2. 1
Table of Contents
Introduction:.................................................................................................................................... 2
Theories and concepts related to HR strategies:............................................................................. 2
Background of the company........................................................................................................... 2
Objective of the study..................................................................................................................... 3
Content and Analysis:..................................................................................................................... 3
A. Evaluating HR strategies and practices implemented by Oman Arab Bank: ............................ 3
A1. Relationship of existing strategy of Oman Arab Bank with the HRM policy formulation..... 5
B. Evaluating the relationship between HR strategies and overall performance of Oman Arab
Bank ................................................................................................................................................ 5
B1. Assessing alignment of HRM strategies with Oman Bank’s Vision, Mission, Goals and
Objectives........................................................................................................................................ 6
C. Analyzing the effectiveness of HRM strategy of Oman Arab Bank using SWOT model......... 8
D. Recommended change management strategy to improve companies HR effectiveness: ........ 10
Conclusion: ................................................................................................................................... 11
References..................................................................................................................................... 12
3. 2
Introduction:
Theories and concepts related to HR strategies:
Human Resource strategies have become an important part of a company to look after the
policies of an organization and its employees as human resource strategies are the rules of
operation between organization’s top managerial rule and its employees. Oman Arab bank is a
financial sector and hence the employees and the management involved are professional and
follow the rules as bank deals with finance of people as well as corporate.
There are few strategies which keep the uniqueness of the bank are
Talent search and strategy – The HR strategies of the bank are responsible to hire the best
talent and create the job apprehended by knowledge, skills and experience.
Performance strategy – The HR functional part looks after the employee’s performance
by taking report from their respective department and gives the increment for staff
satisfaction.
Planning strategy – To retain the best talent and sustain it in the organization is a look
after of the HR strategy to help the organization to move forward with best talent.
Background of the company:
Oman Arab bank is one of the well-known bank and third largest bank in Oman in respect to
profit and customer service. The Bank of Oman was established in the year 1984 and after the
three decades of performing with customers and their needs it had fled its wings into retail
banking, corporate banking, investment banking with trade finance and Islamic banking. After a
high performance graph of their success today the bank’s operation is expanded with 65 branches
and 135 ATM’s with better performance and experience (http://www.oman-arabbank.com,
2018).
Beside professional sector the bank is involved with various social works like blood donation
drive by its employee and celebrating the health day which gives a message to the common
people. The bank provides the complete range of facility of personal to corporate banking and
inviting the foreign organization to invest.
4. 3
Objective of the study:
The objective of the report is to provide a concept of the working procedure of the HR
department of Arab Oman Bank with different innovative strategies which is keenly involved
with the bank’s growth and its employee strength, knowledge and working decorum to represent
their bank as one of the largest bank.
Content and Analysis:
A. Evaluating HR strategies and practices implemented by Oman Arab Bank:
Human resource management (HRM) is an indispensable sector of Oman Arab Bank. To be
really viable the bank's human resource group must be specialists in various essential territories.
A successful human resource group adequately executes the policies and methods and keeps the
workforce motivated and profitable. The HRM policies and practices implemented by Oman
Arab Bank can be discussed under the following heads:
Recruitment and selection
Enhancing the estimation of its human capital lay on the bank's recruitment and selection
methodology. Ambrosius(2016) stated that the rationality of all recruitment strategies is
equivalent opportunity yet more particular recruiting techniques to incorporate HR
correspondence with department leads to their staffing needs work postings and meeting steps
and employing administrator’s basic leadership specialist. Recruitment and selection strategies
depend on the remuneration procedure. All the more imperatively the bank's general system for
progress drives hr administrations strategy improvement and execution.
Compensation
Oman Arab Bank’s compensation and advantage arrangements and methods start with its
developing compensation technique. Compensation system ought to be archived plans with
practical strides for usage (Decramer et al 2013). There are three essential compensation
methodologies: showcase leader focused on the market and beneath the market. The hierarchical
technique is a noteworthy factor to decide compensation methodology and approaches which is
5. 4
another motivation behind hr working together with the upper administration as a vital business
accomplice (Marescaux et al 2018). Leaders whose objectives are to pull in the best-qualified
laborers may choose that turning into the market pioneer in compensation hones gives them a
particularly preferred standpoint over their rivals.
Workplace policies
Working environment policies and standard working strategies furnish the bank an account with
much-required structure. Work hours pay data wellbeing measures advantages and execution
desires are center points tended to by the bank in its representative handbook. An equivalent
open door work strategy and articulation about the organizations zero-resilience for separation or
harassment is likewise a piece of its set of accepted rules (Hughes & Panzo, 2015). These
policies recognize the bank's commitment to giving a protected workplace where representatives
feel like esteemed donors.
Strategic development
A crucial advance in making hr administration policies and strategies is guaranteeing that hr and
official authority are working towards similar objectives and Oman Arab Bank pays a special
significance to this. Over and over again hr works as a managerial centered expansion of the
bank as opposed to teaming up with upper administration as a strategic accomplice. Building an
elite workforce bolsters the bank's objectives to wind up productive and effective. Making an
arrangement of policies disposes of the need to assemble working environment policies slowly
and carefully which can loot the bank of time better spent in building up its business.
Training and development
Training and development abilities are additional fundamental resources for the bank. The
capacity to make training programs that take care of human execution issues will yield critical
advantages for the bank. Instructional plan aptitudes extraordinary assistance and introduction
capacities bring about training programs that create unmistakable outcomes for Oman Arab
Bank. Gifts in program assessment and representative criticism are additionally expected to
continually enhance the nature of the greater part of the training programs.
6. 5
A1. Relationship of existing strategy of Oman Arab Bank with the HRM policy
formulation:
HRM policies give the important structure Oman Arab Bank needs to support its efficiency and
general productivity. Executing HR strategies improves the workforce administration part of the
bank. The bank is run by its people. Thus, compelling HR techniques are basic to guarantee
profitability and most extreme achievement. Oman Arab Bank is following a smooth selection
and recruitment procedure. The bank is following a totally unbiased recruitment process when it
comes to gender. All aspirants are provided with equal opportunities. The compensation strategy
taken by the Oman Arab Bank is also helping it in many ways. A good compensation plan
provides security to the employees. Though most of the bank employees are happy with the
compensation technique of the bank, some think that the plan needs to be enhanced.
In order to stay ahead in competition, Oman Arab Bank must look into its compensation strategy.
The bank follows a no-resilience policy again discrimination and harassment. This is a very
important area that the HR department is required to look after. The bank provides each
employee space and freedom to perform own duties without pressure. Little refreshments are
also provided to the employees by the bank to keep them energized and motivated. Again, it can
be said that the Oman Arab Bank provides no flexible timings due to which the employees suffer
a bit (Intezari & Pauleen, 2017). The HR department is very well in touch and sync with the
upper management which saves the bank from unnecessary issues among the workplace. The
bank is also following its training and development program but not as regularly as it should.
New employees are not given enough training at times which brings down their performance.
Martinez-Gil(2014) recommended that the bank should spend more on its training and
development programs. It should guarantee exchange of information between departments,
regardless of whether deliberately or automatically, to keep giving profitability and adequacy.
B. Evaluating the relationship between HR strategies and overall performance of Oman
Arab Bank:
Financial statement analysis indicates a significant growth made by the company in the FY 2017.
The net profit increased by 8.24% year-on-year to reach OMR 26.5 million compared to OMR
24.5 million, reported in FY 2016 (http://www.oman-arabbank.com, 2018). The customer
7. 6
deposit has also increased by 7% and reached OMR 1.75 billion. Annual report also shows that
total asset has been increased by 4% by the end of FY 2017 (Joranli, 2018).
The employee strength and overall retention has also been reached to a significant ratio
compared to FY 2013-2016.The Omanisation has also found higher than the minimum regulatoty
standard, which is 90% (see appendix). The customer satisfaction index has been improved by
35% and the overall brand image also increased rapidly (http://www.oman-arabbank.com, 2018).
Thus, it can be stated that the Dashboard of HRM Balanced Scorecard metric has prioritized on
key performanceindicators and those are proportionally related to the overall performance
improvement strategy of the organization.
B1. Assessing alignment of HRM strategies with Oman Bank’s Vision, Mission, Goals and
Objectives:
The vision of Oman Arab Bank is to initiate a transformational journey and strategizing the
corporate policies to bear fruits of success across all operational platforms.
The mission statement also indicates that the company expects to continue growth and its market
positioning as a leading banking institution in the Omani market within next two years.
The goals and objectives of the Oman Arab Bank are:
Improving the financial status by adopting innovations robust business plans to meet long
term sustainability
Making employees potential enough to support the digital transformation strategy.
Joining hands with the small and local community and taking initiatives to support
nonprofit organizations as a part of CSR
Being the best ban in Omani Market through elevating customer banking experience
across all business platforms (http://www.oman-arabbank.com, 2018).
In order to meet the above mentioned goals and objectives, the company has considered
employees as core asset, who can drive innovation and future growth in a significant way. As a
part of HRM approach, the management has introduced ‘Talent Management Program’ named as
‘LEAD’, which is focused on advancing the skill set of the employees and new comers to record
a remarkable milestone in the Omani Financial Market (Chandhana & Easow, 2015).
8. 7
Author indicated that equal opportunity has also been employed by the management to boost the
women power in the banking sector. Statistical data shows that women group in the Oman Arab
Bank represent overall 37% of the total employee strength, which is 1286.The CSR approaches
mainly conducted by the women employees’ management also puts greater attention to boost
those female staffs by proving periodic learning and development opportunities.
A few HRM approaches followed by the chosen company are as follows:
Recruitment and selection:
Mainly focused on hiring external talent through LEAD program
LEAD allows on the job training to meet corporate goals in a long term basis
KPI for HR:
70% Recruitment would be from external sources to manage cultural diversity and
innovation.
The selection should be completed within 15 days of opening the vacancies.
Overall cost for recruitment needs to be reduced each financial year by 3%
(http://www.oman-arabbank.com, 2018).
Compensation and benefits:
The workplace is flexible and the compensation has been found competitive. The management
has also introduced training scheme for employees having growth potential and the training
sessions have been made paid from the end of management. Thus, the potential employees are
getting motivation to enhance the skill sets and the increased knowledge helps the company to
improve the innovativeness and market sustainability.
KPI for HR:
Selection of right employee for the innovation and R&D.
Offering flexible compensation to meet different need of diversified workplace and that
should be adhered by Omanisation norms.
9. 8
Provide highly competitive compensation to attain more than 95% employee retention
ratio.
Ethical standards:
Corporate social responsibility and workplace ethics have been integrated with the strategic
HRM process of Oman Arab Bank. Workplace safety, gender equality, equal opportunity, and
helping local community are considered crucial factors for meeting ethical benchmarks. In order
to meet those goals,
KPIs have been integrated with the HRM process which is as follows:
Promoting more women taking corporate responsibilities though women empowerment
HR program twice every year
Employing workforce in the CSR approaches across all business locations throughout the
year.
Performance measurement scale:
A balanced score card approach has been implemented to identify the gaps in the performance
against the set goals. On the other hand, learning and development parameter has also considered
as major criteria measuring the effectiveness of the performance.
The HR metrics have been found with following KPIs:
IT integrated performance measurement system needs to be implemented in the employee
performance metric
80% of the learning should be offered from the regular job experience
20% of the training should be conducted in house based upon the changes in customer
demand and market competitiveness (http://www.oman-arabbank.com, 2018).
The above discussion indicates that the overall HRM process and associated KPI for HR metric
is potentially aligned with the strategic business goal, which can provide innovation, growth and
significant market potential for the brand Oman Arab Bank.
C. Analyzing the effectiveness of HRM strategy of Oman Arab Bank using SWOT model:
10. 9
Strength
The effectiveness of human resource strategy helps the competitive banking sector to arrange the
core objectives for developing a sustainable business evolution. Therefore, the effectiveness of
HRM policies leads the banking industry to achieve the strategic goal by managing the employee
segment efficiently. In this regards, the employees of the Oman Arab Bank are extremely pleased
with the behaviours of the administrative body. Supporting the current context, Ambrosius(2016)
stated that the managers of the firm are very polite towards the subordinates. The two major
internal factors of the firm like remuneration benefits and work life balance are the main strength
to optimise the employee work culture. According to a survey report, the employees of Oman
Arab Bank are fairly happy with the career development plan offered by the HR management. It
is vastly excited for the employees of the firm to improve the future career prospects. Therefore,
the HRM policies of the firm is effectual to act as its organisational strength.
Weakness
In the contrary,the bank workers’ performance benefit is in under threat as the basic pay out of
the staffs is very minimal to lead a healthy life in UAE. It has been identified that the holidays
and over-time bonuses have been decreased recently. The forth class staff of the bank did not get
accurate night-time bonus which could lead the reason employee complaint (http://www.oman-
arabbank.com, 2018). Moreover, the employees of the chosen bank are not satisfied with the
current hike in salary figure. Hence, this can be treated as the weakness of Oman Arab Bank and
it requires an urgent policy formulation.
Opportunity
The Oman Arab Bank has a flexible approach to provide training and development program to
the employees. The scope of on -job training and off -job trainingbenefits the workers to
improve the performance efficacy (http://www.oman-arabbank.com, 2018). However, as per the
current weakness of the firm the management requires to focus on module based training courses
so that the employees get encouraged to solve any workplace problems. Moreover, the rotation
based job role can be effective for the employees to learn new things while performing news
task. This also can be an opportunity for the employees to be attentive about the internal
structure of Oman Arab Bank.
11. 10
Threats
The staffs of the chosen bank reported that the current increment scheme is not satisfactory as
per the work schedules. In addition, the workers of the bank are instructed to increase the daily
working time as the management is offering a slight hike. However, Decramer et al (2013)
mentioned that the bonus, break timing and number of holidays have also been reduced in this
new management policy. Therefore, the employees are unable to enjoy the entertaining time. As
a result, an inference can be drawn that the present HR policy of Oman Arab Bank is the
significant threat for the reason of employee attrition.
D. Recommended change management strategy to improve companies HR effectiveness:
Considering the distinctive disadvantages of the current HRM system, the Oman Arab Bank
requires to implement a systematic proactive approach to improve the HR performance and
effectiveness. In this regards, a change management plan is essential to enhance the HR
performance metric.
Step 1: Overcoming resistance
Employee resistance is a usual action for any kind of HRM system and the organisation.
However, the HR department of the firm needs to continue a clear and consistent communication
flow with the employees so that the change process could be comprehended. As per the view of
Chandhana & Easow (2015), the positive messages about the change management plan could
motivate the workforce. If the management of the firm could ensure a strong support for the
employees about the change plan, then this could be more effective for the subordinates to adapt
within the change environment easily.
Step 2: Engaging employees
In this step the management could develop a team approach by getting information from the
various department and levels to extract the positive outcome about the change process. In order
to increase the focus on the works the management could track the employee performance. The
refreshment program within workplace could motivate the bottom line employees (Decramer et
al 2013). Additionally, adopting a standardised performance evaluation system could engage the
12. 11
employees more in the workplace. Furthermore, incorporating a special award policy could also
reduce the employee turnover cost.
Step 3: Implementing Change in stages
In order to implement the change management initiative, the company could bring new system
new change programs into three different phases. Initially, defining the change management
process and outlining the key roles of the employees could be an effective step. Then again,
Chandhana & Easow (2015) added that managing the change process by including robust
communication, operational process can be an another active phase. Furthermore, reinforce the
change process by taking employee feedbacks and executing corrective measures could satisfy
the change needs within the firm.
Step 4: Communicating change
In order to implement an effective change process and improving the overall performance of
HRM strategies, an active communication and cooperative approach could be the integral part in
this final stage. According to Decramer et al (2013), a two-way communication process could
employ a transparent culture between the employees and the management. It is also useful to
increase the level of employee participation. Therefore, in order ensure the success of the change
process and improve the effectiveness HRM strategies Oman Arab Bank could implement the
above mentioned process. It is expected that this kind of valuable policies would facilitate the
firm to establish a flexible HRM strategies in Oman Arab Bank.
Conclusion:
It can be derived from the analysis that lack of integrity between the workforce and the top
management of Oman Arab Bankhas affected the outcome of giving an effective performance
and an accurate HRM management system. The lack of constancy while conveying the messages
towards the workershas obstructed the operational flow. Despite of having effective HRM
strategies, the chosen firm has experienced sluggish growth in the employee performance. Thus,
changing preferences is required to attain the organisational goal and improve the entire strategic
effectiveness of HRM system in Oman Arab Bank.
13. 12
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Employee Retention: Evidence from Brazilian MNCs. Thunderbird International
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http://www.oman-arabbank.com/home/about-us/chairman-message/
Chandhana, K., & Easow, D. (2015). Performance Appraisal Method Used in Top 10 IT
Companies-360 Degree Feedback & Balanced Score Card: A Review. Bonfring
International Journal Of Industrial Engineering And Management Science, 5(2), 73-77.
http://dx.doi.org/10.9756/bijiems.8082
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