2009

MOBILINK
HUMAN
RESOURCE
DEPARTMENT
This document contains the functioning of the HR Department of
Mobilink with brief organizational profile and organizational
hierarchy.

1
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................3
Introduction: ..............................................................................................................3
HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT AT MOBILINK........................................5
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT MOBILINK:..............6
Chapter 2: HR POLICIES IN GENERAL (MOBILINK):............................................7
Policies in General:....................................................................................................7
WORKING HOURS:.............................................................................................7
PROTECTION OF COMPANY ASSETS & PEOPLE POLICY:........................8
DRESS CODE POLICY:.......................................................................................9
SECURITY AND SAFETY POLICY:................................................................10
COMPANY PUBLICATIONS POLICY:...........................................................11
ATTENDANCE POLICY....................................................................................11
Practices against the Policies in General:.................................................................12
Critical Review on HR policies of Mobilink in General:.........................................14
Chapter 4: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS:....................................14
Mobilink Policies for Recruitment and Selection: ..................................................14
Recruitment policy...............................................................................................14
Policy guidelines:.................................................................................................14
Application:..........................................................................................................16
Practices at Mobilink regarding Recruitment and Selection:...................................18
Critical Review on Recruitment and selection process:...........................................19
Chapter 5: TRAINING.................................................................................................19
Training needs assessment Policy at Mobilink:.......................................................19
Foreign training policy:............................................................................................20
Training: Practices at Mobilink................................................................................22
Types of Training in Mobilink: ...........................................................................22
Mobilinks Training programmes: .......................................................................23
Critical Review on Training at Mobilink:................................................................25
Chapter 6: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM:..............................................25
Policies at Mobilink for Performance Appraisal:.....................................................25
Practices at Mobilink for Performance Appraisal System: .....................................28
Critical Review on Performance Appraisal: ............................................................28
Chapter 7: CAREER PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT: ..........................................29
Critical Review: .......................................................................................................29
Chapter 8: Rewards System:........................................................................................30
Policies on Reward system at Mobilink:..................................................................30
SALARY..............................................................................................................30
Practices on Reward systems at Mobilink: ............................................................33
Critical Review:........................................................................................................33
Chapter 8: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES:...............34
HOW WELL THESE POLICIES AND PRACTICES ARE ACHIEVING THE
ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS?..................................................................................34
CONCLUSION: ..........................................................................................................34
RECOMMENDATIONS: ...........................................................................................35

2
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction:

Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. ("Orascom

Telecom") or ("OTH") was established in 1998 and
has grown to become a major player in the
telecommunication market in the world. OTH is
considered among the largest and most diversified network operator
in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan.

Mobilink GSM (PMCL), a subsidiary of

Orascom Telecom, was awarded a license
in July, 1992 and started its operations in
1994, and has become the market
leader both in terms of growth as well as having the largest
customer subscriber base in, Pakistan - a base of over 24
million and growing.

Mobilink provides the most extensive network coverage footprint

across Pakistan through an integrated technology infrastructure in
more than 5,000 cities, towns, villages, and countless
remote destinations, including International Roaming in 110
countries through 300 partner operators.

There are about 5000 employees currently working in Mobilink of

which 4500 are working on permanent basis and 500 on
temporary basis, with average of more than 800 employees hired
every month. Among them approximately 5% are managers and

3
operatives are 40%, rest are either contractual or not directly
related to core business.

In April 2001, when the OTH (Orascom

Telecom Holding) took over
management control of the company,
the market share was only 40% but as
of March, 2006; Mobilink served over
14 million subscribers, representing a
market share of approximately 56.2%
of total mobile subscribers in Pakistan.
However, during the past two years the
market share of Mobilink has gone
down to 41% (As of March, 2007).

The head office of Mobilink is located at KULSUM Plaza, blue area,

Islamabad. Its branch offices are located in Lahore, Karachi,
Faisalabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Peshwar, Quetta, Swat,
and Kohat. Moblink has three main contact centers in three
regions of Pakistan. As for the customers centers there are about
2000-2500 customers service centers all over Pakistan.

Principal area in which Mobilink Telecommunication is working is

that it provides its customers, a wide range of postpaid (Indigo) and
prepaid (Jazz) solutions. Keeping in the mind their customer
convenience they have also bundled mobile handsets, sold either
independently or bundled in Set so Go Get Pack.

Competition faced by the

company is from al the operators in
telecom that includes all the face
SGM (Global System of mobile)
operators, CDMA operators and
LDI operators and land line
operators. All these telecom
companies Human Resource
Departments are in constant need
of new employees. So there is stiff
competition in the telecom market
for Mobilink. Comparison with competitors in the market is shown as
in the table.

Mobilink is using high IT based technology for operations.

Mobilink uses Motorola’s infrastructure mostly at radio based
stations, but now it has been exceedingly using Alchatel equipment
too. Switching equipment is of Siemens and Alchatel, billing
system from Telesens KSCL and Ericsson, Intelligent network
from Siemens, Microwave equipement DMC. The GSM (Global

4
System of Mobile communication) band that is used by Mobilink is in
900/1800 MHz.

The number of subscribes of Mobilink has been fast increasing

since year
2000,the number
of subscribes of
Mobilink has
almost doubled in
the last one year
from 5 million
approx to 10
million approx
this figure has
almost increased by 50 times as it was in year 2000. This in fact
is a milestone for Mobilink. Currently the company has a customer
base of over 24 million and its growing.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT AT MOBILINK

There are about 44 HR professionals currently working at Mobilink

of which 10 are managers. Mobilink has a very well defined and
structured department and its various policies of keeping each
employee productive part of the organization are intoned with the
corporate worlds requirement.

Employees in the company are largely committed to their

organization and have shown progress in the company. Employees
are satisfied with the HR department of Mobilink GSM Company.

There are several functions performed by HR department which

are given below:

6. Planning
6. Recruitment
6. Selection
• Formal Interview
• Intelligence tests
6. Research and Development
6. Training
6. Compensation
6. Occupational Health and Safety measures
6. Career Planning and Development

5
 6. Performance Appraisal System

In order to make its human resource productive and efficient,

Mobilink aggressively work in developing its human resource capital
through international and local trainings as well as structured
employee ‘well-being’ programs, making it one of the most sought
after companies to work for in Pakistan. Mobilink conducts several
training program in order to improve the competencies and skills of
employees.

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT

MOBILINK:

Humans are the basic tool for having competitive edge in the
market for most of the organizations and Mobilink is one of these.
Mobilink has one of the best HR systems in Pakistan that gives it an
edge over its competitors.

HR strategy refers to the specific human resource management

course of actions that a company pursues to achieve its objectives.

But how these strategies/policies/practices are formulated and

implemented at Mobilink. There is a whole process behind this.

Like most big organizations, this process is also done in accordance

with company’s mission. First, Strategic planners analyze what
actually is he prevalent culture of the organization, what are the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT analysis) of
business and its market, and on the basis of all the above analysis,
company’s strategic plan is established. In the end HR strategies are
formulated in accordance with this overall business’/companies’
strategic plans.

Based on these HR strategies, HR policies and practices are also

formed and implemented. Any abrupt change in the market requires
the organization to follow this analysis in order to be successful.

6
That why organizations continuously keeps on updating their
strategies and policies.

Whole system for development of HR strategies/policies/practices is

as below:

Mobilink’s Competitive
Environment
Economic, Political,
Demographic, Competitive and
Technological Trends

Company’s Strategic Situation Company’s Strategic Plan

Company’s Internal
Strengths and Weaknesses

Organizational Performance Company’s HR strategies

Formulation of HR
Formulation of HR policies
practices

Chapter 2: HR POLICIES IN GENERAL

(MOBILINK):

Policies in General:

WORKING HOURS:

Purpose: Hours of work are scheduled to meet the production and

work requirements of the Company, and are in conformance with all
applicable local laws and practices.

Working Hours: The Company shall determine the hours of work:

Office Hours:

Monday through Friday (09:00 am. – 6:00 pm.)

9 am to 8 p.m. (Shops operating on one window operation concept)

Saturday: The shops timings will be determined by the Customer

Service Management keeping in view the customer needs.

7
Sixty (60) minutes meal breaks each day from Monday through
Thursday.

Ninety (90) minutes meal / prayer break for Friday.

Shift work:

Employees working in shifts will follow the shift roasters prepared by

the line management.

Exceptions: Employees may be requested to work on any of the

holidays or regularly scheduled day of rest including
Saturday/Sunday, if the Company’s business so requires.

Breach: Any employee not abiding by the working hours Policy will
initially be counselled by his /her immediate supervisor / office
manager. Any repeated act will be reported to the Human
Resources in writing who will refer the discipline policy for further
proceedings.

PROTECTION OF COMPANY ASSETS & PEOPLE POLICY:

Purpose: Mobilink’s continued success depends on the protection

as well as the development of technology. Each employee is
responsible for preventing the unauthorized use or disclosure of the
Company’s sensitive and proprietary information.

By following security policies and procedures, employees will

protect themselves as well as the physical, proprietary and
intellectual assets of the Company.

Procedure: Employees to identify themselves to the security

guards by showing Company issued Identity Cards.

Employees will sign confidentiality and proprietary agreement at the

time of leaving the Company stating that no information will be
passed on to any other person / organization. Human Resources is
responsible for signing of the agreement by the employee leaving
the Company before handing over a full and final settlement cheque
to the concerned employee.

8
DRESS CODE POLICY:

Purpose: Following are the main purposes for this policy.

A) To provide all employees with the reasons for suitable attire,

acceptability of appearance and enforcement procedures.

B) For the benefit of the employee and all other employees in the
working area. The employees clothing, hairstyle and jewelry shall
not be of the type, which may interfere with the appropriate
performance of his/her duties.

C) Employees whose duties involve Customer contact must

maintain a suitable appearance, as customers judge the Company
not only by the quality of product and services the Company
provides, but also by the appearance of the people with whom they
deal.

D) Employees who deal with the general public must maintain a

suitable appearance as their dress and actions reflect upon
Company Corporate image.

Procedure:

• All female employees shall observe the following dress code:

Shalwar Kameez
Sari / Blouse
Dress Pants / Blouse or Shirt with Jacket or Waist Coat
Skirts / Blouse or Shirt with Jacket or Waist Coat (No minis / long
slits)
Light makeup
Light jewelry
No Low Necks

• All male employees shall follow the following dress code:

Dress shirt / pants / Tie with Jacket or Coat or Sweater

Dress shoes and socks
Well trimmed moustache, hair and beard / “shaved face”
Hair length should not go below the shirt collar

• Employees who work on Saturdays, where they have

customer contact will wear Business casual. Business casual
is defined as follows:

9
Dress shirt / pants
Dress shirt / pants /coat
Dress shirt / pants / sweater
Dress shoes and socks
No joggers
No jeans

Dress code for female employees will remain unchanged on

Saturdays.

All Officers / Department Heads shall be responsible for the

implementation of the dress code for their employees.

Any employee not abiding by the Dress Code under this Policy will
initially be counseled by his /her immediate supervisor / office
manager. Any repeated act will be reported to the Human
Resources Department in writing.

SECURITY AND SAFETY POLICY:

Purpose: The safety of employees is everyone’s responsibility.

Accidents, precaution and efficient work go hand in hand. All levels
of employees have a primary responsibility for the safety and well
being of all of us.

Therefore, interest in practicing safety prevention must be

encouraged by:

a) Setting good examples.

b) Acting upon safety records.
c) Reviewing safety programs.
d) Holding personal interviews or group conferences.
e) Starting activities that will stimulate and maintain employee’s
interests.

No phase of operation of administration is of greater importance

than accident prevention. It is the policy of the Company to provide
and maintain safe and healthy working conditions and to follow
operating practices that safeguard all employees and result in safe

10
working conditions and efficient operations. Proper First Aid Kit will
be available at all Mobilink Offices including remote locations.

COMPANY PUBLICATIONS POLICY:

Purpose: To provide a means of communicating Mobilink’s policies,

objectives, plans programs and development of all employees.

• To report on all Mobilink activities.

• To provide an outlet for employees to express themselves in
their literary and artistic talents.

Policy Guidelines: The Company publishes booklets, news articles

and newsletters for the benefit of the employees.

The Company maintains the rights to change, discontinue, reverse

or edit the content of any publication issued by the Company.

Only brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, handbills or posters

approved by the Company may be issued or distributed on
Company premises.

The President and the VP Human Resources & Administration must

approve all publications intended for all employees.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Purpose:

To prevent unauthorized absence of employees, this creates serious

problems for normal and efficient operations and could result in
disciplinary action including termination.

Guidelines:

In case of any absence continuing for more than 24 hours must be

reported to concerned department, in case of illness, a medical
statement concerning the illness must be submitted to Mobilink
within 24 hours from the time by which the employee was to be on
duty. The Company may request an examination by a doctor
designated by the Company.

11
Practices against the Policies in General:

Following are the main practices that we observed against the

general Policies as mentioned earlier.

1) Working Hours: Mobilink is a big organization with quite a

load of work. So, though there are policies regarding working
hours, we found most of people working more than the limits
defined in the policies. As for example, for most executives
office timings are from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm but actually they
work till 8:00 in most cases. However, with more burdens
there are also more rewards. So, if Mobilink takes much out of
its employees then it also compensates them well.
2) Protection of Company Assets: At Mobilink, policies
regarding the protection of company secrets, important
information, assets etc. are followed strictly. We would like to
quote our own experience. When we approached Mobilinkers
for Organization’s policies, their first response was we need to
ask our HR department and we were not able to have the
policies that way. Employees really do care for such policies
and are pretty loyal to Organization.
3) Dress Code: Dress code is strictly followed at Mobilink,
especially by men. Women also dress well but they do go

12
 against some policies which, I think, are unjust according to
them. For example use of light make-up, light-jewelry etc. As
far as the dressing for meeting is concerned, Mobilinkers are
as good as George Colony.
4) Security & Safety Policy: Security at Moilink is of utmost
interest for the management and everyone working at
Mobilink. To accomplish the above policy, a Safety Committee
is set-up as follows:

1. VP HR/Admin
2. Head of Security
3. Member
4. Member

The functions of the Safety Committee are:

1. Development of policy recommendations.
2. Encouraging safety efforts.
3. Proper enforcement of safety needs.
4. Frank and constructive discussion on safety programs.
5. Cooperation with other Companies.
6. Training regarding safety.

5) Company Publications: Employee / Company related

information for Newsletter and Notice Board is sent to the
Local Human Resources Department.

Approval of Information / Articles sent by employees is

processed by the Human Resources Department before its
publication.

The Company reserves the right to publish any articles in the

Newsletter or any other publications.

Any information regarding Company activities or Customer

Related information must be sent to the Marketing
Department for approval.

Marketing must get approval from the President or his / her

nominee to place article in Newspaper or Customers
Newsletter.

Management has the right to change or withhold any

information pertaining to Company or other issues.

13
Critical Review on HR policies of Mobilink in
General:

Most of the General HR policies are well practices at Mobilink

with a few discrepancies. This indicates that the organization
does have a strong HR system with an effective HR strategy. We
may also see this thing as the predictor of good Telecom level
policies in Pakistan. The reason being that the general policies,
as mentioned above, are more or less the same for all telecom
companies. Most of these policies are formulated by the PTA
(Pakistan Telecom Authority). So reviewing the success of these
policies at Mobilink shows good strategy formulation by PTA as
well as Mobilink.

Moreover, these policies are not only practiced and observed in

telecom sector only. We see such dress code policy, asset
protection policy and like in many other business organization.
So these policies have a general tendency of being followed.

Employees seem to have a stable type of approach towards

these general HR policies. They do not seem to show any
disagreements over these policies and are pretty contented with
what is imposed in such policies.

Chapter 4: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

PROCESS:
Mobilink Policies for Recruitment and Selection:

Policies for Recruitment and Selection as experienced at Mobilink

are:

Recruitment policy

Objectives: The policy is meant to ensure an effective and

efficient method of recruitment and selection. It is aimed at hiring
without any discrimination based on race, colour, sex, nationality,
ancestry, religion or disability.

Policy guidelines:

The recruitment policy must comply with regulations set out by

the Government of Pakistan.

14
The Sources of recruitment for different job vacancies in PMCL
shall include:

Internal Advertisement.
Databank.
Advertising.
Head hunters/executive search organizations.
Walk in candidates.
Colleges and Universities

a) External Recruitment:

i. No candidate under the age of eighteen will be

considered.

ii. To avoid conflict of interest, hiring of close relations

(brothers, sisters, spouses, first cousins, brothers/sisters in
law) will not be encouraged. However candidates falling in
this category who have exceptionally good credentials
may be considered. Hiring supervisors will need to explain
in their assessment of the candidate their qualities that
justify hiring. A final decision will rest with the concerned
Divisional Head who will need to ensure that there is no
conflict of interest.

iii. Human Resources will advise Department Heads on

salary ranges to be offered to the applicant keeping
internal and external equity in perspective.

iv. Minimum qualifications must be a Bachelor degree or

equivalent. A-Level or equivalent may be considered for
call centre/support staff however will require approval of
the VP Human Resources & Administration.

This criteria does not apply to technicians/riggers and

ancillary staff.

b) Internal Recruitment

i. Internal candidates must be confirmed employees of

Mobilink who have completed one year of service.
However exceptionally good candidates may be
considered.

ii. Selected candidates will join the new job/position after

getting clearance from existing line manager.

15
 iii. Spouse of an existing employee will not work for
direct competition and either one will have to resign from
service. Prospective candidates whose spouses work for
competition will not be considered for hiring.

iv. Hiring from vendors, franchises, and clients is not

encouraged. Exceptionally where offers are made to
employees of these entities their prior consent must be
obtained.

General conditions for recruitment: All recruitment will be

done through the Human Resources Department in consultation
with the Officers and Heads of the concerned Department.

An applicant’s knowledge, skill and aptitude related to the

position shall be judged according to a range of factors
including:

a) Education (Academic / Professional).

b) Experience.
c) Profile and Psychometric Tests
d) Interviews.
e) References.

Application:

Applicants may apply online by registering with the web based

recruitment portal. However, when considered for a specific
position, they will be required to fill the standard application
form of the Company.

All applications will be kept on HR database for a period of 6

months only.

Conditions for selection: Departments must submit Hiring

Request and / or Transfer Request Form to the HR
Department and duly signed.

Information regarding qualifications and job description should

be forwarded for identification of suitable candidates.

Lead-time of at least ten working days should be given for

selection of candidates.

16
 The Human Resources Department would place internal
advertisements and / or shortlist suitable candidates from the
databank. If no suitable candidate is found, advertisements will
be placed in media.

The Human Resources Department shall, upon the department’s

request, provide screened CVs. The department will do another
sift if necessary and conduct interviews with the immediate
Supervisor / Department / Divisional Head or his / her nominee
and any job related selection tests. Short Listed Candidates will
be invited for a final interview with the HR department.

The Human Resources Department may conduct Profile and

Psychometric Tests for the selected candidate in order to
evaluate the suitability of the candidate.

Two Reference checks will be completed for the selected

candidate either before hiring or during the probationary period.
Appointment will be subject to satisfactory references being
received.

On Selection the following information will be forwarded to HR

to be kept in the Employees Personal File:

a. Interview Evaluation form

b. Passport size Photos.
c. Any other special clause.
d. References.
e. Copy of N.I.C.
f. Copies of degree(s): Bachelors and above only and copies of
experience certificates.
g. Duly filled application
form

In the Case of Consultants the Company will sign a contract with the
Consultant for a duration ranging from 3 months to 1 year.

The Human Resources Department shall prepare and deliver the

Employment Letter to the Employee and obtain signatures on a
copy.

These were the practices but what actually are the practices for
Recruitment and selection at Mobilink. Let’s explore.

17
Practices at Mobilink regarding Recruitment and
Selection:

Practices regarding the recruitment and selection are in accordance

with the policies formulated by the HR department. According to
employees following were the recruitment practices. Two types of
Recruitments: Internal and External.

Sources of Internal Sources of External

Recruitment Recruitment
Employee referrals Job fairs

Internal advertising University Hunts

Advertising

Emplacement Agencies

Walk in candidates

18
All recruitment and selection process is handled by the Human
resource department. Applications for jobs are mostly made via
internet.

Selection criteria are totally based on merit. A series of interviews

are conducted followed by a panel interview and a group discussion.
Only deserving from a lot of applicants are considered

Critical Review on Recruitment and selection

process:

It goes without saying that reference for job works. So it’s surely
a flaw in the recruitment and selection process of Mobilink. We
know a number of people who get job in Mobilink on reference
basis. However, saying all that, getting a job at Mobilink and
retaining that job at Mobilink for a time are two different things.

One thing was interesting studying the Mobilink Recruitment and

Selection process. Company entertains online applications more
than mailed ones. To us, reason is twofold. First, it reduces
burden during the recruitment process. Secondly, by using online
system, company can keep its image as innovative and latest the
eyes of its consumers.

Chapter 5: TRAINING

Training needs assessment Policy at Mobilink:

Objective: Identifying the most appropriate solutions to

performance problems

Procedures: All Company Heads should differentiate between

problems that require training and problems that require coaching
or other solutions. Usually, only about 20% of performance
problems require “training” solutions. The other 80% are best dealt
with by looking at the quality of supervision or by factors in the work
environment (rewarding good performance, punishing poor
performance, and removing obstacles to good performance).

Developing a Company – Wide Management Training Plan

19
Objective: Select/identify the needs, by management level, for the
total Company. The Company wills also Facilitate Employees with
Short Management Courses from time to time.

Procedures: The HR Department will develop the TNA according to

the recommendations made by their Supervisors in the performance
appraisal form.

The HR Department shall coordinate all the tasks until a total

Company-training plan is finalized, then follow-up with Department
Heads on its implementation.

The plan is the result of focusing on the individual discipline needs

into one schedule designed to meet the training needs of the total
Company.

The trainer should be under the headcount of HR so that adequate

training sessions can be planned and conducted nationwide.

The training requirements of the employees will be picked from the

recommendations made by their supervisors in the appraisal forms.

The training requirement could also be forwarded by the supervisor

if it is not mentioned in the performance appraisal.

Foreign training policy:

Objective: The purpose of this policy is to enhance skills and

knowledge of Mobilink employees and build their capacities to
enable them to perform their jobs more effectively and to develop
them for future growth.

Policy Guidelines: The Company shall pay all Training Expenses,

Round Trip Airfare, living Allowance, and Local Transportation in
accordance with Company regulations in this regard.

Conditions for Overseas Training: Employees who are

nominated for enrolment in an overseas training program should
meet the following conditions:

Should meet the prerequisites of the intended training.

Being knowledgeable of the language in which the training program
will be conducted.
In case an expatriate / contract employee needs to attend a foreign
training, he/ she has to be on a one year and above contract, with a

20
duration of 6 months of service to perform at PMCL – Mobilink from
the date of starting the training.

If the expatriate / contract employee being sent on the training does

not meet the above conditions, a waiver could be made on the
recommendation of the concerned Chief/ VP and the approval of the
president/ CEO.

Surety for Mutual Benefit: To ensure that both, PMCL –

Mobilink and the employees mutually benefit from overseas
professional training provided to employees. The employees
returning from training should continue to be in the employment of
the Company for following minimum periods as mentioned in Para
(4.2) depending on the training days. Failing of which employees will
be liable to pay the PMCL - MOBILINK expenses incurred by the
PMCL - MOBILINK on their training including travel and
accommodation expenses.

In the event of an employee wishing to leave the employment of the

Company he/she will reimburse the Company the expenses incurred
by the PMCL- Mobilink on providing the training. PMCL- Mobilink will
make appropriate deductions from the employee final settlement
including Provident fund. And remaining amount will be deposited
by the employee in the Company account.

In case an employee doesn’t pay back the due amount to the

company, HR will issue notice to the concerned employee
mentioning that he/she has to pay back the amount to the
company, otherwise, company reserve the right to take legal action.

If the employee is terminated for cause he will be absolved from any

deductions/ recovery of Training cost.
Employee Surety Period and Cost

Number of Days of Duration of Cost to be recovered

Overseas Training Surety
Up to 6 Days 6 Months Full
Between 7 and 10 1 Year Full
Days
Between 11 and 15 1 ½ Year Prorated after One Year
Days
More than 15 Days 2 Years Prorated after One Year

Cost of Training will be determined by finance in consultation with

Technical for Technical Training and Human Resources.

21
Training: Practices at Mobilink

On contacting personnel in the Mobilink office it was found out

that Mobilink mostly trains its employees by On Job Training
which means that the employees are trained as they perform
their jobs and along with their duties. The manager or supervisor
guides them how to perform their jobs and guides them to
efficiency in the work.

Internees are trained in various departments and then mostly

hired by Mobilink itself and their training is basically teaching
them the ropes and the basics of everything.

Types of Training in Mobilink:

On a general basis the training done in Mobilink can be divided

into two categories:

• Soft skill training

• Technical Training

Soft Skill Training: Helping your employees develop a stronger

base of knowledge on topics that affect their personal lives can
make them more productive and less distracted in their jobs. Soft
skill development courses in areas like personal finance and
childcare can help your team better manage the most important
areas in their personal lives.

This may include the following things for e.g.

• Conflict management training

• People management training

• Communication skills

• Anger management

• Time management training

• Teamwork training etc

Technical Training: This type of training has direct effect on

the job of the employee. Specific skills are focused and

22
 developed accordingly. The engineering trainings of Mobilink are
also included with this along with

• Customer Services training

• Sales related training

• Marketing and technology training etc.

All these types of training are done to enhance the employees

job skills at the level he is at.

Mobilinks Training programmes:

Mobilink with its large workforce invests aggressively in

developing its human capital through international and local
trainings as well as a structured employee ‘well-being’ programs,
making it one of the most sought after companies to work for in
Pakistan.

Graham Burke, the President PMCL Mobilink, said

“Mobilink will provide proper training programmes to its

employees in order to make them more aware of their
responsibilities”

Mobilink, the Pakistan based subsidiary of the global

telecommunication giant, Orascom Group, in a strategic move,
has outsourced its leadership training and development of about
100, of its senior and fast track managers and supervisors, to the
region's well established consultancy firm, Global Management
Consultants, who will be responsible for the design and delivery
of over 5 months training initiative.

Their training methods maintain interest throughout; put

emphasis on the practical aspects; and ensure that delegates
understand the knowledge gained so that they can immediately
and effectively apply it within their own organizations.

All training sessions are delivered in a highly participative style,

introducing topics in a challenging and thought-provoking way.

Practical examples, exercises and case studies are used to

illustrate the topics covered and show delegates how they can
relate the techniques introduced during the course to their own
work situation.

Programmes can be tailored to meet the required goal.

23
The various training programmes of mobilink focus on specific
skills for e.g. the annual or monthly reports of performance are
evaluated by the manager and the weak areas are considered
and the respective training is taken up.

Mobilink trains its employees in the following fields’ aswell:

1. Customer service training: The employees are trained

in communication skills, negotiating skills in order to serve the
customers whether in the call centre or customers services
centre. They are taught on how to talk appropriately to the
customers, how to recognize their problems, solve their
problems and how to deal with them.
2. Supervisors training: Leading a department or an
organization is a very difficult job and the person at this level
must be properly skilled. The supervisor training programme
helps those people who are at this post to develop the right
skills required and asked for at this job.
3. Leadership workshop: Becoming a Leader Good leaders
are made, not necessarily born. You can become an effective
leader by developing yourself through a never-ending process
of self-study, education, training & experience. To inspire your
people to higher levels of teamwork there are certain things
you must be, know & do. Leadership makes people want to
achieve challenging goals & objectives. This workshop is for
managers who have the desire to ‘make things happen’ &
have a team who need to be inspired into action! Mobilink
offers this workshop for is specific employees.
4. Conflict management training: We are living in times
where chaos and conflict are on the rise. Lack of conflict can
be as damaging for any organization, as having conflicts that
go out of hand. In fact conflict is the very source of creativity,
without which innovation is not possible. Usually these
conflicts are resolved, but occasionally they grow to hinder
one's job performance. This program is designed to increase a
supervisor's ability to prevent conflicts from reaching a crisis
stage and how to resolve it when a necessary conflict occurs.
A framework for tackling conflict is also provided that helps
managers who find dealing with conflict an unpleasant
experience.
5. Development of oratory skills: With fit, healthy and
active minds perform faster and more accurately with minimal
stress. How people speak indicates their state of mind.
Nervousness in making public appearance is often the result
of not knowing WHAT to do and HOW to do it! Learn to control
your nervousness and feel the confident - professional image
many seek! This workshop will provide hands-on approach to
polish oratory skills, use projected media, and present like a
"pro."

24
 6. Motivating, Coaching & Delegating Any approach to develop
management skills must involve a heavy dose of practical
application. At the same time, practice without the necessary
conceptual knowledge is sterile and ignores the need for
flexibility and adaptation to different situations. They will also
discover ways to manage performance of individuals and
teams in order to achieve departmental/ organizational goals
and objectives. All these programmes are aiming at
developing specific skills in specific people for specified
purposes.
7. It is believed that leadership skills and business goals are
achieved through the training and development of the
employees. To make it more motivating the participants of the
training programme are awarded a course completion
certificate at a graduation ceremony which is held after the
completion of the training programme.

Critical Review on Training at Mobilink:

A lot of effort is put by Mobilink in Training its human resource.

Organization has clear policies regarding training needs
assessment and procedure for each type of training offered.
Training is compulsory for some people in the organization;
however, it is on offer for everyone working at Mobilink. A person
in the finance department is always welcomed by HR department
for Customer service training.

A number of training methods are practiced at Mobilink like

conflict management training, supervisory skills training etc. with
the help of best in the business. Saying all that training basically
seems to be for the managers and supervisors but not for the
lower level employees. There seems to be a need to increase
training efforts focused to this group.

Chapter 6: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

SYSTEM:

Policies at Mobilink for Performance Appraisal:

25
Objectives: The purpose of this policy is to provide a formal review
program to evaluate work performance and to promote
communication and discussion of job performance. The intent of
these discussions should be to review current job performance and
responsibilities, set goals, and discuss future opportunities with
reference to past performance at Mobilink.

The Objectives of the Performance Review Program are:

o To measure work performance

o To motivate and assist employees in improving their

performance and achieving their personal/professional career
goals

o To identify employees with high potential for advancement

o To provide objective information for making decisions on salary

increases, promotions, bonus and transfers.

o To identify employees training and development

o To provide a solid path for career planning for each individual

Frequency of the Performance Review: Informal

performance discussions should be conducted frequently as and
when the need arises. These discussions will provide the basis for
an objective summarization of performance during formal
Performance Reviews and allow more time for discussing future
plans and organizational as well as personal objectives. The
supervisor is encouraged to make notes on pertinent points
discussed and to place those notes in the employee’s personnel file.

Formal written performance reviews will be conducted with all

employees annually. Notification along with Performance Evaluation
Forms will be sent from the Human Resources Department in
advance with the scheduled performance evaluation date.

All employees will be reviewed at least once at confirmation.

Therefore, Performance Reviews will be held on an annual basis
from the date of hiring or more often if desirable to do so. The
supervisor will receive notification of the scheduled review period
from the Human Resources Department.

Policy guidelines: The performance appraisal is done on an

annual / basis (from January 1st to December 31st).

Every employee should know what is expected from him / her

through direct supervisors. He / She should participate in & agree

26
with the goals & objectives set by himself / herself in accordance
with the Company’s business plans & objective goals.

Everyone should have the opportunity to perform & develop

according to the set objectives & agreed upon duties. He / she
should also expect self-assessment and take actions to develop his /
her competency level & increase his / her participation in the
achievement of the Company’s objectives.

To ensure openness, consistency & objectivity, the agreed

competency framework covering all aspects of the job should be
used as the basis for performance planning appraisals. Accordingly,
it should be well known & clear for both the Employee and the
Manager covered.

Department Heads & Managers involved in performance appraisals

should be well trained & familiar with the applied performance
appraisal system & the appraisal interviewing techniques.

The performance evaluation program requires that an annual

meeting be held with each employee; however, Coaching,
Counselling and Guidance must be an on-going process for the
desired improvement and development to be achieved.

To give a chance to Subordinates to evaluate their seniors a 360

Degree Evaluation will be conducted at the time of the Performance
Evaluation.

Performance Appraisal Forms: The performance appraisal

forms will be filled once in a year to get a clear picture of the
employee performance.

27
Practices at Mobilink for Performance Appraisal
System:
Mobilink conducts performance appraisal in order to evaluate their
employee’s current performance or past performance relative to
company’s performance standards. Mobilink try to adapt the
performance appraisal in which their employees understood what
his or her performance standards were and that the supervisor also
provides the employee with feed back, development, and incentives
required to help the person eliminate performance deficiencies or to
continue to perform above par.

There are many performance appraisal methods. Mobilink uses the

computerized performance appraisal method.

In Mobilink the performance appraisal of employees is conducted in

December. The Mobilink HR department has developed a
performance appraisal sheet and has downloaded it on the intranet
of Mobilink so that the supervisor performs the evaluation of the
employees. When the supervisor completes the evaluation, he will
send the performance appraisal sheet to the employee for the
affirmation with the ideas of the supervisor if the employee does not
agree with the supervisor he will not sign the PA sheet. When the
last date of submission of PA sheet is passed then the HR
department asks the supervisor and the employee about the
problem and resolves the problem.

Critical Review on Performance Appraisal:

Online 360 degree approach of performance appraisal is adopted

at Mobilink for evaluating employee performance. In the past only
180 Degree approach for performance appraisal was adopted but
now 360 Degree is also in action. This is a very supportive strategy
by the organization because if an employee is not happy with the
evaluation by his supervisor then he has the authority to challenge.

There are a number of rewards that are tied to performance

appraisals. So, tool applied for performance appraisal justifies itself.

28
Chapter 7: CAREER PLANNING &
DEVELOPMENT:

Mobilink faces much competition in the telecom industry so

now they are focusing on career Management of their employees in
which they enable the employees to better understand and develop
their career skills and interests and to use these skills and interests
most effectively both within the company and after they leave the
firm. Career planning is the deliberate process through which
someone becomes aware of personal skills, interests knowledge,
motivation, and other characteristics; acquires information about
other opportunities and choices; identifies career related goals and
establishes action plans to attain specific goals. Career development
is the lifelong series of activities (such as workshops) that
contributes to a person career exploration, establishment, and
success ad fulfillment.

Mobilink gives promotion of their employees on the

performance basis. The Mobilink HR department develops the
employee’s career development plans in which the HR department
predicts the next logical step for their employees within five years.

Critical Review:
Importance of Career planning in today’s competitive world is
as important as any other HR function. Retaining your
valuable Human resource today is one of the biggest
challenges that organizations are facing. So, HR needs to
come up with new strategies. Career planning and
development is one of the basic tool and strategy
organizations are using for retaining their employees. This
function actually makes employees feel that they are
important to the organization and Mobilink wants them to be
at the top in their careers.

However, at Mobilink this function is not fully performed or we

should say this function is not performed satisfactorily. There
are some policies on these but those are not recognized that
well. One point of policy is found along with the compensation
other with the recruitment. There should have been separate
head for these policies.

As far as the practices are concerned, all the employees were

reluctant to talk about this during our interview. However,
what we analyzed is that career development is practiced but
not that openly. Specially, in case if some employee is

29
 considering of joining the competitor’s firm. If such is a case
then organization has discipline policies for that even.

Chapter 8: Rewards System:

Policies on Reward system at Mobilink:

There is a list of policies regarding the reward system at
Mobilink. It offers both kinds of rewards: Intrinsic and Extrinsic.
Following are the main reward related policies:

SALARY

Objectives: The purpose of this policy is to have salaries subject

for review in January of each calendar year in the light of merit and
inflation.

An employee, who is employed on a job with title and specifications,

will receive compensation that is relevant to field experience
matching with approved salary structure of his / her position.

Policy Guidelines: The Company will pay salaries of the

employees and all other amounts due to them during office hours
and on the job site as follows:

All New Employees have to open bank accounts in specified banks

prescribed by the Company so that their salary will be credited at
the end of each month.

Upon termination of service (end of service), the employee will

receive his / her salary within 15 working days up to the time of
date of his / her last working day.

Upon resignation, the employee will be paid his / her dues during a
maximum period of 15 working days from the date he / she left the
job.

Salary Administration Program:

Salary Objective: The salary administration program is designed

to meet the following objectives:

1. Attract & retain the services of competent qualified employees.

30
2. Provide fair and equitable compensation to each employee and
to ensure that the value of each job relative to all other jobs within
the Company is established and maintained on a fair and equitable
basis.

3. Provide annual performance appraisal for employees to

improve their job performance and to encourage them to aspire for
promotions to jobs with greater responsibilities i.e. fairly
compensate employees based on individual accomplishments and
annual performance appraisals.

4. Ensure that salaries are competitive and in line with salary

levels that prevail in the industry.

5. Instill employee confidence in the Company’s compensation

policies and practices.

Salary Outline: The “Basics” of the salary administration program

can be summarized in the following manner;

o The VP Human Resources & Administration and the concerned

Department Head will analyze each job classification.

o The HR Department determines an appropriate salary range in

relation to similar jobs at other well respected companies (salary
survey).

o The HR Department will analyze each job and assign a job code,
hire rate, minimum, mid and maximum point rate. (Salary
Structure)

o The HR Department will prepare the salary structure to be

reviewed and approved by the Director & VP HR.

Salary Scale: Each job is assigned a minimum salary, established

according to the salary survey results, which specifies the minimum
salary that may be paid to incumbents in each job.

Minimum through maximum scales is built on a system of

mathematical calculations to allow for overlapping between levels
as a result of salary, merit or promotional increase.

Setting Starting Salaries:

Objective: To ensure that each employee is given the starting

salary of the title level in which his / her position and experience fall.
Also to ensure that consideration is given to past experience and
qualifications when setting starting salaries

31
Factors to be put into consideration for setting salaries within the
range determined by the departmental Head & the HR department

The starting salary offered to new candidates by Mobilink will be

dependent on two factors:

• The particular job level for which the job offer is being made.
• The candidate’s education, experience, qualifications as
compared to the minimum qualifications required by the job
specification and prevailing industry rates.

Salary Administration Procedures:

• Human Resource Department: Prepare all documentations

and their summary affecting salaries, and forward payroll
section for processing that includes:

o Recruits, transferees
o Promotion and increments
o Allowances, bonuses and incentives
o Discipline
o Review the all documents affecting salaries.
o Entry of all salaries based on Salary, allowances, deductions and
commissions.

Besides there are other intrinsic and extrinsic awards that

leads towards one objective only and that is: To compensate
employee sufficiently so that he may be motivated and constitutes
an integral part of Human resource of organization.

Other intrinsic and extrinsic rewards include:

Medical care
Life insurance
Vacations
Relocation
Credit advance policyprovident policy/advance against
provident fund and acapping of gratuity
EOI
Recreation
Club Policy Travel
Education assistance policy
Mobile phone
Business mobile phone policy
Official Balckberry Poicy

32
Practices on Reward systems at Mobilink:

Policies regarding the reward systems are practiced quite strictly at

mobilink. Employees are paid when they are supposed to pay. Other
rewards are also fast but they are mostly tenure based rather than
performance based.

In policies it is mentioned that the rewards are totally performance

based. However, this policy is not that much followed strictly.
Rewards are mostly determined by the organizational membership
and seniority rather then by performance. Promotion is given on the
basis of performance, as well as tenure.

Critical Review:

Reward system at Mobilink is quite complicate. The reason for this is

that there are many intrinsic and extrinsic, direct and indirect,
compensating and non-compensating rewards. There is even a
department that looks after the motivational aspect of the
employees. How motivation level of employees can be kept to a
level so that they can be more productive. PMO (Project
management office) introduces many club memberships, game
shows, lunch arrangement and many more for employee to be
motivated. Similarly, there are special achievement awards at each
individual level. Then there are even team awards, department
awards and division awards.

One thing to mention is criteria for rewards. As mentioned earlier in

policies, rewards are performance based. But this is true only in
case of achievement awards, group awards etc. If we observe basic
pays and increments then those are not performance based. Those
are more of tenure based. Mobilink does say that all rewards are
performance based. However, it is not the case in practice.

33
Chapter 8: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
MEASURES:

There is no need for such measures at Mobilink as maximum jobs do

not expose you to the health hazards and are not such that require
safety measures. However, there is a tendency of being safe in
every human and that shows when you visit some Mobilink officer to
meet someone of a high designation level. You need to fulfill various
safety measures.

HOW WELL THESE POLICIES AND PRACTICES ARE

ACHIEVING THE ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS?

Well the answer is simple. Policies are going pretty well.

Numerically, I can say more than 90%. How? Well because these are
being practices in the same manner as was expected during the
policy formulation time. Moreover, see the results. Mobilink is
considered to have the best HR in Pakistan and they have retained
this edge. So, it’s so obvious that all overall policies are good and
they are also being followed exactly the same way as required to
achieve organizational goals.

CONCLUSION:
To conclude Mobilink has a strong HR system. That is the reason we
didn’t found much discrepancies in what management says, what
policies state and what employees say. 90 % of the times they were
same. There are some minor discrepancies but they are adjustable
with little effort.

34
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Mobilink has a strong HR system. That is the reason we didn’t found
much discrepancies in what management says, what policies state
and what employees say. 90 % of the times they were same.
However, there were some discrepancies that need attention and
their adjustment can make this HR system best in Pakistan.
Following are some of the recommendations based on those
discrepancies:
1. Human resource department is not fully authorized to take all
the decisions. Though HR department claims to have the
overall management of the company but that actually is not
the case. There are many HR decisions that are taken by the
other department. So, there should be a clear delegation of
authority regarding decision making for HR department.
2. One thing we observed during our project was that employees
were not aware of the in depth policies. The main reason that
we have understood for this is their lack of knowledge about
policies formulation. Employees are not encouraged to give
suggestions in policy formulation. So, our suggestion is that
employees should be consulted while policy formulation stage.
3. Benefits and rewards are too complicated for anyone to
understand. Though there are many of these but most of
employees even have not information as to for what benefit
they can go for. So, Mobilink should simplify its reward system
for its employees to understand well.
4. The decision making is delegated to managers with goals set
for each term promotion, hiring and firing is virtually in the
immediate boss’s hand. This practice can cause disharmony
among employees for power. Team based structure (like the
one at PMO) should be preferred in all departments
5. Mobilink pursues Zero-tolerance policy for disciplinary actions.
This is good but not in all cases. Mobilink should look towards
its discipline polices and try to be a bit more lenient.
6. Mobilink HR lacks in terms of career planning and
development. This important function of HR does not have
recognition in Policies’ statement. Mobilink should have a look
at this.
7. Mobilink uses only policy specified sources for recruitment
which are only 5. In this way it can loose some potential

35
applicants that can be asset to organizations, just because
they were not well communicated. So, Mobilink should
increase its recruitment sources. During an HR specialist
interview, we posed the same question and the answer was
“that’s what policy says; on ground level we do use as many
sources as possible”. If this is the case then our
recommendation is that Mobilink should adjust its policy
accordingly.

Aamir mumtaz
Amir_abbasi88@hotmail.com
0343-549-6774

36