“HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES IN”
[STANDARD CHARTERED BANK]
 DECLARATION
I declare that the project entitled “Human Resource Management
Practices in Standard Chartered Bank. It is a record of independent
research work carried out by me during the academic year 2009-
2010 under the able guidance of my mentor and guide
_______________________________.

I also declare that this project is the result of my effort and this project
has not been submitted earlier in part or whole for the award of any
other degree / diploma of any university. All the details provided in
the report hold true to the best of my knowledge.

Place: Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Date: ______________ 2010

Name (in Full)

College / University
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I extend my gratitude to our guide ________________________ who

inspired me to take up this project and had been guiding me and
gave me valuable suggestions in preparing this project report.

My gratitude and special thanks to all my friends who have provided

their assistance, motivation and support. Their constant support and
inspiration had been a driving force for the completion of this study.

Lastly, I would like to thank all the respondents who offered their
opinions and suggestions at various phases of the survey conducted
by me.
 TABLE OF CONTENT
TOPIC_________________________________________________ 1
DECLARATION _________________________________________2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT___________________________________3
TABLE OF CONTENT_____________________________________4

S.N DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.

O
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
2 OBJECTIVE 8
3 METHODOLOGY 9
4 INTRODUCTION TO SCB 10
5 DESIGN AND APPROACH 14
6 STRATEGIC HRM PRACTICES OF SCB 17
7 ANALYSIS 31
8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 39
9 GRAPHICAL INTERPRETATION 40
10 CONCLUSION 47
11 ANNEXURE (QUESTIONNAIRE) 48
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction:

Human Resource Management is the process of developing, applying

and evaluating policies, procedures, methods and programs relating to
the individual in the organization. Human resource management
includes Human Resource Planning, recruiting, selection, training and
development, compensation, performance management and employee
development. Effective human resource practices relate to company
performance by contributing to employee and customer satisfaction,
innovation, productivity, and development of a favorable reputation of
the firm in the industry.

Objective:
The project has been undertaken to assess the Strategic Human
Resource Management practices of Standard Chartered Bank with the
prime focus at formulation of strategies and tactics and how it
contributes in implementing the strategies.

Methodology:
The information related to the project has been collected from the
Standard Chartered Bank, Muscat Branch in Oman. The methodology
adopted is as follows:

o Data collection by conducting interviews of officials of the

Bank
o Frequent visits
o Internet Search
o Study of Bank’s annual reports

A comprehensive study of the literature has been carried out the see
the factors that help in achieving a competitive advantage in a dynamic
banking environment.

Scope of Study:
As we know services are a growing industry and many firms are striving
to deliver value added services to their customers. In this regard banks
are continuously focusing towards improving their services. Similar is
the case with Standard Chartered Bank. This Bank has evolved
tremendously during the last couple of years and now has become one
of the leading banks in the country.

Keeping this in view the study has been undertaken to identify the
strategies and plans of the Bank and to identify the methods adopted by
the Bank to train and motivate their people and work force.

Literature Review:
Human resources management includes a variety of activities, and
among them is deciding what staffing needs an organization has and
whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these
needs, recruiting and training the best employees , ensuring they are
high performers , dealing with performance issues and ensuring the
personnel and management practices conforms to various regulations.
Activities also include managing their approach to employee benefits
and compensation, employee record and personnel policies.

HRM strategies have shown to be valuable to any company’s success.

Thus to be successful in a global market place, the challenge for all
businesses regardless of size is to invest in human resources. They
need to select and retain talented employees, undertake employee
training and development programs and dismantle traditional
bureaucratic structures that limit employee’s ability to be innovative and
creative. Few commonly used HR activities are HR Planning,
Recruiting Selection, Training and Development, Compensation
Performance Management and Employee Relations

World-class organization use performance measurement systems to

determine whether they are fulfilling their vision and meeting their
customer-focused strategic goals. Leading-edge organizations use
performance measurement to gain insight into, and make judgments
about, the effectiveness and efficiency of their programs, processes,
and people. These best-in-class organization decide on what indicators
they will use the measure their progress in meeting strategic goals and
objectives, gather and analyze performance data and then use those
data to drive improvements in their organization and successfully
translate strategy into action.
Thus in today’s organizations, the use of Strategic Human Resource
Management information is to help set agree-upon performance goals,
allocate and prioritize resources, inform managers to either confirm or
change current policy or program directions to meet those goals, and
report on the success in meeting those goals.

OBJECTIVE

This project has been chosen to understand and assess the Strategic
Human Resource Management practices of Standard Chartered Bank
with the prime focus at formulation of strategies and tactics and how it
contributes in implementing the strategies, thus creating a correct
momentum between the employer and the employees.
METHODOLOGY

I have collected data from Standard Chartered Bank Oman, and at the same
time evaluating the procedures being followed by other prominent banks and
meeting representatives to get their feedback on the procedures and HR
strategies and its standard operating procedures. The focus and
concentration here in this project is centric to Standard Chartered Bank Oman
HR Strategies.
INTRODUCTION TO SCB
History of Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered is the worlds leading emerging markets bank

headquartered in London. Its businesses however, have always been
overwhelmingly international. Standard Chartered is name after two
banks, which merged in 1969. They were originally known as the
Standard Chartered Bank of British South Africa and the Chartered
Bank of India, Australia and China. Of the two banks the Chartered
Bank is the older having been founded in 1853 following the grant of
Royal Charter from Queen Victoria. The moving force behind the
Chartered Bank was a Scot, James Wilson, who made his fortune in
London making hats. James Wilson went on to start The Economist, still
one of the world’s pre-eminent publications. Nine years later, in 1862
the Standard Bank was founded by a group of businessmen led by
another Scot, John Paterson, who had immigrated to the Cape Province
in South Africa and had become a successful merchant. Over the
following decades both the Standard Bank and the Chartered Bank
printed bank notes in a variety of countries including China, South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Malaysia and even during the siege of Marketing in
South Africa. Today Standard Chartered is still one of the three banks,
which prints Hong Kong’s bank notes.

The Post War Years:

After the Second World War many countries in Asia and Africa gained
their independence. This led to local incorporation in some countries,
particularly in Africa. Other operations such as those in Iraq, Angola,
Myanmar and Libya were nationalized, while in Indonesia the Jakarta
office was destroyed in an attempted coup d’etat. In 1948 the Chartered
Bank opened in Bangladesh and during 1957 it acquired the Eastern
Bank. The Eastern Bank gave the Chartered Bank a network of
branches including Aden, Bahrain, Beirut, Cyprus, Lebanon, Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates. The Chartered Bank also entered into a joint
venture to form the Irano-British Bank, which opened for business in
1959. The bank grew rapidly and had 24 branches when it was
nationalized in 1981. By the mid 1950’s the Standard Bank had around
600 offices in Southern, Central and Eastern Africa. Its network grew
substantially in 1965 when it merged with the former Bank of British
West Africa, which had some 60 branches in Nigeria, 40 branches in
Ghana and eleven branches in Sierra Leone in addition to operations in
Cameroon and Gambia. Despite these acquisitions and expansion into
new counties such Mexico, South Korea and Oman 1968, both the
Standard and Chartered Bank networks were comparatively small. Both
viewed the future with some trepidation as the need to protect
themselves from acquisition became ever more apparent. Standard
Chartered PLC in 1969 the decision was made by the Standard Bank
and the Chartered Bank to undergo a friendly merger thus forming
Standard Chartered PLC.

By the late 1980’s Standard Chartered already had considerable

exposure to third world debt. To this was added provisions against
loans to corporations and entrepreneurs who could not meet their
commitments. Standard Chartered reviewed its operations and decided
to focus on its core strengths of Consumer Banking, Corporate &
Institutional Banking and Treasury in its well-established operation in
Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This led to a series of divestments
notably in Europe, the United States and Africa. During this time staff
numbers were reduced; business not considered core were sold or
closed; associate holdings disposed of; unprofitable branches closed
and back office functions consolidated. In addition expensive buildings
were sold with the proceeds reinvested in the business, and the senior
management team was radically changed and strengthened.

Standard Chartered in the 1990’s:

Even within this period of apparent retrenchment Standard Chartered
expanded its network, re-opening in Vietnam in 1990’ Cambodia and
Iran in 1992, Tanzania in 1993 and Myanmar in 1995.

Standard Chartered Today:

Today Standard Chartered is the worlds leading emerging markets bank
employing 30,000 people in over 500 offices in more than 50 countries
primarily in countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle
East, Africa and the Americans.

The new millennium bas brought with it two of the largest acquisitions in
the history of the bank with purchase of Grindlays Bank from the ANZ
Group and the acquisition of the Chase Consumer Banking operations
in Hong Kong in 2000.

These acquisitions demonstrate Standard Chartered firm is committed

to the emerging markets, where the Bank has a strong and established
presence and where they see their future growth.

Performance Review in Oman:

Standard Chartered has been in Oman since 1969 and is one of the few
operating foreign banks. There are 2 branches of Standard Chartered
Bank and one head office in the sultanate offering full banking services
in corporate, institutional and consumer banking services. Adopting a
pro-active approach, the bank is able to offer a flexible and
comprehensive range of financial services in particular transactional
banking products. The bank has also invested in its branches to ensure
that their business is supported by high-tech operations using state-of-
the-art technology. Dedicated customer services with solution-oriented
cash specialists to provide customers with cost-effective solutions.
Electronic delivery system has been put in place to give customers
maximum control of their transactions.
DESIGN AND APPROACHES

Services Design:
Designing services to accommodate their unique characteristics is
challenging. One reason productive improvements in services are so
low is because both the design and delivery of service products include
customer interaction. The services provided at SC Bank are primarily
based upon a few approaches. The outsourcing of payments continues
to be a major area of focus for finance and treasury professionals. Over
the past years, competition has become more intense and this has
helped drive the increase in the number of companies that use
payments outsourcing as a way to reduce cost and focus on core
activities.

The Ad Hoc Approach:

The ad hoc approach is often the default method of regionalization of
payments and other cash management activities. This is often
undertaken when decision-makers make a priority determination that
centralizing cash management activities offers significant benefits to the
bank and thus should be implemented. At Standard Chartered this
approach is frequently accompanied by minimal investigation and
planning, which invariably leads to difficulties and dissatisfaction. The
sum total of planning is often reduced to determining which financial
institute can best meet the open ended requirements of the bank.

Banks may be guilty of reinforcing the ad hoc approach if they do not

take the time to understand their customer strategies, objectives and
type of businesses, and make recommendations that may not have
been originally considered. This can be a function of whether the
service provider considers the implementation of capabilities as simple
sale or the start of a long-term implementation.

The Strategic Approach:

The Strategic approach is also part of a global or regional strategic
planning process that encompasses the entire organizational structure
of the Bank. Often this is accompanied by the implementation of a high-
end Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, such as Oracle or
SAP, which integrates the various units.

The Pragmatic Approach:

The pragmatic approach alone is not a priority but rather a post-hoc
determination. The most straightforward and effective questions that the
Bank asks itself when taking the pragmatic approach are:
Where are we now? / Where do we want to be?
What is the best way to get there?

Limitations of the Ad-Hoc Approach:

The disadvantage of the ad hoc approach is that sometimes the bank
over or under estimates the transaction costs and thereof the benefits
obtained from centralization choose their significance.
Limitations of the Strategic Approach:
Disadvantages of the strategic approach are chiefly a function of size
and complexity. The strategic approach may not be the most cost
effective as it often ignores the implementation and running costs in
favor of a corporate strategy that is geared toward centralization.

Limitations of Pragmatic Approach:

The disadvantage of the pragmatic approach is the difficulty in
maintaining implementation efforts that are proportionate to the
advantage that the Bank can gain from the centralization activity.

Operations Strategies for Banking Services:

How can we satisfy our customer? This is perhaps the most important
question that the Bank can ask from itself and its people. Customer
needs and wants to run the full gamut, from tangible products, quality of
services delivered, and attitude of the entire management to the
aesthetics. In this regard, Standard Chartered Bank aims at satisfying
these needs and wants by developing and fulfilling missions and
strategies, which can be as diverse as the customers they serve.

Operational Strategies:
 To steadily develop the lending business and upgrade the quality of

loan assets.
 In lieu of Islamic banking the Bank aims to aggressively promote fee-

income business to raise non-interest revenue sources.

 To provide efficient services to fulfill customers needs and create a

high-quality service image.

 To actively set up business units in major business centers of the

country.
 To aggressively develop international banking operations and seek

opportunities to develop strategic alliances with other banks to

create new products and services.

Operation Plans:
The Operational Plans of the Bank are Deposits, Loans, Domestic
Banking, Trust Operation and Treasury Operations

STRATEGIC HRM PRACTICES OF SCB

People, rather the employees are the asset of any organization. An
organization, whether it is a manufacturing concern or service oriented,
cannot function without the active participation of people.

Standard Chartered is the world’s leading emerging markets bank. It

employs 30,000 people in over 500 offices in more than 50 countries in
the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa , United
Kingdom and America.

Human Resource Planning:

HR planning is a process, which anticipates and maps out the
consequences of business strategy on an organization’s human
resources. This is reflected in planning of skill and competence needs
as well as total headcounts. Every organization needs to be able to
forecast and plan for its future people requirements.
At Standard Chartered Bank, human resource planning involves
forecasting the numbers of people which will needed by the bank, and
then working out the best way of obtaining then as and when they are
needed.

Forecasting:
Forecasting is the major function of the bank’s HR department. The
forecasting activities include:
1. Workforce numbers in sufficient detail to be useful.
2. Likely changes to the work of the bank.
3. Work force supply – this involves forecasting the variations in the
current work force estimated to occur over the following years.
4. Impact on budgets and funding.

Who ‘s responsible for it?

It’s easy to shift responsibility and say that personnel and human
resource departments should carry out HR planning , but it should be
the concern of every manager. As the Bank operates in a dynamic
environment where new and advanced practices are frequently
emerging resulting in changing customer’s requirements.

Good Practice Indicators:

Standard Chartered Bank makes sure that effective human resource
planning processes are in place when
1. Appropriately skilled people are available to be deployed in the
Bank’s to meet forecast work demands.
 2. The Bank’s structure provides with opportunity for appropriate
career development, and is perceived to contribute to effective
and efficient work practices.
3. Relevant workforce data is readily available to inform
management decision-making on human resource issues.

Standard Chartered Bank ‘s Structure:

The Bank’s structure is the means by which the work is integrated to
ensure that the objectives and activities of individual work teams and
departments match the overall goals.

The structure of the Bank provides scope for the flexible deployment of
people and to promote equity, job satisfaction, motivation and
commitment to goals; as well as providing access to career
development.

Workforce Analysis (Supply and Demand)

The effective collection and analysis of workforce statistics trends in the
workforce to be considered with the specific requirements for skilled and
qualified people to meet the corporate aims to be kept in mind.

Workforce statistics and analysis support Bank’s efficiency and

effectiveness by providing a firm basis for human resource planning.
Any information gathering systems in place should support manages
and be responsive to their needs as well as being easily accessible in
the workplace.

Training & Development:

Development is critical to future business success. The bank
performance will only continue to improve if it develops the people who
are part of the bank . To develop people is to invest in the future.

As Standard Chartered , training is a partnership between the employee

and the Bank. The Bank provides a framework within which the
employee can identify the training and development needs. Such
training provides a consistent standard of management learning
throughout Standard Chartered . It also enables the employees to take
all of the programs or study for individual modules according to their
particular development needs.

The Initial Two Years:

What the employee can expect to experience during initial 2 years
training is a blend of core and discretionary elements , such as:
1. Induction i.e. the processes that introduces the new entrant to the
bank, the employee’s own business or function and particular
department.
2. Training in specific products or technical skills.
3. Work-based assignments in respective business or function i.e.
doing a job in a particular department for a period of time.
4. Cross-functional attachments – experiencing short period of time
spent in another business or support function.

Long Term Training:

Development and training does not stop after two years. After this initial
training, the employees are faced with internal development programs,
business-related studies and professional qualifications, and the bank
also offers the opportunity to develop skills through externally
accredited courses. These are designed in conjunction with top
universities and business schools including postgraduate , MBA.

Accreditation Internal
External Schools Executive Development
MBA Diploma in Management
Certificate in Management Foundation Course
Induction Course

Orientation:
Every staff member joining Standard Chartered Bank has to attend a 2-
day comprehensive orientation to get a feel about the Bank and its
business. This orientation program provides a good chance to meet with
seniors & colleagues and to build up the team spirit.

Product Training:
Product training is provided e.g. cash product training, operational
training etc. to help the related staff to learn more about the products
that the Bank is providing.

Skill Training:
The bank provides a lot of skill related training e.g. credit workshop,
sales & negotiation skills , project management , etc. to help staff
enhance their skill in particular aspects.

On-job Training:
Staff members are continuously involved in the learning process in the
form of on-job training . Thus , a lot of on-job training opportunities and
job rotation to increase staff’s exposure are provided.

Self-learning:
The bank sends out CDs and books to staff for them to study on trade
knowledge , credit knowledge, etc. and staff will decide when he/she will
attend the Trade Skill Assessment(TSA) and Credit Skill Assessment
(CSA).

Management Development Training:

In this training program, the employees are given strategic perspectives
and business goals management skills; people management ,
networking and customer focus abilities to better understand and
manage their jobs.

Specific Competency Training:

Specific Competence Training is to ensure that the staff excels in
product knowledge, regulatory and unique techniques needed for the
particular position.

Learning and Development:

Standard Chartered recognizes that it is essential that they have the
best people equipped with the right skills and knowledge to perform
their roles to the highest standards. They went talented professionals,
who seek self-development opportunities including continuing
professional development. In return the Bank offers excellent training
and development. They focus development on where they believe that
they will get the greatest return, by developing employees strengths.

Recruitment:
To facilitate the recruitment process the candidates can apply online on
the web portal or can personally handover their resume to the local
branch office HR department. It is the aim of management to recruit
young, bright, energetic and enthusiastic graduates and post graduates.

Who are they recruiting?

1. Bright, young graduate or a postgraduate, who cannot wait to
start his/ her career in the financial services industry.
2. Consistent academic performer throughout his/her education.
3. Career-oriented person
4. Energetic, ambitious, innovative and business-oriented person.

Recruitment Criteria:
Standard Chartered Bank recruits the most talented individuals from the
external market to supplement their internal pipeline of talent. Their
Human Resources department provides guidance on the use of
psychometric tests and has robust recruitment criteria to ensure that all
candidates are treated fairly, equally and with respect. It has a global
Graduate Recruitment Program; where in the region of 150 graduates
are recruited each year on a management trainee program across all
businesses, functions and countries.

Selection:
Standard Chartered selects employee based on knowledge, skills and
talent. They are committed to providing equality of opportunity to all
employees, regardless of gender, race, nationality, age, disability,
ethnic origin, or marital status. They are committed not just providing
equality of opportunity to all employee, but also identifying what unique
strengths each individual brings to the roles they carry out and the
development of these strengths.

Employee health, well-being and safety:

Standard Chartered Bank believes that the health and wellbeing of their
employees and their families is important. They are concerned not only
about the physical health of their employees, but also their mental and
emotional well-being. Standard Chartered has policies & practices that
provide for a safe and healthy working environment. They place
importance on the safety and well-being of their staff, communities and
on the effect its working and operational processes have on the
environment. They are continually developing policies and practices
designed to maintain the highest appropriate standards.

Compensation:
At Standard Chartered Bank, the compensation package provided to
the employees can be divided into two categories. One comprises of the
sales personnel who are compensated on their ability to meet their
targets. Second is compensating the executives who are responsible for
the overall functions of the Bank.

Compensating the Sales Force:

How the Bank presents itself to its corporate as well as individual
customers is dependant upon the ability of its sales force. These are the
individuals who take and active approach is getting the message out
about the Bank’s products and services. How effectively the sales team
markets the Bank and in run, how successful it is, is directly related to
the sales compensation program.

The key to a successful sales compensation program is achieved in

three steps:
1. Clearly defining sales goals that are realistic but challenging
2. Tracking and measuring performance against goals
3. Rewarding achievement with competitive and motivational
compensation
Sales compensation packages typically comprise one or more of the
following components:
1. Base Salary
2. Periodic incentives tied to short-term goals
3. Annual Incentives tied to longer-term sales activities
4. Commission-based incentives
5. Perquisites to facilitate sales efforts

Executive Compensation:
The way the Bank pays its top management plays an important role in
motivating the critical performance needed to run it effectively. Base
salary is not the only component of the typical executive’s
compensation package. Executive compensation packages typically
comprise the following components:
1. Base Salary
2. Annual Incentives
 3. Long-Term Capital Accumulation
4. Deferred Compensation Arrangements
5. Supplement Benefits and Perquisites
6. Special Severance and Retirement Arrangements
7. Employment and Change of Control Agreements

Reward & Recognition:

Standard Chartered Bank aims to reward the talented and high
performing employees competitively. They regularly conduct salary
surveys to ensure that the reward package remains competitive in the
market place. They encourage continuous discussion; encourage
regular review of employees’ performance and development. This
provides feedback to the staff about how they are doing. The
management links this to both financial and non-financial recognition.
In addition to this, the bank provides various incentives in the form of
bonuses to encourage the employees and motivate them to continue
with their high performance. These include Spot Award, Surprise
Award, Best Performer Award, Service Quality Award, and Year of
Excellent Services Award.

Quality of Work Life:

This means a job that not only is reasonably safe but also for which the
pay is equitable. At Standard Chartered Bank every employee in
confident of his job security and has the assurance that he would
remain on the job for the agreed period. In addition to this, the workload
is equitable divided between the employees and therefore, they work
with peace of mind and tranquility resulting in the overall enhanced
performance of the employees.
Mutual Commitment:
Both the employees and the management try to meet the common
objectives. They coordinate their activities to ensure that they are
heading towards achieving the established goals and meeting the set
targets within the specified time frame.

Mutual trust:
At Standard Chartered Bank prevails an environment of confidence and
mutual trust. The documented employment policies are honestly
implemented to the satisfaction of both management and employees.

Job Design:
Job design comprises of six components. These are:

Labor Specialization:
The Bank aims at hiring specialized people and their recruiting criteria
are based on their knowledge, expertise, past working experience and
their exposure to the professional fields. Employee wages are set in
accordance with the aforesaid recruitment criteria and most of them are
intent with what they earn at Standard Chartered Bank

Job Expansion:
The Bank improves the quality of work life by assigning various tasks to
the employees so as to equip them with the different services offered by
the Bank. Job expansion includes job enlargement, rotation, enrichment
and empowerment.
Psychological Components:
For enhancing the skills and abilities of the work force, the
psychological components of job design are also catered for by
Standard Chartered Bank. These psychological components focus on
how to design jobs that meet some minimum psychological
requirements of the employees. These components are utilized in
accordance with Core Job Characteristics, which suggests that the jobs
designated to the various employees in the bank include the following
five aspects:
1. Skill Variety
2. Job Identity
3. Job Significance
4. Autonomy
5. Feedback

Self-Directed Teams:
A self-directed team is a group of empowered individuals working
together to reach a common goal. At Standard Chartered Bank, these
teams are found in almost every department to achieve the set targets.
These teams are an integral part of the personal loans, sales and credit
cards department where they are established to achieve both, the short-
term as well as long term objectives.

Motivation and Incentive Systems:

1. Sometimes the psychological components are not enough for
motivating the employees. In this case, monetary incentives play
a vital role for increasing the commitment of the employees
toward their jobs and in return enabling them to have job
 satisfaction. These monetary incentives and rewards are given in
various forms to the employees who act as a strong motivational
factor.

Ergonomics:
Ergonomics is the study of work. It deals with building a good interface
between the man and the machines. Keeping this in view, the Bank has
been designed in such a way so that the employees are comfortable
working there.

Performance Management:
Traditionally, the formal performance appraisal system has been viewed
as the primary means for managing employee performance.
Performance appraisal is an administrative duty performed by
managers and primarily the responsibility of the HR function.

Performance management is the process through which managers

ensure that employee activities and outputs are congruent with the
organization’s goals. It is central to gaining competitive advantage.

Components of Performance Appraisal:

At Standard Chartered Bank the components of performance appraisal
are in respect of the five W’s that include: Who , What , Why , When
and Where of performance appraisal.
Who: All employees work under the supervision of managers.
Therefore, the manager is the best person to do performance appraisal
of his subordinates.
What: The appraisal at the organization includes appraisal of current
performance as well as the future potential. It also includes evaluation
of human traits such as behaviors, interaction with other staff members
etc.
Why: It is concerned with creating and maintaining a satisfactory level
of performance of employee in the present job, highlighting his needs
and potential for personal growth.
When: It is carried out on yearly basis. The manager uses good
work as opportunity to provide positive thrust and uses poor work as a
basis for training.
Where: The performance appraisal is done in a cordial and friendly
environment.

Approach of Measuring Performance:

The performance of the employees can be determined by making an
overall comparison among individual‘s performance. Hence a
performance measurement system is developed that incorporates a tool
for measuring performance.

Appraising Employee Performance:

Individual Performance Management:
A longstanding question that Standard Chartered Bank and many other
organization are still grappling with is whether and how to reward good
performance (or, conversely, how to deal with persistent poor
performers). One approach used by the bank is to make salary
increments or progression on the pay scale conditional on good
performance.
Performance Management At Senior Levels:
Typically, performance management systems for senior officials include
elements additional to performance-pay, such as time-limited
contractual appointments. The Bank has adopted this approach. Key
features of its system include the following:
1. Senior officials are recruited to a unified career structure known
as Grade A, which incorporates most top-level positions.
2. On the basis of evaluation, the senior position employees are
paid a performance bonus.

Linking Performance to Promotions:

Some have argued tying career advancement to performance is more
important than linking performance and pay. Whereas the benefits of
pay for performance are uncertain, particularly in the lower echelons,
there is no doubt of the need to ensure that the best people rise to
management levels.

ANALYSIS
HR Planning:
HR Planning process consists of forecasting, goal setting and strategic
planning, and program implementation and evaluation.

HR managers should attempt to ascertain the supply of and demand for

various types of human resources. The primary goal is to predict areas
within the organization where there will be future labor shortages or
surpluses.

As the Bank operates in a dynamic environment where new and

advanced practices are frequently emerging resulting in changing
customer’s requirements. Not only this, the demands on existing staff
resources fluctuate in order to maintain the provision of services, it
becomes even more critical that all managers contribute to HR planning
in a structure way.

Recruitment:
Human Resource Recruitment is defined ad any practice or activity
carried on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying
and attracting potential employees.

The goal of an organizational recruitment program is to ensure that the

organization has a number of reasonably qualified applicants (who
would find the job acceptable) to choose from when a vacancy occurs.

Standard Chartered Bank recruits the most talented individuals from the
external market to supplement our internal pipeline of talent. Their
Human Resources department provides guidance on the use of
psychometric tests and has robust recruitment criteria to ensure that all
candidates are treated fairly, equally and with respect. It has a global
Graduate Recruitment Program; where in the region of 150 graduates
are recruited each year on a management trainee program across all
businesses, functions and countries.

Selection:
Any organization that intends to compete through people must take the
utmost care with how it chooses organizational members. Personnel
selection is the process by which companies decide who will or will not
be allowed into their organization. Several generic standards should be
met in any selection process, which are reliability, validity, general
ability, utility, and legality.

Standard Chartered selects employees based on knowledge, skills and

talent. They are committed to providing equality of opportunity to all
employees, regardless of gender, race , nationality , age , disability ,
ethnic origin , or marital status.

Training & Development:

Training refers to a planned effort by a company to facilitate the learning
of job-related knowledge, skills, or behavior by employees.

Standard Chartered provides a framework within which the employee

can identify the training and development needs. Such training provides
a consistent standard of management learning throughout Standard
Chartered. It also enables the employees to take all of the programs or
study for individual modules according to their particular development
needs.

Development Programs are carried out in the first two years of joining,
applicable to all management trainees, across the Bank. Each business
and function would decide the appropriate development needs for each
individual, within this overall framework.

Performance Appraisal:
Each organization must create and communicate performance
measures that reflect its unique strategy.

Performance management is the process through which managers

ensure that employee activities and outputs are congruent with the
organization’s goals. It is central to gaining competitive advantage.

A well-executive performance management plan enables an

organization to achieve critical goals such as:

1. Recognize the efforts and contributions of current staff.

2. Reward staff with compensation directly linked to performance.
3. Motivated staff to improve performance.
4. Orient staff towards goal achievement.
5. Retain key employees through the use of competitive compensation
programs.
6. Attract quality employees with an effective performance management
system.
The key elements of a Performance Management System include the
following:
 1. A Formal Compensation Philosophy Statement
2. Salary Administration Program
3. Job Evaluation System
4. Performance Appraisal System
5. Reward Programs

Purpose of Performance Appraisal:

There are a number of reason for carrying out the performance
appraisal of employees such as promotion, transfer etc. Therefore, the
Bank makes sure that the employees clearly understand the objectives
of the performance appraisal.

Performance Measurement Criteria:

Once the Bank has determined what kind of performance it expects
from the employees, it needs to develop appropriate ways to measure
that performance.

Strategic Congruence:
The basic aim of Standard Chartered Bank is to provide speedy
customer services. Therefore its performance management system
should assess how well its employees are serving the customers.
Strategic congruence emphasizes the need for performance
management system to provide guidance to the employees so that they
can achieve the Bank’s and enable it to remain competitive. For this
purpose the system should be flexible to adapt to changes.

Validity:
According to the employees, the appraisal procedure used to measure
their performance lacks in one aspect. This aspect relates to the
deficiency element of validity. This means that as one standardized
format is used to evaluate performance, therefore it ignores many of the
job specific aspects.

Reliability:
At Standard Chartered Bank the performance management criteria
resembles test-retest reliability. According to this the employees are
evaluated on annual basis and those employees who have somewhat
similar ratings from year to year have greater chances of getting
promotion, bonuses etc. Therefore, the Bank checks the consistency of
performance of employees in this manner and determines that which
employees have the potential to grow and better serve the customers.

Acceptability:
Diverging opinions prevail about the acceptability of the performance
appraisal. Some employees accept them to be fair while others believe
them to be biased and predetermined. In addition to this the views
regarding fairness are perceived differently within the three category
including:
1. Procedural
2. Interpersonal
3. Outcome

Specificity:
One of the major lacking in the performance appraisal method of
Standard Chartered Bank is in the area of specificity. Amongst the
various levels of employees the performance evaluation is believed not
to provide specific guidance about what is expected of them and how
they can meet these expectations.

Source for Performance Information:

In case of Standard Chartered Bank, managers are the only and most
vital source of performance information. They have extensive
knowledge of the job requirements and adequate opportunity to observe
the way in which the employees fulfill these requirements, thus , they
are the best source to assess and rate their employees.

Rater Errors:
Like all other organizations, in Standard Chartered Bank the
performance evaluation process is affected by the rater’s error. The
rater error prevailing in the bank resembles the distributional errors. In
the bank the managers often go by their own preference while rating the
employees. Therefore there are high chances of making leniency,
strictness, and central tendency errors.

Top Management and Employee Perspective:

Although the performance management system at Standard Chartered
Bank has a vital role to play in assessing the potential of the employees.
Yet it is perceived to be a routine and cumbersome affair that has to be
undertaken once a year. This perception some what nullifies the true
essence in the performance management should be conducted.

Shortcomings of the Appraisal System:

The performance appraisal system at the Bank lacks in certain areas
such as:
1. Information regarding the employee’s performance is purely
dependent upon their managers. However, the employee are of
the view that information should also be collected from them as
they are the ones who perform are responsible for performing the
various tasks.
2. Thus, a major shortcoming of the system is that the employee’s
are not involved in the appraisal process.
3. The performance appraisal system is believed not to provide any
guidance for the development of employees.
4. The employees are of the opinion that the performance appraisal
should be done on quarterly basis, instead of being conducted
annually.

Necessary Measures:
Adopting the following measures can reduce the shortcomings of the
system:
Employees should be involved in the appraisal process, i.e. information
should be taken from them. The process should result in effective
outcomes by telling the employees that how can they improve their
performance. This would not only benefit the Bank, but would also help
the employees in their personal development.

Compensation:
Being a leading Bank Standard Chartered Bank presents itself to its
corporate as well as individual customer as dependent upon the ability
of its sales force. These are the individuals who take an active approach
in getting the message out about the Bank’s products and services.
How effectively the sales team markets the Bank, and in turn, how
successful it is, is directly related to the sales compensation program. A
sound sales compensation package enable Standard Chartered Bank to
focus sales activities towards desired results, and rewards these
outcomes with compensation tied directly to the level of achievement.

Rewards & Recognition:

Standard Chartered Bank rewards the talented and high performing
employees competitively. They regularly conduct salary surveys to
ensure the reward package remains competitive in the market place.
They encourage continuous discussion; encourage regular review of
employees’ performance and development. This provides feedback to
the staff about how they are doing. The management links this to both
financial and non-financial recognition.

In addition to this, the bank provides various incentives in the form of

bonuses to encourage the employees and motivate them to continue
with their high performance.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Population:
The research conducted is a qualitative research to find out the HR
Management practices of Standard Chartered bank. People who
belong to this bank are considered as highly paid people. The
employees of the bank were selected as the population to carry out the
research that are the fully satisfied with the recruitment policies of their
bank and their bank is following the policies in a proper manner.

Sampling Frame:
The sampling frame will be people belonging to the upper, middle and
upper lower class and are currently working for the bank. The major
part of the sampling frame will be from the upper and middle class
because this is the major chunk of population who are banking
professionals.

Sampling Procedure:
The sampling procedure used is convenient sampling and according to
this sampling technique all the people that roughly fit into my sampling
frame and which belong to this bank. The sample size was a total of
100 people who were currently working for the banking sector in Oman.
Total 400 questionnaires were distributed out of which I only received
100 filled questionnaires.

Data Collection procedure:

The data collected is through Primary and secondary sources and
through the responses to the questionnaires conducted. Also, through
the Internet, published articles, interviews, books, and HR manuals.

GRAPHICAL INTERPRETATION

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The result showed that 30 % of the people who were employed are between
the ages of 18-25 which shows that the Bank recruits young people who are
more passionate towards the achievement of goals.
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This question is asked just to know about the ratio of male and female and
according to the results the ratio is 56 % to 44%. Showing that the past trends
are changed in which males were dominated and females were on the
sidelines. Now banks are hiring the employees on the bases of there abilities
not on their genders
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Results showed that 35% people were those who were graduated and they
have the relevant experience in their particular field. Bank searches talented
people with appropriate highly qualification and relevant experience.
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The results of the above analysis show that the independent variables such
as time taken during recruitment process, interviews, paneled interviews,
gender discrimination, and on-job training all have a significant effect on the
recruitment policies and HR strategies on the whole. It is evident from the
study that these variables incorporated gives leverage to the bank practicing
and incorporating the HR management practices efficiently.
CONCLUSION

Based on the study, several conclusions have been made. These

include:
1. In order to successfully conduct the HRM Strategies, Standard
Chartered Grindlays Bank should formulate effective internal and
external communication mechanism.
2. A conceptual framework understood by all levels of the bank
should be developed.
3. Accountability for results must be clearly defined and well
understood.
4. Performance measurement system must provide intelligence for
decision makers rather than just compiling data.
5. Compensation, rewards and recognition should be linked to
performance measurements.
6. Performance evaluation should be positive and not punitive.
7. Employees should be specific as to what is expected from them
so that they direct their efforts towards achieving those
expectations.
8. Feedback on the evaluation should be provided to the employees
so that they can improve their performance.
9. Lastly, performance measurement systems should not be seen
as a benchmark to evaluate an employee but it is a means to
understand the potentials of an individual.
 ANNEXURE

Questionnaire

Name:_________________________________________
Organization:___________________________________

Q.1: What is your age?

I. 18-25 III. 35-45
II. 25-35 IV. 45 or above
Q.2: What is your Gender?
I. Male II. Female
Q.3: What describes your situation best before you took on the current job?
I. Non-Graduate without relevant experience
II. Non-Graduate with relevant experience
III. Fresh Graduate
IV. Graduate with relevant experience
V. Postgraduate without relevant experience
VI. Postgraduate with relevant experience
Q.4: How did you hear about your current job?
I. Newspaper Advertisement III. University Career Fair
II. Web Advertisement IV. Employment Agencies
Q.5: Were you asked to sit through a qualifying exam before you were
interviewed for the current job?
I. Yes
II. No
Q.6: How long did the recruitment process take?
 I. One Week III. Three Weeks
II. Two Weeks IV. Four Weeks or above
Q.7: During the recruitment process, how many times were you interviewed?
I. Once
II. Twice
III. Thrice
Q.8: How many of these interviews included a panel of two or more
interviewees?
I. One
II. Two
III. Three
Q.9:Have you felt any gender discrimination during the recruitment process?
I. Yes
II. No
Q.10: Have you been provided with any on-job training on the current job?
I. Yes
II. No
Q.11: Do you think that the bank is following the policies in a proper way?
I. Somewhat Disagree IV. Somewhat agree
II. Disagree V. Strongly Agree
III. Agree
Q.12: Are you satisfied with your organizations current recruitment policies?
I. Highly Satisfied III. Neutral
II. Satisfied IV. Strongly Dissatisfied