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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

Table of Contents
1.

What is HRM? ............................................................................................................................................... 2

2.

Global Practices of Human Resource Management ....................................................................................... 5

3.

Bangladesh in Brief ..................................................................................................................................... 11

4.

5.

3.1

Location .............................................................................................................................................. 11

3.2

Climate ................................................................................................................................................ 12

3.3

Natural Calamities ............................................................................................................................... 12

3.4

Demography, culture and Values ........................................................................................................ 12

3.4.1

Demography .............................................................................................................................. 12

3.4.2

Religion ..................................................................................................................................... 13

3.4.3

Culture ....................................................................................................................................... 14

Existing HRM Practices of Bangladesh ....................................................................................................... 14


4.1

Recruitment ......................................................................................................................................... 14

4.2

The Recruitment Process ..................................................................................................................... 15

4.3

Job Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 16

4.4

Promotion Practices ............................................................................................................................ 16

4.5

Training and Development Practices .................................................................................................. 17

4.5.1

Performance Appraisal and Management Practices ................................................................... 19

4.5.2

Compensation, Benefits, Payment Strategy Practices ................................................................ 19

Factors Affecting BHRM Practices ............................................................................................................. 20


5.1

National Culture ................................................................................................................................. 20

5.2

Related Factors ................................................................................................................................... 21

5.2.1

Labor Union ............................................................................................................................... 21

5.2.2

Labor Laws ................................................................................................................................. 22

5.2.3

Socio-Political Issues ................................................................................................................. 22

5.2.4

Technological Issues .................................................................................................................. 22

5.2.5

Strategy Development of Human Resource Management .......................................................... 23

5.2.6

Employee Education, Training and Development ...................................................................... 24

5.2.7

Recruitment, Selection and Manpower planning ........................................................................ 25

5.2.8

Employee Motivation ................................................................................................................. 26

5.2.9

Ready Made Garments (RMG) Sector in Bangladesh ................................................................ 28

5.2.10

Public Administration in Bangladesh ......................................................................................... 29

6.

Discussion Question .................................................................................................................................... 30

7.

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 31

8.

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 32

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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

1. What is HRM?
Human Resource Management (HRM) is universal in terms of strategies, policies and
processes. The term has gradually replaced personnel management. Managing and
developing human resources in the international (global) setting is increasingly recognized as
a central challenge, particularly to multinational companies (MNCs). Human resource
management is both academic theory and a business practice that addresses the theoretical
and practice techniques of managing a workforce. While the theoretical aspects of the
discipline may also be universal, the same cannot be said of its practice. The paper defines
human resource management, the theoretical basis of the discipline, business practice and
global or international human resource management. Thereafter, the paper concentrates on
global perspective or issues in international human resource management practice.
Human resource management is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of
an organizations most valued assets the people working there who individually and
collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. The terms
human resource management (HRM) and human resources (HR) have largely replaced
the term personnel management as a description of the processes involved in managing
people in organizations.
HRM is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as
compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness,
benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. (Heathfield)
Human resource management can also be defined as the function within an organization that
focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work
in the organization. As a change agent, it is concerned with the nature of and regulation of the
employment relationship at the level of the workplace and broader society.
The human resource management model emphasizes-.

The need to search for new ways of working

The central role of managing in promoting change

The treatment of workers as individuals rather than part of a collective workforce

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The encouragement of workers to consider management as partners rather than as


opponents us and us, rather than us and them.

The theoretical discipline is based primarily on the assumption that employees are individuals
with varying goals and needs, and as such should not be thought of as basic business
resources, such as trucks and filing cabinets. It takes a positive view of workers, assuming
that virtually all wish to contribute to the enterprise productively and that the main obstacles
to their endeavors are lack of knowledge, insufficient training, and failure of process. It is an
innovative view of the workplace management, which, asserts that human techniques when
properly practiced, are expressive of the goals and operating practices of the enterprise
overall.
As an academic theory, the goal of human resource management is to help an organization to
meet strategic goals by attracting, and maintaining employees and also to manage them
effectively. The key word here is fit, that is, human resource management approach seeks
to ensure a fit between the management of an organizations employees, and the overall
strategic direction of the company. The basic premise of the academic theory of human
resource management is that humans are not machines; therefore, we need to have an
interdisciplinary examination of people in the workplace. That is why fields such as
psychology, industrial engineering, industrial and organizational psychology, industrial
relations, sociology etc plays a major role.
Examples of core qualities of HR management are extensive knowledge of the industry, leadership,
and effective negotiation skills. (human resource management (HRM))

Human resource management (HRM) as a business practice comprises several processes,


which used together are supposed to achieve the theoretical goals mentioned above. These
practical processes include:

Workforce planning

Recruitment (sometimes separated into attraction and selection)

Induction and orientation

Skills management

Training and development

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Personnel administration

Compensation in wage or salaries

Time management

Travel management (sometimes assigned to accounting)

Payroll (sometimes assigned to accounting)

Employees benefits administration

Personnel cost planning

Performance appraisal.

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2. Global Practices of Human Resource Management

Global or international human resource management is the process of employing, developing


and rewarding people in international or global organizations. It involves the world-wide
management of people, not just the management of expatriates. An international organization
or firm is one in which operations take place in subsidiaries overseas, which rely on the
business expertise or manufacturing capacity of the parent company. Such companies or
organizations bring with them their own management attitudes and business styles. Human
resource managers of such organizations cannot afford to ignore the international influences
on their work.
The preliminary function of global Human Resource Management is that the organization
carries a local appeal in the host country despite maintaining an international feel. To
exemplify, any multinational / international company would not like to be called as local,
however the same wants a domestic touch in the host country and there lies the challenge.
(Global Human Resource Management - Meaning and Objectives)
International human resource management involves a number of issues not present when the
activities of the firm or organization are confined to one country. The issues in global HRM
include:

The variety of international organizational models that exist

The extent to which HRM policy and practice should vary in different countries. (This
is also known as the issue of Convergence and Divergence).

The problem of managing people in different cultures and environments

The approaches used to select, deploy, develop and reward expatriates who could be
nationals of the parent company or third-country nationals (TCNs) nationals of
countries other than the parent company who work abroad in subsidiaries of that
organization.

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International Organizational Models:


Bartlett and Ghoshal (1993) have identified 4 models
1. Decentralized Federation in which each national unit is managed as a separate entity
that seeks to optimize its performance in the local environment. (This is the traditional
multinational corporation).
2. Coordinated Federation in which the center develops sophisticated management
systems enabling it to maintain overall control, although scope is given to local
management to adopt practices that recognize local market conditions.
3. Centralized Hub in which the focus is on the global market rather than on local
markets. Such organizations are truly global rather than multinational.
4. Transnational in which the corporation develops multi-dimensional strategic
capacities directed towards competing globally but also allows local responsiveness to
market requirements.

Another issue facing international organizations is the extent to which their human resource
(HR) practices should either converge worldwide to be basically the same in each location,
or diverge to be differentiated in response to local requirements. There is a natural tendency
for managerial traditions in the parent company to shape to the nature of key decisions, but
there are strong arguments for giving as much local autonomy as possible in order to ensure
that local requirements are sufficiently taken into account. (This is known as global/local
dilemma). Convergence may be increasing as a result of the following factors:

The power of markets

The importance of cost

Quality and productivity pressures

The development of like-minded international cadres

The widespread practice of benchmarking best practice.

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Cultural Diversity:
Culture and environment diversity is a key issue in international human resource management
(HRM). In a study that become a classic in the study of cultural differences, Hofstede (1980)
investigated value differences between over 11,000 employees in some 40 countries
employed by International Business Machine (IBM). His study focused on the influence of
national culture on the sub-cultures of the worldwide organization, and four key dimensions
were identified.
1. Individualism versus Collectivism - where individualism is a national cultural
attribute that favours people looking to themselves and their families as their first
priority, and where collectivism is an attribute that favours people giving their prime
loyalty to, and finding protection in, the wider group. The concept of individualism
vs. collectivism deals with how individuals fundamentally live their lives socially;
whether they on a deep level think more as individuals or collectively as members of
groups when compared to other individuals or groups. (Rudenstam, 2012)
2. Power Distance i.e. the extent to which different cultures accept different
distributions of power within the society; High Power distance society accepts wide
differences of power between those at the top of society and those at the bottom,
while Low Power distance society sees power as being shared much more equitably,
leaving less of a power gap between the top and the bottom ranks.
3. Uncertainty Avoidance i.e. the extent to which a society is tolerant of uncertainty
and which therefore feels less need to avoid it (Low Avoidance) or feels threatened by
it (High Avoidance).
4. Masculinity versus Femininity i.e. where a nation has a tendency to prefer
assertiveness and materialism (masculinity), or has a higher concern for relationships
and the welfare of others (femininity).

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Comparing the results obtained from the 40 different countries against the criteria of the
framework, produced 8 culture clusters, labeled according to geographical areas (Asian,
Near Eastern and Nordic) or language (Latin, Germanic and Anglo) and economic
development (Less developed or More developed).

More developed Latin

Less developed Latin

High power distance

High power distance

High uncertainty avoidance

High uncertainty avoidance

High Individualism

Low Individualism

Medium Masculinity

Whole Range of Masculinity

Countries: Belgium, France, Brazil,

Countries: Columbia, Mexico, Chile,

Argentina, Spain, Italy)

Venezuela, Peru, Portugal)

More developed Asian

Less developed Asian

Medium power distance

High power distance

High uncertainty avoidance

Low uncertainty avoidance

Medium individualism

Low individualism

High masculinity

Medium masculinity

Countries: Japan

Countries: Pakistan, India, Taiwan, Thailand,


Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore

Near Eastern

Germany

High Power Distance

Low Power Distance

High Uncertainty Avoidance

High Uncertainty Avoidance

Low Individualism

Medium Individualism

Medium Masculinity

High Masculinity

Countries: Greece, Iran, Turkey

Countries: Austria, Israel, Germany

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Anglo

Nordic

Low Power Distance

Low Power Distance

Low-Medium Uncertainty Avoidance

Low-Medium Uncertainty Avoidance

High Individualism

Medium Individualism

High Masculinity

High Masculinity

Countries: Australia, USA, Canada, Great

Countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden,

Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa

Finland, Netherlands

Japanese organizations

American organizations

Offer lifetime employment (Core workers

Offer (generally) short-term employment

only)
Promote from within

Recruit form outside

Career paths are non-specialized

Generally specialized career paths

Shared decision-making

Individual decision-making

High degree of mutual trust/loyalty

Varying degrees of trust/loyalty

Between managers and employees

Between managers and staff

Importance of collective responsibility

Individual responsibility for results

Long term performance appraisal

Short-term performance more important

Success seen in terms of Co-operative

Success seen in terms of Individual

efforts

achievements

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Ouchi proposed what he called Theory Z as opposed to McGregors Theories X and Y as a


means by which American companies could imitate certain features of the Japanese approach
to managing people.
Theory Z is often referred to as the 'Japanese' management style, which is essentially what it
is. It's interesting that Ouchi chose to name his model 'Theory Z', which apart from anything
else tends to give the impression that it's a Mcgregor idea. Theory x and theory y are still
referred to commonly in the field of management and motivation, and whilst more recent
studies have questioned the rigidity of the model, Mcgregor's X-Y Theory remains a valid
basic principle from which to develop positive management style and techniques. McGregor's
XY Theory remains central to organizational development, and to improving organizational
culture. (douglas mcgregor - theory x y)
He argued that American firms could make changes in the following areas of human resource
management:

They could offer more secure employment prospects and better prospects of a career

They could extend employee participation in decision-making

They could place greater reliance on team-spirit and on recognizing the contribution
of individuals to team effort

They could encourage greater mutual respect between managers and their staff.

Given the difficulties of developing careers in todays business organizations, where


reducing the number of job levels, as well as minimizing the number of jobs is commonplace,
it seems unlikely that most international organizations can offer their employees guarantees
of long-term prospects. However, some of these characteristics have adopted in many
organizations and indeed are regarded as good or best practices.
In view of the above, the universalistic approach to HRM prevalent in the USA is rejected
in Europe where the basic functions of HRM are given different weights between countries
and are carried out differently. In addition, the cultural differences mentioned above have
produced the slogan in international human resource management Think GLOBALLY and
act LOCALLY. This means that an international balancing act is required, which leads to
the fundamental assumption made by Bartlett and Ghoshal that: balancing the needs of co-

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ordination, control and autonomy and maintaining the appropriate balance are critical to the
success of the multinational company.
To achieve this balancing act, there are six capabilities that enable firms to integrate and
concentrate international activities and also separate and adopt local activities:

Being able to determine core activities and non-core activities;

Achieving consistency while allowing flexibility;

Building global brand equity while honoring local customs and laws;

Obtaining leverage (bigger is better) while achieving focus (smaller is better);

Sharing learning and creating new knowledge;

Engendering a global perspective while ensuring local accountability.

3. Bangladesh in Brief
3.1

Location

Bangladesh is situated from 2034 North Latitude to 2638 North Latitude; and from 8801 East
Longitude to 9241 East Longitude.

Total boundary line of BANGLADESH is about 4712 km.

The length of boundary line with India is about 3715 km.

280 km with Myanmar.

716 km is the coast line of BANGLADESH.

The political sea line of BANGLADESH is about 12 nm.(www.kwintessential.co.uk)

Geographically it is positioned in the Ganges delta. Three large rivers, Ganges, Meghna, Brahmaputra
and their subsections carries rich soil with them making the land one of the most fertile in this region.
Most of the country is situated at less than 12 m above the sea level and if the sea level rises only 1m
about 10% of the land will be loss.

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3.2

Climate

We all know that the geographic location and the climate play a very important role in shaping the life
of the people and the development of the country. Bangladesh has a tropical climate. The main
characteristics of this climate are that the summer is long and the winter is very short. The winter is
mild and starts from October and ends near the end of March. The summer is hot and humid they last
from the end of March till July.

3.3

Natural Calamities

Powerful cyclone and flood are the two most disruptive natural calamities of Bangladesh. The recent
natural disaster that took place in Bangladesh was on November 15, 2007. It was a cyclonic storm
named SIDR that brought havoc in southern and central Bangladesh. Millions were left homeless after
the storm had passed. SIDR was the deadliest cyclone to ever hit Bangladesh since its independence.
It killed almost 4000 people and injured about 30.000. Unofficial sources say that the numbers are
even higher. Bangladesh is also prone to frequent floods. The last one, that took place in 2007,
destroyed approximately 60.000 houses. This means that almost 60.000 families were left without a
shelter in a country where poverty rates are high and shelter is sometimes considered a luxury, not a
basic human need. Specialists blame deforestation and climate change as the main actors guilty for
frequent flooding. Climate change causes the sea water levels to rise, meaning that the coast of
Bangladesh will narrow each year and will get flooded more often.

3.4

Demography, Culture and Values

3.4.1

Demography

Demographics in Bangladesh are a very sensitive issue because it involves population


density, ethnicity and religious affiliations. Population density is a critical condition in
Bangladesh because the country has one of the highest density rates in the world. Also,
ethnicity and religious beliefs have been causes for discontent ever since the country became
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independent. Bangladesh can be considered a largely homogeneous country when it comes to


ethnicity. The country gets its name from the Bengali group who represents 98 percent of the
population, making it the dominant ethno-linguistic group. In 2009, the population of
Bangladesh was estimated at approximately 160 million people. 90 percent are religious
Muslims and the rest are mostly Hindu. One of the downsides of demographics in
Bangladesh is that is has one of the highest population density rates in the world. If we
exclude from the list small states such as Malta, Bangladesh has the highest density rare in
the whole world. When it comes to developing countries such as Bangladesh that are highly
illiterate, poor and with a large rural population, statistics cant always be sure. Bangladesh
also has one of the highest population growth rates in the world. The fertility rate is
extremely high in the countrys society because of patriarchal issues that request women to
bear children and work in rural, menial jobs. Bangladeshs population is highly rural, with
urban centers being limited. It also has a high risk of infectious diseases like hepatitis A and
E, typhoid fever and malaria. This is because the countrys health system is extremely poor
and underdeveloped. Most women dont receive medical treatment, while some of them spent
their entire lives without making contact with a medical professional. Another issue that
haunts Bangladeshs demographics is the ethnic conflict between the dominant population
and tribal groups that hide in the Chittagong Hills.

3.4.2

Religion

About 80% of the total population is Muslim. Most of this Muslim population is Sunni with a
small Shia community. The Hindu religion makes up around 12 percent of the country from a
religious standpoint and until the 90s this population was close to evenly distributed all
around the country though the hindu community largely comprised the peoples of Khulna,
Jessore, Faridpur and Barisal as well as Dinajpur in the 90s. In addition to the Hindu and
Muslim religions there are also many Buddhists as well as Christians within the population of
Bangladesh.

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3.4.3

Culture

The country embraced the arrival of several cultures such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.
Bangladeshi people are known for their hospitality. Though we are considered as one of the
poorest nations of the world in general the people are rich in heart. Different parts of the
country are famous for different ways of expressing their cultural heritage and values.
Bhatiali, bhaoyaiya, murshidi, marfoti, pala gaan, lalon, hasoin,gombhira are some of the
famous type of songs sung in this country. In different celebration the people of this country
gathers together to enjoy Jatrapala, cock fight, kobir lorai, nauka baich etc. Various
instruments like ek tara, dotara, khongoni, basher bashe, dugdugi, dhol. Khol and other
instruments are use to enhance the music.
People of this rich soil enjoy verity of delicacies cooked with different type of rice. Rice,
panta, khichuri, bou khuda and different typs of pitha are highly celebrated among all
Bangladeshis. Different fish preparation and vorta is a must to make a meal worth having.
Shorshe hilsha, choto mach, mesban,chira, muri, guur and very common foods of
Bangladesh. A typical Bangladeshi finds as much please as having these food as he gets from
inviting people over and sharing them.

4. Existing HRM Practices of Bangladesh


4.1

Recruitment

Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a
job. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations often
retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies.
The recruitment industry has four main types of agencies: employment agencies, recruitment
websites and job search engines, "headhunters" for executive and professional recruitment,
and niche agencies which specialize in a particular area of staffing. Some organizations use
employer branding strategy and in-house recruitment instead of agencies. Recruitment-related
functions are generally carried out by an organization's human resources staff.

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The stages in recruitment include sourcing candidates by advertising or other methods,


screening potential candidates using tests and/or interviews, selecting candidates based the
results of the tests and/or interviews, and on-boarding to ensure the candidate is able to fulfill
their new role effectively. (Smith)

4.2

The Recruitment Process

Recruitment process is a crucial thing in every organization. Both MNCs and local companies
follow few steps to select candidates to have them in the organization. For recruiting
candidates for the selected position the companies post advertise in newspapers, websites
(For example- Prothom alo jobs, Bdjobs.com) etc. HR department collect applications
externally by this way. Internal recruitment sometimes encouraged by the authority. Walk-in
interviews also being encouraged to fulfill the vacancies. After getting the CVs of the
candidates, the HR recruitment department short list few candidates if they fulfill the
requirements of the organizations position. Then for below manager level position the
applicants have to sit for the written test and if they qualify the exam, HRD asks for the oral
test of the candidates. In the interview session interviewer asks questions to the interviewee
according to the position. Formed questions, relevant questions and irrelevant questions are
basic question pattern in the interview. HR head and other departments head take the
interview of the candidates. For example: if the organization look for finance executive then
head of finance will also be there to conduct the interview. Then the candidates have been
chosen by the merit list. Finally, the interview panel negotiates about the remuneration with
the candidates and selects the right person for the right position.

Diagram of recruitment and selection process of Bangladeshi Business Firms is given below:

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Recruitment
Specification
and job
advertisement

Pre-selection
round:

1st Selection
round:

CV screening

Written test

Long-list

Assessment
Short list

2nd selection
round:
Interview
Reference

Final selection

Hiring

Round:

And

Job offer

Induction

Acceptance

Check

Figure: Recruitment and selection process of Bangladeshi MNC & Local Companies

4.3

Job Analysis

Job analysis is another important part of recruitment and selection process. Job analysis
means the process of determining job duties of these positions and the characteristics of the
people to hire for them. Job analysis consists of two parts.
a. Job description
b. Job specification

4.4

Promotion Practices

Businesses both local and MNC organizations practice promotion in their own nature and
following company policy. Every employee of the organization has been given target and
objectives to fill up in certain times. The company does not follow any fixed promotion
criteria. But if an employee fulfills the targets and objectives given by the organization for
last three consecutive years, then the department head can recommend the employee for a
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promotion. Most of the companies maintain grading system in the promotion criteria. For
example: officer is the first grade of that company, then executive, senior executive senior,
assistant manager, manager etc. comes consecutively.
MNCs do not believe in demotion process. This organization always prefers to give a second
chance to an employee. An employee gets target or objective to fill up when he or she joins
the company. If the employee cannot do the job perfectly then the authority thinks to change
the department or discipline of the employee. After that if the employee performs well then
he or she can continue the job.

4.5

Training and Development Practices

Training and development practices are the crucial and most important part of the Bnagldeshi
business firms. After joining the job every single employee has to go under the training
session for ten days. This orientation process performs in every single department of this
company. Every single employee gets the training session on sales and production system of
the company. For example, who joins in finance department that person has to take training
on marketing, sales, production and finance. In sales department the orientation process can
go up to ten days and in finance department the orientation process goes up to fifteen days.
The training process held from desk to desk after three or four days of the orientation.
Both on the job and off the job training session held in MNCs as well as local organizations.
For off the training companies follow role plying, lecture methods, conference and discussion
method. According to the need of training and development the total procedure arrange by
the companies. If the department (HR, Finance, and Marketing & Sales) thinks that lecture
method can be useful for the job then the department arranges the training session according
to that.

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Corporate Culture

HRM Paradigm

National Culture

Job Analysis

Attracting

Recruiting & Selection

Testing & Selection

Interviewing Candidates

Developing
Training & development

Performance appraisal
management

Orientation/ Induction

Maintaining

Benefits & services

Training & development

Ethics, justice & fair


treatment

Health & Safety

Figure: HR Paradigm of Bangaldeshi Business Organizations

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4.5.1

Performance Appraisal and Management Practices

Annual performance appraisal from every department is being conducted in the companies based on
some factors and criteria. On the basis of performance appraisal reward, bonus, increment etc. are
being decided and within December to January this performance appraisal is being conducted.

4.5.2

Compensation, Benefits, Payment Strategy Practices

Reward
At the beginning of the year companies usually give target and objectives to the employees and it
basically happens in the sales sector. If an employee performs 90% of the target then he/she will get
a fixed amount as a reward. In case of 100% fulfillment of the target the employee will get additional
salary of one month and if it increases to 110% then the employee will get some extra award from
the authority.

Benefits
Except basic salary the company provides extra benefits to the employee. Monthly the employee get
gross salary which includes house rent, medical allowance, insurance etc. Beside this employees get
two festival bonuses. Another benefit is given to the employee that is WPBF (Workers profit budget
and fund). Group insurance is also covered by the organization as well as provident fund which are
contributory by the employee. Employee contributes 10% of the salary and the company also
provides extra 10%.
Bonus
In every two Eid employees get festival bonus. Managerial levels employee also get bonus according
to the performance of the company and they get a good amount of money if the company perform
well.
Salary & Increment
Every year this company offers increment of salary and their average increment is based on
companies own policy and regulations.

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Ethics, Justice, Fair treatment practices

In every day to day activity most of the companies practice transparent ethical treatment. In the
training session they organize ethical training practice conference. This basically emphasize on the
leadership training.
Fair treatment practice is used by this organization. If an employees performance become poor and
the organization want to go for the legal action then first of all they give a show cause notice and the
employee have the chance to self-defense. The organization also makes an inquiry team and gets a
report about the employee. According to the report what answers they get based on that the
organization take disciplinary action. This company also maintains fair policy about sexual
harassment. If the case seems to be serious then disciplinary action has been taken and if it is not
that a serious issue then the company goes for counseling of that employee.

Labor relations practices

Bangladeshi companies follow 99% of the labor laws. For example, they give maternity leave to the
female employees. Every two years trade union leader is elected from the nomination of CBA leader.
Training session is organized by the civil defense and fire brigade every single year, the grievance
procedure properly.

5. Factors Affecting BHRM Practices


5.1

National Culture

Because of the climate and the rich soil for many years with minimal effort the people of this country
could produce plenty of crops. Despite of various natural calamities and political instability one of the
main reasons for our general stability and peace of mind is the bumper agricultural growth.
As we have discussed before generally we have hot weather. This makes our workers easily tired.
Especially people working in the open are exposed to extreme hit and occasional rain. This external
factor makes us less efficient even when we are willing to give our best.
In the preindustrial times people of this country had a reasonably simple life. With the
industrialization and the global competition very soon the society got segregated. The fortunate and

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the educated fell in to the group of The haves and the uneducated less fortunate fell in to the group
of The no haves.
With the changing world Bangladesh also changed. But most of the development happened in the
urban sector. The rural sector saw every little change or development in last few decades.
The authorities could not maintain the regulatory bodies in check as a result slowly the system got
corrupted. So once the land that was known for its rich soil, simple pure people are now going to the
direction of deviant, unethical practices.
When an employee joins an organization or the workforce they come with their dream, hopes and
plan. They come up with a belief that if they try and work hard they will be rewarded. But because of
the existing unethical practices very soon they find out that the effort is not good enough. Things
happen for both the right and the wrong reasons. As a result either they become de-motivated or
become corrupted by following the wrong path. Now-a-days, this is a very common scenario in most
of our organizations.

5.2

Related Factors

There are some factors which affect the overall HR structure in Bangladesh. These are as follows;

5.2.1

Labor Union

Labor unions are officially known as legislative body of workers in many industries all over
the world.
Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over

Wages,

Benefits, and

Working conditions for their membership

On representing their members in disputes with management over violations of


contract provisions.

Larger unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and
federal level.
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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh


5.2.2

Labor Laws

Labor law (also labor law or employment law) mediate the relationship between workers
(employees), employers, trade unions and the government. Collective labor law relates to the
internal relationship between employee, employer and the labor union. Individual labor law
concerns employees' rights at work and through the contract for work.
Employment standards are social & technical norms for the minimum socially acceptable
conditions under which employees or contractors are allowed to work. Government agencies
(such as the former U.S. Employment Standards Administration) enforce labor law
(legislative, regulatory, or judicial).

5.2.3

Socio-Political Issues

The political changes to human resource management are complex and difficult to analyze.
They determine the nature of working relationships and have an impact on both economic
and social contexts.
The political environment of an enterprise has a direct bearing on the political context or the
political climate under which the human resource management of an organization functions.
The key drivers of a political climate include the extent of external regulations, nature of
work contracts, various labor legislations and case laws, to name a few. Such factors remain
ever changing, and as such, the political atmosphere of human resource management remains
in a constant change of flux.

5.2.4

Technological Issues

With technologies evolving every day, human resources professionals are realizing that the
fast-paced, ever-changing digital world impacts their jobs and workplaces not only today,
but in the future.
While some people will try all of the latest and greatest options, others will want to wait until
platforms have been proven. Being on either extreme could be detrimental. Its important to
evaluate each and sometimes take a chance.
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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

Being able to recognize the need for a technology solution will be a significant business
advantage. HR will have to evaluate what functions can be automated and still provide
desired levels of service. With increasing technologically advanced options, human resources
professionals will be tasked to figure out when processes should be automated, versus when a
human face or voice is the best route.
For recruiters, the ability to sort through loads of information including applications from
various platforms and employment data will be a skill worth honing.
Many of these challenges come down to being better communicators in order to effectively
leverage the digital space. As such, HR needs to place a priority on management and
leadership training to ensure line managers are able to effectively convey expectations and
outcomes.
5.2.5

Strategy Development of Human Resource Management

Faced with rapid change organizations need to develop a more focused and coherent
approach to managing people. In just the same way a business requires a marketing or
information technology strategy it also requires a human resource or people strategy. Schuler
and Jackson (2006) and other social scientists assert that HRM is the main pathway to
satisfy shareholders, investors, customers, society and organizational members. Huselid
(1995) has identified the link between HRM practices and turnover, productivity and
financial performance when he found a negative relationship of employee skills and
organizational structure on turnover, and where employee skills and organizational structure
and employee motivation have a positive impact on firm performance. Human resource
management occupies the sphere of activity of recruitment selection, orientation,
performance appraisal, training and development, industrial relations and health and safety
issues. Business Ethicists differ in their orientation towards labor ethics (Walsh, A. J.). Some
assess human resource policies according to whether they support an egalitarian workplace
and the dignity of labor. Issues including employment itself, privacy, compensation in accord
with comparable worth, collective bargaining (and/or its opposite) can be seen either as
inalienable rights or as negotiable (Kuchinke, K. P. (2005), Dirkx, J. M. (2005).
Discrimination by age (preferring the young or the old), gender/sexual harassment, race,
religion, disability, weight and attractiveness. A common approach to remedying
discrimination is affirmative action (Koehn, D. (2002), Watson, I, Buchanan, J., Campbell, I.,
and Briggs Smith, N. H. (1997)).
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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

Once hired, employees have the right to occasional cost of living increases, as well as raises
based on merit. Promotions, however, are not a right, and there are often fewer openings than
qualified applicants. It may seem unfair if an employee who has been with a company longer
is passed over for a promotion, but it is not unethical. It is only unethical if the employer did
not give the employee proper consideration or used improper criteria for the promotion
(DeGeorge, Richard).
Potential employees have ethical obligations to employers, involving intellectual property
protection and whistle-blowing. Employers must consider workplace safety, which may
involve modifying the workplace, or providing appropriate training or hazard disclosure.
But it is unfortunate that most of the local organizations of Bangladesh follow a poor strategy
of Human Resource Development. There are unfair recruitment process, unfriendly
workplace, poor wage, lack of motivation factors, unfair performance appraisal etc.
Hypothesis: Strategy Development is the basic pillar of Human Resource Management.

5.2.6

Employee Education, Training and Development

Training and development (T&D) is a very important element of HRM (Vlachos 2008).
Training refers to some activities which equip employees with needed skills to perform better
in their current jobs (Li, et al. 2008). In the competitive business era technologies and
innovations are needed to cope with these pressures, while employees are required to learn
new knowledge and skills for performing their tasks and jobs with quality. Tai (2006) asserts
that training and development plays a crucial role for increasing work adaptability, ability,
flexibility, maintaining necessary competence, and motivates employees. This variable
influences employee productivity. Some studies have shown that there is an indirect
relationship between training and firm performance (Vlachos 2008). In actuality, unstructured
on the job training programs are prevailing in manufacturing enterprises. Bartel (1994) found
a significant positive relationship between training and labor productivity in her study while
Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that training activities are positively associated with high
performance practices, innovative labor demand features, work force skill level, firm size,
and are affected by labor flexibility in various directions. More recently, Apospori, et al.

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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

(2008) conducted a study in southern European countries and found that training had a
significant impact on firm performance.
In general, education is mind preparation and is carried out remote from the actual work
area, training is the systematic development of the attitude, knowledge, skill pattern required
by a person to perform a given task or job adequately and development is the growth of the
individual in terms of ability, understanding and awareness. Evaluation of the effectiveness
of training is done to ensure that it is cost effective, to identify needs to modify or extend
what is being provided, to reveal new needs and redefine priorities and most of all to ensure
that the objectives of the training are being met.
In Bangladesh, there is no rule and regulation about employee training and development.
Most of the cases the employees have to go through on job training. Employees are deprived
from learning latest knowledge. These trainings play a vital role in enhancing employees
efficiency and skills. Thats why employees in Bangladesh have poor professional growth.

Hypothesis: Employee education, training and development Is an essential part of Human


Resource Management.

5.2.7

Recruitment, Selection and Manpower planning

To sustain the high level of competitive advantage an organization requires talented and skilled
workers (Liao & Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has found that organizational productivity and high
performance depends on the selection of the right person, which is also a pathway to reduced
turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) have identified a positive link between hiring a manager
and employees, and the creation of the right culture for organizational growth. Selection is the process
of choosing a candidate from a group of applicants who best meets the selection criteria for a
particular position. In this process the right person chosen for the requisite qualifications and
knowledge is placed in the appropriate job position to decrease the cost, and maximize the profits by
means of their merit and talent (Vlachos 2008). Cho, et al. (2006) have identified that there is a
positive and significant relationship among HRM practices and staffing (recruitment source, pre
selection test, IQ test, structured interview, and biographical information blank of the organization)
for improving financial or profit performance. As a result, organizations are encouraged to attract
qualified candidates for survival and growth. A fair recruitment can be done by-

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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

No biasness- Political and personal biasness should be strictly prohibited in


recruiting employee.

Online Recruitment- Online CV processing and recruitment test can be more


effective and less time consuming for hiring employee.

The penalties for not being correctly staffed are costly. Understaffing loses the business economies of
scale and specialization, orders, customers and profits. Overstaffing is wasteful and expensive, if
sustained, and it is costly to eliminate because of modern legislation in respect of redundancy
payments, consultation, minimum periods of notice, etc. Proper manpower planning involve further
planning of such recruitment, training, retraining, labor reductions (early retirement/redundancy) or
changes in workforce utilization as will bring supply and demand into equilibrium, not just as a one
off but as a continuing workforce planning exercise the inputs to which will need constant varying to
reflect actual as against predicted experience on the supply side and changes in production actually
achieved as against forecast on the demand side.
In Bangladesh, the recruitment process is unfair in most of the local organization. Political and
personal biasness work in each recruitment. So potential resources remain unemployed. This culture is
spread all over the country. Thats why maximum companies are being driven by wrong persons.
There is also lack of people management strategy. So, organizations are being failed to utilize their
resource.

Hypothesis: Recruitment, Selection and Manpower planning are directly related to the success of any
organization.
5.2.8

Employee Motivation

Employee motivation is the "psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's
behavior in an organization, a person's level of effort and a person's level of persistence".
Huselid (1995) asserts that the compensation system is recognized as employee merit and it is
widely linked with firm outcomes. Compensation refers to all monetary payments and all
commodities used instead of monetary to reward employees. The expectancy theory (Vroom
1964) suggests that rewards, that can be understood as a form of direct and indirect
compensation packages, have potential to influence employee work motivation. Thang (2004)
posits that compensation and reward can be powerful tools for getting efforts from the
employees to fulfill the organizational goals. In the same vein, Wan (2008) asserted that

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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

compensation should be considered based on performance, not on the basis of seniority or


length of service in organization.
To retain good staff and to encourage them to give of their best while at work requires
attention to the financial and psychological and even physiological rewards offered by the
organization as a continuous exercise. As staffing needs will vary with the productivity of the
workforce good personnel policies are desirable. The latter can depend upon other factors
(like environment, welfare, employee benefits, etc.) but unless the wage packet is accepted as
fair and just there will be no motivation. Hence human resource management must act as a
source of information about and a source of inspiration for the application of the findings of
behavioral science. It may be a matter of drawing the attention of senior managers to what is
being achieved elsewhere and the gradual education of middle managers to new points of
view on job design, work organization and worker autonomy.
In Bangladesh the design of an employees job can have a significant impact on their job
motivation. Job design includes designing jobs that create both a challenging and interesting
task for the employee and is effective and efficient for getting the job done. In Bangladesh,
four approaches to job design are:
1. Job Simplification: The goal of this job design approach is to standardize and
specialized tasks.
2. Job Enlargement: The goal of this job design approach is to combine tasks to give
the employee a greater variety of work.
3. Job Rotation: The goal of this job design approach is to move workers to different
tasks periodically.
4. Job Enrichment: The key to job design employee motivation, this approach aims to
enhance the actual job by building up the employee through motivational factors.
In local organizations in Bangladesh, employee job satisfactions are most often avoided.
There are no allowance, performance bonus, promotions etc. So employees remain demotivated.
Hypothesis: Motivated employees are the potential resource of organizational success.

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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh


5.2.9

Ready Made Garments (RMG) Sector in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of readymade garment products trailing


China according to the McKinsey report (2011). Bangladeshs garment exports during
July-June 2012-13 period climbed by about 12.7 percent to US$ 21.515 billion over
exports of US$ 19.089 billion made during the corresponding period of 2011-12. In
2012-13, the top three export destinations for Bangladesh garments were Europe,
which accounted for US$ 12.56 billion, followed by the US and Canada, which accounted
for US$ 4.99 billion and US$ 980 million, respectively. But now it has received bad news.
Recent incidents like fire in the Tazreen Fashions factory in November, 2012 that killed
more than 110 and the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory building in April that
killed over 1,100 people and more than 2,500 were injured in the disaster. It may be the
second biggest industrial accident in recent history.
As a result, The President Barack Obama-led US government in June suspended
Bangladesh from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which allows duty-free
entry of over 5000 goods to the US market from least developed countries.
Now, RMG products (which make up most of the US import from Bangladesh) are not
included in the list of duty-free products in GSP, there will an export fall of about $40
million .At present, Bangladesh exports about $5 billion worth of goods (mostly RMG
products) to the USA every year and hence, the suspension from US GSP will account for
a fall in export of about 0.8 %. Losing the GSP facility will cost Bangladesh millions of
dollars in taxes. It is also influence the European Union to take similar action, which
would have a much bigger impact on Bangladesh and its garment sector.
Bangladesh successfully competes in the manufacturing industry by maintaining
"lowest labor costs in the world". In August, Garment factory workers clashed
demanding a Tk 8,000 minimum monthly wage. Many factories closed for clashing. The
owners finally agreed to pay Tk 5,300 as prescribed by a government-endorsed wage
board on Nov 4.
Hypothesis: Strong infrastructure and efficient management can retrieve the lost
success of RMG sector of Bangladesh.
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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh


5.2.10 Public Administration in Bangladesh

Based on the principle of consumer or user rights, citizens are now supposed to be treated as
customers. The government, instead of playing an interventionist role in various sectors, is
advised to redefine its role and to transform itself into a catalyst of private investors and
business institutions. However, being one of the poorest countries of the world and with a
malfunctioning market, the government still has to play an important role in various sectors.
In the energy sector, the government provides its service through Bangladesh Power
Development Board (BPDB), Rural Electricity Board (REB), and Petrobangla. For
transportation there is Bangladesh Road and Transport Corporation (BRTC); for
Telecommunication sector it is Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board (BTTB); and for
health sector, the government renders service through its local government bodies, City
Corporations and Municipalities. In recent years, the government has undergone many
restructuring programs to increase the ability, efficiency and quality of the service and to
downsize these agencies.
Some politicization of the civil service is unavoidable and even desirable; but beyond this
desirable level politicization can easily undermine the reputation and effectiveness of the
administrative institutions of the state. The faulty civil service recruitment procedures and the
degree of politicization described in this paper are evident to civil servants and university
graduates considering careers in public administration. The primary research reported in this
paper reveals that the status of the civil service has eroded and bright graduates are now less
likely to pursue public service positions than in the past.
To function properly the government needs to maintain an able and efficient workforce. To
do so the government must ensure that the civil service remains an attractive career choice.
The challenges are to reform the recruitment process, de-politicize the bureaucracy and
ensure the civil service promotion system is not tainted. These reforms, if undertaken
successfully, would place efficient and skilled personnel in the right positions and attract the
best and brightest students to public service careers. There is a large difference between what
is necessary and what can be achieved when it comes to the public administration and good
governance in Bangladesh. Here public administration is all about politics.
Hypothesis: Fair strategy of public administration is basic of overall development of any
country.
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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

6. Discussion Question

What are the main components of HRM?

Is HRM a function or a system?

Describe HRM standard on a global perspective?

What is the mission and vision of a general HR system?

What is the default ideology for HR professionals?

What is the recruitment process of Bangladeshi Companies?

Is there major difference in the recruitment procedure between MNCs and Local
organizations?

Is there any recruitment tracker maintained?

If yes then how transparent it is?

If no then what measures have been taken to maintain the tracker?

What is the maximum time for the vacant position to be closed?

Does the job responsibilities and job description are clearly defined to the candidates
appearing for selection process?

What types of criteria are being followed by Bangladeshi companies for promotion
practices?

What type of training process is followed locally?

What are the main challenges (topics) in your office regarding Training& Development
at the moment?

What strategies are followed in Bangladeshi companies for compensation and benefits
management?

Do the companies pay extra bonus to the employee for outstanding performance?

Do the companies have any specific system for the incentive of the employees? What are
they?

Do companies practice labor relation practice and fair treatment?

Briefly describe the performance appraisal for Bangladeshi companies.

After having the performance appraisal test do the company maintain any follow up?

What are the unique HR strategies practiced in Bangladesh?

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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

7. Conclusion
The comparison between local and global human resource management provides an
organized framework for developing and managing people who are comfortable with the
strategic and operational paradoxes embedded in global or international organizations and
who are capable of managing cultural diversity. Because of cultural diversities and issues of
convergence and divergence, it is impractical to develop a truly international approach to
global human resource management.
This means that organization structures, management styles, organization cultures and
change management programs have to be adapted to the dominant cultural attributes of
the host nation just as a careful balancing act is sought between being global and local
needs. Human capital is the most important asset for the poor, thus, the escalation in real
wages naturally enhances their earnings and contributes to poverty reduction. Bangladesh is
very young in HR practices. So most of the organizations are not concerned about the HRM
practices. By using HRM organizations of Bangladesh can be more efficient than before and
overall monitoring process will be more effective as well as beneficial. HRM actually
maintains and creates organizational culture. A strong organizational culture is the key of its
success. Considerably, we all hope that every organization of Bangladesh will soon start to
practice all the HR activities for their long term growth.
Bangladesh has achieved a remarkable record in reducing poverty in the past decade. From
above discussion we can see that today multinational companys competitor increase and to
achieve competitive advantage they need to expand their business and then they use
malleable cheap rate employees.
So after all the details it is clear that to run an organization effectively and efficiently it must
have to do some HR jobs. Coz the resource of an organization helps it to grow. And the
effective use of the resource makes the organization to reach up to its expectations and
objectives. Human resource is considered as the most important resource of business and to
use this asset HRM has no alternatives.

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Human Resource Management Practices of Bangladesh

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