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|Table of Contents | |Literature Review |3 | |Introduction |4 | |Origin of the report |4 | |Objective |5 | |1. Scope |5 | |1. 4 Methodology |5 | |2. 0 An overview of Bangladesh Garments Industry |6 | |3. 0 Role of HRM |9 | |3. 1 Contribution HRM to organization |9 | |3. For garments industry HR can do |10 | |4. 0 SWOT analysis of Bangladesh Garment Industry |11 | |5. 0 Practice of HRM in garments industry of Bangladesh |25 | |5. 1 Planning and Resourcing Division |26 | |5. HR Practices of garments industry Bangladesh |27 | |6. 0 Recommendation |33 | |7. 0 Conclusion |33 | Literature Review The garment industry has played a revolutionary role in the development of industrial sector of Bangladesh. Though it took a rather late start i. e. in 1976 but it soon established its reputation in the world market within a short span of time. Resultantly garment is now one of the main export items of the country. Besides, enriching the country’s economy it has played a very important role in alleviating unemployment. This industry is very big in Bangladesh and holds a lot of skilled employees. So Human Resource Management (HRM) is very much applicable as well as practiced in the garments industry of Bangladesh. Human Resource Management is a modern version of personnel management.
It is concerned with the “people” dimension in management, as human beings play a dual role- as resource, as well as a motive force for all other resources by manipulating them, by the way of developing, utilizing, commanding and controlling. Since every organization is made up of people, acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to high levels of performance, and ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitment to the organizations are essential to achieving organizational objectives. Organization needs people as owners, employees, and consumers.
Organizations need people to make them operated. It is the organizational function that deals with issues such as compensation, recruitment, selection, hiring, training and development, performance management, organization development, benefits, employee motivation, performance appraisal communication, administration, and industrial relation in an organization. All of these are under HR department which is very much important to make organization like garments industry successful. This assignment aim at explaining the HRM practices of Bangladesh Garment industry.
Introduction Bangladesh is currently one of the 12 largest exporters of garments products in U. S. A and U. K. In spite of this, the real situation does not come in front of the world. Bangladesh has a great comparative advantage in garments products. This garments industry needs people to monitor their organization properly and to achieve their goal. An organization is nothing without human resource. Human Resource Management is a modern version of personnel management. In any industry the success of an organization is extremely dependent on its human resources.
Although there are many other factors that play a key role, a company must have effective employees in order to stay financially solvent and competitive. Here in this assignment we focus on the basic function of the HRM and how the garments industry practices the HR strategies. Origin of the Report Project report is a practical part of the academic studies. This is a reflection of academic knowledge through practical work experience. Thus this project report aims to reflect the rotational view of real world working environment. This term paper is prepared for Md.
Atiqur Rahman Sarker course instructor of the Undergraduate program, Business administration at East West University as a partial requirement of Human resource management. This report is prepared during the summer, 2011 semester and would be submitted in the same semester. The standard procedure for the long, formal report is followed here as per the instruction of the course instructor. Objective The broad objective of this report is to provide an overview of HRM practice of Garments industry Bangladesh. The specific objectives of this report are: 1. To apply theoretical knowledge with practical situation. 2.
To provide overview of garments industry 3. To know the HRM policies 4. To reveal operational, management and HRM planning. 5. Discuss all HRM practice 6. To understand the HR (Human Resource) management activity. Scope 1. This report is about the HR functions of Garments Industry Bangladesh. So it is a great opportunity to know about the organizations in detail. 2. By focusing on the HR activities, we understood the application of HR theories in practice aspects. 3. Chance of knowing the reality of HR practices in Bangladesh. Methodology of the Study We have made this assignment following investigative process.
Since all of the information has not been clearly define up, we had to depend on primary research and secondary research which are available literature or data, or qualitative approaches. We organized these data and tried to explain it into thorough analysis. Primary data/ information were collected mainly from internet, different reports and cases and secondary data/ information was collected from published articles, different books etc. AN OVERVIEW OF THE BANGLADESH GARMENTS INDUSTRY The garment industry is the only multi-billion-dollar manufacturing and export industry in Bangladesh. Though it took a rather late start i. . , in 1976 but it soon established its reputation in the world market within a short span of time and became a prominent player in the economy within a short period of time. Resultantly garment is now one of the main export items of the country. Besides, enriching the country’s economy it has played a very important role in alleviating unemployment. At present there are more than two thousand one hundred garment factories in the country employing more than 12 lack labors. 85 percent of the labor force is women. Once Sri-Lanka was leader in this field in South Asia and India was its competitor.
After a bloody civil war resulting in the quick demise of the garments industry of Sri-Lanka and India, the international buyers and investors diverted their attention towards Bangladesh. As a result the garments industry of Bangladesh expanded with unprecedented success. The role of the RMG sector in our national economy can hardly be over-emphasized. There has been a steady development in our RMG export field during at least the last decade and a half but in the last few years it has been unique. The export of RMG recorded an average growth of 21. 53% since 1994-95, which grew to 76. 05% by the year 1999.
Ready-made garments help reducing poverty in Bangladesh even if just one step just like at a time. For example, minimum wages is Taka 5000 ($75) per month, so with this amount, members can fulfill their basic needs. The industry has contributed to export earnings, foreign exchange earnings, employment creation, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women. The export-quota system and the availability of cheap labor are the two main reasons behind the success of the industry. In the 1980s, the RMG industry of Bangladesh was concentrated mainly in manufacturing and exporting woven products.
Since the early 1990s, the knit section of the industry has started to expand. Shirts, T-shirts, trousers, sweaters and jackets are the main products manufactured and exported by the industry. Bangladesh exports its RMG products mainly to the United States of America and the European Union. These two destinations account for more than a 90% share of the country’s total earnings from garment exports. The country has achieved some product diversification in both the United States and the European Union. Bangladesh is currently one of the 12 largest exporters of garments products in U. S.
A and U. K. In spite of this, the real situation does not come in front of the world. That is they are not becoming influenced like before any more. We can see this by the price level of our garments products in the world market. The quantity we are exporting is huge but at a very low price. In the statistics the impact may be huge but the condition of Bangladesh is not improving at that satisfactory level. Bangladesh has a great comparative advantage in garments products that is low labor cost. Because of this advantage Bangladesh can produce products more easily than other countries.
But labor is cheap here because people who are related to this sector are from very poor background. Most of them are unskilled, uneducated. But if some steps are taken to improve the quality of labor, the proper benefit of this comparative advantage can come out. . The industry provides employment to about 3 million workers of whom 90% are women. Two non-market elements have performed a vital function in confirming the garment industry’s continual success; these elements are (a) quotas under Multi- Fiber Arrangement1 (MFA) in the North American market and (b) special market entry to European markets.
The whole procedure is strongly related with the trend of relocation of production. The garments industry contributed only0. 001 per cent to the country’s total export earnings in 1976, its share increased to about 75 per cent of those earnings in 2005. Bangladesh exported garments worth the equivalent of $6. 9 billion in 2005, which was about 2. 5 per cent of the global total value ($276 billion) of garment exports. The country’s RMG industry grew by more than 15 per cent per annum on average during the last 15 years.
The foreign exchange earnings and employment generation of the RMG sector have been increasing at double-digit rates from year to year. Some important issues related to the RMG industry of Bangladesh are noted in table 1. Table1. Important issues related to the Bangladesh ready-made garments industry Currently, there are more than 4,000 RMG firms in Bangladesh. More than95 percent of those firms are locally owned with the exception of a few foreign firms located in export processing zones (Gonzales, 2002).
The RMG firms are located mainly in three main cities: the capital city Dhaka, the port city Chittagong and the industrial city Narayangonj. Garment companies in Bangladesh form formal or informal groups. The grouping helps to share manufacturing activities, to diversify risks; horizontal as well as vertical coordination can be easily found in such group activities. Role of HRM Every organization or industry is not only made by brick, cement or wood but it builds by 4 m’s i. e. a) Money b) Material c) Machines and d) Men
The man is ultimate resources of the industry because they think, speck, so that utilization of this resource is very critical. Every success of origination is depending on efficient and effective man power. HR starts when a man enters in the organization and its end, when he leaves the industry. HR deals with the human dimension. Success or failure of an industry depends on the effective coordination of the resources such as money, material, machinery and men. Among these, the role and operation of men is the most complex. All the activities of an organization are initiated and completed by the persons who make up the industry.
Therefore, people are the most significant resources of any industry. HRM is known by different names – Personal management, personal administration, man power management. The role of human resource management in organization is at counter stage. Managers are aware that HRM is a function that must play a vital role in the success of organization. It is an active participant in charting the strategic course an organization must take place to remain competitive, productive and efficient. Its focal point is people; people are the life blood of the organization.
The uniqueness of HRM lies in its emphases on the people in work setting and its concerns for the well living and comfort of the human resources in an organization. The HRM function is much more integrated and strategically involved. HRM and every other functions must work together to achieve the level of organization. Effectiveness required competing locally and internationally. The approach to HRM differs from organization to organization depending on how much it is valued by the management Technological change, innovation and heightened competition drive to increase the skill of employees.
Competitive challenges motivate to companies to use their human resources effetely. [pic] Contribution HRM to organization 1. Helping the organization to search its goal. 2. Employing the skills and the activities of the workforce efficiently. 3. Providing the organization with well trained and well motivated employee. 4. Increasing to the fullest the employee’s job satisfaction. 5. Developing and maintaining quality of work life 6. Communication 7. Helping to other department and function [pic] For garments industry HR can do 1. Identification of people requirement i. e. hy & how much to be required ,because in textile every process requires different numbers of peoples for say spinning section requires much more as compare to garment. 2. After this, HRM find out where they are available, i. e. internal or external for say education institutes or competitors or etc. 3. Next is training, textile training is very much important, because entire thing is depend on this. If training is wrong or doesn’t give result then origination looses the time, money and effort. 4. After this HRM should evaluate the training program by taking interview report submission or by field observation. . Next is performance appraisal. 6. The company should have reward programs on a group basis for knowledge workers. The Performance Appraisal system must have built in rewards for system creators. SWOT analysis of Bangladesh Garment Industry The Bangladesh Ready Made Garment industry has achieved great success over a short time of period. The garment industry has become the main source of export and major driver of the GDP of Bangladesh. However the global market environment for textile and clothing industries is in transitional stage and will change at the end of the phasing out quota.
This change in global trade will create new challenges for the Bangladesh RMG industry. The quota free business environment will allow the competitors to take way the global market share from Bangladesh. Therefore high productivity, free access in backward supply line, shorter lead-time will determine the industry competitiveness. The following analysis of strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) concisely sum up the conclusion of the competitiveness in firm level of Bangladesh garment industry. ? Strength ? Low labor cost. ? Energy at low price. Easily accessible infrastructure like sea road, railroad, river and air communication. ? Wide ranges port facilities. ? Moderately open Economy, particularly in the Export Promotion Zones. ? GSP under EBA (Everything But Arms) for Least Developed Country applicable (Duty free to EU). ? Improved GSP advantages under Regional Cumulative. ? Looking forward to Duty Free Excess to US, talks are on, and appear to be on hopeful track. ? Investment assured under Foreign Private Investment (Promotion and Protection) Act, 1980 which secures all foreign investments in Bangladesh. OPIC’s (Overseas Private Investment Corporation, USA) insurance and finance agendas operable. ? Bangladesh is a member of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) under which protection and safety measures are available. ? Adjudication service of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID) offered. ? Excellent Tele-communications network of E-mail, Internet, Fax, ISD, NWD & Cellular services. ? English is spoken widely which make communication easy. ? Weakness of currency against dollar/euro and the condition will persist to help exporters. Convenience of duty free custom bonded w/house. ? Readiness of new units to enhance systems and create infrastructure accordant with product growth and fast reactions to circumstances ? Caretaker government is making the country corruption free. ? Weakness ? Long lead-time ? Lack of marketing tactics. ? The country is deficient in creativity. ? Absence of easily on-hand middle management. ? A small number of manufacturing methods. ? Low acquiescence: there is an international pressure group to compel the local producers and the government to implement social acquiescence.
The US GSP may be cancelled and purchasing from US & EU may decrease significantly. ? The machinery required to assess add on a garment or increase competence are missing in most industries. ? Lack of training organizations for industrial workers, supervisors and managers. ? Autocratic approach of nearly all the investors. ? Fewer process units for textiles and garments. ? Sluggish backward or forward blending procedure. ? Incompetent ports, entry/exit complicated and loading/unloading takes much time. ? Speed money culture. ? Time-consuming custom clearance. Unreliable dependability regarding Delivery/QA/Product knowledge. ? Communication gap created by incomplete knowledge of English. ? Subject to natural calamities. ? Opportunity ? EU is willing to establish industry in a big way as an option to china particularly for knits, including sweaters. ? Bangladesh is included in the Least Developed Countries with which US is committed to enhance export trade. ? If skilled technicians are available to instruct, prearranged garment is an option because labor and energy cost are inexpensive. Foundation garments for Ladies for the FDI promise is significant because both, the technicians and highly developed machinery are essential for better competence and output ? Japan to be observed, as conventionally they purchase handloom textiles, home furniture and garments. This section can be encouraged and expanded with continued progress in quality. ? Chittagong port is going to be handed over to the foreign operator, which will make the port’s service much faster, it will also reduce lead-time as well as total cost will be decreased. Bangladesh is going to gain its political stability, which will make foreign trade much smoother and will foreign buyers will be more convinced. ? Threat ? China is a most likely the biggest threat for Bangladesh as this country has relatively high labor productivity and applies more capital-intensive modern technology and it has less lead-time because of its relative advantages in getting locally available raw materials like fabrics, various RMG accessories. China has also relatively better infrastructural facilities like energy supply, transportation and communication system. Some African and Caribbean countries have enjoyed zero-tariff facility under AOA act (Agreement On Agriculture) that helps them to be more competitive relative to Bangladesh. Situation Analysis of HRM in garments industry Business climate Backward – Linkage of Apparel Industry Shows Potential for Foreign Investment Estimate shows that about 80 percent of garment accessories like cartons, threads, buttons, labels, poly bags, gum tapes, shirt boards, neck boards etc. are now being produced in Bangladesh, contributing to the national GDP.
But, the textile (Spinning, Weaving, Finishing etc. ) industry is just budding. Prospect for a huge textile industry capable to supply over 3 billion yards of fabrics a year to the export oriented garment industry has also been developed by the industry. (www. bgmea. com) Presently, the total fabric requirement in captive market is for about 3 billion yards, of which about 85-90 percent is imported from countries like China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, etc.
Fabric requirement is increasing at 20 percent per annum. This offers a tremendous opportunity for further industrialization in Bangladesh. Taking the global context within the purview of open market economy (started in 2005) it can exploit the benefit of the potential textile industry of the country by immediately establishing 60 moderate-size composite textile mills, capable of producing 30 million yards of fabrics per year per factory. Extensive program of incentives, to expedite investment in the country, are now in place covering ?
No Ceiling for investment ? Tax holiday of up to 10 years ? Tax-exemption and duty-free importation of capital machinery and spare parts for 100% export oriented industries ? Residency permits for foreign nationals including citizenship ? Easy capital profit and divided repatriation facilities ? Double taxation avoidance ? Tax-exemption on the interest payable on foreign loans ? Taka (BGD currency) convertible on current account etc.
Investors can also take advantage of the GSP (generalized system of preference) and EBA (everything but arms) facilities, which allow duty and quota-free access to European markets. (www. bgmea. com) History, development and the human resource of the RMG sector The RMG sector itself in Bangladesh accounts for a small proportion of GDP yet serves as an engine of growth. Taking into account the high import content of garment manufacturing, it is estimated that the RMG industry directly contributes only about 25 percent of value added in manufacturing, which itself now accounts for approximately 17 percent of GDP.
The sector, however, generates substantial demand for transportation, distribution, other services, and construction. Moreover, RMG factories account for 40 percent of industrial employment and provide the largest single source of formal employment and wage earnings in the economy. RMG factories and associated businesses (spinning, dyeing, finishing, etc. ) are estimated to provide employment for a total of 10 to 12 million people. Of an estimated 4,550 firms at the end of 2006, just 83 were wholly or partially foreign owned (Table 2).
Aggregate Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the sector since the industry’s inception is estimated at $370 million (Table 3). All FDI was restricted to the EPZs by law until 2005 and there is no evidence of any significant FDI outside of the EPZs since the removal of that restriction. |Employment in RMG Factories in Bangladesh | |Fiscal year |Domestically owned factories |Employees |Avg.
Employees/F | |1996/7 |2,503 |1,300,000 |519 | |1997/8 |3,618 |1,800,000 |498 | |2005/6 |4,220 |2,200,000 |521 | |Memorandum items (end-2006) | | |Total employment in EPZ garment factories |122,098 | |Of which: In wholly and partially foreign-owned | | |Firms in EPZs | | | | | | |95,559 | |Number of wholly and partially foreign owned- firms in EPZs | | | |83 | Table 2: Employment in RMG Factories in Bangladesh Source: BGMEA, BEPZ Authority; and IMF Stuff calculations |Garment and Textile Investment in the EPZs* | |(In millions of U. S. ollars; cumulative for 1983–2006) | |Investor |Woven Garments |Knitwear |Textiles |Total | |100% Foreign Owned |247,20 |65,60 |168,60 |481,40 | |Joint Venture |50,50 |5,90 |18,60 |75,00 | |100% Domestically Owned |54,10 |12,00 |42,00 |108,10 | |Total |351,80 |83,50 |229,20 |664,50 | Table 3: Garment and Textile Investment in the EPZs Sources: Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority; and IMF staff calculations. * For all firms operational as of December 31, 2006.
The vast majority of employment in the RMG sector is in domestically owned firms located outside of the EPZs and the average number of employees in these factories has consistently been around 500. Key differences between firms with FDI and those that are domestically owned are that productivity in the firms with FDI is estimated to be 20 percent greater than in domestic RMG firms and the average number of employees in firms with FDI is substantially higher. (World Bank (IMF Country Report, June 2007) Strength of the sectors Bangladesh’s RMG sector possesses two distinct competitive advantages, which have accounted for the sector’s overall export success. Specifically: unlimited (i. e. uota-free) access into the European Community (EC) market and preferential tariff treatment in both the EC and American markets; and comparatively low-cost, highly trainable labor. Comparative Manufacturing Cost of Yarn (US $ Per kg of yarn) Cost item |Bangladesh (Private sector) |India |Pakistan |Japan |Korea |Thailand | |Waste Labor Power Interest Total Index |0. 17 (11) 0. 54 (36) 0. 15 (10) 0. 31 (21) 1. 48 (100) 100 |0. 27 (15) 0. 02 (01) 0. 28 (07) 0. 56 (31) 1. 78 (100) 120 |0. 33 (21) 0. 20 (12) 0. 28 (07) 0. 45 (28) 1. 60 (100) 108 |0. 32 (14) 0. 45 (19) 0. 05 (07) 0. 24 (10) 2. 38 (100) 161 |0. 33 (18) 0. 08 (05) 0. 17 (08) 0. 42 (24) 1. 73 (100) 117 |0. 33 (19) 0. 05 (03) 0. 19 (10) 0. 50 (28) 2. 74 (100) 18 | |Table 6: displays comparative manufacturing cost of Yarn among the other South Asian countries Source: WEDF Other competitive enhancing factors include: ? Low rate of duty (2. 5%) on imported capital machinery; ? Reputation for reliability; ? Geographically concentration of production units; and ? Strong government support program (International Trade Center; http://www. intracen. org) Bangladesh has had a mixed experience relative to other Asian LIC garment producers in capturing additional total market share in the world’s largest garment markets since the removal of quotas. In the EU market, which was the largest market in the world for imported garments in 2006, India and Vietnam ave outpaced Bangladesh in capturing market share in the past two years (Table 5). In the U. S. market, Bangladesh has captured an additional 1 percent of market share, on par with India and well ahead of other Asian LICs. (IMF Country Report, June 2007) Bangladesh: Shares of Imports of Garments into the EU and U. S. Markets (In percent) [pic] Table 5: displays the Bangladesh’s share of imports of garments into the Eu and US market in percent Sources: Eurostat; U. S. Department of Commerce; and IMF staff calculations. Ethical Issues As we already have come to know that the export-oriented RMG sector of Bangladesh has come to play an important role in the economy and society of Bangladesh.
In its turn, the BGMEA, as the apex body of all entrepreneurs in the RMG sector, takes all possible measures to promote the interest of the workers and the sector. BGMEA strives to promote the cause of the sector and raise public awareness about the important role the sector is playing in the life of the country. BGMEA has undertaken a number of projects under its social welfare programs to ensure better occupational safety and health and enforcement of labor rights as per the local laws and ILO convention guidelines, which are briefly mentioned below: ? Enforcement of minimum wage In 2006 RMG sector in Bangladesh was in a deep crisis by striking of labor for increasing their wages and other facilities.
As a result whole sector nearly got collapsed and situation was unrest almost a week during September 2006. Local and international media have actively involved and were able to get national and international attention on the matters. To solve this problem a three parties mutual agreement (BGMEA, Bangladesh Government and RMG Labor Union leader) established. In the agreement, a minimum wage has been set up which is 1662,50 Taka/month and this was forced to implement for all the garment factories at the latest 30th June 2007. By the due date al most all the factories has implemented the minimum wage rule in their factories. ? Child Labor free The elimination of child labor is also among the core labor standards in the ILO Convention.
The Harkin Bill placed at the US Senate entitled “The Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1993” which called for the elimination of child labor in the export oriented manufacturing and mining industries. As a consequence many garment industries had to retrench child workers from their factories. In many countries these retrenched children ended up in more strenuous and less-remunerative jobs, or worst, turned to begging in the street. Bangladesh was officially declared Child Labor Free in 1994. Workers’ Health Check-up Project Under this project, BGMEA and a local NGO Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) have provided annual health check for more than 20,000 garment workers during the period of 1998-2001. Non-formal Education Program Under this component of the Child Labor Elimination Project, 8,200 students were enrolled in 336 schools, run by two local NGOs, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and Gono Shahajya Sangstha (GSS). At present, 36 schools are providing education to the remaining 650 students from the target group. ? Earn and Learn Program Under this program, BGMEA has provided part time job to 900 students through BRAC and GSS. ILO and UNICEF are also providing skill development training on tailoring, embroidery, garments machine maintenance, manufacturing and wool knitting to these students. ? Work Place Safety Program for Workers
BGMEA has been implementing a number of programs to ensure work place safety for workers as well as management personnel of its member units. In addition to providing support to the members to comply with the safety rules set by the government, BGMEA has been organizing training and awareness building programs for the workers and the management staff. The association regularly monitors and follows up proper implementation of safety compliance by individual member factories. The BGMEA Safety Measures Cell, which organizes the awareness and training programs, has provided fire prevention and safety training to 9,194 employees of 794 factories from Dhaka and Chittagong between December 1997 and July 2002.
The BGMEA is also providing compensation to the affected workers and their families. In case of death or injury on work, BGMEA pays the cost of treatment and extra compensation to the affected worker or his family. The association also employs the members of the victim’s family to help them support financially. Between December 1990 and September 2001, BGMEA has paid Taka 5. 4 million as compensation to the affected workers from the association’s fund. ? Garment Village BGMEA is also working towards setting up of garment village to relocate the garment factories from the busy and crowded cities to suburbs. (www. bgmea. com) Social impacts of the RMG sector ? Women Empowerment
It is well recognized that women’s participation in income generation activities lends them a better status within the family and provides them with considerable freedom. A job ensures equitable access to household resources (nutrition) and larger investment on female human capital (health and education). Employment opportunities draw attention to women’s needs for public facilities such as transportation, communication, safety etc. and create a demand for policy response in these areas. It also has created a demand for education and health. As the income by the female member reduces dependency on male income it reduces their vulnerability. It also reduces the possibility of domestic violence against women.
Expansion of women’s employment has contributed positively to the improvement of the savings behaviour of the poor people since women tend to be better savers. Employment in the RMG industry has provided direct access to cash income for the first time to many poor women. A survey, conducted by the BIDS (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies) in 1997 showed that for 96 percent of the female workers in the non-EPZ areas, work in the garment industry was the maiden wage employment. The survey also showed that women were taking up such roles paying for house rents and schooling expenses for their children or brothers and sisters. Despite the fact that they have lower incomes, the female garment workers were spending the same amount as the male workers on the studies of their family members.
The same survey further showed that female workers were spending their earnings on their marriage, thus taking a big burden off their families. The independent earnings also allow these women to have a greater share in household decision-making. Evidently, wage work at the garment industry has empowered women and improved their status. (Zohir, 2001) ? Savings Regular earning enables a large number of the garment workers to go for some savings. Workers investments on family pension schemes etc. create savings. A BIDS survey conducted in the early 1990s found that 21 percent of both male and female workers aged 15 years and above had their own bank accounts. A higher proportion of workers (30 percent) had bank accounts in the EPZ.
Findings showed that women are on average better savers than men and save about 7. 6 percent of their otherwise small income. (BIDS) ? Population Control Employment opportunities especially for women created positive impact on family planning and population control in the country. Independent workingwomen are getting more conscious about the advantage of a small family, and are exposed to modern family planning methods. Working adolescent girls tend to avoid early marriage as they have their own source of income and are self-dependent. The mean age at marriage for girls working in RMG factories tend to be higher than the national average. (BIDS) Practice of HRM in garments industry of Bangladesh
HRM Practices in Bangladesh garments Industry is the potential industry where the growth of a country depends a lot. In Bangladesh garments industry is also very influential. This industry is very big in Bangladesh and holds a lot of skilled employees. So Human Resource Management (HRM) is very much applicable as well as practiced in the garments of Bangladesh. To compete with the global challenge we have developed a skilled and efficient workforce. This large employee force is managed totally by the HR department. This HR department meets all the requirements of the employees from salary to rewards, hiring to firing employees and other important developing trainings.
In Bangladesh Human resource management (HRM) refers to the policies and practices involved in carrying out the ‘human resource(HR)’ aspects of a management position including human resource planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, orientation, compensation, performance appraisal, training and development, and labor relations. Some human resource activities: • Recruitment, selection, and on boarding (resourcing) • Organizational design and development • Business transformation and change management • Performance, conduct and behavior management • Manager and employee relations • Human resources (workforce) analysis and workforce personnel data management Planning and Resourcing Division:
Planning, Promotion and Transfer Wing: This wing is responsible for developing Annual Manpower Plan for garments, conducting Job Analysis, preparing Job Descriptions, formulating promotion and transfer Policy. It works for creation/retrenchment of posts, promotion, rotation to ensure placement of right persons at right places and carry out the study of opening new office/ department/division/cell/unit and abolition thereof. Recruitment and Outsourcing Wing: This wing is responsible for attracting, selecting & recruiting the right people and other professionals from the market for Garments. Development and Benefit Division: Benefits and Administration Wing:
This wing process cases related to LPR and retirement of employees. It is responsible to carry out all activities related to developing best market strategies regarding compensation and benefits like medical, welfare, recreation, accommodation, leave etc. Training and Development Wing: Manages the training needs and educational facilities for employees and provides training for them in home and abroad. Performance and Reward Division: Recognition and Reward Wing: Manages and implements effective Performance Management System. Performance and Discipline Wing: Handles employees’ discipline, initiates disciplinary actions to enforce organizational standards.
This wing discourages infractions, resolve conflict and take initiative for arbitration and litigation processes. HR Practices of garments industry Bangladesh Recruitment and selection Recruiting is the process of finding & attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought & ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which new employees are selected. According to Robins, “The ideal recruitment effort will attract a large no of qualified applicants who will take the job if it is offered. A good recruiting program should attract the qualified & not attract the unqualified. This dual objective will minimize the cost of processing unqualified candidates”.
So recruiting is a process of discovering potential candidates for the actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. Or from another perspective, it is a linking activity-bringing together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs. Factors Influencing Recruiting Effort Although every organization engages in recruiting activity some do so to a much larger extent than others. ? Size ? Employment condition ? The effectiveness of past recruiting effort ? Working condition, salary & benefit package Recruitment Process 1. Determining the number of vacant post: First of all, what number of employee is to be recruited is determined. Generally HRM calls every other department to inform them (HRM) the number of employee they (other departments) need.
When the number is determined HRM department goes to the next process. 2. Determining the job criteria: Here the HRM department determines the necessary job criteria discussing with the respective departments. Different jobs require various criteria. 3. Inviting Application: In this step BB invites application from the intended applicants. Generally HRM department advertises inviting application in the dailies. Applicants full filling the job criteria can only apply. Applicants send their CV through mail to HRM department. Besides BB has a CV bank and people interested to work in BB register their CV there. They also come in consideration in case of recruitment. 4. Scanning Application: HRM epartment now scans all of the CV and calls a limited number of applicants for the next step of recruitment. This scanning is done based on various factors and requirements. 5. Tender: The HRM department does not take recruitment exam. It calls tender for taking MCQ test and written exam. The work is given to that bidder who full fills all of the requirements and bids at the lowest rate. 6. MCQ test: In this step, Applicants have to face a MCQ test. The MCQ question paper is prepared under strict secrecy. Governor has the power to suggest question. A special coding system is used to identify the applicants in MCQ test. Applicants passing the MCQ test with at least a predetermined number are called for the written exam and viva voice. 7.
Written exam and viva voice: Here applicants have to go through a written exam and a viva voice. In the written exam applicants has to write easy, arguments, solve mathematical problem etc. After that applicants securing a very good number are called for the viva voice 8. Final selection: The number of MCQ test and written exam are summed and averaged. Applicants with a high average number within 100 serial numbers are finally selected. Training and Development: Training is the processes of teaching the employee the skill for their better act upon on the job. Training is very helpful for the employees for their better performance. Garment arranges various training and development programs for its employees.
Department will select the employee to participate the training. Human Resource Department sends office notice to those employees to attend the training. After attending their training the employee have to submit a report on that training to the Human Resource Department. Sometimes Human Resource Department sends the employee to attend the training outside of the Bangladesh. Posting and Transfer: When a fresher enter in the Job he/she has to complete his/her training period successfully and then he/she is transferred to a branch. The decision of transfer is made by HRM department A mentionable point is that whenever an employee gets promotion he/she is transferred.
Sometimes as a punishment an employee is also sent to a distant branch. In case of transfer, a certain process is maintained. Human Resource Department keeps one copy of posting in employee’s personal file and the copy of posting order distribute among employee. There is no hard and fast that after a certain period an employee must be transferred. Benefits and Rewards: Salaries: Garment provides attractive salaries and other benefits to its employees. The monthly salaries and other benefits are as per government pay scale. But alongside the government pay scale a separate pay scale is also approved for the employees who are at least at officer level. Benefits & Rewards:
Garments industry offers a wide number of benefits to its employees. Almost all of them are applicable as far the government regulation. The benefits usually offered to the employees are: • Private pension plan • Life and accident insurance • Medical check ups • Nursery and summer camp allowances • Car, parking space and allowances, depending on position • Eid children party, annual employee party etc • Health plan and routine medical allowance including optical and dental treatment. • Short and long-term disability coverage, as well as life insurance • An active Sports and Social Club. • Development opportunities and career support. • Retirement benefits. • Having rank of a first class gagged officer Entertainment benefit • Advance training facilities Promotion There are two criteria for promotion and they are: Performance and Seniority. There is also certain ratio use in case of promotion. Sometimes this ration is not maintained if there are adequate employees able of promotion according to certain criteria. Educational qualifications are big factor in case of promotion. Employees having higher degree and good number of training experience is given preference for promotion. When an employee is promoted to a higher post, he gets more authority coming with more responsibility, higher salary and better number of benefits and so on. Job rotation
Job rotation is a training that requires an individual to learn several different some in a work unit or department and performer each job for a specified time period. In job rotation, individuals learn several different jobs within a work unit or department. One main advantages of job rotation is that it makes flexibilities possible in the department. Employee relation Employers and employees each have their own sets of needs and values, and successful relationship between these two sides requires that some sort of balance be struck. This balance often takes the form of a psychological contract, an understood agreement between employer and employees that defines the work relationship.
This contract with or without support of a formal collective bargaining, agreement influence the outcome achieve by each side. Employee safety Industry provides the employee safety . It ensure the all kinds of job safety such as insurance of each employee not this it provide insurance to the labor. Employee health Free medical checkup, provide health card and also provide necessary medical facilities for each employee. Employee working condition The working condition of employee is very hygienic Job analysis Job analysis is the procedure for determining the duties and skill requirement of a job and the kind of person who should be hired for it. The supervisor or HR specialist of normally collects one of the following types of information Work activities
First he or she collects information about the job actual work activities such as marketing, sewing, production. This list also include how, why and when the worker performance each activity. Education and qualification Collects the information about education background and qualification. Experience Experience must be needed for any job. Job Design Job design is the process of structuring work and designating the specific work activates of an individual or group of individuals to achieve certain organizational objectives. The job design can generally be divided into three phases: 1. The specification of individual task. 2. The specification of the method of performing each task 3.
The combination of individual tasks into specific job to be assigned to individual Recommendations From the analysis with the organization structure we have seen that its span of super vision is too large. A number of departments report directly to the general manager. If the number were less the efficiency and productivity of the organization might be increased. Quality control department should remain prompt always. So that it can maintain a certain level of standard as per the market demand to capture the foreign market share it should strive more. Conclusion The flourishment of any industry requires combined efforts and co- operation from several parties.
Social, political and macro economic environment play pivotal role in this regard. HRM Practices in Bangladesh garments Industry is the potential industry where the growth of a country depends a lot. In Bangladesh garments industry is also very influential. So Human Resource Management (HRM) is very much applicable as well as practiced in the garments of Bangladesh. To compete with the global challenge we have developed a skilled and efficient workforce. This large employee force is managed totally by the HR department. This HR department meets all the requirements of the employees from salary to rewards, hiring to firing employees and other important developing trainings.