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- A look behind the scenes: HR advice for Bangladeshi company
A look behind the scenes: HR advice for Bangladeshi company
Elvia van den Berg is a cultural anthropologist who works as a freelancer and has her own company called WORKwise. She also currently studies change management. On top of that she finds the time to do one or two PUM projects a year in the HRM Consultancy sector. Elvia: ‘I find it very interesting to work with SMEs all over the world, you get a look behind the scenes and can help people who work in challenging environments, how wonderful is that!’
One of these assignments was providing remote HR advice to Banga Flavour & Fragrance, a Bangladeshi company specialised in flavour for the food industry in Bangladesh. Elvia: ‘Originally, it is a family business, set up in 1965 and currently run by the second generation: the brothers intend to take Banga F&F to a next level. Things are going reasonably well within the company; the culture is very open, and the staff of about 60 people is disciplined. There have been two previous PUM experts who have completed a project at Banga F&F. First an advisory project on lean production planning, keeping the stock as small as possible. The second project was in the field of Finance.
Joint responsibility
The main problem I was addressing, was linking the goals of the organisation to individual performance goals of employees and assessing the performance of individuals. Banga F&F does have organisational goals and KPIs that are presented to the departments; however, these were not translated into individual contributions. We had some tools but not organised in a coherent manner. It was important that not only the head of the department (direct management), but also the employees would start to feel jointly responsible for a department. By discussing this in advance, in an annual plan for example, indicating who is responsible for what, a link can be made with the individual level, which can then be tested in performance interviews and job descriptions. There were also several issues within the areas of leadership, performance management, motivation, organisational culture and HR that we addressed.
Practical approach
Together with the Banga F&F team, I created a programme. Every two weeks, we would schedule an online meeting. In each session, the previous subject was discussed shortly, and a new subject was tackled. During the sessions, we developed a performance management system that matches the job descriptions within the company. I also gave some leadership advice and asked them what kind of leader do you want to be? I tried to use as less European examples as possible, I rather used leaders like Ghandi, Obama, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela as an example. Those leaders serve their goals and do not want to make themselves big.
Creating ownership
Banga F&F started thinking in teams about what the goals are and how to achieve them. This has a stimulating effect on the departments, and it creates ownership among employees. In the end, the Banga F&F team produced several products. I received various job descriptions and cascades of the strategies and I gave them feedback on the products. However, this year Banga F&F must work on this itself. So now it is really time for the implementation, but I am confident they are well prepared for it with the advice given.’
Mohammad Hasnat Chowdhury, senior executive at Banga Flavour & Fragrance adds:
“To start a journey, you need fuel in the car. We received the fuel (to think) in the first two sessions with Elvia. The brainstorming sessions helped my team in their thinking pattern. We had our company goals, but we did not know how we could reach those goals. Later we made a job description for each person and aligned them with our goals. We started to think about employee health and safety and we are trying to work as leaders, not bosses. The implementation is still in process, which takes time, but we believe the result will definitely be as expected. The best part is, now we know better how to align tasks, we are more structured and have more confidence. As a HR professional it was a great experience for me to work with a mentor like Elvia. She is awesome. I learned a lot and wish to learn more from her in the future.”
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