Human Resource Management - Telenor

PREFACE
This report reviews the Human Resource
Management (HRM) of Telenor, the second
largest telecom company in Pakistan. We give a
brief history of the company and tell about the
corporate human resource of Telenor primarily in
Pakistan. It put light on the culturally compatible
HR strategies of the organization around the
globe. Telenor is a multinational company that has
set up its operations in Europe and Asia. This
report puts light on the specific Hr strategies,
policies and practices of Telenor.

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

Telenor Group

Telenor ASA is an international provider of high quality

telecommunications, data and media communication services. It ranks as
world’s 7th largest mobile operator with a total of 164 million
subscribers in its mobile operations.

Telenor Pakistan

Telenor Pakistan is 100% owned by Telenor ASA and adds on to its

operations in Asia together with Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Telenor Pakistan launched its operations in March 2005 as the single

largest direct European investment in Pakistan, setting precedence for
further foreign investments in the telecom sector. The company has
crossed many milestones and grown in a number of directions, making
Telenor Pakistan a leading telecom operator of the country.

Telenor is the fastest growing mobile network in the country, with

coverage reaching deep into many of the remotest areas of Pakistan. In
the most difficult terrains of the country, from the hilly northern areas
to the sprawling deserts in the south, at times Telenor is the only
operator connecting the previously unconnected.

It is keeping ahead by investing heavily in infrastructure expansion. With

USD2 billion already invested, it has extended agreements with its
vendors for network expansion and services until 2009. The agreements,
with a potential to result in USD750 million worth of orders from Telenor
Pakistan, are some of the biggest of their kind in the industry.

Telenor is spread across Pakistan, creating 2,500 direct and 25,000-plus

indirect employment opportunities. It has a network of 23 company-
owned sales and service centers, more than 200 franchisees and some
100,000 retail outlets.

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

GLOBAL PRESENCE

Europe

Norway

Telenor’s wholly owned Norwegian mobile operation is the country’s

leading telecommunications operator

Services:
 Broadband, Mobile, Telephone, TV

Companies: Telenor Norway, Canal Digital, Conax, Norkring,

Telenor Satellite Broadcasting

Denmark

Sonofon is the second largest mobile operator in Denmark

Services: Broadband, Mobile, TV

Companies: Sonofon, Cybercity, CBB, Canal Digital

Sweden

Telenor is the third largest mobile operator in Sweden

Services: Broadband, Mobile, Telephone, TV

Companies: Telenor Sweden, Bredbandsbolaget, Glocalnet,

Canal Digital

Finland

Canal Digital is Finland’s leading television distributor

Services: Broadband, TV

Companies: Canal Digital

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

Hungary

Pannon is the second largest mobile operator in Hungary

Services: Broadband, Mobile

Companies: Pannon

Montenegro

Promonte has more than 450 000 mobile subscriptions in Montenegro

Services: Mobile

Companies: Promonte

Serbia

Telenor is the second largest mobile operator in Serbia

Services: Broadband, Mobile

Companies: Telenor Serbia

Ukraine

Kyivstar is the largest mobile operator in Ukraine

Services: Mobile

Companies: Kyivstar

Russia

VimpelCom is the second largest mobile operator in Russia

Services: Mobile

Companies: VimpelCom

Asia

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

Pakistan

Telenor is the second largest mobile operator in Pakistan

Services: Mobile

Companies: Telenor Pakistan

Bangladesh

Grameenphone is the largest mobile provider in Bangladesh

Services: Mobile

Companies: Grameenphone

Thailand

dtac is the second largest mobile operator in Thailand

Services: Mobile

Companies: dtac

Malaysia

DiGi is the fastest growing mobile operator in Malaysia

Services: Mobile

Companies: DiGi

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

VISION OF TELENOR

Telenor’s vision is simple: “We're here to help”

It exists to help its customers get the full benefit of communications

services in their daily lives.

CORE VALUES OF TELENOR

Make it Easy
We are practical. We don't complicate things. Everything we produce
should be easy to understand and use. Because we never forget we're
trying to make customers' lives easier.

Keep Promises
Everything we set out to do should work, or if it doesn't, we're here to
help. We're about delivery, not over promising, actions not words.

Be Inspiring
We are creative. We strive to bring energy to the things we do.
Everything we produce should look good, modern and fresh. We are
passionate about our business and customers.

Be Respectful
We acknowledge and respect local cultures. We do not impose one
formula worldwide. We want to be a part of local communities wherever
we operate. We believe loyalty has to be earned.

STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION

In TELENOR the hierarchy is very lean, in general the whole setup is

centralized, all the matters are to be reported to the main company and
all the policies and targets are approved at the higher level. But at the
department level the structure is decentralized.

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

► TELENOR has following functional departments:-

1. Finance Department

o Credit and collection

o Revenue assurance

2. Customer Services Department

o Customer services operations

o Customer services system

3. Commercial Department

o Marketing

o Direct sales

o Indirect sales

4. Technical Department

o Switching

o Operations / operation support

o Logistics

o Infrastructure

o Systems planning

5. Information Technology Department

o Billing

o IT

6. Human resources

7. Administration

8. Internal audit department

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

►Current CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of TELENOR is John Eddy

Abdullah

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

HR department of Telenor is in Islamabad head office where it controls

and handles all the HR activities of Telenor.

►Human Resource department’s

hierarchy is as follows:-

VICE PRESIDENT

DIRECTOR

EXECUTIVE

MANAGER

ASSISTANT MANAGER

INTERNEES

Current VC (Vice President)

HUMAN RESOURCE of TELENOR

is Ms. Nayab Baig

CULTURE
“Culture is the customs and civilization of a particular people or group”

CULTURAL COMPATIBILITY
“It is the capability of different cultures to live together harmoniously.”

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

When an organization goes global and sets up its operations in some other
country, it faces a totally different culture of that particular location.
This local culture is their in the attitudes, work styles, demands and
perceptions of the local human resource. A globalizing organization thus
has to make its home culture compatible with the local culture in order to
survive in the local market. The new transnational environment requires a
plethora of individuals who can work internationally – who are ultimately
flexible, accommodating, and adaptable to different cultures and varying
ways of doing things. Those organizations who effectively pursue
culturally compatible HR strategies actually achieve success in long-run.

Studies on the success or failure of individuals in an international setting

have indicated that American expatriates experience a failure rate of 30
to 40 percent as compared to many Europeans and Japanese, whose
failure rate has been estimated as low as six percent (Tung 1988). It
appears that some countries or cultures are more effective at producing
successful global professionals than other countries.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES FOR

GLOBAL BUSINESS
There are 4 main organizational structures for global business:

1) Domestic exporter - heavy centralized

activities in one country (financing, sales, marketing,
human resources, strategic management) while sales
are dispersed using agency agreements, and
subsidiaries that are reliant on the home company. i.e.
Caterpillar Corp.

HR STRATEGY:

Domestic exporters just have to rely on the sales staff of

local area; therefore they adjust the HR policies regarding
the pay scales, skills required and evaluation for sales
personnel only.

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

2) Multinational firm - control and management

of finances out of central home base, while production,
sales and marketing operations are in other countries.
Products are made to fit local markets i.e. financial
firms, General Motors etc

HR STRATEGY:

Multinational firms have to set their HR strategies for the

employees of all departments according to the culture of
respective firms. Here the budget of the firms is being set
in home base while the pay scales as well as incentive plans &
benefits are the core discretions of national firms.

3) Franchisers - product is created, designed and

financed in home country, but for product-specific
reasons, there is a heavy reliance on foreign personnel
for production, marketing, and human resources. i.e.
McDonald's, KFC

HR STRATEGY:

Franchisers are just like multinational firms with the only

difference that multinationals create the whole separate set
up for all national campuses while the franchisers follow the
strict policies and strategies of HR being pre-set by the
home base. However franchises may carry out specific HR
plans as per the local cultural adjustments but within a
restricted provision of base.

4) Transnational firms - have no national home

base, have several regional home bases, and optimize
supply and demand constraints locally, central core for
decision making, but dispersed power and financial
power to the divisions. i.e. Citicorp, Sony, Ford

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

HR STRATEGY:

Transnational firms retain the freedom of decision-making in

determining its own HR strategies. Such strategies follow
the cultural adjustments in the best interest of company.
Such HR strategies are fully coated with local cultural
essence that gives the firm a new home environment.

HR Practices at Telenor:
These are few of the HR practices that I have learned from my
resource person.

 Planning
 Recruitment
 Selection
 Training & Development
 Compensation
 Performance Appraisal System
 Occupational Health and Safety measures
 Career Planning and Development

Planning:

After the emergence of new telecom companies, market has become

much more competitive and employees are less loyal to the company.
Whenever they get any opportunity better than the existing job, they
just opt for that. Which is there right, however Telenor is aware of this
fact and that’s why they do not have any formal strategy for succession
planning. They do consider the people from inside but proper succession
planning is not practiced in Telenor these days. When they entered into
the market they used to have strategy regarding this matter.

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

But now due to market trends they have transformed there

new strategies. According to the management it’s not useful to invest a
lot in the employee at a larger extent. They do develop employees for
there career planning but no formal succession planning is practiced.

Recruitment and Selection:

In TELENOR, the activity to fill a vacancy or a new job starts with the
requirement communicated by the respective managers to the HR
department. The HR department then looks for the possibilities of
internal and external recruitment.

 Internal Recruitment:

In TELENOR, internal recruitment is done for the managers of the

higher grade and directors. When a position is vacant, the HR department
views the past performance of the people working at lower levels than
the vacant position and chooses the right person who is promoted to that
position.

At the manager and director level, the internal recruitment process is

mostly carried out but when managerial position is vacant and a suitable
person is not available for the desired post from with in the organization
then external recruitment is carried out.

 External Recruitment:

For external recruitment in TELENOR, the line managers are required to

make a requisition form for the job in which they have to mention their
need taking in account the budget for establishment and salaries for the
position of Management, Business Support Officers and Workers.

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

After approval from the HR director the HR manager and the line
manager work hand in hand to prepare job and person specifications for
advertising or giving to the head hunters.

The sources that TELENOR uses to attract applicants are:

• Inviting applications through advertisement
• Recommendations from the head hunters
• Applications obtained from the data bank of TELENOR where
direct applications are received from time to time.

After a substantial amount of applications have been received, the line

and the HR managers again work together to shortlist the applications.
This is done by carefully going through all the application and by giving
different weightage to the following criteria:
• Quality of early schooling
• Grade obtained
• Extra Curricular activities
• Overseas travel and education
• Age
• Target University
• Relevant experience

The HR Department then issue call letters to the short listed candidates
along with blank application forms by Date, time and venue for the
preliminary interview is advised and candidates are asked to bring along
completed application forms. A two-member panel of HR and line
management carries out competency-based interviews focusing on
functional skills and managerial and supervisory skills.

After the preliminary interview is cleared people applying for different

jobs are tested in different ways. The following management
competencies are assessed by a panel of cross functional assessors In
the case of management selection:
• Communication skills
• Resource management
• Rational decision making

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

• Influencing
• Creative thinking
• Business development

The HR department is responsible for overall administration of the

assessment centre including training of the assessors.
.
The HR department provides details of remuneration package and terms
and conditions of service. The HR department also prepares appointment
letter, service agreement and finalizes other documentation for service
record.

 Orientation:

Telenor has a very well organized and well established HR department

that practices all the HR strategies which are beneficial for the
organization. As other departments are well established and operational
for there matters, HR department is empowered to develop and plan what
so ever is required for the company.

Orientation and induction is required for employee familiarization with

the organization and Telenor is well aware of this fact. Affiliation with
organization is only possible if the employees are informed about each
and everything. When the employee is hired he get proper orientation and
that orientation may exceed to few months until he get the feeling of
affiliation and get to know the organization well.

 Training:

Training is a planned effort by a company to facilitate employees learning

of job-related competencies. These competencies include knowledge,
skills or behaviors that are critical for the successful job performance.

At TELENOR, there is a continuous assessment of the technical and

managerial skills. For the further enhancement of these skills formal

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

training programmes offered at all levels. The employees are provided

with opportunities to put these skills into practice, in preparation for the
move to a managerial role.

Training is viewed at TELENOR as a way of creating intellectual capital.

Employees are expected to acquire new skills and knowledge, apply them
on job and share this information with other employees. The training is
cross-functional for sharing of skills.

The employee are trained periodically either locally or abroad according

to preplanned schedules. The objective of such training is to upgrade the

capabilities of employees.

If an employee attends an overseas training then he/she has to serve the

company for a certain period after the date of completion of training

subject to the cost and duration of training itself. In case an employee

leaves the company during this period he/she will have to pay the amount

specified at that point in time.

Training Methods

• On Job Training

• Special Training Sessions

• Team Building

• Problem Based

• Refresher Course

Performance Appraisal:
Reviewing performance and taking positive steps to develop employees
further is a key function of management and is a major component in

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

ensuring the success of the company through effective employee

performance.

A review is about ensuring people know what levels of performance are

expected of them and then taking action to ensure they are trained and
developed to perform effectively.

Objectives of Performance Appraisals

To measure the work performance

• To motivate and assist employees in improving their

performance

• And achieving there professional goals

To identify employees with high potentials for advancements

• To identify employees training and development needs

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

Appraisal Policy:

The intent of these appraisals is to review current job performance and

responsibilities, set goals and discuss further opportunities with
reference to past performance at Telenor.

Performance Review:

At TELENOR a review is intended to be an open and frank discussion

between an employee and their Team Leader/Manager. Generally there
are two elements: first is the element in which discussion takes place
over the strengths and areas which need to be developed as displayed by
the job holder over the past 12 months. The performance is of course
judged comparing the performance against the core indicators of Job.
The second element is concerned with discussing the training
needs/inputs activities that are considered to be appropriate to help the

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

jobholder overcome some of development areas discussed in the review

and also those activities that are deemed appropriate to build upon their
current strengths.

CAREER PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT:

Telenor faces much competition in the telecom industry so now

they are focusing on career Management of their employees in which they

enable the employees to better understand and develop their career

skills and interests and to use these skills and interests most effectively

both within the company and after they leave the firm. Career planning is

the deliberate process through which someone becomes aware of

personal skills, interests knowledge, motivation, and other

characteristics; acquires information about other opportunities and

choices; identifies career related goals and establishes action plans to

attain specific goals. Career development is the lifelong series of

activities (such as workshops) that contributes to a person career

exploration, establishment, and success ad fulfillment.

Telenor gives promotion to their employees on the performance

basis. The Telenor HR department develops the employee’s career

development plans in which the HR department predicts the next logical

step for their employees within five years.

Importance of Career planning in today’s competitive world is as

important as any other HR function. Retaining your valuable Human

resource today is one of the biggest challenges that organizations are

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

facing. So, HR needs to come up with new strategies. Career planning and

development is one of the basic tool and strategy organizations are using

for retaining their employees. This function actually makes employees

feel that they are important to the organization and Telenor wants them

to be at the top in their careers.

However, at Telenor this function is not fully performed or we should say

this function is not performed satisfactorily. There are some policies on

these but those are not recognized that well. One point of policy is found

along with the compensation other with the recruitment. There should

have been separate head for these policies.

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

to talk about this during our interview. However, what we analyzed is that

career development is practiced but not that openly. Specially, in case if

some employee is considering of joining the competitor’s firm. If such is a

case then organization has discipline policies for that even.

Promotion Policies

The new company structure is in five layers, comprising associates,

specialists, managers, directors and chief officers------in that order

starting from the bottom and working towards the top rung of the

ladder.

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

Until approved otherwise, it would be mandatory for the employees to

spend the following maximum period at each level before a promotion to

the next level depending upon availability of a slot

However, employees who may not get a chance of promotion due to the

non availability of an existing slot, will be compensated by being “moved

over” with in the new salary range specified by the company

Reward System:

TELENOR considers its employees not just as a cost but also as a

resource in which the company has invested from which it expects
valuable returns. Pay policies and programs are one of the most important
human resource tools for encouraging desired employee behaviors. The
advantage of paying above the market average is the ability to attract
and retain the top talent available, which can translate into highly
effective and productive work force.

The incentive schemes and incentive objective have been clearly

communicated to all individuals and weekly progress report is also
communicated to all concerned.

Compensation and benefit plans:

Telenor has a separate department for compensation. That department
deals in staffing and compensation planning. First of all this department
has all the information regarding who is being employed and how it is
performing. What so ever promises are made to the employees, they know
that. So it’s easy for them to design compensation plans because they
know every employee which is being hired.
Compensation and benefit plans are particularly based on
performance. If performance is up to the standards of Telenor and the
employee has good conducts he is rewarded. After performance

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

evaluation, results are rechecked and matched with the standards. Based
on that, proper compensation plans are designed.

Salary policy

The company will pay salaries of the employees as fallows

o All new employees have to open bank accounts in specified banks
prescribed by the company so that their salary will be credited at
the end of each month.
o After opening account with the bank employees should forward his
account number to HR.
o Upon termination of services the employee will receive his salary
within 15 days up to the time of date of his last working day.
o Upon resignation the employee will be paid his dues during a
maximum period of 15 days from the date he left the job.

Promotions

Promotions are also reward management technique to motivate employees.

In TELENOR promotions are based on the merit and seniority
(experience) basis. The one who performs well consistently over time gets
reward in the form of promotion.

Bonuses
The employee may receive 1 to 3 month bonus subject to evaluation
of accomplished objectives.
In Telenor the reward system is based on the individual performance and
individual employee performance is judged for the reward. The manager
of respective departments recommends a candidate from his section for
the reward purpose to HR.

Reward Categories at Telenor

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

Intrinsic and Extrinsic rewards include:

 Exceptional performance in a project

 Targets achievements
 Special assignments
 Medical care
 Life insurance
 Vacations
 Relocation
 Credit advance policy provident policy/advance against provident
fund
 Education assistance policy
 Mobile phone
 Life insurance
 Medical entitlement

GENERAL SET-UP
There is a lot of respect given to all employees. Here the
manager shakes hand with the mop. All the employees self-
serve themselves. They are not allowed to make the service
men work in their service

There are no cabins in any Telenor centre. There is a central

lobby where the front desk men to the Regional Officer (RO)
all sit together.

As a cultural symbol Pakistani Telenor offices have placed a

big bell with a string on the main door of offices. It is for
the purpose that any one who feels himself satisfied with
Telenor can ring the bell. It is in coincidence with the
practice of Late Mughal King Jahangir who used to listen to
the petitions of his sub ordinates whoever has any complaint.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

Referring to the Denmark issue created in Pakistan against

Telenor, its HR had no impact due to this controversy. Not a
single employee felt against Telenor. It was a great
achievement of Telenor that it got in the shape of loyalty
and concern of its HR towards Telenor.

CHALLENGES
Telenor face many challenges with the ever growing need of competent
Human Resource. It is really hard to hire and retain the best people
especially around the globe. The global companies face many challenges
regarding the cultural identity of respective nations. They have to adjust
culturally to the environment of respective countries. And when even
hiring the HR staff of that very country, the organization is exposed to
many challenges to make them perform at their best.　　

CONCLUSION
By keenly analyzing the Human resource Management of Telenor, we the
group members agree that Telenor is carrying out satisfactory culturally
compatible strategies for its HR. Although it is not promoting the
“cultural identity” agenda that aggressively but even then it is facing
much less cultural conflicts among its HR. It may be due to the reason
that it has divided itself in just two markets: Europe & Asia. The
European market almost holds the same culture and three of its Asian
market countries are Islamic. We came through very unusual facts about
managing any company’s HR. We believe that managing a competitive and
culturally compatible HR in a competitive global market is a tough job.
And Telenor is so far quite successful in hiring and retaining exceptionally
talented HR worldwide.

RECOMMENDATIONS
To establish core competence and to bring competitiveness,

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 Human Resource Management - Telenor

Telenor should implement numerous effective plans to improve the

performance of its various departments. Supervisors must manage
employee performance well in order for Telenor to accomplish its
mission and achieve its goals.
Following are some recommendations for Telenor, which we
Personally feel can be useful for the organization, its employees
and the customers.

Effective Performance Management

Performance management is one of the most important parts of a

Supervisor’s or team leader’s job. Developing skills in performance
Management is wise investments that will help Telenor achieve its
Goals.

Managing employee performance includes:

• Planning work and setting expectations

• Monitoring and measuring performance
• Developing the capacity to perform
• Periodically rating performance in a summary fashion
• Recognizing and rewarding good performance

Practicing good performance management requires proficiency in

certain competencies. Competencies are observable, measurable
Patterns of skills, knowledge, abilities, behaviors and other
Characteristics that an individual needs to perform work roles or
Occupational functions successfully. Performance management
Competencies that all supervisors (and team leaders) at Telenor
Should develop and demonstrate include:

Establishing and maintaining effective communications with each

Employee not only requires good oral and written communications

Skills, but it also includes the ability to establish good working

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Relationships. To communicate effectively with employees,

Supervisors must establish an environment that promotes an open

Door atmosphere, the sharing of ideas, and employee involvement in

decision making processes.

Setting long and short-term goals with employees gives focus to

Employee efforts. When goal setting is done correctly, employees
strive to accomplish those goals and feel confident in achieving
them. When goal setting is done poorly,
work does not progress as desired. Knowing how to set goals
effectively is an important part of Performance management. To do
this well, supervisors need to be able to clarify expectations and to
set realistic standards and targets.

Credible measures of performance that employees understand and

accept are critical for achieving high level performance. Measuring
employee accomplishments, using both qualitative and quantitative
measures, provides the information that supervisors and employees
need in order to monitor performance.

Feedback should inform, enlighten, and suggest improvements to

employees regarding their performance. Supervisors should

describe specific work related behavior or results they observe as

close to the event as possible.

We wish a very best of luck to TELENOR. May it progress and achieve its
desired goals. (AMEEN)

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