1. Introduction
Mercantile Bank Limited emerged as a new commercial
bank to provide efficient banking services and to contribute socio-economic
development of the country. The Bank commenced its operation on June 2, 1999.The
Bank provides a broad range of financial services to its customers and
corporate clients. The Board of Directors consists of eminent personalities
from the realm of commerce and industries of the country.
Mercantile Bank Limited (MBL) is
considered as third generation bank extending full range of banking
facilities by providing efficient, friendly and modern fully automated on-line
service on a profitable basis. Since its inception, it has introduced fully
integrated online banking service to provide all kinds of banking facilities
from any of its conveniently located branches.
This organization wants to mix profit and social
responsibility together and as such serve the people of the nation. The concept
of Mercantile Bank Limited (MBL) is also based on helping deprived people and
at the same time making profit by providing top class financial services.
For this reason loan portfolio of this bank is
dedicated towards small and medium enterprises. It has been found that there
exists a segment of people who do not have access to capital but if fund is
given to them, they can excel in their own small and medium businesses and as
such contribute in the development of the economy.
One other specialty of Mercantile
Bank Limited is to disburse remittance anywhere within the country within
limited possible time through arrangement with Western Union and SWIFT for its
remittance services.
1.1: Vision
“Would
make finest corporate citizen.”
1.2: Mission
“Will
become most caring, focused for equitable growth based on diversified
deployment of resources, and nevertheless would remain healthy and gainfully
profitable Bank.”
1.3: Core values
For
the customers: providing with caring services by being
innovative in the development of new banking products and services.
For
the shareholders: maximizing wealth of the Bank.
For
the employees: respecting worth and dignity of
individual employees devoting their energies for the progress of the Bank.
For
the community: Strengthening the corporate values and
taking environment and social risks and reward into account.
New technology: Adopting the state-of-the art technology in banking operations.
2. Conceptual Framework
2.1: Origin of Study
This internship report was assigned as a
partial requirement for the completion of the BBA Program of North South
University. The intention was to give an opportunity to the students to gain
some real world experience by working in a practical environment. For my
internship I was placed in Mercantile Bank Limited, Sylhet Branch and for my
report I have collected information from the Human Resource Policy (revised
manual-2011) of MBL and their annual report 2011. During my internship period
my supervisor was Mr. Debojyoti Mojumder who is Assistant vice president and manager
operation of Sylhet branch, and my Faculty Advisor was Mr. Muhammad Faisol
Chowdhury, Lecturer of School of Business, North South University.
Work-life
balance is a combination of interactions among different spheres of one’s life,
the advantages and disadvantages associated with that balance/imbalance can
affect multiple levels of society and also in human life. The disadvantages
associated with work-life imbalances are numerous and impact both employee and
employer. For the employee, consequences can have a negative impact on work and
life satisfaction, on well-being, mental health, and physical health and on individual
performance in organizations. So it is essential to have a better balanced
work-life.
2.2: Objective of the Study
2.2: Objective of the Study
I have prepared this report based on two
purposes:
2.2.1 Primary Objective:
The
report aims to provide information on the issues that make work-life balanced
and how this is followed by the employees and employers of Mercantile Bank
Limited.
2.2.2 Secondary Objective:
The main purpose of this report is to
present the findings of a bank-wide audit that was carried out to gain
information on staff experience of work-life balance policies and practices at
Mercantile Bank Limited. The audit was conducted through a staff survey.
MBL considers their employee as an
asset. For having an effective and valuable asset they always try to motivate
their employees. MBL upper level management thinks about their employee
conditions. This is important to know the meaning of work-life balance in context
of employment.
Since they hire people through many
comprehensible and clear assessments, they have good intellect property as
their workforce. They have not directly mentioned work-life balance policy in
their policy manual but employees get all the opportunities regarding this
issue. So another one is to focus on work-life balance policy maintained by
human resource department of MBL.
Find out the significance of
work-balance policies and practices for the employees and employers of
Mercantile Bank Limited.
Another objective is to
focus on the findings of the survey and come up with some solutions for
development of company’s work-life balance policy implementation.
2.3: Scope of the Study:
There
is a certain boundary to cover this report. This particular report only covers
work-life balanced issues that actually practiced in Mercantile Bank Limited.
Mainly I focused on all the employees of Mercantile Bank Limited Sylhet Branch.
And I also talked with the Senior Vice President who is the Branch Manager of this
Branch Mr. Imam Kabir Chowdhury and Assistant Vice President who is Manager
Operation of this Branch Mr. Debojyoti Mojumder regarding work-life balance
policy of MBL. There are 17 employees in this branch those are
actively working and I surveyed among all the employees of this branch. Through
Mercantile Bank Limited Human Resource Policy Manual I got lots of information
that helped me a lot in making this report. As well as I gathered information
through internet Mercantile Bank Limited official web-site. Moreover I got some
confidential information which is not possible to disclose publicly, so those
data and information had to be ignored for this report.
2.4: Methods
For making any report most of the data should
be taken that reflect actual situation. For my report I have collected various
types of primary and secondary data. In a disciplined way I can say that the
report input were collected from two sources-
2.4.1 Primary sources:
For my Primary data, I went through face to face
interview process and personal observation through several informal
conversations. I interviewed 17 employees of MBL Sylhet branch to collect data
and it was absolutely informal. I talked with them regarding their
satisfaction, the opportunities that they are getting in MBL. They helped me a
lot and through these conversations I got lots of information for my report.
2.4.2 Secondary sources:
Mercantile Bank
Ltd. official web-site
Human Resource Policy Manual ( Revised-2011)
Agreement Policy
2.5: Limitations of the Study
I am lucky enough to get a chance to prepare
a report on ―Work-Life Balanced Issues of Mercantile Bank Limited. I tried
heart & soul to prepare a well-informed report. But unfortunately I faced
some difficulties when preparing this report. I tried to overcome the
difficulties. In spite of trying my level best, some difficulties that hamper
our schedule report work:
2.5.1 Shortage of time:
As per North South University BBA Program
Internship Guideline, three months is the standard time. Within this short
time, I need to prepare this internship reports as well as some other reports
for as an intern in Mercantile Bank Limited. For this reason, I could not get a
fluent time schedule for the report.
2.5.2 Limitation of related with the organization:
In Sylhet there is only one branch of
Mercantile Bank Limited. That’s why employees of this branch always have
tremendous work pressure. So they were too busy because of their work. For
this, they did not give sufficient time to fulfill our queries.
2.5.3 Difficulty in collecting data:
Many employers of the organization were not
well known about all information that I asked them. Many of them also hesitated
to answer the questions. These things hampered the information collection.
2.5.4 Confidential data:
I
got some confidential data which is not possible to disclose publicly, so those
data and information had to be ignored for this report.
3. Literature Review
3.1: Work-Life Balance
The term
work-life balance is commonly used as a more comprehensive expression to
describe policies that have been previously termed 'family-friendly', but are
now extended beyond the scope of the family. Work-life balance refers to the
flexible working arrangements that allow both parents and non-parents to avail
of working arrangements that provide a balance between work responsibilities
and personal responsibilities. The term ‘work-life balance’ is preferred due to
the fact that it encompasses the experiences and needs of parents and
non-parents alike, and is a more progressive theoretical framework in which to
think about new ways of living and working that are satisfactory to all.
3.2: Importance of
Work-Life balanced issues for the employees and employers
Since
employers and employees are the human asset for any organization, so it is
important to make them satisfied in all aspects. The adoption of work-life
balance policies and practices can improve an organization’s ability to respond
to customers’ demands for increased access to services and deal with changes in
a way that can be satisfactory to both employers and employees.
This
can also suggests that employers who support a work-life balance culture and
offer flexible working arrangements are likely to have a competitive advantage
in the labor market in particular in relation to the new generation of employees.
3.3: Developing Work-Life balanced issues
Work-life
balance is the term used in the literature to refer to policies that strive to
achieve greater complementarities and balance between work and home
responsibilities. These policies apply to all workers, not just working
parents, and their presence or absence in an organization may have an effect on
those facing a crisis pregnancy, particularly in judging their own ability to
combine both work and family life. Some of the terms used in the literature on
work-life balance are not commonly used or may be unfamiliar, thus explanations
and definitions are given below:
WLB: Work-life Balance also
referred to as family friendly work arrangements (FFWA), and, in international
literature, as alternative work arrangements (AWA).
V-Time: This is voluntary
overtime to meet production needs; extra hours are 'banked' and taken as time
off or as extra pay. It differs from flexi time where starting and finishing
times are staggered, and can mean reduced or increased weekly working hours
over a period of time.
Zero hours contract: This is a
flexible contract that does not specify the amount of time a worker will spend
per year on their employment, leaving it open to meet demand.
E-working: The term used to
describe flexible working that can be done from any location using technologies
such as laptops, wireless internet connection and mobile phones.
Tele working: This is
where the location is flexible by using technologies to complete work - this
allows work to be done from home; also known as e-working. Term-time working:
this is when a parent is allowed to work only during school term times, with
all school holidays off. Payment can be calculated either by usual payment,
with no payment during holidays, or salaries can be spread out across the year.
Other forms of flexible working
conditions include:
Part-time working
Job sharing
Flexible time
Shift working
Annualized hours
Compressed hours
Home working
Career breaks
Study leave.
3.4: Effective Issues of Work-Life Balance
I have already mentioned that there is
no work-life balance policy written in the Human Resource Policy manual of MBL.
But all the employees of Mercantile Bank Limited get opportunities to make
their work life and personal life balanced. They get all the flexibility in their
work place. This is generally practiced in all the branches of MBL. If
employees want they can come late to the office and can go earlier before the
actual time but for this they must have valid and strong reason.
Now a day’s not all the bank give these
type of flexibility to their employees and employers. For the growth of
organization it is essential to make employees satisfied. Employees of MBL are
satisfied in this aspect. This is clearly said by the Chairman of Mercantile
Bank Limited Mr. Abdul Jalil Chowdhury (M.P) to HRD of MBL that if anyone wants
to transfer anywhere for his/her family he/she will get this opportunity. So it
is a great competitive advantage for Mercantile Bank Limited in current labor
market.
4. Analysis
4.1MOST
Mission
“Will
become most caring, focused for equitable growth based on diversified
deployment of resources, and nevertheless would remain healthy and gainfully
profitable Bank.”
Mercantile Bank Limited has
obtained effective strategy and efficient workforce. With the help of these two
essential elements MBL has been giving services to their valued customer. It
has become a trustworthy and reliable bank in current competitive market.
Objective
Strategic Objectives:
To achieve positive Economic Value Added
(EVA) each year.
To be market leader in product
innovation.
To be one of the top three Financial
Institutions in Bangladesh in terms of cost efficiency.
To be one of the top five Financial
Institutions in Bangladesh in terms of market share in all significant market
segments it serves.
Financial Objectives:
To achieve a return on shareholders’
equity of 20% or more, on average.
Strategies
To strive for customers best
satisfaction & earn their confidence.
To manage & operate the Bank in the
most effective manner.
To identify customers needs &
monitor their perception towards meeting those requirements.
To review & updates policies,
procedures & practices to enhance the ability to extend better services to
the customers
To train & develop all employees
& provide them adequate resources so that the customer’s needs are
reasonably addressed
To promote organizational efficiency by
communicating company plans, polices & procedures openly to the employees
in a timely fashion.
To cultivate a congenial working
environment. To diversify portfolio both the retail & wholesale markets.
Tactics
Introduce new and competitive products:
Mercantile
Bank Limited constantly tries to come up with new products and services and
tries to refine its existing products. They design the products that are fully
compatible to the individual customer needs.
Refine the interest rate:
Mercantile
Bank Limited regularly refines the interest rate of their saving schemes and
loans and make sure that it is within the range and preference of its
customers.
Provide high standard customer service:
Mercantile
Bank Limited frequently promotes customer service by providing its staffs with
extra incentives. There are guidelines regarding the behavior to the customer
and the level of customer service. Mercantile Bank Limited sends auditors in
every branch who provide report about the service quality of each branch and
staffs are provided with reward or penalty according to their performance.
Training of the staffs:
The
staffs of Mercantile Bank Limited get special training to improve their
customer service. In every two or three months, small training and meeting
sessions take place where the staffs get feedback about their customer service.
Compliance with foreign exchange policy of Bangladesh bank:
Mercantile Bank Limited makes sure that all the
foreign trade services and the movements of inward and outward remittance are
done under the guideline of foreign exchange policy provided by Bangladesh
Bank.
CSR Tactics:
MBL’s
corporate social responsibility (CSR) focuses on the following areas:
Education for underprivileged children;
Assistance for the disabled/needy; and
Support for the environment.
Promotion:
This part of the marketing department deals with all
the promotional activities of Mercantile Bank Limited. Prime responsibilities of this department are:
Maintaining strong public relations with various media intermediaries,
advertising the company’s products and services, building a strong corporate
image of Mercantile Bank Limited.
Public Relations:
The marketing department of MBL organizes various
environmental and social activities in order to build a strong corporate image
of Mercantile
Bank Limited in the minds of
customers as well as in the media. Maintaining strong relationship with news
media is another major duty of this department.
Advertising:
Newspapers
Advertising: Regular advertisements of various services of Mercantile
Bank Limited are
given in some of the countries most renowned daily newspapers.
In
addition to these tactics Mercantile Bank Limited tries to regain these
problems under the shadow of law. They deal with these problems very carefully.
Now the bank is too much concerned about giving loans to the customers. The
rules and regulations of the bank are now much strict than before.
4.2 SWOT
Strength
Dedicated &
Efficient work force:
Mercantile Bank Limited has a
dedicated &efficient workforce, which is one of the biggest strength
for the bank. This efficient workforce helps the bank to achieve the
bank’s objectives in terms of new branch opening, new product innovation for
the customer. They do their best to help the bank to be one of the best banks
in Bangladesh. They try to serve and deliver the best.
Excellent working
environment:
The working environment of
Mercantile Bank limited is very warm friendly. The employees are very
friendly with one another and always willing to help each other. The top
management is also very friendly with the middle and lower level managers. The
healthy relation also helps the bank to achieve their goals and objectives.
Warm relationship
with the customers:
The employees of the bank maintain
a very healthy relation with the customers of the bank. The employees are
always helpful and ever ready to solve any problems of the customers. The
employees sometimes deliver personalized services to the customers. The
ongoing relationship between the employees and the customers is an asset for
the bank. The employees always help the customers to understand the bank procedures.
Introduced a
variety of lucrative products:
Keeping the demand of the customers
in mind, Mercantile Bank Limited has always tried to serve new,
innovative and effective products to the customers. Mercantile Bank
Limited frequently do market surveys to know what the customers want and try to
serve according to that. The bank has launched many schemes to satisfy the need
of different customers.
Network across the
country:
Through
the 61 branches, Mercantile Bank Limited has a very strong network
throughout the country. Mercantile Bank Limited has a very strong network
and is able serve the needs the demand of customers of the
whole country.16
Weakness
Unable to implement
branch banking yet:
One of the biggest drawbacks of
Mercantile Bank Limited is that the bank has not been able to
implement any branch banking yet. Branch banking means operating banking activities
such as accepting deposits or making loans at facilities away from a
bank's home office. Mercantile Bank Limited’s main problem has
been that the bank has a very strong control over its main branch
but looses it when it comes to other branches specially those branches
which are in remote places.
Alignment of HR
policy is job based not skill based:
Another problem of Mercantile Bank
Limited is that the alignment of Human Resource policy is job
based instead of being skill based. That makes a lot
of deserving candidates demoralized. This policy is not good for the bank
too. The bank can also suffer in the long run.
Decision making
process is not as fast as expected:
A main problem of Mercantile Bank
Limited is that the bank’s decision making process is not as fast as it
should be. The top management of the bank takes suggestions from other
managers. Sometimes confliction arises in making a decision. That makes the
decision making process slow.
Unavailability of
foreign training:
Another weakness of Mercantile Bank
Limited is the availability of foreign training in the bank. Foreign
training is very important for employees, managers and for the bank too. They
come to know how banking is done in abroad. That helps to develop the
creativity and excellence of an employee or a worker. But, so far, Mercantile Bank
Limited does not have foreign training.
Opportunities
Positive economic
growth:
Economic
growth means A positive change in the level of production of goods and services by a country over a certain period of time. Nominal growth is defined as economic growth including inflation, while real growth is nominal growth minus inflation. Economic growth is usually brought about by technological innovation and positive external forces. The positive economic growth of the country is a big
opportunity for Mercantile Bank Limited. If the bank can use its resources
well, Mercantile Bank Limited will be much benefited from this
opportunity.
Exploration of new
business avenues:
Exploration of new business avenues
is one of the biggest opportunities for Mercantile Bank Limited. New
factories are continuously being established in Bangladesh. These factories
are opening new doors of profit for the banks. Mercantile Bank Limited can
allow them loans at higher interest rate and increase profit.
Expansion of credit
operation:
Expansion of credit operation in SME, agriculture &
renewable energy sector is a very big opportunity for Mercantile
Bank Limited. People in rural areas are taking loans from banks
for SME and agricultural activities. If it has the needed resources,
Mercantile Bank Limited should pounce upon the opportunity.
Bringing mass into
the banking net:
More and more people are entering
into the banking net now-a-days. Mercantile Bank Limited should take the
opportunity and bring mass into their banking net.
Corporate
Philanthropy:
To make their image more acceptable
to mass, Mercantile Bank Limited must do social things. That will help
their reputation they will be more acceptable by the mass.18
Threats:
Extreme competitive
market:
The banking market today is very
tough and competitive. Competitors are very tough and competitive.
Mercantile Bank Limited has a tough competition in the banking sector. The
bank should continuously implement new plans to keep their place in the market.
Aggressive
marketing policy:
Aggressive marketing policy by the
competitive banks is a big threat for Mercantile Bank Limited. Other banks
are becoming very aggressive. Mercantile Bank Limited must think of a way
to keep their place in the market.
Deposit rate
Fluctuation:
Deposit rate in the central bank
can fluctuate any time. This is a big threat for Mercantile Bank Limited.
4.3 PESTEL
Political
Factors
Political culture of Bangladesh is not very
much popular in this country. Hartal is one kind of political strike here,
which is called by the opposition party of the government. During the strike
every business and wheels of vehicles become stopped. Strike is one of the worst
cultures in this country. MBL has to maintain a very tough scheduling during
the strike days. It becomes tough to make transaction for both the employees
and customers during this day. Eventually it makes a big loss for the
organization.
Economic
Factors
Bangladesh is a country of high inflation
rate. Inflation rate always affect every organization of this country
especially banks are affected. They have created value for their consumers. Interest
rate always fluctuates for this reason. Deposit schemes like MSS (Monthly
Saving Scheme), FDR (Fixed deposit Scheme) etc required interest rate for the
customer. Currently local banks cannot decide its interest rate. This is fixed
up by the Bangladesh Bank and this will be followed by the entire bank industry
in our country. There are other policies those are also fixed up by the
Bangladesh Bank. Now the interest rate is 12.5% and for saving deposits its 6%
for MBL. This 12.5% rate can be changed any time. It actually depends on money
market.
Social Factors
Socially people are conservative and in many
cases they are emotional. Generally people convinced with the new features and
satisfied interest rate in bank industry. It is the main duty for any bank to
make people satisfied with their service. But it is tough to read their mind.
Sometimes they actually don’t know what they want. They have right to get
better service always. So bank should concentrate on their service and the way
through which they will provide it. Employee should be trained very effectively
so that they can make their customer understand about their features. But
sometimes it becomes tough for any bank to meet their target in a competitive
market.
Technological
Factors
Technological advancement is also important
for any organization‘s achievement since new technology can be an effective
weapon against inflation and recession. MBL has a very effective information
and technological (IT) department. To sustain in a competitive market MBL has been
using the latest technology. They have recruited very talented engineers for
their operations. They use much updated software for their operations like PC
Bank through which all the branches are internally connected and also connected
with the main branch.
Environmental
Factors
The whole world is increasingly
experiencing the devastating effects of environmental changes for Green House
affects due to global warming. The Bank is mindful of its responsibilities to
the future generations by playing its part in promoting environmental awareness
and in the conservation of the environment. The Bank takes environmental issues
very cautiously while financing new projects. It finances only in those
projects which are environment-friendly. Early detection of environmental risks
is an integral part of credit appraisal system of the Bank. Ecological damage
will sooner or later harm not only the society but also the Bank, in the form
of loan losses or image problems. In this regard, the Bank participated by
sending its officials in Foreign Training Program on 'Environmental Issues'. Issue of Green Banking is considering with utmost core in this Bank.
Legal factors:
These are related to the legal
environment of the country. Different categories of law include:
Consumer Laws: these are designed to
protect customers against unfair practices such as misleading descriptions of
the service.
Competition Laws: these are aimed at
protecting small bank against harassment by larger bank and ensuring customers
are not exploited by banks with monopoly power.
Employment Laws: these cover areas such
as redundancy, dismissal, working hours and minimum take-home pay. They aim to
protect employees against the abuse of power by management.
Health and Safety Legislation: these laws
are aimed at ensuring the workplace is as safe as is reasonably practical. They
cover issues such as training, reporting accidents, healthy environment and the
appropriate provision of safety equipment.
Other laws to consider are
discrimination law, employment law etc.
4.4 STEEPLED
STEEPLED Analysis
stands for social, technological, economical, environmental, political, legal,
educational and demographic factors. All those factors explained under PESTEL
analysis except educational and demographic factors. These two factors
explained below.
Educational Factors
MBL is continuing its supports to
the education sector as before. Every year, scholarships are provided to the
needy but brilliant students of different educational institutions. Children of
the employees are also given scholarship for their brilliant results. The Bank
also encourages the employees to have professional degrees.
MBL gives opportunities to the employees who
wish to get higher studies in abroad. The Bank provides cash money incentives
to the employees who pass the Banking Diploma.
MBL has donated to Hicare School,
Rajshahi for education and development of the deaf children as a part of its
Corporate Social Responsibility. They are emerging more programs for education
development.
Demographic Factors
There are 75 branches of MBL in
Bangladesh and 1737 employees are actively working in these branches. MBL
considers local employees for working in local branches for better
performances. Female employees get opportunity for transfer as her family
placement.
MBL considers this flexibility not
only for employees but also for their better service. They posted their
employees in local branches because they will understand their local language
and culture.
All the employees of MBL both male
and female get equal opportunity to maintain their family life. Customers of
MBL also get same services in every branch. This is not differentiated in
anywhere. Product of MBL is not affected by the location or by the people who
works for MBL.
5. Findings and Analysis of this
project
As an internee,
I joined Mercantile Bank Limited, Bangladesh on 16 February, 2012 on Sylhet
branch. My topic of the project was “Work-Life Balance
issues of banking sector employees: A case of Mercantile Bank Limited.”. As I
have mentioned earlier there are 17 employees in this branch and I have
conducted my survey among all the employees of this branch except manager and
manager operation.
I made one set of questionnaire for
conducting my survey. All the questions were related with their work life and
daily family life. I have also included some questions regarding their
work-life balance policy though in their HR policy manual this type of policy
is not clearly written.
After completion
of the survey, I analyzed the data by using pie charts. There are 15 questions
on a set. In this report I will not to show the analysis of all the questions.
I will show analysis of ten questions as I believe findings from those
questions will be very much beneficial for Mercantile Bank Limited.
I have conducted
my survey in every department like clearing, foreign remittance, cash,
transfer, credit and foreign exchange department. All of them were very much
helpful to this survey and they responded to every question very willingly.
This has become
a great help to me for making my report. I have also collected lots of
information from them through informal conversation. Since this branch is
outside Dhaka so the environment is very friendly. That’s why I did it without
any difficulty.
Employees of MBL
are very much satisfied with their management and HR department. This is a
great support for any organization especially for service oriented organization.
Through my questionnaire I came to know about their attention to their work
life and family life balance issues.
Question no 1: How many hours in a
day do you spend traveling to work?
a) Less than half an hour
b) Nearly one hour
c) Nearly two hours
d) More than two hours
From the above data 33.33%
employees said that they spend less than half an hour for travelling to work,
40% said they spend nearly one hour and 27% said they usually spend nearly two
hours. Since this branch is not in Dhaka so employees of this branch can come
to office without having any traffic jam. Sometimes they face it but it’s not
that much extreme like Dhaka city.
5.1: Flexible management
I
am doing my project on work-life balanced issues of the entire banking sector
employees of our country but I am preparing my report based on Mercantile Bank
Limited, Bangladesh.
Employees of MBL those are working in
other branches in Dhaka everyday they have to face many difficulties like
transportation problem, traffic jam etc. Usually they spend more than 2 hours
to come to their office. Day by day it’s becoming very tough for people to lead
their life in a regular way. In other regions except Dhaka city employees at
least can come to their office on time if they don’t have any reason to come
late.
MBL employees are allowed to come late
in office but for this they must have to take permission from their immediate
boss or branch manager or manager operation. This is only applicable for
urgency not for usual time.
Employees of MBL outside Dhaka can spend
a large amount time with their family than the other branches of Dhaka city
because they spend more time in travelling and a significant amount of time
they spend on road from traffic jam. So they could not balance their work and
family life in a normal way like other employees of MBL. It’s becoming tough
for them to make it balanced.
MBL considers their employees as a
valuable asset for their organization. So they treat their employees in a
better way. Employees of MBL are highly satisfied with their organization,
their upper level management and their various policies those are required to
balance their work life and family or personal life.
For improving business performance MBL
developing organizational culture and for this they have developed their
strategic HR department. Employees of the Bank play significant role in providing better customer service. So it’s their
main duty to think about employee’s opportunities.
Question no 2: Being employed, who is helping
you to take care of your children?
a) Spouse
b) In-laws
c) Parents
d) Servants
On this question 14% people
responded that their spouses take care of their children and 7% responded in
laws. 14% parents and 7% responded that servants take of their children.
5.2: Take care of family
Not all the employees have children but
those who have children it’s a vital family issue for working people to take
care of their children. Working spouse need to have helping people to take of
their family and their children.
I have included all the probable options
in my survey questionnaire regarding this issue and 14% employees responded
their wives take care of their children and 14% responded their families take
care of their children in their absence.
Generally servants take care of both the
family and the children of working spouse if they do not live in a joint
family. But now a day it is very unusual to live in a joint family. In this
situation working people must have to have helping hand for their family
maintenance.
Question no 3:
How many hours in a day do you spend with your family?
a) Less than 2 hours
b) 2-4 hours
c) 4-6 hours
d) More than 6 hours
From
above data here is 20% people responded that they spend more than 6 hours with
their family, 54% spend 4 to 6 hours and another 27% employees said they
usually spend 2 to 4 hours with their family.
5.3: Spending hours with
family
A
family is a place where human being born and they grown up within the family’s
values and environment. There are some fundamental elements which are actually
required for having a wonderful family. Every member of a family should have
contribution for it.
Mercantile
Bank Limited is very much friendly for their human asset. So that employees are
pleased with their organization. Employees of MBL working inside Dhaka could
not make that much time to spend with their family only for country’s terrible
situation.
If there is any emergency higher level
management of MBL allow their employees in this kind of situation for their
family. By this way employees can make their work life and family life
balanced.
Question no 4: Do you generally feel
you are able to balance your work-life?
a)
Yes
b)
No
Here 94% employees said that they
are balancing their work life and family life. Only one employee said which is
6% responded that he/she is unable to do that. So this can be taken as
exception.
5.4: Balancing
work life and family life
Work life and personal both should be
accepted as different areas. Employees should not have mixed up these two
areas. When a person works in office he/she must have to concentrate on his/her
respective work and on the other hand when he/she spends time with family they
must have to take care of it.
Employees of MBL get all kind of
facilities which is required for balancing work life and their family life.
That’s why in my survey most of the employees responded that they are satisfied
in balancing their work life and family life.
Question no 5: How do you feel about the amount of
time you spend at work?
a) Unhappy
b) Indifferent
c) Happy
d) Very happy
On
this question 100% employees said that they do their job in their office with
full of happiness.
They
work 5 days in a week and sometimes employees of HR department and IT
department have to work in weekend for extra work. But they do their respective
job with full of cheerfulness.
5.5: Mind-set at work
place
In Mercantile Bank employees can do
their work in a friendly environment. They have very much work pressure but
they carry out with their job with full of happiness.
MBL is 100% employee oriented
organization and it considers employees as valuable asset. MBL management has
made its culture and working environment according their employees
requirements. That’s employees are pleased with their working environment.
The employees of MBL are also very
friendly with one another and always willing to help each other. The top
management is also very friendly with the middle and lower level managers. The
healthy relation also helps the bank to achieve their goals and objectives.
Question no 6: Do
you ever feel tired or depressed because of work?
a) Never
b) Rarely
c) Often
d) Always
Here
on this question 40% employee responded they often feel tired or depressed
because of work, 46% responded they rarely feel tired, 14% responded they never
feel tired and most important thing is 0% employee responded they always feel
tired or depressed because of work.
5.6: Way of thinking about
job
As
I have mentioned earlier MBL has most employee friendly environment. That’s why
from my survey I got 0% response on the option whether they feel always tired
or depressed because of work or not.
It’s
a great achievement for any organization to have their employee satisfaction.
Employees of MBL do their job with full of happiness and they always try to
make good dealing with their customer.
This
achievement will bring great success for this organization. In our country
there is very much competitive market for banking sector and in this situation
MBL is one of the most prominent and successful bank in their respective
sector.
Question
no 7: Does your company have a separate
policy for work-life balance?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Not aware
From
above data 53% employees responded they have no separate work-life balance
policy, 27% said yes they have and 20% responded not aware actually.
5.7: Separate policy for work-life balance issues
I
have already mentioned MBL has no clear written work-life balance policy. But
indirectly employees of MBL have the benefit of this policy. Since Mercantile
Bank is an employee oriented organization they are very careful about their
employee’s facilities and their opportunities.
Management
team of MBL is extremely dedicated to their organization only for its support
that generally employees get form it. This is clearly practiced in MBL; if
anyone wants to transfer anywhere he/she will get this opportunity to transfer
according to their necessities for his/her family.
This
might not be practiced in other organization but MBL always offer much
effective facilities to their employees than the other commercial banks.
MBL
employees enjoy different kinds of leave like casual leave, maternity leave,
sick leave, quarantine leave etc. If any employee suddenly face emergency he/she
can work for ½ day. For this immediate supervisor needs to be informed and
employee must have permission.
Employees
can also share job with their colleagues if person have any problem or any
emergency. Beside this employees have also chance to leave office early if
respective work in finished.
Question no 8: Do you personally feel
any of the following will help you to balance your work life?
a) Flexible starting hours
b) Flexible finishing time
c) Flexible hours, in general
d) Job sharing
From
above data 46% employees responded they are interested to share job with their
colleague to make work-life balanced, 27% flexible office ending time, 27%
flexible office hours in general.
5.8: Work-life balance issues
Job-sharing is basically a form of
part-time work that provides you with the equivalent of one full-time employee
while giving the job-sharing employees the ability to keep their careers on
track while allowing more time for family responsibilities or other activities.
In
case of emergency or urgent movement one can share job with colleague and
employees of MBL practice this type of strategy. By doing this work will be
done on time along with balancing other activities.
Another
thing is flexible ending time of office hour. If an employee finishes his/her
work he/she can leave office in the early hours.
Question
no 9: Do you feel work life balance policy in
the organization should be customized to individual needs?
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Indifferent
d) Disagree
On
this question employees agreed 53%, strongly agreed 33% and indifferent were 14%
and 0% employees disagreed with this issue.
5.9: Customize work-life
balance policy according to employee needs
Employees
should be the main fundamental of any organization because they work for the
company. Organizations reach to its goal with the help of its employees.
Employers should keep in mind before implementing work-life balance policy that
this is for the employee’s satisfaction.
The introduction of work-life balance policies
should be equitable for all employees and it should be customized to individual
needs. By implementing a work-life balance strategy employers can help to
reduce stress in their employees. This can lead to a more motivated and loyal
workforce, increased productivity,
reduced absenteeism and it is also good for PR.
The efficient work force of
Mercantile Bank acts as the fundamental pillar to reach the Bank at today’s
height of success. Employees work for company’s benefit and management should execute
policy according to the employee needs.
Question
no 10: Do you think that if employees have good work-life balance the
organization will be more effective and successful?
a) Yes
b) No
If so how?
On
this question 100% employees agreed that work-life balance has significant
contribution on organization’s success. Organization’s effectiveness and
successfulness depends on the employees and for this employees must have to be
comfortable with their job life and family life.
5.10: Organizational success
depends on work-life balance of employees
An
organization requires most dedicated and efficient workforce for its
betterment. It will be possible if organization believe that their employees
are their asset and management has to have policies which are essential for
employee’s to make their work-life balanced perfectly.
MBL employees are its asset and they are very
much dedicated to their job. As a result MBL has achieved its success with the
help of its employees and also its customers. Employees deal with the customer
and also operate the whole company operation.
So
if employee feels good and feel comfortable with their job and their work place
culture, facilities he/she will give outstanding feedback to the customer, will
behave good with them and finally it affects the organization’s success.
Work-life
balance policy could be like flexible working hour, job sharing, tele working,
working from home, term-time hours, compressed hours and part-time
working. Leave provision, for example, special leave for emergencies etc can be
included.
MBL does not have clear
written work-life balance policy but all these facilities are given to their
employees to make their work life and family life balanced. Employees of this
organization perform well because they are happy with their organization and
they have achieved great success for their company.
6. Summary of analysis
After doing survey I have analyzed
very thoroughly all the questions and data that I have acquired from MBL
employees of Sylhet branch. In the beginning of this report I mentioned that
MBL employees are very much happy and satisfied with their organization. Now I
have come up with evidence that they are actually happy with their job and
their company policy.
Employees of MBL practicing job sharing,
flexible working hour, flexible ending office hour etc all kind of work-life
balanced issues. They feel that they are able to balance their job and family
life. In Human Resource Policy manual of MBL there are some policies like
leave, allowances, pay system etc included for their human asset. But separate
work-life balance policy is not clearly written in their HR policy manual.
Female employees of MBL get Maternity
leave for 4 months with pay and they have opportunity to transfer according to
their desired branch of MBL. Male employees also get this opportunity. The
chairman of MBL stated that MBL is employee oriented bank and employees are
their main asset and valuable resource.
All regular employees of MBL have
mandatory leave of 15 days in a year and along with this they have opportunity
to take leave in case of emergency and urgent activity.
For urgent activity employees are
allowed to come late in office and also can go out before ending time. But for
this they have to take permission from their senior manager and they must have
valid reason.
Mercantile Bank Limited has all kind of
flexibility to their employees. Though in their HR policy manual work-life
balance policies are not clearly written but employees of MBL have all kind of
flexibility and facilities which are required to have balanced work-life.
Not all employees have children. But
those who have children and their life partner is also employed there must be
someone to take care of their family in their absence. In my survey employee
responded their parents, servants or their in laws usually take of their family in their absence .
Work-life
balance for any one person is having the ‘right’ combination of participation
in paid work and other aspects of their lives. This combination will change as
people move through life and have changing responsibilities and commitments
in their work and personal lives. Employees of MBL might get changes in their
unwritten balance policy but it will be changed according to their desires.
7. Recommendations
After going through the report and
knowing all about MBL’s unwritten work-life balance policies, I draw some
recommendations:
MBL practices work-life balance issues
and it should be included in their HR policy manual. For this they can include
new separate part named work-life balance policy in their HR manual. Work-life
balance policy should be flexible and clear, so that work-life balance policies
can be changed to meet the needs of employees and the organization as they
change.
It could be widely communicated, so that
employees are aware of what policies are available.
It should be easily accessible, so that
employees know what is available and feel they can use the provisions without
being penalized.
MBL can include a monitoring and
evaluation mechanism, to investigate if they are succeeding in their aims and
are being applied consistently.
Finally employees of MBL are satisfied
in balancing their work life and family life but they are not actually known
about work-life balance policy. So it’s an important duty for MBL management to
make them understand about their work-life balance policy because it can create
inspirations in their employee’s mind.
8. Conclusion of report
For working people it is important
responsibility to have balanced work life and family life. In today’s situation
middle class people need to have job both for the male person and female
person. It’s become tough especially for female person to main both the family
and job. Work-life balanced issues practiced to have sound work-life. Now a day
organizations are introducing these types of issues among their employees. By
introducing this they could acquire most dedicated and inspired employees.
Work-life
balance remains an issue that requires considerable attention from society. The
changing nature of the global economy, where organizations often operate on a
24/7 schedule and technological advances have made it possible for an employee
to be connected at all times.
So, employees should have idea
about work-life balanced issues for having better personal life. It will be
possible if organizations let their employee know about their work-life balance
policy. Work-life balance policies can assist employees achieving a balance
between their work and personal commitments that is right for them. However,
availability of policies is not necessarily enough for these policies ‘to
work’.
The policies need to be supported
by the workplace culture, which reflects the beliefs, values and norms of the
whole of the organization from the CEO to staff members. Other important
factors in the success of work life balance policies include proper
communication of commitment to the policies to existing and future employees ,
raising awareness of the policies, education of managers about the importance
of policies, and training of managers on ’how to’ implement these policies.
By this report it is clear that MBL
never introduced work-life balanced issues to their employees but indirectly
they are practicing it from the beginning. Employees are satisfied with their
organization but it can be apparent to them for their motivation.
“Efficiency is our strength”- this
is the MBL’s theme against their human capital. It will be more effective if
work-life balanced issues are directly introduced to their employees. Work-life
balance policies are required to have inspired, dedicated and motivated
employees.
References
(2011).Human Resource Policy Manual of MBL collected from Branch.
(2011). Living Green Banking Green. Annual Report
Galinsky, E.
“Dual-Centric A New Concept of Work-Life.” Families and Work Institute.
Retrieved September 1, 2005, from http://www.familiesandwork.org/summary/dual-centric.pdf.
Henneman, T.
(2005) “Work/life Balance: It’s About Relationships, Meaning, and Skill.” Workforce Management Online, June 2005.
Retrieved September 15, 2005, from http://www.workforce.com/
Roberts, S.
(2005). “Work/Life no longer a ‘woman’s issue.’” Business Insurance, Vol. 39
Iss. 32, pp. 3-4.
Lewis, S., and
Cooper, C.L., 'Balancing The Work/Home Interface: A European Perspective'. Human
Resource Management Review, 5(4): 289-305.
Strachan, G.,
and Burgess, J. (1998). 'The “family-friendly” workplace: Origins, meaning and
application at Australian workplaces'. International Journal of Manpower,
19(4): 250-265.
Hofstede, G.
(1991). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw Hill:
London.
Kotowska, I.E.
(2005), New Family Order. Academia 2, vol. (6): 4-7.UNESCO.
Coussey, M.
(2000). Getting the Right Work-Life Balance. Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development: London.
Contact
Information
Mercantile Bank Limited, Bangladesh,
Head Office,61, Dilkusha Commercial Area
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh, PABX : 9559333, 9553892, Fax : 88-02-9561213,
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh, PABX : 9559333, 9553892, Fax : 88-02-9561213,
Mercantile Bank Limited, Sylhet Branch,
Laldighirpar, Sylhet, Bangladesh
Phone :(0821) 723650,HOB: 723651
Fax : 88-0821-723722
Mobile: 01711-922810.
Phone :(0821) 723650,HOB: 723651
Fax : 88-0821-723722
Mobile: 01711-922810.
Mr. Debojyoti Mojumder
Assistant vice president and Manager operation
Sylhet branch.
Mobile: 01713386896.
Shakawat Hossain Ibne Ahad
Probationary
Officer, Sylhet Branch
Phone:
0821-723650-51
Fax:
88-0821-723722
Mobile:
01711462715
Refath-E-Islam
Mobile:
01926088246
E-mail:
onu_nsu@yahoo.com
Appendix
Questionnaire
This
questionnaire has been made for a rational survey on Work-Life Balance Issues of banking sector employees. All the
information will be used only for academic purpose and your response will be
held in the strictest confidence. Your feedback will be a great help for me to
accomplish my internship report. Please do a tick mark (√) on your answer.
Name:
Gender: Male / Female
Age:
Designation:
1.
How
many days in a week do you normally work?
a) Less than 5 days
b) 5 days
c) 6 days
d) 7 days
a) Less than 5 days
b) 5 days
c) 6 days
d) 7 days
2.
How
many hours a day do you spend traveling to work?
a) Less than half an hour
b) Nearly one hour
c) Nearly two hours
d) More than two hours
a) Less than half an hour
b) Nearly one hour
c) Nearly two hours
d) More than two hours
3.
Are
you married?
a) Yes
b)No
a) Yes
b)No
4.
If
yes, is your partner employed?
a) Yes
b) No
a) Yes
b) No
5.
Do
you have children?
a) Yes, no. of children____________.
b)No
a) Yes, no. of children____________.
b)No
6.
Being
employed, who is helping you to take care of your children?
a) Spouse
b) In-laws
c) Parents
d) Servants
a) Spouse
b) In-laws
c) Parents
d) Servants
7.
How
many hours in a day do you spend with your family?
a) Less than 2 hours
b) 2-4 hours
c) 4-6 hours
d) More than 6 hours
a) Less than 2 hours
b) 2-4 hours
c) 4-6 hours
d) More than 6 hours
8.
Do
you generally feel you are able to balance your work life?
a) Yes
b) No
a) Yes
b) No
9.
How
do you feel about the amount of time you spend at work?
a) Unhappy
b) Indifferent
c) Happy
d) Very happy
a) Unhappy
b) Indifferent
c) Happy
d) Very happy
10. Do you ever feel tired or depressed
because of work?
a) Never
b) Rarely
c) Often
d) Always
a) Never
b) Rarely
c) Often
d) Always
11. Does your company have a separate
policy for work-life balance?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Not aware
a) Yes
b) No
c) Not aware
12. If, yes what are the provisions
under the policy?
a) Flexible starting time
b) Flexible ending time
c) Flexible hours in general
d) Job sharing
a) Flexible starting time
b) Flexible ending time
c) Flexible hours in general
d) Job sharing
13. ) Do you personally feel any of the
following will help you to balance your work life?
a) Flexible starting hours
b) Flexible finishing time
c) Flexible hours, in general
d) Job sharing
a) Flexible starting hours
b) Flexible finishing time
c) Flexible hours, in general
d) Job sharing
14. ) Do you feel work life balance
policy in the organization should be customized to individual needs?
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Indifferent
d) Disagree
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Indifferent
d) Disagree
15. Do you think that if employees have
good work-life balance the organization will be more effective and successful?
a) Yes
b) No
If so how?
_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
a) Yes
b) No
If so how?
_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Thank you for
your thoughtful feedback.
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