Research Bank Sohar

Research Project Contents Table ContentsPage number Acknowledgement Abstract Action Plan Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1Introduction 1. 2Rationale of the Study 1. 3Objectives of the Study Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2. 1 Introduction to the company 2. 2 Meaning of the topic 2. 3 Objectives and research of the topic 2. Different types of employee motivation Chapter 3 METHOD OF RESEARCH 3. 1 Design of the study 3. 2 Methods of collected data 3. 3 Types of research 3. 4 Sample size used in interview 3. 5 Limitation 3. 6 Analyzing the data Chapter 4 FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 4. 1 Findings 4. 2 Recommendations Conclusion Bibliography ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At the outset, I would like to thank my Guide who explained to me about this Research Project in a very clear manner and assisted me at every step in completing it successfully, and my thanks are especially due to ———————————–for all his cooperation, in spite of his heavy schedules of work, and ———————– the Trainer who was very helpful in providing me with accurate information to use in this Research, and I convey my thanks to all the colleagues who cooperated with me by participating in the research by way of responding to my interviews and to the questionnaires which helped to lead me to findings and conclusions. Finally I thank all the people whoever helped me and stood by me to provide all the needful assistance to my requirement. ABSTRACT The productivity of the staff depends upon many factors for the bank. Humans are complex beings which ne ed continuous motivation to work without being burdened. Therefore, the Human Resources Department should not only impart motivational triggers but also should encourage the various groups of the staff to maintain a healthy competition; these ensure a continuous boosting of the staff’s energy levels. Dedication and loyalty to the company can also be cultured by providing staff with encouraging means to develop themselves as well as the company. The staff which feels comfortable with the bank will unlikely shift to other banks. Dedicated employees willingly work for the bank. By comparing with other banks, the bank should modify its policy’s and plans so as to not only attract more customers but also attract more staff from the other banks. Motivation thus plays an important role thus in maintaining a productive staff. A dedicated staff will anticipate not only customers’ needs but also try to develop bank through innovative ideas. This research is conducted to study the motivational aspects of Bank Sohar. The findings of the study demonstrate that proper strategies and right procedures are followed in this Bank Sohar. ACTION PLAN ID Task Name Start Finish Duration 1 Introduction: †¢Discussion with the guide about the topic. †¢Determine the requirement and objective. †¢Prepare questionnaires. †¢Planning for interview and making interview. †¢Determine and justify the research methodology. 2 Literature Review: 3 Data collection: †¢Determine and justify the research methodology. †¢Collection of both primary and secondary dates by appropriate methods. †¢Selection and preparing detailed and relevant objectives. 4 Analysis of the research project: †¢Analysis and interpretation of data and carry the research into specified areas. Making reviews with the guide regarding the project. 5 Documentation: †¢Prepare the full project in one accept format. †¢Present and evaluate findings and recommendations. 6 Presentation: Chapter 1: 1. 1 Introduc tion Bank Sohar was established on 9 April 2007. Although it is a very short time since it started its operations, it has been an extraordinary time as this new bank changed the ground rules for banking in Oman. Dr Mohammed Abdul Aziz Kalmoor, the CEO of the bank declared this year that their income of operating profit showed up a 31. 3% increase in 2010 from that of 2009. The bank’s net loans and advances grew by 14% in the last year. Customer deposits have augmented by 20% in 2010. Bank Sohar has introduced friendly financial solutions for everything from the purchase of cars to higher education. Their increased network has given it an added presence and opportunity to reach out their customers. Their new branches in prime locations of the county have given the bank an edge in the market and strengthened its position in the banking sector of the economy. Bank Sohar has developed a tradition of meeting the customers from different parts of the country at informal gatherings and road shows. This has turned out to be a model for modern marketing. Bank Sohar believes that customer satisfaction is the critical measure for bank’s success. All the decision-making processes at Bank Sohar are taken up by its finance team which assists the executive management and the board in planning and provides information and critical analysis of the Bank’s performance on a continuous basis. It is committed to providing quality banking solutions to help customers achieve their financial goals. A small example is that it is the Bank Sohar which introduced for the first time the cash deposit facility through their ATMs. All other banks in Oman emulated this bank soon. By adopting a lifecycle approach to the household sector they have created value-added services such as various savings deposits options, mortgages, consumer lending, insurances and wealth management products etc. In addition, they keep their clientele of small and medium entrepreneurs well informed of the market developments that may affect their enterprises. Bank Sohar always tries to tailor its services to suit the requirements of not only individual customers but also potential customer groups like the business communities. Thus they adopt sector-specific approach to corporate banking. As the network of the bank has increased through opening of several new branches, staff strength has automatically increased to over 500 by the end of 2010. Bank’s Omanisation ratio has steadily improved to 88% year after year. These achievements are due to the efficient management of human resources at the bank. The Human Resource Management (HRM) of Bank Sohar has been strengthening the profile of the bank by implementing its strategic goals through best international practices in human resource management. The bank encourages its staff to expose to the new and rapidly changing areas of banking industry. Facilities for learning and developing professional experience are regularly arranged by the staff at different levels. In short, Bank Sohar can be described as a bank, deeply committed to delivering excellent services with convenience and integrity to their customers. In no time it is sure to achieve their vision statement: â€Å"One stop financial super mall having boutiques of products and services across various segments, each with a unique set of propositions† 1. 2 Study the rationale As an employee in the Bank Sohar, I have the personal knowledge and understanding of the bank’s organization and its activities. Bank Sohar is he fastest upcoming bank in our country. It follows its own strategy to deal with the customers directly. Everybody working in this bank like me is treated respectfully and cordially. Their treatment can be said to be the main key for the progress of our bank during this short span of five years. 1. 3 Goals of the study –The main goal of this study is to recognize the methods of motivating and encouraging the staff at Bank Sohar. –Also it is to identify what makes the Bank Sohar achieve success in all branches in general and in Ruwi Branch in particular. Chapter 2: 2. 1 Introduction to the company: At Bank Sohar, banking is made easy. All the employees in the bank are committed to making the banking experience much smooth and efficient. Bank Sohar is well-reputed for its open and communicative relationship with the customers. They know that you are the best possible source to inform them the best way to cater your needs. Here you get specialized divisions ready to serve you. Customer’s requirement and queries are met by specialized Relationship Manager of the concerned division. They also try to solve all your banking issues with a click. With their e-Channels, your bank has become portable. Accessing your bank account has been made easy as you can access through the ATMs, Internet. Customers can also have online connectivity to their account through mobile phones. They offer a wide range of treasury services to large corporate clients, small and medium enterprises and various government departments and fund managers. †¢RO clearing and settlement †¢ RO payments to Bank Sohar accounts as well as to accounts at other banks having a presence in Oman †¢ Treasury and Foreign Exchange related services †¢ Local cheque collection †¢ Prompt query handling †¢ High degree of automation and straight-through processing †¢ On-line view only access to your account 2. 2 The meaning of the topic: Employee motivation plays vital role in the development of the company in many ways. ttp://www. managementstudyguide. com/importance_of_motivation. htm 2. 3Objectives and research of the topic: Bank Sohar provides the opportunities improvement to the productive staff. It’s in general trying to recognize the achievements and to earn more profitab le results which depends on the on the quality of staff performance, that’s why it always tries to provide their employees a good environment in order to promote personal growth. Bank Sohar gives importance to the group interest which is placed above the individual level. The officials at the bank always treat their customers, suppliers and even their colleagues very fairly and objectively. Behind all of the mentioned above, the following points are the main objectives of Bank Sohar which they are always trying to keep specific principles to help in improving their performance: †¢Provide healthy and safe workplace. †¢Make sure that the work environment is preventing the disabled people work practices and don’t present the prejudices and unreasonable barriers for which they are qualified within the bank. †¢Decrease the number of contribution for employees which can be made to the organization. †¢Recruit and return the right staff at the right time to the right place to work. †¢Promote the qualified and skilled staff based on there performance very fairly, which will gain their trust of fair treatments. 2. Different types of employee motivation: 1. Thanks award letter: Bank Sohar awards their staff monthwise by choosing the employee of the month, quarter and end of the year ,so that it provides them a voucher and including a Shukran (Thank You) Award Letter. Example: Mr / Ms†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Bank Sohar, Danq Branch NSC Department ,Oman 20 February 2010 Dear,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Shukran (Thank You) for your initiative and good support. Congratulations and thank you for your hard work. We hope that your willingness and initiative serve as an example to your colleagues. We appreciate your commitment and dedication in cooperating the department in the absence of two staff who have resigned. You demonstrated that you were willing to shoulder additional responsibility and support the smooth running of the department. In token of our appreciation, this Bank Sohar awards you a Shukran Certificate, Smiley Badge and a Gift voucher. Yours Sincerely, HEAD HUMAN RESOURCE DEPT. 2. Long Term Services Award Upon the completion of 10, 20 and 30 years, staff will be given the following awards: 30 Years: Certificate signed by the Group Chairman, a gift of the employees choice (Approximately cost USD 1,000) and one month’s basic salary. 20 Years: Printed Certificate signed by the Deputy Chairman & CEO, Bank Sohar. 10 Years: Printed Certificate signed by the Area CEO. 3. Training: Overall Aim: To establish and maintain a key competitive advantage, Bank Sohar is committed to investing in human resources development through relevant ,planned and systematic training and other activities, which will contribute directly to the achievements of Banks business objectives, as well as meeting the demands of the Omanisation process. The basic training will be conducted by the Learning and Development Manager. Where necessary, regional training centre trainers at Muscat will conduct courses throughout Oman depending on the training needs. In addition, staff may be nominated to attend various training course held in Muscat and the group training at the Management Development Centre, Liverpool ,UK. External training may also be provided mainly through College of Banking and Financial Studies and other local institutes in Muscat, Salalah etc. On the job training may also be arranged, if line managers identify any such needs. Details of the training courses are available on the intranet or may be obtained from the Learning and Development Manager. 4. Career Development: †¢Employees retiring within two years from the date of drawing up or reviewing the rotation plan will be exempt from further job rotation unless it is deemed necessary to permit the rotation of others. †¢Should line managers be unable to rotate any of their staff in accordance with these guidelines he or she must justify the exceptions ensuring that the department head supports the exceptions made. In small or specialist departments such as HR,TSY, Legal, IT or for translators ,job rotation may have to be less frequent than the guideline suggested above. 5. Retirement: Staff will retire from Bank’ s employment on attaining 60 years (for male staff) and 55 years (for female staff). This is not applicable to temporary employees. Your age is the number of years elapsed since the date of your birth as stated in your identify cards, birth certificate or passport. The bank will write to you not less than one month in advance confirming the date on which you will retire. End of services benefits will be handled in accordance with the laws regulations of Public Authority for Social Insurance. 6. End of services benefits: For the Omanis Pension Scheme: Bank will pay 10% of the monthly deducted salary and contributes to the pension scheme of the retired Omani employees who will be receiving their monthly pension as per the rules and regulations of PASI. For the Expatriate employees Terminal Benefit: Bank will pay the expatriate employee a gratuity at the of half a month’s basic salary for the first five years of service, which will be granted at the time of quitting the job. 7. Occupational Health & Safety at Work: Making sure that they protect there staff health and safety at work is essential . We make the same commitment to our customers and any other visitors who come into our branches or offices. It’s the Bank’s objective is to promote a healthy working environment and a high level of safety management and fire prevention. As an employee of the bank, you have a major responsibility for maintaining health ,safety and fire precaution guidelines of the work place. These are essentially to: †¢Take reasonable care for your own health and safety and those who may be affected by your action. †¢To follow any laid down procedures and guidelines communicated to you. †¢To bring to the attention of management any defects in the building, electrical system and machinery. Chapter 3: 3. 1 Design of the study: Primary Data: This is the data acquired through the distribution of questionnaires and from the personal interviews. The personal interviews are always not possible and require more time. Therefore, Primary data is the un-analysed data obtained from research methods. Secondary Data: The data which on analysis gives perception and information to the grounds of research is called Secondary data. This data is classified into qualitative and quantitative; therefore the Secondary data is important for the formation of new grounds in the research. 3. 2 Methods of the collecting data: Primary Data: 1. Questionnaire: It is a list of questions containing all the possible parameters that the researcher wants to consider. It is the easiest and fastest way to do a research. The advantage is that only desired fields are considered and hence the data obtained is more focused. 2. Interview: In this type, the researcher communicates with the employee or customer for their opinions and thus researcher can obtain personal opinions of the fields that the researcher wants consider. But the data is not focused. 3. Observation: Observation is the method in which the researcher observes the fields without interfering with the process. The researcher deduces the data from his observation. This does not require searching for contacts. 4. Experimentation: It’s a technique used to do the investigations, which will observe the changing and find out where the influences are including the regards. Secondary Data: †¢Magazines: -Business Today Magazine (April 2011) –Times of Oman (dated 23 April 2011) †¢Internet websites: –www. banksohar. com –www. zawya. com –www. ameinfo. com – (http://www. humanresources. hrvinet. com/ questionnaire-method/) †¢Books: – Booklet of summery review of Bank Sohar’s Brand and Values in 2009 (Provided by the HR) 3. 3 Types of research: Questionnaires: In Bank Sohar, the service quality is of utmost importance. To achieve this many strategies are used. The Human Resources Department of Bank Sohar mostly uses questionnaires to collect the data from both the employees and customers. This method, as mentioned above, is easy and efficient. The data thus collected is then further analysed. Such method helps the bank to review its performance and also to know of the popularity of its various services. 1. In comparison with other banks does Bank Sohar provide you best way to get staff motivation: A. Yes B. Some times C. No D. At all 2. What do you think Bank Sohar should focus to achieve more staff motivation? A. Promotions B. Rewarding system C. Salary review D. All above 3. Is Bank Sohar providing the following selections to their employees fairly? A. Yearly bonus B. Promotions C. Increment of allowances D. Pension 4. Compared with other local banks, Bank Sohar provides good conditions to ts staff? A. Yes B. No C. No comments D. No answer 5. What makes you feel proud to work for Bank Sohar? A. Work environment B. Policies and conditions C. Team Work D. Rewards system 6. Does your current position satisfy your motivation level using the specific conditions? A. Yes B. No C. Sometimes D. No comments 7. Which of the followi ng banks would you like to apply in future? A. Current bank (Bank Sohar) B. Bank Muscat C. HSBC D. Nothing from the above. 1. Do you think that the bank is providing you a very fair performance appraisal? †¢Yes they are discussing with us before confirming Human Resources about the final performance results. They are using a very fair system where you can load what you have done during the year including the extra improvements, so it will be very clear for them to apprise each one among the bank. 2. Is Bank Sohar setting a fair targets for each staff? †¢Actually there are some people in the management departments dividing the work not in order to be covered by all staff, so in this some of the staff will feel demotivated as he will be pressurized in compare with others. 3. Does you line manager update you about your performance from time to time? †¢Yes, whenever any mistake is done he will keep me updated and insure that it won’t happen again. 4. Does Bank Soha r provide you a chance to develop your skills? †¢Actually, they are always promoting an online courses which you can go through it any time, but before the due dates. †¢They are sending their staff for external courses in the College of Banking and Finance. In addition they also provide us chances to graduate with higher diploma certificates for such specialized subjects. †¢They are rewarding their staff annually one person from one department by sending them for an attachment to one of the Europe branches, in order to learn more and gain more knowledge. 4. What are the returns which you can provide to the bank if you are satisfied with them? †¢I will do my best to increase the number of quality customers which will help in increasing the profit of the bank. Also I will be proud in front of my family and friends to work for the bank in order to keep a good view for people who are thinking to apply for the same bank specially qualified and experienced people. 3. 4 Sample size used in interview method as follows: Sl NoOrganisationDesignationName of the Employee 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Loan Department Salary & Deposit Cards Department Corporate Department Remittance Assistant Officer Manager Officer Manager Ibrahim Issa Ibrahim Al Zidjali Yusuf Suleiman Salem Al Wahibi Anas Hamad Seif Al Wahibi Juma Ra’shid Juma Al Saadri Fahma Al Mugheini Sl. noLocationCustomer/StaffName of the Employee 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Main Branch Main Branch Main Branch Qurum Branch Qurum Branch Main Branch Al Sarooj Branch Al Khuwair Branch Al Khuwair Branch Main Branch Al Khuwair Branch Al Seeb Branch Al Khuwair Branch Al Khuwair Branch MQ Branch Main Branch Al Khuwair Branch Qurum Branch Qurum Branch Main Branch MQ Branch MQ Branch MQ Branch Main Branch Al Seeb Branch Al Seeb Branch Main Branch Main Branch Main Branch Qurum Branch Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Eyas Sayid Saud Al Mashri Sara Teasdale Iman Seif Al Lamki Tariq Mohd. Al Balushi Assim Ahmed Ali Al Wahibi Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Wahibi Abdullah Ahmed Al Wahibi Abdullah Siddik Al Balushi Narjees Sa’ad Al Harthy Abdullah Mohd. Al Balushi Amina Seif Al Mussallum Majd Salem Saleem Al Wahibi Mohd. Salem Khamis Al Saithani Mohd. Salem Mohd. Al Wahibi Mohd. Mubarak Sayid Al Oufi Mohd. Mousa Yahya Al Harbi Mohd Nasser Humeid Al Badaae Masoud Salem Al Harthy Frhat Ali Al Zidjali Nadia Issam Al Balushi Dawood Ibrahim A’Salmi Ali Salem Al Shammaqi Salem Manal Al Tourqi Juma Ra’shid Juma Al Saadri Hussain Sayid Al Lawati Saad Salem Al Balushi Sayid Ra’shid Mohd Al Oufi Saifuddin Hisham Aziz Diwidaar Seif Sayid Nasser Al Wahibi Yusuf Yaqub Al Alaawi 3. 5 Limitation: No matter what method the researcher uses, there are always certain disadvantages. And moreover, in most cases the time is limited and therefore it becomes hard to manage the collection and analysis of data. Other limitations that I faced are: Some information about the bank is not accessible and is difficult to find As I chose the method of interview I got mixed up answers. As the level of knowledge and skill differ from one person to another, the responses varied greatly. In order to trace the trend in my data, I had to use large numbers of samples or interviewees. 3. 6 Analyzing the data: 1. In comparison with other banks does Bank Sohar provide you best way to get staff motivation? Conclusion : In the above chart it shows that most of the staff was satisfied with the motivational level which is been provided by Bank Sohar, as the negative answers are least chosen by the employees question (represented by C and D series in graph) are not very satisfied with motivation. 2. What do you think Bank Sohar should focus more in order to achieve staff motivation: Conclusion: Bank Sohar, staff are not happy with their salary as it wasn’t a good review for their salaries, but at least the rewarding system was playing a good part in their emotions. This can be easily understood by looking at the number who was happy with their salaries. 3. Is Bank Sohar providing the following selections to their employees fairly? Conclusion : Bank Sohar staff are not happy at all with the pension policies,where the level of satisfaction in the yearly bonuses was covering that percentage of motivation level which follows the promotion level, then it decreased again in the allowances increments. 4. Compared with other local banks, Bank Sohar provides good conditions to its staff? Conclusion: Bank Sohar staff is happy with the conditions which are provided to them as the calculation was very high in that level. Where some of them only are not satisfied at all, and at the lowest level was calculating in no nswers as most of them didn’t answer the question. 5. What makes you feel proud to work for Bank Sohar? Conclusion: The level of team work satisfaction was very high between Bank Sohar staff as one of the bank’s aim’s is to create a good environment and a strong team work, as it shown in the results that they are ha ppy with that strategy. 6. Does your current position satisfy your motivation level using the conditions? Conclusion: Bank Sohar staff are very happy with the conditions provided to them in their current passion where it was fluctuating between no answers and no comments, but in general they are happy with the conditions provided to them. 7. Which of the following banks would you like to apply in future? Conclusion: The staff are mostly satisfied and wish to continue working in the same environment in Bank Sohar. They are not satisfied to work with other banks in comparison. The highest result was calculating for Bank Sohar, so in general they are satisfied with the future chances which are provided to them. Chapter 4: 4. 1 Findings: On referring the observation depicted in the graphs, the human resources department of Bank Sohar is taking appropriate steps for maintaining the motivational levels of the employees. It closely monitors the employees and then relates their levels to their performances. The staff is happy with the policies and conditions provided to them and the staff satisfaction is in high levels. Highest levels of staff satisfaction in the bank can be achieved through continuous comparison the facilities which are provided to their staff with those of other banks, thus the bank will be able to identify the positive triggers which attract employees and consumers. The bank through this can identify its weak areas. Therefore the bank should look after other bank’s issues seriously and try to learn to not commit same mistakes and plan wisely to leap in the market. Some other measures to ensure staff motivation include: †¢The bank should do salary review from time to time. By improving the level of motivational facilities such as; increase the level of allowances, promotions, more development skills programs and rewarding system show positive levels of motivation. †¢Throughout the year, the staff is to be updated regularly about their performance. â⠂¬ ¢The bank needs to do more comparison with its competitor banks in term of motivating their staff. In general Bank is doing a very good job and they are always trying to motivate their staff and try to keep them for ever specially the experienced and skilled people. 4. 2 Recommendation : 1. Regular surveying is necessary to measure the motivational levels of the staff. This enables management to update various hindrances which cause de-motivation. 2. Personal opinion gatherings are essential to make the bonds between the management and employees which is essential for long term performance development. 3. By increasing the factors that cause the motivation, the company can instill motivation. For example vouchers limit can be enhanced. 4. By involving various levels of employees in the meetings to induce motivation into the lower levels of employees and help in overall staff development. 5. By sending the staff to other institutions for development and other educational programs, the motivation levels can be increased. Conclusion: Motivation level can be developed easily in Bank, as the management should keep in their minds that they are dealing with humans who need a special and very respective standard level. Generally management should follow a proper strategy in treating their staff by following the right procedures so as to intensify motivation and competition. Bank Sohar prioritizes the motivation of the employees as an important aspect in the whole bank’s functioning. The Human Resources Department of the bank regularly surveys and finds various ways to ensure the continuity of the motivational levels among the staff. The bank well understands that healthy competition and motivational are vital for dedicated performance. Bibliography: –www. banksohar. com –www. zawya. com –www. ameinfo. com –http://www. humanresources. hrvinet. com/questionnaire-method/ –Business Today Magazine (April 2011) –Times of Oman (dated 23 April 2011)