CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1
1.1 Background of the study:
Human Resource (HR) in Insurance Industry of Bangladesh is a synthesis of themes and
concepts drawn from a long history of work and more recent management theories. With the
changing needs of the insurance industry and the growing complexity of modern business
professional insurance, education must undergo a constant change so that it is relevant to the
needs of a dynamic society. I set out to understand the activity of human resource management
(HRM), how it developed, and the range of tasks covered by human resource specialists. The
activity of human resource management is described in this report. So, Human Resource
Management is practice and policy that one needs to carry out the personnel aspect of a
management position. These practice and policy include conducting job analysis, planning,
employee needs, recruiting and selection job candidates, orienting and training new employees,
managing wages and salaries, providing incentives and benefits, appraising performances,
communication (interviewing, counseling, and disciplining) and training and developing and
building employee commitment, etc. the study will concentrate on the human resource policy of
life insurance company. Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) believe in
ensuring a working environment where management and employees put combined effort towards
the growth of the company and accepts new challenges in a diversified environment.
Acknowledgment of success is ensured here to motivate our staff.

The findings of this study will help us to increase the Practical knowledge of Human Resource
Policy of Life Insurance Company. The purposes of the HR are given below:
• To do an extensive research on Human Resource Policy in life insurance Company.
• To understand the insurance environment of public insurance company in
Bangladesh.
The MBA program is required a course for the students who are completing MBA from
Bangladesh Open University. In our economy, there are three types of insurance company are in
operation. They are Nationalized Insurance Corporation, Local Private Insurance Company and
Foreign Private Insurance Company. All Insurance organization has discovered a new horizon in
the field of insurance area. There are 62 insurance companies operating in the country. A huge
numbers of people employment this sector. So I have decided to study on the topic of Human
Resources Policy of Life Insurance Company.

2
1.2 Objective of the Study:
1.2.1 Board Objective:
The board objective of the report is to analyze the Human Resources Policy of PLICL.
1.2.2 Specific objectives:
 To collect information and insight about the HRM policy of the PLICL.
 To experience different HR practices those are being followed by PLICL.
 To identify the issues that will facilitate or hinder the proper practices of HRM
 To know about the problems faced by the Progressive Life Insurance in HRM Policies
and Practices.
 To suggest some recommendations for solving the problems faced by the Progressive
Life Insurance in HRM Policies and Practices.

1.3. Methodology of the study:

For the purpose of the study data and information have been collected from both primary and
secondary sources. The relevant information collected from primary sources by made
questionnaire and collect information from 25 Employees of Progressive Life Insurance
Company Limited.
1.3.2 Primary source:
Face to face discussion with Company Secretary and employees of different department. I have
made a questionnaire and interviewed has taken from 25 employees of all department & branch
from the personnel of Progressive Life Insurance Company Limited.
1.3.3 Secondary Sources:
The secondary sources data have been collected from
• Service Manual of PLICL
• Annual Report
• Books & articles
• By employee guideline

3
1.4 Limitations of the study
The thesis report was not free from limitations. I faced some problems during the study, which I
am mentioning them as below:
 Lack of time: I had to complete this report within a very short span of time that was not
sufficient for investigation.

 Lack of Supervision: As the officers were busy with their daily work, they could
provide me very little time. Sometimes, they didn’t want to supervise due to pressure of
work load.
 Other limitation: As I am a newcomer, there is a lack of previous experience in this
concern. And many practical matters have been written from my own observation that
may vary from person to person.

4
 CHAPTER-2
Description of the Organization

5
2.1 History of Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd.
Company Name Progressive Life Insurance
Company Limited
Incorporation of the Company 6 January 2000
Commencement of Business 6 January 2000
Registration Certificate for Insurance Business 27 February 2000
Signing of First Insurance Business 28 June 2000
Agreement with CDBL 28 June 2005
Consent Received from SEC for Issuance of IPO 5 July 2005
Share
Publication of Prospectus 6 July 2005
Subscription Opens 8 October 2005
Allotment of IPO Shares 21 November 2005
Listed with Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong 2 January 2006
Stock Exchanges
First Trading at Dhaka Stock Exchange and 2 January 2006
Chittagong Stock Exchange
Holding the first public AGM(6th) 26 September 2006
Declaration of first policy bonus 31 December 2008
1st Extra-Ordinary General Meeting 29 November 2011
OBTAINED MEMBERSHIP CERTIFICATE
FROM:
Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies

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2.2 Mission, Vision & Commitment to Client’s:

Mission:
 High quality financial services with the help of latest technology.

 Fast and accurate customer service.

 Sustainable growth strategy.
 Follow ethical standard in business.
 Steady return on shareholder’s equity.
 Human resource.
Vision:
 To stand out as a pioneer insurance institution in Bangladesh and contribute significantly
to the national economy.

Commitment to Clients:
 Provide service with high degree professionalism and use of modern technology.
 Create long term relationship based on mutual trust.
 Respond to customer needs with speed and accuracy.
 Share their values and beliefs.
 Ensure safety and security of customer valuables in trust with us.

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2.3 Values & Strengths

Values

 Integrity  Fairness  Harmony

 Courtesy  Commitment  Insight and Sprit
 Enthusiasm for work  Courtesy  Business Ethics

Core Strengths

 Transparent and  Efficient Team of  Satisfied

Quick Decision Performer Customers
Making
 Internal Control  Skilled Risk  Diversificatio
and Compliance Management n
 Corporate Internal Control
Governance

2.4 Strategies:
 Synchronized and steady growth of the insurance.
 Utilize all available resources to develop various plans, policies and procedures in each
of the objective and goal areas.
 Implement plans, policies and procedures.
 Utilize a team of professional employees.
 Search for a total customized solution of I.T. for the purpose of full automation step.

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2.5 Activities and Service

The company is engaged in different portfolio traditional life insurance business i.e. ordinary
life, pension scheme, group life including health schema and micro life insurance business under
the name of Sujan bima. It also operate shariah based islami Bima Prakalba (Takaful( under the
guidance of Shariah Council

2.5.1 Principal Products or services of the Company:

 Ordinary Life

Whole life assurance plan-with profits endowment assurance plan-with profit three
benefit endowment assurance joint life endowment assurance plan.
 Group life & Health Scheme
Group life insurance scheme group life endowment insurance scheme Health care group
scheme
 Islami Bima Prakalpa (Takaful)
Single payment endowment assurance plan with profits endowment assurance plan with
profits islami deposit pension scheme with profits anticipated endowment assurance plan
with profits Haji Bima with profits

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2.6 Capital Structure:

10
2.7 Human Resource Policy Division of PLICL
Having a Human Resources Department in Bangladeshi business organizations today is
becoming a common and important part. But Human Resource Management is a relatively new
discipline to study and implement in this part of Asia and in most organizations HR Department
work as a ‘Support’ department to the organization. Whereas it was supposed to be an integral
part of the business without which an organization cannot maximize the utility of its most
valuable resource, which is the workforce, the employees of the organization. In HRD, there are
39 permanent employees are currently functioning.
In Progressive Life Insurance Ltd. there are three different divisions of departments. One is
‘Business’, another is ‘Support’ and the other is ‘Operations’. Here also HRD is a Support
department to the Bank. The ‘Business’ division includes the departments which are directly
related to the Banks banking business, banking products e.g. SME, Retail, Corporate etc.
Whereas ‘Operations’ division includes departments related to logistics, transports etc. e.g. the
GIS (General Infrastructure Services) Department. Progressive Life Insurance also outsource for
contractual posts e.g. the Bank is currently outsourcing from an organization named
“CLEANCO” for floor maintenance. They also hire HR Contracts who, upon satisfactory
performance and experience, can achieve a regular post in the bank. The HR policies regarding
employees of Progressive Life Insurance will be discussed later.

11
 CHAPTER-3
HRM Policies and Practices: Literature
Review/ Theoretical Perspective

12
3.1 Literature Review
Human Resource Management and Its Importance for Today’s Organizations (Zehra
Alakoç Burma, PhD, Assistant Professor, Hiher Vocational School of Mersin, Mersin University
Turkey) Today in the world, global competition is the basic element to define firms’ strategies as
a result industrial economy has been experienced to pass toward to knowledge economy. At an
age where total quality is of primary importance, efficiency can only be achieved by the
successful utilization of human resources. Human resource management is one of the necessary
needs of today’s business. Human resource management department has a very important role
for supply of the human being to main resources of companies. Human resource management
department has fundamental role for personnel recruiting, orientation and performance appraisal
and so on. Human resource management issues to be addressed at the highest level in the
organization and management of strategic decisions are required. This research will inform
human resource management, scope and affecting factors on human resource management,
human resource management functions and relationship between organizational effectiveness
and human resources management.

"HRM Practices in Insurance Companies: A Study of Bangladeshi and Multinational

Companies" (Md. Sagir Chowdhury Department of Management Information Systems,
University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh) in their article on company can be generated from
human resources (HR) and company performance is influenced by a set of effective HRM
policies. The results of this study indicated that both multinational companies and Bangladeshi
companies have to significantly improve their practices regarding performance appraisal,
training and financial benefits, and hr planning and recruitment. Service sector is human resource
intensive business. To gain competitive advantage, service organizations should emphasize on
human resource management practices, as has been indicated in the results. A well-defined
framework of human resource management practices benefits not only the organization but also
the employee. HR policies of an organization benefit the employee by providing better
opportunities for growth in terms of better compensation, benefits, training and development
opportunities, and career management, in turn leading to job satisfaction and self-fulfillment.

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Importance of Human Resource Management Policy in 21st Century: A Theoretical
Perspective (Hassan Danial Aslam, Mehmood Aslam, Naeem Ali & Badar Habib- Faculty of
Management Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan) Human Resource
Management discipline extracted its roots from organizational psychology discipline and proved
to be an important practice for managing organizations. The role of this practice has emerged to
be strategic with due course of time. Now a day, the role of human resource management
departments has become indispensable for 21st century modern businesses. This article
particularly focuses on role of human resource management practices in 21st century. This
theoretical paper aims to highlight the importance of human resource managers, HR practices
and its influencing factors. In addition to that, this article also elaborates the upcoming
challenges which are being faced by 21st century HR managers. Author has conducted HR
literature analysis in order to present emerging issues, challenges and practices of human
resource management discipline in context of 21st century.

Human Resource Management Policy Towards Insurance Companies Bangladesh (Md.

Tofael Hossain Majumder Department of Accounting and Information Systems, Comilla
University, Comilla, Bangladesh) Dramatic advances of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT), changing mix and personal values of the workforce, emergence of the
knowledge economy and increasing global competition have created enormous challenges on
organizations. To cope with the challenges efficiently, human resource has been considered as
one of the most important factors in today’s hypercompetitive market place. The focus of this
study is to gain an insight into the current HRM policy and its impact on employee’s satisfaction
on the private insurance sector in Bangladesh.

A Study of HRM Policies and its Impact on Recruitment and Selection process in
Insurance Sector Banks (Vikram Jeetl, Assistant Professor, Management Innocent Hearts
Group of Institution) In current era of highly volatile business environment organizations are
facing emerging challenges in form of acquisition and optimization of human resource. Being
valuable and scarce capabilities, human resources are considered as a source of sustainable
competitive advantage. The success of an organization depends upon several factors but the most
crucial factor that affects the organization performance is its employee. Human resources play an

14
integral role in achieving an innovative and high-quality product/ service. The present study is an
attempt to examine and analyse the impact of human resource management practices on
Recruitment and Selection process of insurance sector employees. In the study, the estimated
regression model identified that the HRM practices like Training, Performance Appraisal, Team
Work and Compensation has significant impact on job satisfaction. On the other hand Employee
Participation has no significant impact on job satisfaction of the employees of Insurance sector.

Impact of HRM Practices and Policies on Employee Job Satisfaction in Insurance sector
with special reference to moradabad city original (nishtha sharma , manjula jain and ritika
khanna, Assistant professor, School of Business Management, IFTM University, Director,
School of Business Management, IFTM University) While there has been growing interest
concerning the relationship between human resource (HRM) practices, and job satisfaction, but
limited attention has been paid in insurance industry. This study investigates the relationship
between HRM policies and practices and job satisfaction in public sector banks of Moradabad.
For the purpose of this study, the data was extracted from the branches of three public sector
banks of Moradabad and the researcher analyzed the data by employing simple correlation
analysis. In the analysis, it is found that there is a positive relationship between job satisfaction
and HRM policies and practices. The study concentrates upon six HRM policies and practices
viz. performance evaluation, promotion practices, training and development, job description,
work relationships and pay and fringe benefits. The findings indicate a strong relationship
between different HRM policies and practices and job satisfaction.

Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Innovation: Assessing the

Mediating Role of Knowledge Management Effectiveness (Cheng Ling Tan and Aizzat Mohd
Nasurdin, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia) Organizational innovation has been
viewed as an essential weapon for organizations to compete in this competitive business
environment. Particularly, Malaysia manufacturing firms strive to transform their business model
from labor-intensive to knowledge-intensive, which aim to immerse themselves in higher value
added activities such as, developing new products, processes, and services, to continual sustain
the competitiveness within the rivalries. One of the ways to heighten the organizational
innovation is through effective human resource management (HRM) practices and effective

15
knowledge management. This study examined the direct relationships between HRM practices
(performance appraisal, career management, training, reward system, and recruitment) and
organizational innovation (product innovation, process innovation, and administrative
innovation). Additionally, it also examined the mediating role of KM effectiveness on the direct
relationship. Performance appraisal also found to have a positive effect on administrative
innovation. Additionally, this study also demonstrates that training and performance appraisal,
are positively related to knowledge management effectiveness. Knowledge management
effectiveness fully mediates the relationship between training and process innovation, training
and administrative innovation, and performance appraisal and administrative innovation. A
discussion of the findings, limitations, and implications are provided.

Performance management effectiveness in Thai insurance industry: a look from

performers and a role of interactional justice (Pachsiry Chompukum Chulalongkorn
University) Businesses are facing up to high competitive pressure, especially insurance industry.
After 1997 crisis, insurance industry meet more challenges from new financial landscape.
Aiming to improve organizational performance, they have been adopting management tools,
namely performance management. To enhance impacts of performance management, it is
important to understand employees’ perceived performance management effective since the
process requires high involvement and commitment from employees. Data were collected from
476 employees in the four largest banks in Thailand. Results from structural equations analyses
support hypothesized model that attitudes towards performance evaluation directly relate to
perceived performance management effectiveness and interactional justice mediates the
coaching- perceived performance management effectiveness. Discussion, limitation and future
research are included.

Measuring the impact of HRM on organizational performance (Anastasia A. Katou,

University of Macedonia) The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of HRM on
organizational performance in the context of Greece. Data were collected from 178 organizations
using a questionnaire survey in the Greek manufacturing sector, and analyzed using the
‘structural equation modeling’ methodology. The results indicated that the relationship between

16
HRM policies (resourcing and development, compensation and incentives, involvement and job
design) and organizational performance is partially mediated through HRM outcomes (skills,
attitudes, behavior), and it is influenced by business strategies (cost, quality, innovation). Thus,
the contribution of this study for academics and practitioners is that HRM policies associated
with business strategies will affect organizational performance through HRM outcomes.

Impact of human resource practices on employee perceived performance in insurance

sector of Pakistan (Zulfqar Ahmad Bowra, Bilal Sharif*, Affan Saeed and Muhammad Kabir
Niazi Hailey College of Commerce, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan) The main
endeavor of this study is to examine the relationship and nature of relationship between the
employee perceived performance and human resource (HR) practices (compensation,
performance evaluation, and promotion practices) in the insurance sector of Pakistan. Survey of
235 insurance personnel was conducted through personally administrated questionnaire to
investigate the impact of HR practices on employees’ perceived performance. The relationship
and nature of relationship is calculated by applying the Spearman’s correlation matrix and
multiple regression analysis. The Spearman’s correlation results demonstrate that, the employee
perceived performance and HR practices has the positive and significant relationship. The
regression results indicate that the two HR practices: performance evaluation and promotion
practices are significant but the compensation practices are not significant.

17
3.2 Theoretical Framework

3.2.1 Profile History of HRM:

The utilization of people, at least in a rudimentary form, can be traced to ancient times. Efforts to
best use talents, even through informal in nature, were undertaken whenever people came
together in a community. The change has been that during the course of the least century efforts
to best manage human resources have become more formal and specialized. The history of HRM
can be characterized in two ways. First, as moving through four broad phases: the craft system,
scientific management, the human relations approach, and the current organizational science-
human resource approach.

The twentieth century time line illustrated in Table 1.1.

3.2.1 The Craft System:

From the earliest times in Egypt and Babylon, training in craft skills was organized to maintain
an adequate supply of craft workers. By the thirteenth century, craft training had become popular
in Western Europe. Craft guilds supervised quality and methods of production and regulated
conditions of employment for each occupation. The master crafts worker controlled the craft
guilds, and the recruit entered after a period of training as an apprentice. The craft system was
best suited to domestic industry, which the master operated on his own premises, with his as
assistants residing and working in the same house.

3.2.2 Scientific Management:

The Industrial Revolution and mass production emerged in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries and led to the deterioration of the craft guilds. The development of mass production
transformed the organization of work in two important ways. First, tasks were subdivided into
very simple parts that could be performed by unskilled workers. Second, manufacturing grew to
such an extent that a large hierarchy of supervisors and managers became necessary. Along with
mass production came the assembly line and a scientific approach to an analysis of work in terms
of its constituent parts.

18
The basis of scientific management is that there is one best way to do a job. The best way will be
the most efficient and therefore the fastest and least expensive. The founder of this new field of
scientific management was an American mechanical engineer, Frederick "W. Taylor (1856-
1915). Two of Taylor's contemporaries, Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924) and his spouse Ullian
Moeller Gilbreth (1878-1972), joined in becoming the proponents of scientific management or
industrial engineering.

In the decade after 1910, the principles of scientific management were applied on a wholesale
basis in the United States. Taylor and his disciples assumed that workers wanted to be used
efficiently and were motivated by money. This philosophy proved to be incorrect because it
ignored feelings-and other motives. Workers were left dissatisfied with their jobs. Union
opposition grew as union organizers condemned Taylorism for depriving workers of a voice in
the conditions and functions of their weink.

One result was the emergence of welfare secretaries as organizational employee to oversee
programs for the welfare of employees. These pro-grant included recreational facilities,
employee assistance programs, and medical programs. The welfare secretary position was the
beginning of the professional personnel (now human resource) function.

As antiquated as scientific management seems now, some would argue that many of the basic
principles still apply today.26 For example, the many special in-centive systems organizations use
to motivate employees and reward performance are adapted from Taylor's ideas. The ideas of
scientific management are adaptable, and its basic principles continue to have relevance after
almost 100 years.

3.2.3 Human Relations:

The first important discovery about the social context of mass production occurred in tin- famous
experiment undertaken by U.S. social scientists Elton Mayo (1880-1940) and Fritz
Roethlisberger (1898-1974) between 1924 and 1932 at Western Electric’s Hawthorne plant in
Chicago. Mayo and his colleagues sought to study the effects of changes in illumination on
productivity. The investigators chose two groups of employees working under similar conditions.
The level of illumination was varied for the test group but kept constant for the control group. To

19
Mayo's surprise, the output of both groups rose. Even when the researchers told the workers in
one group that the light was going to be changed but then did not change it, the workers
expressed satisfaction, and productivity continued to Increase. Mayo saw that the significant
variable was not physical but psychological; the reason for the increase in productivity was the
workers' attitudes toward their jobs and Western Electric. Because their cooperation had been
requested, the workers now felt themselves part of an important group whose help and advice
were being sought by the company.27

3.2.4 Organizational Science:

Following realization of the limitations of the human relations approach, academic researchers
from various behavioral disciplines, such as psychology, political science, economics, and
sociology, began studying organizations. The organizational science approach focuses more on
the total organization and less on just the individual. HRM, as we currently know it, grew out of
the organizational science trend and combines learning from the previous movements with
current research in the behavioral sciences.

HR Activity Example Event

Time period HR Focus
Before 1890 Industrial Disciplinary systems National cash register
1900-1910 technologies Health and safety (ncr)forms first
Employee well- programs personnel department
being to Handel employee
issues
1920s Task design,  Time and motion period of scientific
efficiency, and studies management
impact of work  Employee
groups on counseling and
individual workers testing
1930s  Union of  Communication Major labor relations
workplace programs legislation:
 Passage of major  Anti-union Norris –LaGuardia Act
labor laws campaigns National labor relation
 Personnel becomes Act(wag net Act)
staff support to
operational line
units
1940s Employee benefits  Wage increases General Motors And
and compensation  Cost-of-living the United Auto

20
 adjustments Workers sing first
 Pension, health, and contract with
other benefits plans “escalator” clause.
1950s  Employee  Training and The Hawthorne studies
relations development from the human
 Specialized  Separate divisions relation movement find
personnel within personnel widespread
functions established; applicability.
recruitment, labor
relations, training,
benefits etc.
1960s Employee  Employee rights Peter Ducker’s
participation issues now encyclopedic the
regulated in areas practice of
of discrimination, Management (1954)
equal opportunity finds widespread
safety and health, applicability.
and various benefit
Perform.
17
Government Employee rights issues Griggs v.Duke power,
1970s intervention now regulated in areas the first u,s Supreme
of discrimination, equal Court employment
opportunity, safety and discrimination case.
health
1980s  Employee William Ouchi,s
recognition Theory Z examines the
 Displacement applicability of
Japanese employment
practices to Western
companies.
1990s  Changing About 70% of married
demographics of women are employed,
work force more than double the
 Technology 1960 rate.
2000 and  Strategic HR Exemplified by David
beyond planning Ulrich’s book Human
Resource Champions,
which examines the
role of HRM in the
twenty-first century.
Source: Adapted from William j.Robert k.prescott, and Maria w.Taylor, Strategic Human
Resource Management.

21
3.2.5 Objectives:

The primary objective of HRM is to ensure the availability of right people for right jobs so as the
organizational goals are achieved effectively.

1. To help the organization to attain its goals effectively and efficiently by providing competent
and motivated employees.

2. To utilize the available human resources effectively.

3. To increase to the fullest the employee’s job satisfaction and self-actualisation.

3.2.6 Meaning of HRM:

Management and human resource management are one and the same. They should never be
separated. Management is personnel administration. Management has the three jobs, two of
which are directly related to personnel managing, a business, managing managers and managing
workers and work. The word management has three syllables Manage-Men-T. If T is taken for
tact, then etymologically management means how to manage men with tact. Management is the
process of efficiently getting things done with and through other people. HRM deals with the
design of formal systems in an organization to ensure the effective and efficient use of human
talents to accomplish organizational goals.

1. Beliefs and assumption:

a) That this is the human resources, which gives competitive edge.
b) That the aim should be not mere compliance with rules but employee
commitment.
c) That therefore, employees should, for example, be very carefully selected and developed.

2. Strategic Qualities:
a) Because of the above factor, HR decisions are of strategic important.
b) Top management involvement is necessary.
c) HR policy should be integrated in to the business strategy, stemming from it and even
contributing to it.

22
3. Critical role of the managers:
a) Because HR practice is critical to core activities of the business, it is too important to be
left to personnel specialist alone.
b) Line managers are (or need to be) closely involved as both deliverers and dire Of the HR
policies.
c) much greater attention is paid to the management of managers themselves.

4. Key Levers:
a) Managing culture is more important then managing procures and systems.
b) Integrated action on selection, communication, training, reward and development.
c) Restructuring and job redesign to allow developed responsibility empowerment.

3.2.7 Importance of HRM:

With the increase in the size and complexity of business organizations, the most important, factor
in business. Business needs people as owners, employees, and consumers. Organizations need
people to make them operate. Business may be operated differently and the objectives of
business may differ, but the universal element in all business activities is people. An organization
is nothing without human resources. Any human organization a factory, a hospital or and
association consists of people working together. According to economists, the factors of
production are land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship.

3.2.8 Function of HRM

HR managers are performing a variety of functions. The functional areas of HR managers are
changing as the time goes on. The main HRM functions include:

Human resource planning is an important activity that involves estimating the size and makeup
of the future work force. It is a process by which an organization ensures that it has the right
number and kinds of people, at the right places, at the right time. Planning of human resources
is the life-blood of the firm. Without the right people in the right place at the right time, the firm
could go out of business.

Recruitment: Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting qualified or suitable

23
applicants to fill vacancies. Recruiting is important because the best- qualified applicants must be
found to fill vacancies. The methods and procedures used to acquire an understanding about jobs
are called job analysis. This is discussed next. There are mainly two sources of recruitment:
internal and external. Promotion from within an organization is called internal source and
recruiting new people from outside the organization is known as external source.

Job analysis: Job analysis is the process of determining the tasks that make up the job ands the
knowledge and skills and abilities an employee needs to successfully accomplish the job. From
job analysis, job description and job specification can be prepared. Job description is a written
statement of what the jobholder does how it is done and why it is done. Job specifications state
the qualifications necessary for a job.

Selection: Selection is a process of hiring suitable people for job. Right man for right job is the
main goal of selection. The selection process involves many steps such as preliminary reception
of application, interviewing, test, medical test, references and final decision of hiring.

Placement: Placement is the assignment or reassignment of duties to employee. It may take

different forms such as promotion, transfer, demotion, and termination.

Orientation: Orientation is a process of getting new employees acquainted with the

organization, its culture, rules and regulation, objectives and supervisors and other employees. It
is the act of introducing new employees to organization and their work units. It is important
because it helps new employee to adapt with new situation.

3.2.9 Human Resource Planning

Why Human Resource Planning?
Human Resource or Workforce planning is one of the most important issues that HR
professionals are talking about today. Still, many have not beyond the talking stage. The task of
actually implementing HR planning is daunting because it is so difficult to define. The following
suggestions are designed to demystify what HR or workforce planning is and to discuss the
reasons why every HR department should implement such an effort.

24
Being prepared is better than being surprised: Human Resource or Workforce planning is a
systematic, fully integrated organizational process that involves proactively planning ahead to
avoid talent surpluses or shortages. It is based on the premise that a company can be staffed more
efficiently if it forecasts its talent needs as well as the actual supply of talent that is or will be
available.

HR should be aware of the business cycle: HR professionals constantly complain about the
painful boom-and-bust cycle of budget cuts, rapid growth, and more budget cuts] What they
want is stability. Unfortunately, the way that HR people act or fail to act compounds the pain of
the boom or bust phases.

The impact of good human resource planning: Good workforce planning has multiple impacts
on a business. Some of most significant include:
1. Eliminating surprises. HR should limit the stressful "trauma" related to being surprised.
HR should have the time to prepare processes and answers.
• Rapid talent replacement: Having the capability to rapidly figure out positions that
are vacant due to sudden (or unavoidable) turnover so that production or services don't miss a
beat.
2. Smoothing out business cycles. You can. smooth out the cycles by developing
processes that ramp up and down your talent inventory and work effectively during both
good times and lean times.
• No delays: Ensuring that the company can meet production goals by employing the
right number of people.
• The right skills: Ultimately increasing product-development speed because the
company has the brightest people with the right skills to take products through to their
launch—on time.
• Employee development: The ability to ramp up rapidly on new projects because the
company has prepared and trained internal talent to meet the project needs.
3. Identifying problems early. If you have a smoke-detector system in place to notify
managers before a talent fire gets out of hand, it will be much easier to minimize the
potential damage. HR should develop a system, of "alerts" to warn, managers of minor

25
 problems (that they can rectify with little effort) before they turn' into major problems.
4. Preventing problems. Having to fix problems is expensive and painful. A superior
approach is to prevent problems from ever occurring.
• Lower turnover rates: Employees are continually groomed for new opportunities that
fit their career interests and capabilities. They transition easily and rapidly to them.

• Low labor cost: The capability is developed to rapidly reduce labor costs without the
need for large-scale layoffs of permanent employees.
2.2.10 Job analysis
Job analysis describes how content an individual is with his or her job. The happier people are
within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job analysis is not the same as motivation,
although it is clearly linked. Job design aims to enhance job analysis and performance; methods
include job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. Other influences on analysis include
the management style and culture, employee involvement, empowerment and autonomous work
groups. Job analysis is a very important attribute which is frequently measured by organizations.
The most common way of measurement is the use of rating scales where employees report their
reactions to their jobs. Questions relate to rate of pay, work responsibilities, variety of tasks.

3.2.11 Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment
To ensure that a pool of suitably experienced and qualified people apply for the job.
Selection
To identify one candidate who is likely to perform better in the position than the others. This
combines aspects of the person’s knowledge skills and experience as well as their place in the
culture of an established team.

3.2.12. Training and development:

Training and development are the indispensable functions of human resource management. It is
the attempt to improve the current or future performance of an employee by increasing the ability
of an employee through educating and increasing one’s skills or knowledge in the particular
subject.

26
 CHAPTER-4

HRM Policies and Practices in

Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd.

27
4.1 Different Types of employees
The Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd. has in different employee’s criteria. There are
different types of employees working in different places inside Progressive Life Insurance . The
types of employees are-

1. Regular/ Full time employee:

In full time category, employees are joined as probationary for six months or one year depending
on job category. They also have to sign a deed for three years a long with depositing taka one lac
refundable. The regular employees are allowed to get the bonus, incentives and other allowances
with their basic salaries. And these types of employees also have the benefit of getting extra
facilities the Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd. is providing for their employees.

2. HR Contractual:

Contractual employees are taken for specific period like six months basis. Along with their
salary, they get attractive performance bonus if they achieve their target which determined by
organization. HR temporary contract are for those categories whose Job description is such,
where he/she needs to be under the direct supervision of Bank’s authority, whose performance is
monitored by the Bank Management. They might be specialist, consultant, and specially
assigned staff. Staff under HR contract are those people who directly or indirectly deals with
customer, has access to Bank’s confidential data’s & valuable properties (car, etc.), deals with
sensitive areas, also where staff need to deal with customer as a representative of Progressive
Life Insurance directly.
3. Outsource Staff:
Other contractual employees are not entitled for any service agreement. They will be recruited
through outsource agencies. The requirement of any support staff through outsource agency must
come through HR signed by the Division Head. HR will send the requirement to provide staff by
the Outsource Agency. Outsource Staff recruitment depends on the budgeted requisition of the
staff from the respective departments. However, for non-budgeted requisition it will go through
after the approval process of MANCOM. The bank reserves the right to terminate the contract
with the outsource agency without assigning the reason whatsoever. The outsource staffs salary

28
are fixed and they won’t get any allowances with their salary.
4. Intern:
To encourage and help human resource development in the financial industry the Bank may
decide to offer internship programs to individuals or educational institutions. The decision to
enter such an engagement will be decided by the MD& CEO on the recommendation of the
Department Head.
The HRD will prepare the proposal of such engagement with individual/institution and forward it
to the MD& CEO for consideration with the recommendation of the Head of HR. Individuals
engaged as Internees will be paid a consolidated Honorarium of Tk. 3500/- per month, as
decided by the MD/MANCOM and will not be entitled to any other benefits. Managing Director
and CEO will determine and analyze the necessity of intern on the basis of yearly budget and
also requirement of special projects. As per requirements Department Head will make the intern
requisition and after receiving intern requisition HR will take 15 days for an intern to join.
All Internships program will be for a three months. Prior approval by MD& CEO internship
program can be extended for a maximum period of six months.

5. Management Trainee Officer (MTO):

Management Trainee Officers highly qualified students of Progressive Life Insurance Company
Ltd. . The MTO’s are regular employee but they have to learn as a student inside Progressive
Life Insurance for the period of one year. After one year if they can complete their learning
period successfully they will become a senior officer directly from the MTO.

4.2 Human Resource Division

Having a Human Resources Department in Bangladeshi business organizations today is
becoming a common and important part. But Human Resource Management is a relatively new
discipline to study and implement in this part of Asia and in most organizations HR Department
work as a ‘Support’ department to the organization. Whereas it was supposed to be an integral
part of the business without which an organization cannot maximize the utility of its most
valuable resource, which is the workforce, the employees of the organization. In HRD, there are
39 permanent employees are currently functioning.
In Progressive Life Insurance Ltd. there are three different divisions of departments. One is

29
‘Business’, another is ‘Support’ and the other is ‘Operations’. Here also HRD is a Support
department to the Bank. The ‘Business’ division includes the departments which are directly
related to the Banks banking business, banking products e.g. SME, Retail, Corporate etc.
Whereas ‘Operations’ division includes departments related to logistics, transports etc. e.g. the
GIS (General Infrastructure Services) Department. Progressive Life Insurance also outsource for
contractual posts e.g. the Bank is currently outsourcing from an organization named
“CLEANCO” for floor maintenance. They also hire HR Contracts who, upon satisfactory
performance and experience, can achieve a regular post in the bank. The HR policies regarding
employees of Progressive Life Insurance will be discussed later.

4.3 Recruitment
The recruitment division is responsible for collection of CVs, Job Applications for vacant posts,
Internship Applications etc. The recruitment officers collect and store these hard copies and also
updates, maintains computer databases regularly. The recruitment officers’ task is to organize
CVs for potential candidates so that in time of recruitment they can be found and short listed
within a reasonable time.
The steps involved in a recruitment process are as follows:

1. A properly filled-out Staff-Requisition Form is submitted by the concerned Department

Head or Manager.

2. The Requisition should be supported by the Manpower Budget for the year; otherwise, a
Non-Budgeted Requisition must be signed and approved by the Managing Director upon
stating valid reason for the recruitment.

4. Criteria for existing Regular employees to apply in an Internal Job Watch

are:
The Recruitment SLA procedure followed is given below:
Recruitment through Internal Job Search & CV Organization
Working days
Sl. Particulars Required to

30
No. Complete the
Task

Internal Job Search will be published or CV will be collected

01. through the CV bank/E-Recruitment site after getting 05
requisition from respective department with respective Job
Description (JD) as per approved head count budget.
02. 05
After CV collection interview will take place.

03. From the date of CV collection, HRD will constitute interview 03

Board and Members will be informed prior to interview.

04. Appointment letters will be signed after final interview. 03

05. Appointment letters to be handed over to candidate after signing 02
by HOHR and Managing Director
Recruitment through Advertisement

After Receiving Requisition from Concerned Department,

06. Marketing Department will publish the Advertisement upon the 07
advice from HRD. Advertisement will also publish in website.

07. Application Duration (Collection of CV with application from 15

external candidates against the advertisement published)

08. HRD will scrutinize the CVs (Other than CRO & MTO) after 03
CV scrutinize is over

09. HRD will arrange the Interview (Other than CRO & MTO) 05
after CV collection is over.

31
10. HRD will scrutinize the CVs (Only for CRO & MTO) after the 10
period for collection of CV is over.

11. HR will Process the data of the scrutinized CRO & MTO 10
applicants

12. HR will send the letters to the applicants ahead of interview 15

process

13. HRD will arrange the Interview (Only for CRO & MTO) after 10
CV scrutinize is over.
14. Same as above
Other Process (Sl. # 03 to 05) (Sl.# 3 to 5)
*MTO refers Management Trainee Officer and CRO refers Credit Risk Officer.
The Recruitment Policy:

 All regular employees will appointed by the Managing Director.

 All HR contract and outsource contract employees will be appointed by The Head of
Human Resource Division.

 The schedule of recruitment will be created according to the Service Level Agreement
(SLA).

 The interview board will with The Head of Department of that post, The Supporting
Department Head and The Head of HRD.

 Officer Grade I and Officer II can appoint directly after the interview.

32
  From Senior Officer and more there will be a second interview with the Managing
Director of Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd. after the first interview.

 For internal job posting the employee can only apply if he has the service time in
Progressive Life Insurance is more than two years and also need to recommend the
candidate’s application by the reporting supervisor of the employee.

4.4 Training and Development

After recruiting a potential candidate the next important function of HRD is to orient the
new entrant to the organization and providing him/her with all the necessary knowledge about
their duties and responsibilities. This is done to ensure effective input from the employees into
the organization thus, their most efficient level of performance. The training program used in the
organization also ensures employee retention. To Progressive Life Insurance Ltd. spending in
training programs for employees is not an expense, but an investment. Each and every permanent
employee must have 30 days training.

Training procedure for Management Trainee Officers (MTO):

 Joining/participating in orientation with different departments

 Foundation Course

 Attachment with SME Unit Offices & Branches

 Organization of Development Program

 Attachment with different departments

 Information Technology Training

 On job hands-on training according to Job Description

33
In every 3 month, the HR sits with the trainees to follow up on their progress along with
MANCOM. The whole training program is divided into two major parts. One part is the training
on foundation courses and the other part includes attachment in core and support business and
operations unit.

1. Core banking training comprises of BIBM – Foundation course, Induction and SME & Retail
Attachment.

2. After completion of foundation courses, the trainees are attached in different departments
basically on core business departments and operations departments. The training and
development department conducts this training session; HR department works as a coordinator
for the whole process. Training wing also follow an SLA.
The training procedure followed by Progressive Life Insurance HRD can be summarized in the
following steps:

Working Days
NO. Particulars Required to
Complete the
Task
01 Orientation training after the new hires has completed all the 03
formalities.
02 Special training for retail staff and corporate who deal with cash. 03
Arrangement of post field attachment training for CRO’s who
03 Have been nominated by the concerned authority 05
04 In- house person will be informed prior to training. 03
HRD will be informed/concern person will be informed prior to
05 training. 45
Concern person/department will be informed prior to outside
06 local training. 05

34
 HRD will be confirmed by the concerned department/person
07 after receiving offer from HRD. 02
If the participants arrange any course (local training institute), it
08 should be informed to HR along with proper approval from 05
MD/COO for necessary action for training.
Training arranged by BANGLADESH bank or any other
09 legalized body where any staff of the bank has been nominated 04
by the supervisor and the same has been informed to HR.
10 For cancellation of participation in any training (local or in- 03
house, HR must be informed through concern
supervisor/department heads before training.

4.5 Compensation, Pay and Benefits

The Bank is committed to follow a fair, competitive and flexible remuneration policy. The Board
is the final authority for approval of this policy and will amend and review the policy on
recommendation of the Managing Director / Management Committee periodically.
The remuneration policy of the bank will cover all persons engaged in permanent service of the
bank.
The different job grades at Progressive Life Insurance are as follows:

 Deputy Managing Director

 Executive Vice President
 Senior Vice President
 Vice President
 Senior Assistant Vice President
 First Assistant Vice President
 Assistant Vice President
 Senior Principal Officer
 Principal Officer
 Senior Officer
 Management Trainee Officer (Direct Recruit)

35
  Officer Grade II
 Officer Grade I

The Salary structure of the Bank is based on the aforementioned Job Grades. Job grades are
decided on the basis of an analytic assessment of the position based on the size, responsibilities,
decision-making authorities and the nature of the job.

The remuneration of employees consists of:

􀂾 Basic Salary
􀂾 House Rent and

􀂾 Medical Allowance

Salaries are confidential between the employees concerned and the Management. The salary
ranges for these job grades are reviewed from time to time.
HR Temporary & outsource staff do not have any assigned job grade. The contracts get a
consolidated payment per month and there are no other entitlements applicable except
commission based on job criteria.

Basic Pay
Basic Salary Ranges (BSRs) is commensurate with the job grades and is determined by the
Board on the recommendation of the Managing Director. The Board reviews the BSR at least
once every two/three years.

House rent allowance:

House Rent Allowance may be paid to the employees at such rates and on such conditions as
may be prescribed by the Competent Authority from time to time.

Medical allowance:

36
Medical Allowances may be paid in accordance with the job grades and on such conditions that
may be prescribed by the Competent Authority from time to time.

Festival Bonus
All regular and confirmed employees get two bonuses each year. One in Eid-Ul-Fitr and another
during Eid-Ul-Azha only for Muslims and employees of different religion gets that bonus during
their respective religious festival.
There is also a performance bonus system maintained by the Compensation, Pay & Benefits
wing. But final evaluation is always decided by the MANCOM.
Regular and confirmed employees can apply for House Building Loan and Car Loan.
Allowances are also available to only regular and confirmed employees but Car Allowances are
only for the grades above Senior Princip1al Officer (SPO).
There is an annual increment for all regular and confirmed employees on their joining
anniversary.

 Festival Bonus will be paid to all confirmed officers/staff at one month basic salary
which will be reimbursed twice in each calendar year. All confirmed employees would
get one bonus during Eid-ul-Fitre and another one for Muslims during Eid-ul-Azha and
for others based on their respective religious festival.

 Non-confirmed employees will be entitled to get Festival bonus as pro rata basis
depending on his/her BBL joining Date.

 HR Contract & Outsource Staff would get 1 bonus, which is 50% of this gross salary.
The Board of the Directors will decide the annual salary revision and recommendation will be
based on:

• Revised Pay Scale, and/ or

• Inflation adjustment rate
• Performance

37
Performance Bonus (PB) ;( once a year):
The Board of Directors at its discretion, based on the Bank’s profit will declare a certain
percentage of the pre-tax profit as Performance Bonus. The contribution measurement will be
coming from the Performance Matters. Performance Matters for such purpose shall be made on
the criteria set by the management from time to time.

Amount of Performance Bonus will be 3% based on net profit after tax and method of
distribution will be based at Management discretion
No bonus will be applicable to the employees rating marginal & unsatisfactory.
Final Evaluation will be decided by the MANCOM for the entire bank after going through a
‘rating’ process to ensure that a consensus is reached for the entire bank.

Leave Fare assistance (LFA); (once a year):

Hospitalization Insurance:
In the event where hospitalization or surgery is required for a member of the officer’s (confirmed
employee) dependent (Spouse and Children) including hospitalization on account of maternity -
the Bank will reimburse the officer (Group C) up to a maximum of Tk.35,000/- per annum, for
executives (Group B) Tk.100,000/- per annum and 200,000/- per annum for MANCOM (Group
A).
Travel allowance:
An employee of the Bank may be allowed to draw traveling allowance in respect of journeys
performed for the purposes authorized by the competent authority which include:
- On officially assigned tour
- To give evidence in a court of law
- On transfer
- On compulsory recall from leave
- To appear at a departmental/professional examination as authorized by the competent
authority
- To attend a course of training sponsored by the Bank
- To bear the cost of travel of deceased employee
Types of allowances under travel policy:

38
 - Traveling Allowance (Mode of Transport)

- Accommodation Allowance (Hotel Rent)

- Daily Allowance

Gratuity:
The Gratuity Fund is a terminal benefit that an employee receives at the time of
retirement/resignation.
Gratuity Calculation:
Last month’s basic Salary multiplied by the year of service completed e.g., if an employee serves
The Bank for 6 years and then resigns/retires his Gratuity Calculation shall be (Let’s assume his
Basic Salary is Taka 20,000.00): Taka 20,000.00 x 6 years = Taka 1, 20,000.00 The custody,
management, investment and control of the fund shall be vested in the board of trustees.
Regular employees after confirmation need to fill up and submit the “Application for Enrollment
as Member” to become a member.
There shall be at least 6 trustees of the fund. Trustees will be nominated by the MD.
The MD shall be an Ex-Officio Member and Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
- The Head of Human Resources - Ex-Officio Member.
- The Head of Financial Admin - Ex-Officio Member.
- At least three representatives from the members as nominated by the Chairman.
If there is a shortage of member of the board of trustees due to resignation then the Chairman can
nominate trustee/s to reach the minimum number.
The Board of Trustees shall meet at least 4 times in a calendar year. At least 7 days prior-notice
should be given to the trustees before a meeting.
All money of the fund shall be deposited in a Special Account with any bank; this should be
mentioned here that the Account is maintained jointly by authorized members of the board of
trustees. The Trustees are authorized to invest the surplus money of the fund in accordance with
the provisions of Company Act 1994 and Income Tax Rules 1984.

Security Fund:

39
The objective of the fund is to provide predetermined monetary benefit against Death and
Permanent Disability of regular confirmed staff to his/her Dependent/Heir/Nominee by the Bank.
All Regular Confirmed employees are eligible to avail this benefit. The fund for this benefit is
created solely with The Bank’s Contribution.
The Bank will contribute Taka 5.00/Thousand on a yearly basis against the last basic salary of
each eligible employee. (The rate of contribution may be changed subject to the approval of the
board.) The Bank maintains a liability account to manage the fund.
The total amount of benefit will be equal to 36 times of the last basic salary of the employee.
Two forms of benefits:

a) Death Benefit:
- If an eligible employee dies within the term of employment.
b) Permanent and Total Disability (PTD):
Disability resulting from accidental means that is continued for at least Six months and is
certified by Bank’s designated doctor as incurable.
For both cases the benefit shall be paid to the nominee upon receipt of necessary proof. (In case
of minor nominee, the benefit will be paid to the legal guardian of the nominee)
Exclusion from Employee Security Benefit:
Employees will not be eligible for the benefit, if Death or disability is caused by:
- For further injury of Employees with pre-existing degree of disablement.
- Attempted suicide or self-inflicted injury.
- Civil commotion, Assault, homicide or any war like operations.

- Making an arrest as an officer of law.

- Committing a felony.
- Racing on wheels.
- Accident while the employee is affected by Alcohol/Drug.
The Board of Directors reserves the power to close fund at any time. At such event the fund shall
be refunded to the Bank.

Progressive Life Insurance Employees’ Provident Fund:

40
The Progressive Life Insurance employees’ provident fund requires the employer i.e. BRAC
Bank Limited to contribute to the fund 10% of basic salary for all regular confirmed employees.
Every member of this fund on retirement is provided with a sum of money as determined by the
established rules for the fund on retirement or resignation from his or her services. This fun has
been effective from the 1st of January 2003.
A board of trustee is entrusted with the control, management and investment of the fund. The
trustees of the board are nominated by the Chief Operating Officer (COO) who also holds the
right to replace any such trustee. Each trustee may hold the office for a period of three years.

Contribution:
As stated by the rules, each member contributes a sum equal to 10% of the basic salary each
month that is deducted by the bank at the time of payment. Progressive Life Insurance Company
Ltd. matches the employee’s contribution with a monthly payment equal to 10% of the basic
salary of each member. Every half year, each member’s account is credited with interest
pertinent to the income earned on the investments from the fund. The sum of money given by the
members and the amount contributed by the bank are credited separately to his/her account in a
special ledger kept by the trustee at the head office of the bank in Dhaka.
Payment:
At the time of resignation or retirement, the employee is entitled to receive the employer’s
contribution and the accumulated interest subject to his or her length of membership in the
contributory provident fund.
If the employee has been a member for less than or equal to year then he/she will not be eligible
to receive any of the above mentioned contributions. He/she will only be able to obtain his added
contributions over the period of his membership.
If the duration of membership has been equal to or less than three years then the member will be
entitled to receive 50% of the employer’s contribution and accumulated interest.
If the duration of membership has been more than 3 years then the member will be entitled to
receive 100% of the accumulated interest and employer’s contribution.
In case a member is dismissed due to negligence or incompetence, he or she will be entitled to
receive her/her own contribution along with the accrued interest thereon at the settled interest

41
rate. The bank’s contribution however may be forfeited and distributed among the members
according to the individual balances of the members.
The same is applicable in case of an employee dismissed from the bank due to misconduct or
fraud. However, for such purposes, only the trustees shall be the sole judge of whether the cause
of dismissal or forced retirement is significant enough or not.
Welfare Fund:
The motive behind establishing the welfare fund is to be able to provide the regular confirmed
employees from JO to SPO with financial support for incidents or events when the cost may not
be affordable for the employees. These may include the following:
- Accidents on the job
- Extended illness
- Education for children
- Marriage of children
Employees of the grade JO to SPO may be the members of this fund. The amount to be received
by the employees under such special circumstances would be settled on by the fund management
committee after thorough assessment of the claim application and relevant documents.
A beneficiary will not be entitled to receive fund more than once in one calendar year.
Maximum limit for relevant occurrences are stated below:
- Severe Accident & Extended Illness: TK 50,000

- Education/Examination:
O SSC & HSC TK 10,000
O Degree (BA/ BSS/ BSC/ BCOM/ BBA) TK 20,000
O Master Degree/ MBA TK 50,000

O Marriage Ceremony TK 1, 00,000

Car Loan Scheme:
The car loan facility is extended to employees of or above the grade PO. The amount of loan that
these employees can take obviously varies according to their respective job grades.
Principal and Senior Principal Officers can take loan amounting to Tk.800, 000
AVP, FAVP, SAVP can file for loan amounting to Tk.10, 00, 000

42
VP and SVP can file for loan extending up to Tk14, 00,000

Car Allowances:
Employees of or above the grade of AVP are also provided with car allowances that incorporate
expenses for Fuel, Driver and Maintenance.
AVP, FAVP, SAVP can have an amount of TK.29, 000 allocated as car allowance per month.
The VP and SVP can have an amount of TK.37, 000 allocated as car allowance per month.

Staff Loan:
Staff loan is granted to regular confirmed employees of the bank. The duration of service of the
employee has to be at least a year long. The employee can apply for loan extending up to 5 times
of his/her gross salary at 10 % interest rate.

House Building loan:

Employees who have had a service length of 5 years and above are eligible to apply for house
building loan. A committee will oversee the loan application and monitor the location for house
building the debt burden ration of the employee and other relevant issues. The debt burden ratio
for the employee has to be 50% or below for the loan to be approved. The repayment schedule
for the loan has to be before the retirement of the employee. The interest rate of the loan is 3%.

Termination Benefit:
In case a confirmed employee is asked to resign from his/her services by the relevant authority
without stating any reason, he/she is eligible to receive one month’s notice in writing or one
month’s gross salary as payment. If the employee is duly notified with one month’s notice,
he/she will not be entitled to receive any form of compensation for the termination of services.
Suspension Benefit:
In the event that a report/information about misconduct or fraud is received against an employee,
he/she has to undergo stages of disciplinary proceedings. The employee is presented with charge
sheet and is given 4 days to come up with an explanation. A preliminary enquiry committee is
formed and an enquiry notice is issued that marks the beginning of a proper domestic enquiry. If,
according to the committee’s report, the employee is found guilty he is duly punished. In case the

43
employee is found not guilty, he/she is retained with due respect. During the period of enquiry,
the employee may be suspended and will only receive 50% of his basic salary. In case he/she is
proven to be not guilty, then the full amount of salary must be refunded to the employee.
4.6 HR Administration
We know that the word ‘Administration’ means controlling people. In Progressive Life
Insurance Company Ltd. , HR Administration is much more than just controlling. It includes
motivating the workforce, encouraging them to be more productive and innovative, leading or
selecting or providing an appropriate leader for a leaderless team.

Some smaller and simpler day-to-day functions are carried out by the Administration as well.
These includes employees’ leave balance monitoring and approving if they can avail leave, if
‘yes’ then planning and suggesting how many days, which days etc. Checking and approving
employees’ different loan (House Building, Personal, Car etc.) requests. Administration also
carries out quarterly ‘Reward and Recognition’ event which is called ‘The Town Hall Meeting’.
Here BRAC Bank employees get rewarded based on their quarterly performance evaluation.

Administration also has to undertake some harsh duties which are Show Cause letter issue,
Warning letter issue, issuing letter of Termination, issuing Dismissal order, Audit and
Investigation etc. These are certain unavoidable and rare incidents caused mostly by employees
and their personal issues that directly violate Bank’s code of conduct.

The HR Vista DBMS Software specially designed for BRAC Bank is used by the Administration
for employee record updating. Administration also carries out Confirmation, Renewal of
Contract and Promotion formalities.
Leave System:
The policies followed for employee leaves management based on the types of leaves and their
criteria are given below:

Annual Leave:

44
All officers will become eligible for annual leave of 24 working days after completion of one-
calendar year. Of these 24 days 15 days must be taken as consecutive leave each year. Any
pending leave may be carried forward to the next year.
Annual leave encashment facilities may be allowed to the person for a maximum of 90 days at
the time of Employee’s leaving the bank. Any leave taken in advance to be adjusted during the
final settlement period.

Casual/Sick Leave:
Casual leave up to 10 calendar days can be granted per year to an employee who may be unable
to attend duty due to sudden illness or urgent private affairs. Not more than 3 days casual leave
can be taken at a time in a month. Casual Leave more than 3 days will be considered as sick
leave and has to be supported by medical reports. In case of prolonged illness the Managing
Director may grant medical leave in excess of sick/casual leave with full pay and allowances for
a period up to one month.
Maternity Leave: Female (confirmed) employees will enjoy 4 months maternity leave. One
employee will be entitled to avail this leave for 2 times in her entire service period.
Study Leave: Study leave of maximum 2 years can only be granted to an employee without pay
and allowances provided he/she has put in at least three years of service. This Leave is only
granted to those employees who have achieved a minimum of 3 years of service record with the
bank and also to those who are due to retire within 5 years of the date on which he/she is likely
to return from the study leave. This leave shall, however be allowed in the entire period of
service.
Leave without Pay: Leave without pay may be granted to an employee in special circumstances
where no other leave is admissible under these rules. In case of Leave without Pay, the period
does not exceed 60 days.

Leave during Probation Period: For sick leave in the probation period, the leave has to be
specially mentioned by the department. Casual leave will be granted to probationary employees
after completion of 6 months. Any leave taken prior to completion of 6 months will be adjusted
against the casual leave.
Encashment Facilities of Annual Leave: Annual leave encashment facilities may be allowed to

45
the employees for a maximum of 90 days (based on last basic) at the time of employee’s leaving
the bank.
Probation and Confirmation:
The terms of probation are as follows:
• A person selected for appointment with less than 3 years job experience will be on
probation period of one year.
• An employee with job experience of 3 years or more will be on probation for 6 months.

In the event of the probationer’s failure to show satisfactory progress and acquire required
efficiency during employee’s probationary period, the appointing authority may, at its discretion,
extend his probationary period by a maximum of additional 6 (six) months, or dispense with his
service by giving one month’s notice or by paying a sum equal to one month’s pay without
assigning any reason. An officer shall become eligible for confirmation in the specified post
subject to employee’s successful completion of the period of probation.
In the case of one year, if the person fails to show satisfactory progress, employee’s appointment
will be terminated.
The confirmation of service of all officers and employees in the services of the Bank shall take
effect on and from the date as will be specified in the order of confirmation.

Promotion Pattern:
Promotion is a continuous process by which the employee motivates for batter work; get the
price for employee’s better work. In Progressive Life Insurance there are two types of
promotions-

Regular Promotion:
Regular promotion is given according to the employee’s regular performance. When the
supervisor or department head of the employee evaluate that his employee is become an asset for
the bank and deserve promotion then the supervisor or the department head take a promotion
appraisal form from HRD and recommended the employee for promotion. In the procedure the
HRD head send this appraisal form with his approval signature to the Deputy Managing Director

46
of Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd. to approve and forward it Managing Director of
Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd. and after that it will be approved signed by the
Managing Director. According to the comment and remark of appraisal form the employee will
get the promotion with increment of salary.
PM Promotion:
Performance Matter (PM) is the annual performance report of individual employee of
Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd. . According to Performance Matter ranking scale the
employee can get promotion in the job grade of their own.
According to the policy any employee can’t get any promotion within a year after the
employee’s joining in the Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd. . And on the other section
the employee can get promotion after six months of his previous promotion.
Resignation:
The following sections will display the policies of Progressive Life Insurance Company Ltd.
regarding its employees’ resignation and termination situations. This part will discuss about the
policies and procedures for resignation or termination in situations when:
• A regular employee wishes to resign
• A probationary or temporary employee wishes to resign
• When a regular employee is terminated
• When a probationary or temporary employee is terminated

Resignation of Regular Employee:

A confirmed employee may leave or discontinue from the services of the bank by giving one
month notice, in writing or pay to the bank as compensation an amount equal to the employee’s
total pay for one month.
Resignation of Probationary or Temporary Employee:
Probationary or any temporary employee shall leave or discontinue employee’s service from the
Bank by giving 15 (fifteen) days prior notice in writing of employee’s intention to do so or pay
to the bank as compensation an amount equal to employee’s total pay for fifteen (15) days.
Note: Certificate will not be provided to staffs who were forced to resign, got “unsatisfactory”
rating in their Performance Matters or have integrity issue and non-confirmed staff.

47
Termination of Regular Employee:
The competent authority may terminate the services of a confirmed employee or call upon
him/her to resign without assigning any reason, by giving him/her one month notice in writing or
on payment of one month substantive pay in lieu of such notice and the employee shall not be
entitled to any form of compensation for termination of service. The bond that is signed by the
employee before joining, which is actually an agreement between bank and employee become
void.
Termination of Probationary or Temporary Employee:
The service of a probationer or a temporary employee shall be liable to be terminated by the
competent authority without assigning any reason without giving him or her any notice and the
probationer or the employee shall not be entitled to any form of compensation for termination of
service.

48
Resignation Process:

Resignation submitted to line manager

With the acceptance & recommendation line manager send it to

departmental/divisional Head

Resignation letter forwarded to HR

HR will take final approval from Managing Director to start the

process

Resignation staff will collect clearance from HR which to be cleared

by the concerned departments

The filled up clearance form will then sent to Finance for final
settlement

After final settlement HR will exit interview of the resigned staff

HR will prepare the release paper and certificate

49
Resignation and Settlement Procedure:
The official formalities for resignation and settlement cases administered by the concerned
department and HRD are sequentially shown below:
Working Days
Sl. Task Required to
No. Complete The
Task
Resignation letter must be forwarded to HRD by
01 concern supervisor or department Head after his/her 2 Days
proper signing.
After receiving Resignation/Termination/Dismissal
02 letter with handover and takeover documents HRD will 4 Days
due clearance from various departments.
03 HRD will do final settlement work after having 4 Days
clearance.
04 FAD will pay the final settled amount after having final 2 Days
settlement documents from HRD.
05 If separated staff has liabilities with the bank then he Reasonable
concerned department/owner of liabilities will take Time
initiatives.
06 HRD will send the file to “orogenic” after final Once in a month
settlement in normal case.
07 In case of unsettled matter HRD will hold the files. Until Settlement
Total Reasonable
Time
*Orogenic is a company which helps the Progressive Life Insurance to archive their personal
file.

50
REWARD:

Reward and Recognition is a way to express appreciation for another employee's hard work,
dedication and contribution to the Bank. There are many levels of Reward and Recognition, to
ensure both small contributions as well as the larger ones is recognized.
There are four levels of rewards and recognition:
LEVEL 1: Individual Contribution Award & SME Monthly Award
LEVEL 2: Departmental Committee Award
LEVEL 3: Organizational Competence Award
LEVEL 4: Chairman’s Excellence Award
Spot award:
This is an award is given to employees on the spot recommended by the customers or the
employees very nicely handle any difficult client /situation.

51
 CHAPTER-5

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

52
5.0 Analysis and Data
5.1. Survey Analysis:
As I am preparing a Thesis on “HR Policy in Insurance Companies: A case Study of
Progressive Life Insurance Company Limited” I have designed a Questionnaire to know your
views and HRM Practices. I have conducted a survey which includes the following questionnaire
surrounded by Progressive Life Insurance Company Limited.

 Age Distribution
Age Respondents %
Below 25 4 16.0
26-30 6 24.0
31-50 3 12.0
36-40 3 12.0
41-45 2 8.0
46-50 5 20.0
Above 50 2 8.0
Total 25 100.0

Age Distribution Below 25

4%
26-30
6%

Total 31-50
25% 3%

46-50 36-40
5% 3%
41-45
2%
Above 50
2%

53
Interpretation:
The graph shows that below 50 years and above 25 years respectively high

 Gender Distribution

Gender Responds %
Male 10 40.0
Female 15 60.0
Total 25 100.0

Gender Distribution

Numbers of Male & Female respondents

Male
10%

Total
25%
Female
15%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that Female respondents higher then Male respondents.

54
Question No: 1
In which type of job you are?
Particular Response
Government sector 5%
Private sector 10%
Business 6%
Others 4%

In which type of job you are

Government
sector
Others 5%
4%

Business
6%
Private sector
10%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that private sector respondents privileged then government sector.

55
Question No: 2
What is your salary structure slab (Per Month)?
Particular Response
<Rs.10,000 6%
Rs.10,000-Rs.20,000 10%
Rs.20,000-Rs.30,000 4%
>Rs.30,000 5%

What is your salary structure slab (Per Month)?

>Rs.30,000
5%
<Rs.10,000
6%

Rs.20,000- Rs.10,000-
Rs.30,000 Rs.20,000
4% 10%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that salary structure of the respondents Rs.10,000-20,000 most them high

56
Question No: 3
Organization places right person in the right job
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 06 24
Agree 07 28
Neutral 03 12
Disagree 05 20
Strongly Disagree 04 16
Total 25 100

Interpretation:
Graph shows that organization right person place is positive.

57
Question No: 4
Salary structure is justified
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 03 12
Agree 05 20
Neutral 03 12
Disagree 08 32
Strongly Disagree 06 24
Total 25 100

Salary structure is justified

Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Total

3%
5% 3%
25%
8%

6%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that the organization salary structure is poor.

58
Question No: 5
Sales incentives are satisfactory
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 7 28
Agree 12 48
Neutral 2 8
Disagree 02 8
Strongly Disagree 02 8
Total 25 100

Sales incentives are satisfactory

Strongly agree
7%

Total Agree
25% 12%

Strongly
Neutral
Disagree Disagree
2%
2% 2%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that the organization sales incentives are best.

59
Question No: 6
The working environment is supportive
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 10 40
Agree 5 20
Neutral 04 16
Disagree 03 12
Strongly Disagree 03 12
Total 25 100

The working environment is supportive

Strongly agree
10%

Agree
Total
5%
25%

Neutral
Strongly 4%
Disagree Disagree
3% 3%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that working environment is better in this organization.

60
Question No: 7
The compensation is competitive to that of employee doing similar work in other stores
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 8 32
Agree 7 28
Neutral 6 24
Disagree 03 12
Strongly Disagree 01 4
Total 25 100

The compensation is competitive to that of employee

doing similar work in other stores

Strongly agree
8%

Total Agree
25% 7%

Strongly Neutral
Disagree Disagree 6%
1% 3%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that the compensation is competitive other stores work in comfortable.

61
Question No: 8
There is enough scope of growth and employment in my position
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 12 48
Agree 06 24
Neutral 04 16
Disagree 01 04
Strongly Disagree 02 08
Total 25 100

There is enough scope of growth and employment in my

position

Strongly agree
12%

Total
25%

Agree
6%
Strongly
Disagree Disagree Neutral
2% 1% 4%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that the enough capacity of growth carrier build up opportunity very good.

62
Question No: 9
The pension plan/gratuity/provident fund is satisfactory
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 8 32
Agree 11 44
Neutral 02 8
Disagree 01 02
Strongly Disagree 03 12
Total 25 100

The pension plan/gratuity/provident fund is satisfactory

Strongly agree
8%
Total
Agree
25%
11%

Strongly Neutral
Disagree Disagree 2%
3% 1%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that the pension plan, gratuity, provident fund is good

63
Question No: 10
Supervisors/bosses behave properly
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 5 20
Agree 12 48
Neutral 03 12
Disagree 03 12
Strongly Disagree 02 08
Total 25 100

Supervisors/bosses behave properly

Strongly agree
5%

Agree
Total 12%
25%

Neutral
Strongly 3%
Disagree Disagree
2% 3%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that maximum subordinate satisfied and enjoyed supervisor behavior.

64
Question No: 11
Does not give me enough time for family
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 04 16
Agree 03 12
Neutral 05 20
Disagree 10 40
Strongly Disagree 03 12
Total 25 100

Does not give me enough time for family

3%
4% Strongly agree
Agree
5%
Neutral
25%
Disagree
10% Strongly Disagree
Total
3%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that most employee's family does not enough time.

65
Question No: 12
Flexible working hours
Opinion Respondents %
Strongly agree 13 52
Agree 04 16
Neutral 03 12
Disagree 03 12
Strongly Disagree 02 08
Total 25 100

Flexible working hours

Strongly agree
13%
Total
25% Agree
4%

Strongly Neutral
Disagree Disagree 3%
2% 3%

Interpretation:
Graph shows that organization working flexible of working hours is very good.

66
5.2 Findings of the Study
While working I have gained a newer kind of experience. After collecting and analysis data I
have got some idea about the HR Policy in Insurance Companies: A case Study of Progressive
Life Insurance Company Limited which is given below:

 Majority of the respondents are that private sector respondents privileged then
government sector.
 Majority of the respondents are said that salary structure of the respondents
Rs.10,000-20,000 most them high.
 Majority of the respondents are said that organization right person place is
positive.
 Majority of the respondents are said that the organization salary structure is poor.
 Majority of the respondents are said the organization sales incentives are best.
 Majority of the respondents are said that working environment is better in this
organization.
 Majority of the respondents are said that the compensation is competitive other
stores work in comfortable.
 Majority of the respondents are said that the enough capacity of growth carrier
build up opportunity very good.
 Majority of the respondents are said that the pension plan, gratuity, provident fund
is good
 Majority of the respondents are said that maximum subordinate satisfied and
enjoyed supervisor behavior.
 Majority of the respondents are said that most employee's family does not enough
time.
 Majority of the respondents are said that organization working flexible of working
hours is very good.

67
 CHAPTER-6

Conclusion & Recommendation

68
6.1 Conclusion:
The one of the most important part of assigning is gaining the practical knowledge through
dissertation worked and practices as well as theoretical knowledge. The main objective of this
report is to fulfill the academic requirements of all courses and gather some practical knowledge.
So I have entailed of the report “ HRM practice of Progressive life insurance company limited
(PLICL)” I have tried to focused Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) staffing
process, performance appraisal process and job design policy. I also tried to introduce other
function of the HRM department of Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL).

Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) HRM follows modern policy for their
operation. But they did not reach higher standard level for their HRM practice yet. The HRM
department management is not efficient as well as multinational company HRM practice. For
some of the operation they follow traditional policy, they do not follow proper HRM practice.

Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) HR department recruit people from inside
of the insurance by only employee reference and skill inventory. They should follow other extra
other method. Only these two methods are not proper for the internal recruiting for any
organization. Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) HRM does follow any method
for job analysis and job design. They follow tradition policy for the job analysis and job design.
They follow tradition policy for the job analysis and job design. They follow tradition policy for
the job analysis and job design.

Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) internal staffing management quality is also
not good as multinational company. Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL)
selection process is very simple; the selection process is not extra ordinary or standard quality.
Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) has not sufficient staffs for their HRM
operation and individual staff faces more pressure for their daily operation.

But HRM department of Progressive life insurance company limited (PLICL) is trying to
improve to reach standard level. The top management and HRM manager believes that their
HRM department is updating and will reach multinational level.

69
6.2 Recommendations:
In this part of recommendation, some valuable issues of Progressive Life Insurance Ltd.
(PLICL) are discussed. These were the aspects that came out while studying on SBL. These
were related to various parts of SBL and thus are placed in the list of general recommendation.
According to Findings some decision can be taken.

• Efficiently distribute the number of employee in required position.

• Make the salary structure attractive to the employee.
• Make succession planning.
• Reduce the extra workload of the employee.
• They should increase the manpower of HRD especially in recruitment wing.
• The Human Resource Division’s control must be structured.
• Arrange co-curricular activities for employee’s refreshment.
• Managerial control should be implemented perfectly.
• Arrange proper training for the employee.
• They should provide that much of information in orientation training that will ensure
them to do their work their job smoothly.
• The training should be motivational.
• For better training they can go for professional trainers.
• Supply more training materials during training.
• After training, it is very much important to take evaluation about training program. They
should evaluate the trainees properly.
• The employee must have worked 1 Year after his/her confirmation and completed 1
continuous year of service in his/her current department.
• Must have minimum performance rating ‘P’ (for Proficient)
• Must have completed 8 mandatory E-Learning courses.
• Condition for HR Contracts is 2 years of continuous service in the current department.
• The recruitment wing manages Internal Job Postings, recruiting HR Temporary Staffs
and Outsourcing Staffs. The Ser vice Level Agreement (SLA) schedule is strictly
followed by all concerned wings.

70
Bibliography:
Sagir Chowdhury, Md. (2010). HRM Practices in Insurance Companies: A Study of Bangladeshi
and Multinational Companies. International Journal of Human Resources Studies, 2 (1),
75-88. doi: 10.5296/ijhrs.v2i1.1252

Danial Aslam Hassan, Aslam Mehmood, Ali Naeem & Habib Badar (2011), Importance of
Human Resource Management Policy in 21st Century: A Theoretical Perspective.
International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 10 (1), 14-
33. doi: 10.1111/j.17488583.2005.tb00154.x

Md. Majumder Hossain Tofael. (2013) Human Resource Management Policy Towards Insurance
Companies Bangladesh. International Journal of Human Resources Development and
Management, 10 (1), 18-32. doi: 10.1108/00251740810854168

Jeetl, Vikram. (2012). A Study of HRM Policies and its Impact on Recruitment and Selection
process in Insurance Sector Banks. Human Resources Management Journal, 10 (1), 63-
80. doi: 10.1177/014920639101700108

Sharma Nishtha , Manjula Jain and Ritika Khanna. (2014). Impact of HRM Practices and
Policies on Employee Job Satisfaction in Insurance sector with special reference to
moradabad city original. International Journal of Human Resources Development and
Management, 10(1), 14-33. doi: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2010.029444

Tan Ling Cheng and Aizzat Mohd. (2011). Human Resource Management Practices and
Organizational Innovation: Assessing the Mediating Role of Knowledge Management
Effectiveness. Human Resource Management Journal, 6(1), 63-80. doi:
10.1111/j.1748-8583.1996.tb00397.x

Dessler, G. (2002). Human resource management (9th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice
Hall. http:// www. progressivelife.com.bd/about-us

71
 Appendix
Sample of Questionnaire

Bangladesh Open University

Questionnaire
Subject: Research Paper (HRM)
HR Policy in Insurance Companies: A case Study of Progressive Life Insurance Company
Limited
Dear Respondent,

I am a student of Bangladesh Open University. I would like to know your HR Policy in

Insurance Companies: A case Study of Progressive Life Insurance Company Limited As
per a requirement of my Research Paper. I will appreciate your valuable time & support in
answering the questions. All the information collected will be kept strictly confidential and shall
only use for report purpose.

Name of Respondent:

Gender: M / F

Designation:
Education:

Experience:

Statement.............................................................................................Responses

Strongly
Sl. Strongly
Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree
No Agree
Agree
Organization places right person in
1
the right job

72
2 Salary structure is justified 1 2 3 4 5
3 Sales incentives are satisfactory 1 2 3 4 5
The working environment is
4 1 2 3 4 5
supportive
The compensation is competitive to
5 that of employee doing similar 1 2 3 4 5
work in other stores
There is enough scope of growth
6 1 2 3 4 5
and employment in my position
There is enough scope of growth
7 1 2 3 4 5
and employment in my position
There is enough scope of growth
8 1 2 3 4 5
and employment in my position
The pension
9 plan/gratuity/provident fund is 1 2 3 4 5
satisfactory
Supervisors/bosses behave properly
10 1 2 3 4 5

Does not give me enough time for

family
11 Flexible working hours 1 2 3 4 5
Organization places right person in
12
the right job

Thank You for giving your valuable time.

73