroll and Pension. People Excellence and Rewards
5.3 Service Operations. People Excellence and Rewards
5.4 People Information Management. People Excellence and Rewards
5.5 Rewards. People Excellence and Rewards
6. HSSE and BA. People and Organization
6.1 Health. HSSE and BA
6.2 HSSE and BA Planning and Reporting. HSSE and BA
6.3 OHS and S Assurance. HSSE and BA
6.4 HSSE and BA Excellence. HSSE and BA
6.4 HSSE and BA Excellence. HSSE and BA

6.5 Safety and Value Chain Business Assurance. HSSE and BA

Recruitment
Recruitment Method
Grameen phone uses on- line application system for its recruitment purposes. Grameen
phone prefers its internal employees to assume newer responsibilities, and the
information of any new job opening is communicated though local area network (LAN).
Once Grameen is certain that internal employees are not fitting in the new jobs, on-line
advertisement is used to recruit employees from outside the organization. This on-line
advertising system not only increased the accessibility of the applicants throughout the
world to apply for Grameen phone, but also resulted in an increase in speed and
reduction in cost of advertising. It should be stated that Grameen Phone succeeded in
reducing its cost by 75% by using on-line advertising. Currently they have 18000 CVs in
their database.
Goals of Recruiting of GP
Because of a well organized HR department GP has been able to create an effective
communication network between the different departments. As a result any need for
recruitment is communicated by the respective department through the HR to the toplevel management which then proceeds to meet the demand of the particular department.
The job information is then communicated HR department to the potential job applicants.
The ultimate goal of GP is to recruit the best possible candidates by creating an efficient
line of network among the departments.
Factors/constraints Affecting Recruiting Efforts of GP
The major constraints of Grameen Phones recruiting process have been identified as
Recruiting Cost
Since its inception the recruiting cost of GP had been high due to costly advertising
campaigns in the printed media. Recently they have started online application system as
mentioned earlier and as a result they have substantially reduced this cost by 75
percent. .
Internal Organization Policy
Being a growing company recruitment rate of Grameen Phone is very high; in year 2002
GP recruited about 170 employees and in the year of 2009/10 GP recruited about 700
employees (total departments) In spite of that GP places more emphasis on internal
recruiting than the external ones. This has become one of their core internal
organizational policies.

Attractiveness of the Job

When GP first started its operation in October, 1996 Grameen Phone had to compete in
the job market with the multinational & renowned companies. But being successful in the
telecommunication sector and capturing a lion share of the market Grameen phone has
now earned a reputation of providing attractive jobs which are at par with the
corporations. What had been their constraint few years back has now become a positive
factor in their recruiting efforts.
Recruiting Sources
Internal Search
As stated earlier Grameen Phone goes for internal sources of recruitment. In this process

they go for
Job Postings on bulletin boards.
E-Mailing to all the employees informing them about the job opening including the job

description.
Job vacancies are published in the Career Opportunity section of Grameen phones

website which can only be accessed by GP employees.

Most of the jobs are open for both external as well as internal applicants. However
there are some specific jobs which are only accessible to the internal employees only.

Grameen phone prefers internal search because of the following advantages:

1.
Higher degree of communication among the employees.
2.
GP tries to promote individuals within the organization because they fit within the
organizational setup more easily.
3.
It ensures proper selection, since information on the individuals performance and
ability is known to the employers.
4.
Grameen phone saves cost recruiting internally.
5.
Grameen carefully plans promoting from within which act as a training device for
developing middle & top-level managers.
Disadvantage
1.
Management is forced to select candidates from a limited pool
2.
It discourages entry for talent people from outside.
External Search
In this process they go for recruiting using:

Online application process

University placements

Job fairs

Walk-ins

Consultants- for senior level recruiting

Unlike the first few years, where Grameen Phone opted for advertising its recruiting
needs using the printed media, now it has shifted its advertising campaign by using the
internt.
They now recruit using the online application form, were they have had numerous
responses. They currently have 18,000 CVs in their database.
Grameen phone goes for university placement by sending letters and other forms to
notable institutes such as IBA, NSU and also in other vocational and technical institutes.
In these letters they specifically mention the job requirements, specifications as well as
the description. After receiving the responses they start processing the recruitment
process.
Job fairs have achieved popular status since they started few years back. Grameen
Phone has been using these job fairs as their recruiting sources. Last year they employed
over 40 personals from these job fairs.
For senior management level recruitment, Grameen Phone goes for using the services of
management consultancies or head hunters organizations. In addition to all these
recruitment sources, they also go for unsolicited applicants or walk-ins as they are better
known.
Disadvantage
It takes time to advertise, screen and to select suitable employees.
It also a expensive way and there is no guarantee that the organization ultimately will be
able to hire suitable candidates.
Recruitment Process
The recruitment process starts from the matching of the demand for employees of the
separate departments of GP. As it is growing industry in its own sector, GP has demands
for numerous employees. To match this demand they require an efficient recruiting
process whereby they can meet this demand. This is where the HRM department comes
to play.
The process starts when the concerned departments send a proposal about the required
number of employees to the HRM departments. The hr department then consults with the
Finance department to find out the maximum number of employees that can be employed
under the allocated budget for recruiting. After the determination of the maximum number
of allotments that can be recruited after the consultation with the finance department and
top level management, the prescribed number is then sent to the concerned department
informally. If there is an oral agreement between them, then the HR department

processes the prerequisite requisition form and sends to the departments, top level
management and the finance department.
After the requisition form is filled out and it is transmitted to the concerned departments, it
is then up to the concerned department to determine whether they accept this number or
not. Once the requisition form is accepted by the concerned department, they then supply
the HR department with the job specification and requirement and thus the Hr department
starts with the recruiting process.
Selection
Selection Process
The selection process of GP is a more or less traditional approach. The selection process

of Grameen Phone typically consists of the following steps.

Summary sheet
Short listing(by the human resource department
Comments to the concerned departments about the applicants
Written test(up to deputy manager level
The selection process starts with an initial screening using a summary sheet. This
summary sheet summarizes the characteristics of the applicants in light of their
educational background and experience. By reviewing the summary sheet, a short listing
of the applicants is done to reduce the number of applicants to a short list of potential
jobholders. The results of this short listing are then communicated to the concerned
departments. A written test is then conducted as final evaluation of the applicants. Only a
negligible percentage of recruitment is done for higher level managers, and it is only for
them that an interview session is conducted instead of the written test. Interviews are also
carried out for entry level employees and especially for those who are selected by the
company to be posted outside Dhaka. Applicant assessments are not performed yet
being only a new company in the market, but the HR department of GP is planning to
introduce an assessment center for the applicants. According to the HR department of
GP, some loopholes are formed in their more or less traditional approach towards
selection, and the establishment of an assessment center is very important for successful
selection of personnel in their organization.
Performance Appraisal
Hiring is the most important decision made by the managers of professional activities,
firing and disciplining are the most painful, but performance evaluation may be the most
difficult. Performance evaluation exemplifies one of the persistent characteristics of the

management of the professionals; it has to be done, and there is no neat, objective way
to go about it.
Appraisal Process
GP uses its own appraisal system in evaluating the performance of their employees. They
use a prescribed format for each of their eight management competencies. These eight
competencies are identified by the GP management to be essential for successful
evaluation of their employees. Usually they set the objectives for each department at the
beginning of each year and communicate it to the department heads, who in turn
communicate these to their subordinates.
In GP, performance appraisal of an employee is done by the supervisor of the concerned
department. Other appraisal systems such as peer evaluation, 360 degree evaluation,
etc. are not done in GP. According to GP, evaluation by supervisor is much preferred than
peer evaluation and subordinate evaluation as the latter results in peer pressure and
influences of supervisors while appraising.
Techniques
The performance appraisal system of GP consists of a written scale of job-related
parameters. Each of the eight competencies of the employees is graded on a scale of 05, and the particular employee is rated on a total scale of 40. It must be noted that the
routine functions of GP are not included in the appraisal process; a somewhat critical
incident method is used to appraise employees. So we can understand that the
management of GP is highly concerned with the unbelievably good or undesirably bad
results of an employee in appraising the particular employee.
Barriers of Appraisal Method
Performance evaluation is one of the most difficult processes in the organization, and so
a number of difficulties are associated with its application. In GP, they face a number of

problems regarding performance appraisal such as

Difficulty in meeting deadline a major difficulty in appraising employees is the

inability of the appraiser to meet the deadline set by the company to appraise the
employees. Performance appraisal is a very time consuming effort, and, still in their early
days, GP has not yet produced a faster way to appraise employees.
No particularly appropriate method there are several methods by which appraisal
can be conducted, bur they were unable to use standard appraisal systems such as
BARS, paired comparison, etc. because they were not consistent with the appraisal needs
of the organization. So they had to set up their own performance appraisal system which is
consistent with their company.

Motivation

Sometimes motivation is considered as a yardstick to measure performance of an

employee. It is often taken for granted that the more motivated an employee is, the more
successful he is in his daily activities. However, it should be understood that motivation is
only an important part in determining the employees success in performing, not the only
factor behind successful performance.
Motivation Process
In GP, the management carries out surveys regarding employee satisfaction to get an
idea about employee motivation towards the job. Each year, the company delegates to
the employees the expectations they keep to the employees in terms of their
performance. The HR department also has conducted surveys as well to find out whether
they have supported the business or not. This is done to see whether they are
participating in the growth of GP.
This way they can ensure effective motivation to be associated with the success of the
company.
Motivational Methods
An important motivation method that they have employed is to create an image as a
renowned employer in the job market. This image helps GP in creating a congenial
environment for the employees as well as creating an indoctrinating effect for the
company. This guaranties maximum effort on the part of the employee followed by high
job satisfaction.
As an important motivation technique, GP tries to first create and then incorporate
positive values within the organization. These values, they believe, will guide the behavior
of their employees, and thus enabling them to evaluate the performance of the
employees successfully. While creating these core values, GP consults with every
employee to determine the values that will be instrumental in making GP successful. As a
result, the employees of GP feel to be part of the organization which acts as a very
effective motivation tool.
GP does not have any specific uniform motivational tool. Rather they try to motivate
employees on the following bases
1.
Right values GP tends to motivate employees who follow the core values of the
organization by both financial and non-financial rewards.
2.
Long service rewards This differs in every department, but the main theme is that the
employees are rewarded as well as awarded for their long services.
3.
Permanency For entry-level employees, a successful motivational tool has been
awarding them a permanent position after six months.

4.

Employee competition Employees are handed down with challenging goals which
provides them with intrinsic rewards.
5.
Flexible Benefits Flexible benefits are dependant on a particular situation and the
appropriateness of the reward.

Reducing Tension and Stress

For a manager, an important motivational purpose is to reduce tension and stress of the
employees. In GP, they do it in the following ways (these techniques are also used to
motivate employees in general).
1.
Flex timing
2. Tailoring the work day absences according to their own convenience
3. Creating a family friendly organization by holding family picnics etc.
4. Conducting curricular activities such as sports tournaments.
5. Swap
In order to ensure efficient performance of the employees, GP specifies the efforts
required by the employees to meet the organizational goals. If the efforts are not given by
any employee, instead of taking action against him, the HR department undertakes
consultancy services to help him meet the required efforts or performance.
The employees of GP are motivated by creating an open environment within the
organization, where both the employers and the employees can share the successes and
failures of the organization.
GP has a separate department named HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment) which
ensures healthy and safe environment for the employees. GP offers medication
counseling to the employees to motivate them work better. Each work location of GP has
a health and safety coordinator who looks after the workplace environment of GP. In
addition to these coordinators, external experts are also invited to share their experience
with the employees. The HSE department is also responsible for the safety of the
employees on transports.
Training and Development
GP has found out that training is an important motivational tool, and so thy have decided
to provide training and development of employees. The types of training they provide are

Situational leadership training o find out the potential future managers of the

organization
Customer service to deal with the customers
Leadership training only for senior level personnel

Workshops

Also they provide workshops for developing

Non-technical managers

Post confirmation business orientation where they share the employees feelings about
the organization after joining it

Job Rotation
A surprising thing that was discovered in GP is that they do not go for job rotation in their
work place. This may seem surprising since most companies go for such type of
techniques as their motivational methods.
Rewards and Compensation
It is very important for an organization to pay its employees. In order to motivate its
employees, an organization has to pay for the performances of the employees. In order to
be successful this function of the organization has to be linked with the motivational as
well as the appraisal system.
Organizational Incentives
From Gps point of view they prefer to pay extrinsic rewards. These rewards are in the
form of uniform benefits. They do not go for flexible compensation. These extrinsic
rewards are in the form of basic salary and when the performance of the employee is
satisfactory then bonuses are given.
Intrinsic rewards are given in the form of involving the employees in forming the core
values in the organization as stated earlier. Also goal setting of the job is done with the
participation of the employees which creates an atmosphere of cooperation and
belongingness. Furthermore the top level management sets challenging goals for the
departments and as result they provide the employees with an opportunity to prove
themselves.
GP does not go for non financial rewards in the form of choosing ones own office
furnishings, preferred lunch hours and so on. Rather the organization prefers to pay
financial rewards in the form of normal payment of salary and so on.
Job Evaluation
The jobs are evaluated based on the objectivity of their functions. Then the employees
performance is evaluated in the appraisal function of the HR department. Job evaluation
is done using

Ranking method

Point method
After the evaluation is done, then the HR department goes for reviewing the performance
of the employees.
Pay Structure

GP has to determine the pay structure for the employees. This is done in congruence with
inflation and other economic factors. In determining the pay structure GP used a survey
three years back. This does not mean that GP will not use such methods in the future.
Special Cases of Compensation
GP does not provide individual incentives such as merit pay, piecework etc. Rather they
go for general incentives in the form of normal pay and other bonuses. It should be
mentioned that the departments of GP give non financial rewards such as best sales
officer award and so on. These awards are a means of motivating the employee.
Competency based awards are given in GP. These awards are very minimal in
comparison to other types of compensation. These rewards constitute only 5% of the total
reward system. As a result the HR department does not consider this as a formal
compensation method. They further do not recognize them as part of a competency
based award.

Findings
GP network does not cover whole over the country. Rangamati, Khagrachari,

Bandarban and some rural areas network is very worse because these areas network
technology system is backdated.
There are so many GP customers but customer care center is not available every

where. Most of the rural people cant get customer care facilities.
Call center employees are not efficient for these huge amounts of customer.
Flexi load facility is not available in most of the rural area.
Call rate of GP is high, in the perspective of most of the Bangladeshi peoples

economic condition.
Most of the time GP think offer for corporate people

Recommendation
To solve this above problem GP should take some action. This action as follows

GP network should expand all over the country and use latest technology

Customer care centre should spread all over the country

The problem of Flexi load facility should be eliminated for better customer satisfaction

When launch the new offer GP should think about our young people
Conclusion
Grameen Phone is the first leading cell phone companies in Bangladesh. Their HRM is
very strong. Before introducing Grameen Phone the mobile phone service was not
available. The price and call rate was very high. In a country, telecommunications play a
significant role in economic and social development. This is why Grameen Phone, in
collaboration with Grameen Bank, is aiming to place one phone in each village to
contribute significantly to the economic uplift of those villages. Grameen Phones basic

strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. Grameen Phone is the revolution for
mobile service in Bangladesh. Now, more people of Bangladesh are affordable to utilize
the mobile.
Grameen Phone believes in service, a service that leads to good business and
good development. Telephony helps people work together, raising their productivity.