HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MODULE ASSIGNMENT

COMPANY: QATAR NATIONAL BANK

MODULE: INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

PREPARED BY - SAFEER MUSTHAFA

Contents
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3 COMPANY PROFILE ................................................................................................................... 3 VISION ........................................................................................................................................... 4 MISSION ........................................................................................................................................ 4 CURRENT HR PLAN .................................................................................................................... 4 HR OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................................................. 4 COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS ............................................................................................ 6 QATARIZATION........................................................................................................................... 6 NEW CORPORATE STRATEGY ................................................................................................. 7 HR FORECAST.............................................................................................................................. 7 NEW HR PLAN ............................................................................................................................. 8 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL .................................................................................................... 8 HR AUDIT...................................................................................................................................... 8 PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION ............................................................................................ 8 CONSEQUENCES & RESTRICTIONS ........................................................................................ 9 CONSEQUENCES ......................................................................................................................... 9 RESTRICTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 9 BENCHMARK ............................................................................................................................. 10 RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................................ 11 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 11

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INTRODUCTION
This report is an extensive research and study of Human Resource (HR) strategies in our chosen company of Qatar National Bank (QNB). This assignment will give an outlook of the company and its corporate objective at first. Moving further into the topic it will explain the current HR strategy and plan being followed in the company. A new corporate strategy is developed to help the company improve its operations. An HR Forecast will be conducted and a new HR Plan is developed to work hand in hand with the new developed corporate strategy. Consequences and Restrictions of this plan are further explained. This is followed by a Benchmark of the company with one of its competitors. Our recommendations for the company and a conclusion of this report will follow.

COMPANY PROFILE
Qatar National Bank (QNB) was established in 1964 as Qatars first Qatari-owned commercial bank. It is by far the leading financial institution in the country with market share approaching 40% of banking sector assets. It has a distribution network of 61 branches in addition to more than 200 ATMs. QNB Group has witnessed rapid international expansion in the past few years and has established presence in over 24 countries worldwide. QNB Group has an active community support program and sponsors various social, educational, and sporting events. QNB has more than 1200 employees in its branches across Qatar.

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VISION To become a MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Icon

MISSION
To be the institution of choice for customers, employees, investors and suppliers To be the dominant market player Maintain the highest credit ratings Have strong brand recognition and high brand value Achieve sustainable profitable growth Enhance shareholder value

CURRENT HR PLAN
HR OBJECTIVE
The main purpose of the Human Resources Department is to support the accomplishment of the Bank's objectives through creating and managing a work environment that attracts talented employees and assists developing their careers in the various fields of the Bank.

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In order to be able to run the work efficiently, the Human Resources Department has been divided into the following units: Manpower Planning and Recruitment The responsibility of this unit is to draw plans for the different departments of the Bank, which indicate the needs of the manpower qualitatively and quantitatively. Moreover, it works on arranging all the recruitment activities based on an internal recruitment program that gives the Bank's employees a chance to progress and improve their working skills; in addition to the external recruitment program at the local, regional and international levels.

Policies and Procedures This division develops and updates the policies and procedures of the Human Resources Department to meet the Bank's objectives and the Qatari labor law requirements. It also supervises the Performance Management System; its update and implementation. Personnel Administration This unit is entrusted with implementing all the procedures related to employees' relationship with the Bank, including salaries and related government transactions. Training and Development This unit is responsible for staff members' training needs identification based on various work fields requirements, results of individual performance evaluation as well as the Bank's strategic plans and objectives. The training unit organizes in house courses as well as utilizes local, regional and international training opportunities. The Individual Development Program (IDP) is the main instrument in managing the training function as it determines the corporate training needs which addresses the basic skills required by the work environment (e.g. English Language, Computer skills, Communication).

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COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

QNB provides its staff members with an attractive and competitive compensation and benefits package that includes: Competitive salaries and allowances Performance based incentive bonus Pension scheme for Qatari staff Medical care scheme for staff and dependants in the public as well as the private medical care sectors Staff loans Paid annual leaves and other leave type Life insurance Competitive end of service benefits

This package is carefully maintained and enhanced through continuous benchmarking with market trends and demands in the local as well as the regional markets.

QATARIZATION
QNBs Qatarization policy has been extremely successful in recent years. Its current Qatarization ratio of 53% is the highest in the financial sector and includes 83% of all branch managers. QNB has commenced interviews to recruit 150 top Qatari graduates from the application received during the Qatar Career Fair 2010. QNBs ratio of 53 % exceeds the banks ambitious goal for its five-year Qatarization plan which aimed to raise the ratio from 37% in 2005 to 50% at the end of the term in 2010.

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NEW CORPORATE STRATEGY

After analyzing the companys current strategy and situation, we have developed the following short term strategy: QNBs subsidiary QIHL (QNB International Holding Limited) based in Luxembourg has posted heavy losses of almost 47 million in 2010. It would be beneficial for QNB to sell off this liability to cover the losses and prevent more of the same. Further to this strategy, if the subsidiary cannot be sold or doesnt have buyers, the assets should be liquidated and the money should be used to cover losses.

HR FORECAST
QNB plans to hire most of its new employees through the Qatar Career Fair which takes place every year. It provides opportunities to fresh graduates and existing ones with experience in similar fields. The banks ability to engender staff loyalty and satisfaction in addition to its comprehensive remuneration program makes QNB one of the premier employers in the country.

This is demonstrated by high employee retention across QNB Group activities, inclusive of many senior staff members who have grown with QNB and have spent a large portion of their careers with the Bank. It is also testament to QNBs Human Capital department which identifies skills and core competencies in each individual to help develop specialized training and career succession plans.

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NEW HR PLAN
The New HR Plan for QNB that we have developed to link with the new strategy is as follows:

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
The employees of QIHL need to be apprised and measured on their performance so far. The methods to be used are Ranking, Grading and Graphic Scales. The employees with the highest performance should be considered for a transfer to other branches of QNB or as required by the HR department. This could be an internal international transfer and legalities like Visa requirements and also acceptance for the job by the employee must be looked into.

HR AUDIT
QNB should conduct an HR audit every year for all its branches and sub-companies. Using statistical and Management by Objective (MBO) approaches will be the most effective for the company. A look into job design and work atmosphere should also be done to see if employees are comfortable and efficient at their work.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION
Banking jobs are stressful at times and employees require evaluation to measure their stress levels at certain intervals. Periods like end of the financial year are more stressful and measures should be taken to control this after a thorough study. Psychologists and Counselors should be available for employees to approach during times of distress and anxiety. Periodical evaluations are also good to keep these in check. Psychometric tests can also be conducted.

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CONSEQUENCES & RESTRICTIONS

Implementing this new Strategy and HR plan will have the following consequences and restrictions:

CONSEQUENCES
The consequence of selling off QIHL will be that a lot of employees will have to be let go of and this may have a negative impact on the companys image and HR. It will also mean returning to the same market at a later stage is difficult. If the subsidiary is being sold off, all its debt must be cleared which involves a high cost, but which may be made up later.

RESTRICTIONS
The restrictions of the plan is that Appraisals and Evaluations must be done discreetly so that information does not leak out which may affect the selling price of the company. Also due to the poor operation and performance of QIHL, it may not have many buyers and this can affect the whole plan.

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BENCHMARK
We benchmarked QNBs HR processes with those of its competitor Doha Bank. Since most of the laws and regulations of Qatar do not allow much room for differences in the banking sector, the processes are almost similar. The Doha Bank HR ideology is as follows: Doha Bank considers Human Capital as valuable assets and believes in developing the Human Resources and providing exciting career growth opportunities and continuously enhancing Employee Value Proposition. Their workforce consists of the most talented and creative individuals who represent a cross-section of the global community. They aim at nurturing their employees talents through a culture that is open and inclusive, where people can achieve their individual and professional goals. Building a high performance culture is a key prerogative of the Doha Bank HR Department. They picture a credible and transparent performance management process that helps in aligning individual goals with corporate objectives, both quantitative and qualitative, and encourages team spirit. Their performance management process is supported by a rewards and recognition strategy and a market based compensation structure that is flexible, responsive and helps retention.

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RECOMMENDATION
The recommendations that we have come up with for this strategy and HR plan are: Consultants and auditors must be hired to analyze and report on the situation of QIHL and the reason for its failure. This can help in preventing such problems happening again with different sub-companies or investments. Providing life insurance as a benefit can be avoided since banking jobs do not pose a threat to life under normal working conditions. Instead a look into job design and ergonomics of work place can be done since employees spend long hours at their desks. This can help them do their job faster and more accurately.

CONCLUSION
In this report we have formulated and developed a Corporate and Human Resource Strategy which will help the company to improve its employee and investor relations. The current HR strategy was explained. A new Corporate Strategy was developed to improve the operations of the company. A new HR Plan was formulated to help achieve this Corporate Strategy. A benchmark and forecast was conducted to review the standing of the company. Recommendations were given to the company as well.

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