HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MODULE ASSIGNMENT

COMPANY: QATAR NATIONAL BANK

MODULE: INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

PREPARED BY - SAFEER MUSTHAFA

ContentsINTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................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 Qatar’s 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

QNB‘s 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.

QNB’s ratio of 53 % exceeds the bank’s 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 company’s current strategy and situation, we have developed the following

short term strategy:

QNB’s 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 doesn’t have buyers, the assets should

be liquidated and the money should be used to cover losses.

HR FORECASTQNB 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 bank’s 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 QNB’s 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 & RESTRICTIONSImplementing 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 company’s 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 QNB’s 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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