Company Hr Planning in Aci

In: Business and Management

Company Hr Planning in Aci
Abstract
ACI Limited is one of Bangladeshs largest conglomerates that commits to enrich the quality of life of
people through responsible application of knowledge, skills and technology for the last 20 years.
Though typically identified as a pharmaceutical company, ACIs FMCG sector has been gaining
popularity among the people of Bangladesh with its well known products like ACI Pure Salt, Savlon
etc. It is the human resource who has maximized the success of the company. Recruitment and
selection practices are the key factors to the entry point of human resources which ensures the
success and growth of an organization. In this study the detail chain and sequence of activities
pertaining to recruitment and selection of different level of management and non-management
employable candidates has identified through literature review of the documents of ACI HR and from
experience of working in the HR department of ACI and personal observation of the process. This
case study maybe useful to ACI to identify its loopholes and may allow it to practice good recruitment
and selection process that could help the company to get suitable candidate and also helpful for
researcher to do more research on recruitment and selection process.
Keywords: ACI Limited, recruitment and selection, FMCG Company
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Recruitment & Selection in Bangladesh
Recruitment and selection process is the function of human resource management which brings the
human resource in the organization Ongori (2010). Recruitment is the process of generating a pool
of applicant to apply for employment to an organization and selection is the process by which
specific tools are used to choose from a pool of applicants the most suitable one for the job taking
into consideration Ofori and Aryeetey (2011).
Noe et al., (2007) defined recruitment as the action taken by the organization with the primary
purpose of identifying and attracting potential workforce; selection is the process by which
companies decide who will or will not be permitted to work into organizations.
In Bangladesh also recruitment and selection process is given its due importance. Sources of
recruitment are either internal or external which source the organization will use depend on the
human resources needs and objectives of the organization. Dessler and Varkkey (2008) mentioned,

an organization can hire internal candidate through job posting, rehiring former employees and
succession planning; and via internet, advertising, employment agencies, temp agencies and
alternative staffing, offshoring/outsourcing, executive recruiters, on demand recruiting services
(ODRS), college recruiting, referrals and walk-ins organization can hire external candidate.
Among the medium of recruitment and selection mentioned by Dessler and Varkkey (2008) some
are extensively used in Bangladesh by the local companies while others are yet to develop. Internet
is gradually becoming a popular medium for recruitment whereas succession planning is not a very
evident method as yet.
A typical recruitment and selection strategy in Bangladesh is to first identify what positions to fill
through personnel planning and forecasting (employment or personnel planning is the process that
decides what are the positions and the process of filling those positions). Then the firm has to decide
how it will generate a pool of candidate i.e. what source the firm will use, internal or external and will
assemble candidate pool by recruiting internal or external candidates. Then the candidates have to
complete application forms and experience initial screening interviews. The firm will also use various
selection tools to identify promising candidates. Finally it is decided by the supervisor and other
interviewer to whom they would offer the job (Zaman, 2012).
An effective approach to recruitment and selection can help an organization to maximize the
competitive advantages by choosing the best pool of candidates quickly and cost efficiently
(Kleiman, 2005). But successful recruitment and selection can be costly and time-consuming. Still,
recruitment and selection is crucial for a business, because unsuccessful recruitment and selection
can be responsible for the failure of the business (Ahmed, Tabassum & Hossain, 2006).
Thus the goal of a recruitment and selection program is to attract highly qualified candidates and
ensure person-job fit (Fisher, Schoenfeldt & Shaw, 2004; Kleiman, 2005; Mathis & Jackson, 2005).
This fact is admitted by most local companies as well, if not early on but currently the trend is in and
it is evident at least from the popularity of various job portals both among the employers and
potential candidates.
Attracting highly qualified and skilled employees is important, as Holt (1993) mentioned that a wellmotivated and skilled workforce is crucial for an organization to compete effectively both in national
and global markets. Khan (2008) emphasized the importance of the selection process by stating that
mismatch between the candidate and job can cost an organization a great deal of money, time and
energy.
1.2 Socio-cultural background of recruitment & selection in Bangladesh

In analysing the social-cultural environment of business it is important to recognize that society and
culture are not homogeneous or fixed. Rather they are diverse and fluid or dynamic (Wetherly).
Bangladesh has an estimate of over 160 million people (BBS 2011), overpopulated and depolorable
living standards in urban areas Bangladesh is permeated with patriarchal values and norms of
female subordination, strong religious (89.7% muslims) and cultural influence; widespread
inequalities and poverty is evident in the country. Nepotism and corruption is built in the culture of
the country as well.
The sons of powerful parents always get the best breaks in life. This is what nepotism does. It
automatically assumes that those who are privileged always have the first right to privilege (The
Daily Star, 2011).
Jobs go to the members of connected families. Business contracts are awarded to friends and
cronies. (The Daily Star, 2011).
Being a patriarchal society, equal employment opportunity is just in the books for the people of
Bangladesh. Few local companies practice the Equal Employment Opportunity. Especially for certain
kinds of jobs, women are completely discouraged like in the sales team. Nepotism has also violated
the Equal employment Opportunity as the external candidates who apply do not get their due
opportunity to get the job in spite of their competence as some influential person within the company
appoints his relative to the post.
According to Khan (2008), recruitment means informing the market that new people are going to be
appointed, which can be done through publicity and advertisement.
Though in many cases public advertisement is made in spite of the organization having an internally
fixed candidate; someones relative or a close friend but most often the organizations dont even
bother to spend the money for the advertisement. This act is further supported by lack of proper and
strict rule for violating the equal employment opportunity act. As Hossen and Anwar (2011) puts it,
nepotism is another curse of our politics and administration. The rulers give privilege and unfair
advantage to their family members, kiths and kens on public resources. So the mass people are
deprived from these opportunities.
In true and real sense it is said that laws are there but there are applied only in favor of privilege
people or class. As a result justices suffer and denied to the common people although that is an
important aspect of good governance (Hossen, Anwar, 2011).
In Bangladesh the private sector seems to emphasize earning profits for short-term, ignoring the
responsible behavior which are important for the long-run success of their operations (Hossen,

Anwar, 2011). The lookout for short term profits prevent the companies from investing time and
money for a proper recruitment and selection process and thus we end up having people who are
not right fit for the job nor for the organization. Many a times these people are not keen on proving
themselves as they feel that the relative who gave them the job will also ensure that they remain in
the job.
CHAPTER II: COMPANY OVERVIEW
2.1 Background of ACI
Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited is one of the leading and largest local conglomerates in
Bangladesh. ACI consists of different business groups namely: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer brands,
Agribusiness and Retail Chain. ACI is a public limited company listed in DSE and CSE. Beside this,
the company has a large list of international associates and partners with trade and business
agreement.
Today ACI is one of the fastest growing companies in Bangladesh. ACI follows International
Standards on Quality Management System to ensure consistent quality of products and services to
achieve customer satisfaction. ACI also meets all national regulatory requirements relating to its
current businesses and ensures that current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) as
recommended by World Health Organization is followed properly. ACI has been accepted as a
Founding Member of the Community of Global Growth Companies by the World Economic Forum
which is the most prestigious business networking organization.
2.2 Mission
ACIs mission is to enrich the quality of life of people through responsible application of knowledge,
skills and technology. ACI is committed to the pursuit of excellence through world-class products,
innovative processes and empowered employees to provide the highest level of satisfaction to its
customers.
2.3 Vision
To realize the mission ACI will:
Endeavour to attain a position of leadership in each category of its businesses.
Attain a high level of productivity in all its operations through effective and efficient use of
resources, adoption of appropriate technology and alignment with core competencies.
Develop its employees by encouraging empowerment and rewarding innovation.

 Promote an environment for learning and personal growth of its employees.

Provide products and services of high and consistent quality, ensuring value for money to its
customers.
Encourage and assist in the qualitative improvement of the services of its suppliers and
distributors.
Establish harmonious relationship with the community and promote greater environmental
responsibility within its sphere of influence.
2.4 Values
With its core six values, ACI tries to bring its people to a common platform so that a positive culture
is created. Quality, Continuous Improvement, Fairness, Transparency, Innovation and Customer
Focus are its core values. Value dissemination and display of these values in the day to day
activities are highly emphasized by the management of ACI.
2.5 Business Units
The company has diversified into four major businesses.
Pharmaceuticals
Consumer Brands (FMCG)
Agribusinesses
Retail business
Source: ACI Annual Report, 2010
2.6 History
ACI was so named in 1992. But the history of ACI dates back to 1926, when Imperial Chemical
Industries (ICI) was incorporated in the United Kingdom as four companies namely Novel Industries
Limited, British Dyestarts Corporation, Brunner Mond and Company Limited and United Alkali
Company merged. Since then ICI plc has been operating world wide as a multinational company.
In the year of formation ICI started operation in the Indian subcontinent in the name of ICI (India)
limited. After separation of the India and Pakistan in 1947, the Karachi office of ICI (India) Limited
renamed to be ICI (Pakistan) Limited. After the independence of Bangladesh, the ICI Pakistan

Limited was renamed as ICI Bangladesh Limited in 1973 and its manufacturer unit changed to ICI
Bangladesh Manufacturing Limited.
The National Drug Policy of 1982 created a strong barrier in the way of operations of multinational
companies in Bangladesh. Among the multinationals ICI was badly affected, it had to stop producing
some of its brand, which was the market leader. That is why ICI decided to terminate its operation
from Bangladesh. As the part of termination process, on 5 May, 1992, ICI plc divested 70% of its
shareholding to local management. Subsequently the company was registered in the name of
Advanced Chemical Industries Limited.
2.7 FMCG Division of ACI
Though ACI started off with its Pharmaceutical business and has a reputation of being a
Pharmaceutical based company its FMCG business is also currently doing very well. ACI Consumer
Brands was initiated in 1995 with two major brands of the company, ACI Aerosol and Savlon. These
are two of most prestigious products which are enjoying the leadership position in the market.
This business segment has two major categories of product range - home care solutions and
personal care. Products under home care solutions category include ACI Aerosol (having market
share of 85%) and lines of ACI Mosquito Coil brand. Home care solutions also include Angelic Air
Freshner, Vanish Toilet Cleaner, Clearsil Floor and Glass Cleaner and Robo Car Wash liquid.
ACI has another very strong range of products in its personal care category. Savlon Liquid Antiseptic
(77% market share) and Savlon Cream Antiseptic (74% market share), both are the highest selling
antiseptics in the country (Beams, 2011). Products like Savlon Family Protection Soap, Savlon Hand
Wash, recently launched Savlon Instant Hand Sanitizer and Savlon Femme Sanitary Napkin are also
under this category. ACI Consumer brands also deals with products of internationally acclaimed
company like Colgate Palmolive and Nivea. Worlds renowned Panasonic products are also brought
to this country by ACI Consumer Electronics under belt of consumer brands. ACI Electrical provides
energy saving bulbs as well as different electrical circuits to the people of this country. The necessity
of pure food in the minds of Bangladeshi consumers especially in the commodity food business has
pushed ACI to fill up the market gap by producing commodity products such as Salt, Flour and
Spices. Now the customers of Bangladesh are ensured with 100% pure Salt, Spices products and
Wheat products under the brand name of "ACI Pure".
ACI is Consumer Brands & Commodity Products or its FMCG division keeps on launching new
products with the renowned existing brands. Every house has ACIs consumer brand products and it
has successfully able to reach to people with its consumers products. Recently they have launched

flour and spices under the brand name Pure. Also its salt is also doing very good business in the
market and becoming the leading market share.
CHAPTER III: RECRUITMENT PROCESS OF ACI LIMITED
It is the responsibility of the HR department to assist the business and functions with the recruitment
process. The decision about recruitment depends on the job responsibilities of a particular position
and availability of internal candidate.
Internal Recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting applicants from among individuals
already holding jobs with the organization. On the other hand, external recruitment is the process of
identifying and attracting job applicants from outside organization. When a position is created or
become vacant, ACI first tries to fill up the position internally. If there is no suitable internal candidate
then the organization goes for external recruitment.
3.1 Step by Step process of recruitment
Step 1: Manpower Planning and Job Analysis
The first step of recruitment process in ACI starts with Manpower Planning and analyzing job.
Manpower Planning is the process of analyzing an organizations likely future needs for people in
terms of numbers, skills and locations. It allows the organization to plan how those needs can be
met through recruitment and training. As the company is growing, it is vital for ACI to plan ahead and
recruit on a regular basis for different units of the business.
The company performs the following functions through manpower planning:
HR Planning of ACI starts with Job Analysis. Job analysis is an important element in workforce
planning combined with job description and person specification.
A job description sets out the title of the job, to which the job holder is responsible, a simple
description of roles and responsibilities etc. Job description includes Person Specification (see
Exhibit 1) where following factors are included:
Skills, knowledge, aptitudes directly related to the job;
The type of experience necessary;
The competencies necessary;
Education criteria and training (if needed);

Manpower Approval is taken in a form as seen in(see Exhibit 1) which when signed by
business/department heads along with MD signaling HR that its time to start the recruitment
process.
Step 2: Requisitions
Graph given in Exhibit 4 show that in 2009, 120 jobs were required whereas in 2010 108 jobs were
required in ACI. Again almost 100 posts were required by the head office in 2011. Till June 2012,
already 44 jobs were required for different businesses.
Step 3: Sourcing
Once the job analysis and planning is completed, then the department head identifies right sources
to let the applicants know about the positions and scout out right people. ACIs main sources of
recruitment are newspaper advertisement, employee referrals, university placement offices, skill
inventory and CV banks of own as well as the same in ACIs account in Bdjobs.com etc. However,
the company uses two types of sources.
ACI uses the following communication media:
Print Media, Outsourced Online Media
Organization website
University placement office/Notice Boards
Figure 3: Pictorial depiction of the recruitment process at ACI
3.2 Methods of Recruitment
3.2.1 Newspaper Advertisement: Human Resource Department prepares a draft for the newspaper
advertisement (see Exhibit-5) and finalizes the contents in consultation with the concerned
Department Head. After finalization, HR sends the advertisement to the Creative Communication
Department for publication. The advertisement is published in such a manner that it ensures the
maximum visibility as well as mass coverage. HR considers the conciseness and attractiveness of
the advertisement.
3.2.2 Online Advertisement: ACI has an official account at www.bdjobs.com to publish the job
advertisement. An online job advertisement (see Exhibit-6) contains the same information as
mentioned in case of newspaper advertisement. The same job advertisement is published in the HR
departments official Facebook page named, ACI HR. It already has almost 1000 fans which helps

ACI HR to circulate the job advertisement to many other people at free cost who might ignore or
miss the job announcement of ACI in Bdjobs.com.
3.2.3 Notice Board Circular: A copy of the advertisement is placed on all the company notice boards
for any recruitment so that the employees are informed about the recruitment process and can refer
suitable candidates, if any. If ACI looks for any position such as Driver, Porter, Helper, Cleaner or
Packer etc. then those job ads are sent to the depots of ACI around the country. But this decision to
which depots the advertisement will be sent depends on the required candidates job location.
Employee reference is only a way to search good candidates but by no means has it carried any
significance in the selection process.
3.3 Methods of Measuring Recruitment Technique
There is no single best source of recruitment; each source has its strength and weaknesses. ACI
uses the following criteria to select which sources are most appropriate for each search:
3.3.1 Quantity of Labor: The number of jobs to be filled up is an important determinant for choice of
source(s). For example, when ACI wants to recruit a large number of Medical Services Officer (MSO)
or Trainee Marketing Officer (TMO) it goes for newspaper advertisement. The number of
newspapers in which advertisement will be published also depends on the number of jobs. If
numbers of vacant job is more, then ad is published on two or more Newspapers and is usually
published on Friday for greater coverage. ACI usually prefers and
to circulate its job advertisements as these newspapers are the leading newspapers in popularity
therefore to reach to mass population easily.
3.3.2 Quality of Labor: If the job is highly skilled one or needs expertise in certain field then the
newspaper advertisement is prepared with more caution.
3.3.3 Experience Required: The choice of source(s) also depends on the level of jobs. If ACI wants
to recruit someone like General Manager, Business Manager or Business Director, they go for
external recruitment agencies.
3.3.4 Budget Constraints: While choosing source available budget is one of the most critical factors.
For example, for entry level management positions, university placement offices, online job
advertisement, job fairs are mainly used by ACI. These sources are relatively less costly but more
effective than the other sources.
3.4 External and Internal Sources of Recruitment
3.4.1 Internal Sources

 Job Posting
Online CV bank
Skills Inventory
Replacement Chart and Succession Plan
3.4.2 External Sources
Unsolicited Applications
Employee Referrals
Employee Networks
Advertisements
Recruiting Online
University and Placement Offices
Job Fairs
CHAPTER IV: SELECTION PROCESS OF ACI LIMITED
In ACI, selection is the process of assessment and evaluation of job applicants that starts from with
the collection of CVs of the applicants and ends with the final selection of the employees. The
company uses a various assessment methods in the selection process such as written test,
computer test, presentation skill test and analytical test, etc
4.1 Selection Strategy
ACI use two types of assessment methods in the selection process.
Initial Assessment methods, and
Substantive Assessment methods.
4.1.1 Initial Assessment Methods

ACI uses initial assessment methods to minimize the costs associated with substantive assessment
methods by reducing the number of people assessed. These methods are considered, to some
degree, in selection decisions for most types of positions. These methods usually include:
Rsums and Cover Letters
University or Educational Institution
Relevance of the Degree and CGPA
Relevant Training and Experience
Reference Check
Initial Interview
Choice of Initial Assessment Methods
As there is a wide range of initial assessment methods available to organizations to help reduce
applicants to genuine candidates; it can be difficult for employers to find out which of these methods
will be effective for an organization. ACI use some criteria that help the company to make the right
choice of assessment methods. These criteria are:
Cost
Reliability
Validity
Utility
Applicant Reactions, and
Adverse Impact
4.1.2 Substantive Assessment Methods
Choice and use of substantive assessment methods in ACI depends on position, job nature and
reporting supervisors preference. It also depends on whether the applicant is internal or external.
ACI conducts one or a combination of the following substantive methods of assessment:
Personality Test

 Ability Test
Job knowledge Tests
Performance Tests and Work Samples
All of these assessment methods are not used for every position or every time.
4.2 Step by step process of Selection at ACI
Step 1: Application
The first step of selection process starts with applications collection. ACI collects a large number of
applications from different candidates with different background through different sources.
The Graph in Appendix 3 shows the number of CVs received for different positions from different
sources over last three years:
In 2010 and 2011 there were gaps between the post offered and the applications received in
comparison to those of in 2009. But the ratio of the post offered and the applications received, is
increasing every year. As in 2009 per almost 962 CVs on an average was received by ACI where
this average increased to almost 983 and 1036 in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Till May 2012, ACI
offered 62 designations and received 70804 CVs which boost the Designation/CV ratio to staggering
1:1142 (Source: HR software).
Step 2: Short Listing
It is critical for the company to select the eligible candidates. The task of selection is done primarily
by HRD and then they send it to the responsible departments who have the vacant position(s). The
responsible department again rejects a number of CVs from the CVs sorted by HRD. Among them
selected number of applicants are selected for the written test or interview.
Short listing of CVs is done by using the following guidelines:
University or Educational Qualification
Relevant Training and Experience
Relevance of the Degree and CGPA
Salary Expectation

Referring to graph in Appendix 7, it is surprising that the rate of candidates who have been selected
for further test is comparatively very low with the rate of CVs received during the past years. For
example in 2009 the company gets above 115000 CVs (Appendix 3) but among them only 4123
candidates (Appendix 7) have seen selected for next step. On average 1 candidate per 27-28
candidates applied for a designation passed the 1st hurdle. Till May 2012, ACI has selected 2360
CVs for the next step out of 70804 CVs received which indicates on an average 1 out of 30
candidates got selected for the next step.
Here the selection ratio is quite low. When the selection ratio is low, the organization is more likely to
be selecting successful employees. Here the denominator is the number of CVs received. A large
number of denominator means that the organization is receiving a large number of applicants for the
job. The chances of identifying a successful candidate are much better in this situation than when an
organization hires the first available person or only reviews a few applicants. A small numerator
indicates that the organization is being very stringent with its hiring standards. ACI is selecting and
hiring people who are likely to be successful rather than hiring anyone who meets the most basic
requirements for the job; it is using high standards to ensure that the very best people are selected.
Step 3: Conducting various selection tests
Written tests followed by one and in most cases two interview are the tests conducted. Other ability
and personality tests are also taken based on the position. These tests are explained below in detail
in the methods of selection test.
Step 4: Offering the Job and Negotiating Salary
The scale of salary depends on the level of jobs. The company does not offer a fixed salary as the
head of HR Department negotiates salary with the suitable candidate whenever necessary, except
the entry level jobs in Pharma plant. Here some factors are taken into account such as market value
of a particular position, candidates market value, candidates availability and companys financial
capability. This stage does not only contain clarifying the total package of extrinsic and intrinsic
rewards if the job offer is accepted but also information in addition to job rewards (e.g., starting date,
date the offer lapses, disclaimers). A true understanding between line managers and HR personnel
should be established so as to facilitate good selection decisions. ACI HR always sends regret letter
to the candidates who do not make to be selected finally. ACI HR always keeps all those rejected
candidates CVs to the CV bank for filling up future vacancies. Goddard and Pattons The Job-Hire
Sale is enclosed in the Exhibit-8 which is followed exactly by ACI HR while negotiating with
candidates.
Step 5: Signing Procedure

Senior Human Resource Manager (In-charge of HRD as the position of Head of HR is the sole
signing authority for any employment letter up to management grade MIX, non-management and all
contractual employees if not any other person is authorized (by Human Resource Manager) for
special reason. But in ACI, besides Senior HR Manager, the Assistant Manager, HR is given the
authority to sign for Senior HR Manager in the management staffs employment letters as well as
non-management staffs contractual letters where the Assistant Manager, HR Services can sign for
the Senior HR Manager only in the contractual letters only. The Managing Director will be the sole
authority to sign any employment letter for management grade MX and above.
Figure 4: Pictorial depiction of the Selection Process of ACI
4.3 Methods of Selection Process
4.3.1 Written Test
After selecting eligible candidates, HRD arranges a written test for them. In ACI, written test is only
applicable and mandatory for assessment of junior management, unionized and non-managerial
permanent positions. While recruiting Medical Sales Officer (MSO) for Pharmaceuticals, Trainee
Sales Officer (TSO) for Agribusiness and Drivers for all businesses, ACI directly goes for interviewing
instead of taking written test. ACI takes case based written test while recruiting the middle
management people. In exceptional cases where specific knowledge and skill areas are needed to
be identified and interview is not informative enough, written test is applied as a selection tool.
However, on agreed basis, HR/Business Unit prepares the question patterns, venue and time of
written test. The candidates having above 60% marks only are eligible for the primary interview.
4.3.2 Interview
Before sitting for taking interview, the board members agree on the predictor/criteria (for example,
predictor for success in a particular position may be communication skill, team building skill and/or
goal orientation, etc.) to be used to judge the candidate. These criteria are given necessary
weightage according to the position or/and experience required. The criteria used in interview
checklist vary for position to position. The interview rating form is also customized based on these
criteria. The interview board members go through the CVs, interview rating form (see Exhibit 11),
person specification and job description of the relevant position before the viva. For appropriate
predictors to be identified and used for selection process, first a selection plan is developed. A
selection plan describes which predictor(s) will be used to assess the KSAOs required to perform
the job.

The standard interview process followed by ACI for junior management, non-managerial contractual,
unionized employees, mid-level and senior management positions is as follows:
i. For junior management, non-managerial contractual and unionized employees, interview is
conducted in a single phase, but before offering employment, it requires approval from the Head of
the Department and Director-Corporate Affairs. Usually the interview board consists of a
representative from HR Department and a representative from the concerned department. But while
recruiting Executives for Consumer Brands and Finance department, ACI goes for two phase of
interview session where the 2nd phase of interview usually conducted by the Executive Director of
that concerned business/function as well as Business Director or Financial Controller.
ii. For mid-level management, interview is conducted in two phases. In the first phase, interview
board consists of a minimum mid-level executive from HR and mid-level managers from the
concerned department. In final phase, the interview board consists of Director-Corporate Affairs and
the Head of Business/Function.
iii. For senior-management, interview is conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the interview
board consists of Director-Corporate Affairs and the Head of Business/Function. The final selection
is made by the Managing Director.
4.3.3 Assessment
After interviewing the candidates, a few departments go for further assessment to select the better
candidate(s). An assessment session is an extended work sample. It uses procedures that
incorporate group and individual exercises. These exercises are designed to stimulate the type of
work that the selected candidate will be authorized to do. Initially a small batch of applicants comes
to the assessment centre (a separate room). Their performance in the situational exercise is
observed and evaluated by a team of 2-3 assessors. The assessors judgement on each exercise
are complied and combined to have a summary rating for each candidate being assessed.
Only the Finance and Audit department take another assessment after first phase of interview and
that is problem-solving presentation. Here the candidates who pass the 1st phase of interview sit for
a day long assessment session. In this session the candidates are given annual report of ACI
Limited and asked for analyzing on some issues and sorting out solutions for given problem(s). Then
they need to present their findings to the assessment board consists of Senior Executive, HR, midlevel manager from Finance/Audit department and the Financial Controller. The selected candidates
from this assessment are then sent for the final interview session.

During selection interview the interviewers ask questions to identify these traits of the candidate. In
ACI, personality test is used for mid and top level management positions.
4.3.4 Ability Tests:
In ACI, ability tests are used for non-management and entry level management positions. There are
two major types of ability tests: aptitude test and achievement test. But ACI uses only ability test that
is usually written test. Ability tests are used to test a persons cognitive ability.
4.3.5 Job knowledge Tests:
Job knowledge tests attempt to directly assess an applicants comprehension of job requirements.
Job knowledge tests can be one of two kinds. One type asks questions that directly assess
knowledge of the duties involved in a particular job. For example, an item from a job knowledge test
for a Medical Services Officer might be, Describe the process to approach to a Doctor. The other
type of job knowledge test focuses on the level of experience with, and corresponding knowledge
about, critical job tasks and tools or processes necessary to perform the job. For example, an
applicant for the position of Support Executive, MIS might be asked to configure MS Outlook or
replace hardware in a computer.
4.3.6 Performance Tests:
For some positions for example, Quality Control Officer, Data Entry Operator etc. ACI uses these
tests to assess actual performance of the job candidate.
Beside these assessments, ACI sometimes assess candidates interest, values and preferences. But
as outcome of these assessment methods are vague and decisions based on these assessment
methods are not a very good predictor of a persons future performance, these methods are not
always used.
4.3.7 Internal Selection through Succession Planning
Succession planning is a very crucial part of Human Resource Management which is a process for
identifying and developing internal personnel with the potential to fill key or critical positions. It
increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these
roles as they become available. It also reduces risk, creates a leadership model, develops a plan for
smooth business continuity and improves staff morale.
In ACI, only Human Resources, MIS and Finance Department have the practice of succession
planning and maintaining replacement chart. Through succession planning ACI HR strives to

accelerate the transition of qualified employees from individual contributors to managers and
leaders. ACI HR follows an Employee Assessment Form that gives guidelines to monitor an
employees performance, credibility and to assess his/her potentiality to become the next person in
charge. The Employee Assessment Form has been designed for supervisors to assess all their
direct reports/employees in terms of their performance, potential and readiness who will to take on
other positions in future which could be horizontal or upward.
In this form supervisors are required to list down all their direct reports and rate their performances
on three dimensions
1. Potential (PO)
2. Readiness (RE)
3. Performance (PR)
Supervisor has to mention the incumbents name of preference for succession mention. Accordingly
the supervisor has to suggest areas of development for the incumbent, which can help him/her to
prepare for the next role.
Finally the supervisor will have to recommend what he/she thinks would be suitable for the
incumbent, in office coaching, functional training, job rotation, special assignment, etc.
In HR Division, the Senior Human Resource Manager prepares and maintains this succession
planning process with cooperation of the concerned supervisors and submits to the Director,
Corporate Affairs. The Director, Corporate Affairs approves it and gives further necessary guidelines.
It is usually reviewed by the Director as well as the Senior Human Resource Manager at the very
beginning of the year.
The Replacement Chart is also enclosed in the Exhibit 10.
CHAPTER V: EVALUATING THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION
5.1 Importance of Recruitment and Selection
In ACI, recruitment is not about filling jobs that are currently vacant it is about making a continuous,
long-term investment to build a high quality workforce capable of accomplishing the organizations
mission now and in the future.

Recruitment is an important part of an organizations human resource management and their

competitive strength. Competent human resources at the right positions in the organization are a
vital resource and can be a core competency or a strategic advantage for it.
To obtain the number and quality of employees that can be selected in order to help the
organization to achieve its goals and objectives;
To create a pool of prospective employees for the organization so that the management can select
the right candidate for the right job from this pool;
To act as a link between the employers and the job seekers and ensures the placement of right
candidate at the right place at the right time;
Using and following the right recruitment processes can facilitate the selection of the best
candidates for the organization.
5.2 Pros of Recruitment & Selection Process of ACI
Human Resource is one of the most important resources for any organizations success. Resources
make things possible but people make things happen. A companys core competence resides in its
people and in its intellectual capital, not in its assets on the balance sheet. Other assets like skill,
technology, physical assets and financial assets can be easily copied by other organizations. But if
an organization has highly skilled and capable workforce it cannot be easily copied by other
organization. So acquisition, deployment and retention of sufficient skilled manpower are cutting
edge for an organization. These things greatly depend on effective recruitment and selection
process.
Evaluating recruitment practice of an organization is not an easy task, because no ultimate guideline
can be found regarding the recruitment and selection practice of any organization. However,
evaluation of the recruitment and selection process of ACI has been done based on secondary
sources such as related books, web sites, etc.
ACI ensures that recruitments remain are consistent from every job opening. ACI has its own
rsum bank to meet the specific needs of the organization. As they use in-house functions they
have greater control on the recruitment process and they can easily customize some aspects of
process.
For internal and external; ACI usually employs centralized recruitment. That is recruitment activities
are conducted by the Human Resources Department with cooperation by concerned department.
One of the most important advantages of this centralized recruitment functions is that duplication of

effort is eliminated. For example, Administrative Officer, Coordination officer etc are common position
for all business units of ACI. So if two or more business units require a coordination officer, then one
advertisement is placed rather than multiple advertisements for multiple business units. Previously
collected rsums can be used for new opening in the same business unit or another business unit.
Recruitment of factory workers on contractual basis is usually done by the factory HR and
Administration Department. Usually the rate of turnover among the factory workers are
comparatively higher and immediate replacement of the vacant position is important.
ACI uses formal Staff Engagement Proposal form along with job description for filling every job
opening in the organization. This ensures that right type of applicants is being targeted.
Since it is very difficult to identify the exact number of candidates to be contacted to fill up a
particular vacant position, ACI does not have any particular approach regarding this. The HR
department of ACI talks with the related department head and decide how many applicants will be
contacted against a vacant position. This gives HR Department flexibility and discretion for using
judgments. This is an excellent practice as long as HR Executives can use their judgments
appropriately.
ACI mainly use Newspaper advertisements, University placement offices and online as external
sources and references and succession plans (only in case of HRD and MIS dept.) as major sources
of internal recruitment. For example, ACI maintains close relationship with Bangladesh Agricultural
University and Pharmacy Department of major public universities. From these sources ACI easily
collects rsums of precise candidates virtually with no cost.
ACI is careful about the wording of messages used in advertisements. While developing
communication message ACI reviews job description and person specification of the position. For
example, for junior level management and non-management positions ACI use Bengali message,
which is highly attractive. This strategy has been proved effective to attract applicants over the
years.
ACI develops selection plans for each department at beginning of the year which helps the
organization in selecting the right employee at right time.
Before any selection interview ACI customize competency checklist after analyzing the person
specification of that position and interview rating form for that particular position and send the rating
form and checklist to the interviewers. This system has been helping the interviewers to ask right
questions and remain focused during interview.

 Recently ACI has decided to train up the executives, senior executives as well as assistant
managers of few departments for increasing assessment capability of the interviewers. For this
purpose ACI organizes training sessions on developing assessment ability of the interviewers by top
level managers at ACI training centre as well as sends executives to training sessions on this issue
to HR training firms.
5.3 Cons of Recruitment & Selection Process of ACI
Cons of Recruitment Process
There is no system of rewarding recruiters for successful/effective recruitment that might have
motivated the recruiters for better recruitment.
ACI does not have long term record keeping system of the previous applicants. If they had a formal
and well-organized record keeping system they could have a pool of applicants with suitable
rsums for positions that were advertised. ACI usually keeps CVs for 6 months. But during a new
recruitment usually ACI directly goes for fresh advertisement. Those preserved rsums had almost
zero chance to be reviewed for the advertised job.
Although ACI uses different sources to attract job applicants it generally emphasizes on newspaper
advertisement that is comparatively a costly source (external source). ACI has contract with
www.bdjobs.com for posting job advertisement and according to the contract ACI can place as many
advertisements it wishes. As www.bdjobs.com is the most popular and most viewed job portal
though it is a costly process. Due to its popularity, the traffic in bdjobs.com is extremely high, which
causes server error most of the times. This hampers timely completion of recruitment process of ACI.
We are dependant on an external source which is highly inefficient. Moreover a single job ad costs
Tk. 7,500 + VAT Tk. 338 (Bdjobs ) which though cheaper than newspaper is still expensive for a
company for ACI which needs to post on average 20-25 jobs each month.
When a position becomes vacant, it is not possible every time to fill that position with existing
employees as it causes that position remains vacant. In that case to reduce complexity the company
goes for external source. This creates dissatisfaction among existing employees. Because sometime
the employees think it is redundant to go for filling that vacant position as after sometime from the
post becomes vacant, they believe they have managed the work and it is unnecessary to bring
someone new among them.
As the pay structure of ACI is not market friendly, therefore, sometimes it becomes difficult for the
company to get good candidate, especially if the job requires some special skill/expertise.

Use of right selection process is the bottom line for an organizations long run success. Earlier in this
report, it was pointed out that an organization can achieve competitive advantage by selecting
capable and motivated manpower. We know selection process starts with collection of rsums of
the applicants and ends up with the final selection. The best possible match can be found through a
series of well-thought-out. Realizing the importance of selecting capable and motivated employees,
ACI has developed a system of selecting best possible employees for the organization.
Moreover the inherent socio cultural aspects of Bangladesh create complexities in the process due
to nepotism and corruption.
Cons of Selection Process of ACI
Sometime direct supervisor is appointed as the recruiter for a specific job. It is been seen that
sometime they do not possess good interview conducting skill, which makes selection of right
candidates difficult.
There is no proper method to identify cases of negligent hiring. Negligent hiring occurs when an
employer knew or should have known that an applicant had a prior history of behavior that
endangered customers, employees, vendors, or members of the public (Anne M. Bogardaus). Such
cases occur but the recruiter is not identified and root cause analysis for such cases is not done,
leaving the possibility of such cases to occur in future.
Some KSAOs can be brought to the job by the candidate and others might be acquired on the job
(through training and/or job experience). If an organization always recruits from external sources and
do not develop potential internal candidates it creates frustration and disappointment among existing
employees. If the internal candidates are developed and promoted it will create a better working
environment. This problem is prevalent in several departments. Proper and detail succession
planning can reduce this problem.
Interviews are the most commonly used selection practice in ACI. In many cases the interviewers
are unable to agree among themselves in their evaluation. This happens because there is no
specific guideline for interviewing the candidates.
ACI do not conduct medical checkup of the candidates before offering employment letter. After the
final selection, candidates only give a medical declaration. But, the reliability of this declaration is
very low. In the medical declaration form job seekers rarely disclose any medical information that
might affect the organizations decision to offer the job or not.
Especially in the sales division and while recruiting contractual positions in ACI Logistics, many
resumes are collected by employee referrals. Most of the time those candidates are selected

because of line managers pressure as they belong to similar home town, village or to relatives even
when they are neither suitable nor qualified for the post. Moreover recruitment of such positions as
technician, peon, cleaners and other root-level positions take up a lot of time.
5.4 Recruitment Law Practices in ACI
Any criteria relating to personal qualities or circumstances which must be essential and directly
related to the job, and must be applied equally to all groups irrespective of age, sex, race, nationality,
religion or belief, disability, membership or non-membership of a trade union. To do otherwise is
potentially discriminatory. (Source: ACI Service Rule, 2007)
ACI has clear organizational structures, detailed job descriptions and person specifications. Usually
the job descriptions of the all permanent employees working for ACI get updated in every two years
coordinated by HR department though every department head manages his/her employees to
update their job description, whenever necessary. It provides user-friendly ways of applying for jobs
and a consistent approach to recruitment. This means it can manage its changing demand for staff.
5.5 Measuring Recruitment Technique
In ACI, there is another practice to forecast the future job opening and that is based on company
organogram. The department heads use the organogram to identify vacant position(s) which the
department head thinks appropriate to be filled.
Every year when the companys budget gets prepared, all future jobs for different departments are
also determined by the head office then.
Moreover, a recruitment and selection matrix is maintained in its internal HR software where records
of position for which a process has been complete is kept. Like the number of CVs received, number
of candidates called for written test, number of candidates called for preliminary and final viva etc is
mentioned. Even the source of candidates is given in the comment section. This record is used by
the HR Head to determine from time to time if the process being followed is in line with the company
policy.
CHAPTER VI: RECOMMENDATIONS
There is no proper guideline in ACI regarding selecting recruiters. A guideline regarding this area
may be helpful for better recruitment planning. This way experienced and only the recruiters who
obtained training on the process become part making the process as effective and efficient as
possible.

 Recruitment performance may be incorporated in the Action Plan in the performance appraisal
system of the recruiters to motivate the recruiters for better and more efficient recruitment and
selection.
ACI needs to develop its own strong internal CV bank so that dependency from external sources is
removed. Moreover for every vacancy of the company, the need to advertise in newspaper and
website would not be required if an internal CV Bank was present.
Since interviews receive low marks on reliability and validity especially if they are not done by
maintain certain issues (Dessler, 2009-2010), it is important that ACI emphasizes on other selection
processes like assessment centers along with interviews to ensure better selection.
Before offering employment letter, ACI should check medical report of the selected candidates from
the reputed medical institutions that have corporate agreement with ACI. Though this might be
expensive, it will ensure that unduly claim on medical benefit is not made by an employee.
Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is must be made mandatory at ACI. While HR personnel understand
the importance of RJP, the line managers are unaware and tend to give high hopes to candidates.
This can cause dissatisfaction and higher turnover of employees.
To prevent negligent hiring, background check should be maintained by ACI in a proper manner so
that candidates of the wrong kind does not get entry in the company and later cause harm to the
company in any form. Through background checks can prevent such incidences to occur.
Proposed process of recruitment for ACI
Proposed process for Selection Process at ACI
LOOKING FORWARD
ACI usually employs centralized recruitment. It uses formal Staff Engagement Proposal form along
with job description for filling every job opening in the organization. This ensures that right type of
applicants is being targeted. The company is careful about selecting communication messages in
ads but still needs to work more on it. ACI develops selection plans for each department at the
beginning of the year which helps the organization in selecting the right employee at right time.
Recently ACI has formed a panel of interviewers and decided to train up them for increasing
assessment capability of the interviewers.
After achieving The Best Enterprise of the Year 2012 in quality assurance term, ACI becomes more
reliable, popular and reputed name in the corporate sector as well as in the perception of the people

of this country. This achievement has the potentiality of attracting candidates to the organization.
However, the candidates expectations regarding pay scale and benefits might increases which
currently ACI is not ready to comply with, especially at the entry level.
Entry level candidates expectation regarding salary gets a boost when they face assessment
session, communication test, presentation skill test. Because these type of tests usually being
conducted in banks and multinational companies that pay very high salary at the entry level.
Therefore, when the candidates come to know that ACI is not going to pay the market rate, they get
disappointed a lot. Thus, ACI looses many deserving candidates who could have brought big
positive changes in the future.
ACI lost many of its trained employees of one of its business to its competitors in the first quarter.
One reason for that could be lower pay structure than those of the competitors.
ACI HR recently has taken an innovative way to fill up vacant positions that a short period of time
which is selecting CVs from online CV banks and arranging a written test for candidates from their
CV bank. ACI usually see 65-70% presence of candidates in the written test among the candidates
who get call from ACI. However, ACI experienced 92% participation in the test. ACI HR received
numerous calls from these candidates who expressed their gratitude to ACI for choosing them
though they did not apply formally. This initiative creates a positive image of ACI in the job market.
ACI believes in equal employment opportunity in pen and paper at least. There is a stereotyping in
our country that women should not be selected for the jobs in factory as those jobs are not suitable
for women. SO in practice as well, the company still does not encourage women in certain positions.
Companys working environment is another important issue that attracts candidates. In spite of
offering comparatively lower salary for a position, sometime candidates are willing to join as the
benefit package of the company is family friendly.
ACI HR has the flexibility to customize the assessment methods according to the qualities,
personalities, or/and performances expected from the candidates.
ACI HR maintains an official Facebook page, where it publishes photos and news of ACI Limiteds
activities, achievements, happy employees feelings in words and photos of training, charter tours
which make candidates more interested in joining the company.
Transportation and subsidized lunch facility are two imperative benefits that ACI offers to all
employees. These two play a decisive role in attracting and retaining many employees. Even,
several employees resigned from ACI but returned within a short period of time to join again.

Recently the Managing Director of ACI Limited declared to make ACIs Human Resource
Department bigger and more systematic. He finds that it is becoming more organized and adopting
better policies regarding recruitment and retention of employees.
By providing more information about benefits and facilities in the job circulars can attract more
potential candidates to the company.
There is no proper guideline in ACI regarding selecting recruiters. A guideline regarding this area
may be helpful for better recruitment planning.
Recruitment performance may be incorporated in the Action Plan in the performance appraisal
system of the recruiters to motivate the recruiters for selecting better recruitment.
ACI does not have a well-developed record keeping system of the applicants. ACI HR has to store
all the CVs in the PC (which are downloaded) and in the pile of boxes. These are kept for future
purposes but when it gets time for those to recall, most of those hard copies get ignored as it is
difficult to check all those hardcopies of CV. To overcome this problem information of all the collected
CVs in detail with information about its current location must be maintained. Later on, this database
was included in HRIS software.
ACI HR should talk to the department heads about organizing some assessment sessions, which
are very much helpful to find out good candidates. However, this heightens their expectations for
higher salary when that is not met, the candidates become de-motivated.
Before offering employment letter, ACI should check medical report of the selected candidates from
the reputed medical institutions that have corporate agreement with ACI.
As the more qualified people demand high salary, sometime the company cannot afford them. ACI
should take initiative to revise its pay structure immediately; otherwise it may be left with recruiting
only second or third rated job candidates.
In ACI HR, the most common practice is the general HR where everyone is doing everything. These
create role ambiguity and confusion among employees. ACI HR should immediately create
specialized units/teams for performance management, compensation management, and talent
acquisition and management, etc. This move will make ACI HR much stronger, dynamic and
effective than it is now. Besides, it will definitely help ACI to attract, develop and retain more qualified
people.
CONCLUSION

The recruitment and selection process of ACI is more or less structured, efficient and is capable of
achieving its desired objectives. After thorough evaluation, we can say that ACIs recruitment and
selection process is satisfactory. ACI should be careful in selecting the assessment methods,
because the success of the selection process is mostly dependent on these assessment methods.
The interview should be more structured to ensure reliability and validity of the recruitment process.
In addition, the company needs to be more careful in inviting qualified candidates. Candidates look
for more than just an attractive salary; candidates are seeking organizations that can offer them
various kinds of benefits, the potential to advance, and an environment in which they can learn and
grow. If the organization cannot offer these, job seekers will find one that does. Thus, it is important
for the company to know exactly what they have to offer to potential employees, and then highlight
their best features when recruiting candidates. In this sense, ACI is a very fine place to work where
candidates can enjoy consequential benefits as well as can get proper coaching to be successful in
future. But still, ACI should think about its starting salary for the new entrants because this is a
critical reason for which ACI is lagging behind in attracting deserving candidates from reputed
institutes.
If HRD is to increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve their organization's competitive
advantage, they must focus on how to properly manage its personnel. Because today's workforce
has become increasingly diverse and as a result HRD are being needed to stay ahead of the labor
force and start implementing more ways to maximize the benefits of employees in order to get what
they need from it resources. The ways can be creating effective motivational initiatives, recruiting
and retaining the right personnel, rewarding and treating employees fairly, establishing an
environment that supports the people and benefits the organization and most importantly
establishing an efficient HRD with efficient HR personnel. Because Organizations are relying on their
skilled HR personnel to get the people who get the job done, and of course, make the company
survive and grow.
.........
Discussion Questions
1. How important is it for a company as big as ACI that employs more than 7,000 employees to have
a proper recruitment and selection process?
2. In order to ensure non-biased selection of candidates and equal employment opportunity and in
spite of having a good system in place why the company is not being able to use them in practice?

3. Why is it that the company as reputed and as philosophically sound as ACI not able to make the
most out of its recruitment and selection process eliminating all kinds of effects of from the external
environment?
4. What is keeping the company away from practicing the world class systems with no loopholes and
devoid of any kind of influences?
5. What should be done by the company to ensure that a right-fit is obtained-a fit with the
organization, with the job and with the culture which is crucial for long term objective fulfillment of the
organization?
6. How can the company get rid of the negligent hiring that is seen to be causing unacceptable
incidences by recruits?
7. What can happen to the company in the long run if it continues to avoid holding its recruiters
accountable for any misdeed done by the employees they recruit that should have been predicted at
the time of hiring?
8. ACI needs to have its own CV bank in order to remove dependency from the external sources like
bdjobs and other job portals. Explain.
9. How can the company create a feedback mechanism for each of its recruitment process and
recognize good practices and punish any discrepancies?
10. For a company growing as fast as ACI, what other areas of improvement can you think of so that
the company is ready to accept the challenges of the future?