Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1.0 Introduction
A very popular saying in telecom industry is that: change has already happened
yesterday. This one sentence very efficiently depicts the very nature of telecom
industry. Being heavily technology-dependent, the companies always have to be
alert and spontaneous to address and incorporate any probable change in the field
they operate be it product, service, process, control, compliance or people. So
regular learning, training and development programs are integral part of any of the
telecom companies. In this report, we have taken Robi Axiata Ltd. as our chosen
organization to study the theoretical knowledge acquired from this course on
Learning Organization by going through the learning process and culture of this
organization in practice.
1.1 Objectives:
Primary:
The primary objective is to fulfill the course requirement for the Training and
Development course (H 610), conducted by Adjunct Faculty Mrs. Fatima Rizwana.
Secondary:
The concept of Learning Organization was developed through the work and research
of Peter Senge and his colleagues.
1.3 Methodology
Primary Sources:
The interviews have been qualitative in nature with structured questionnaires. The
interviews are mainly paper-assisted (PAPI). The following have been the key
interviewed personnel:
Secondary sources such as websites and social media have been skimmed for
insights as well. Specifically, key platforms such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn have
also been used as sources for insights from different stakeholders of the
organization.
i. Robi was initially a local organization (Aktel) that was later acquired by a
multinational company, so the learning transformation has been significant.
Hence, Robi has had to shift its gear when it comes to learning as an
organization. New standards and practices were introduced which had to be
absorbed into an organizations with a rejuvenated identity.
ii. Robi has recently gone through a merger process as well, which has created a
broad scope to amalgamate the learning scenario for stakeholders of both the
companies. These changes are very unique not only in the tele-
communication industry, but in the corporate sector of Bangladesh as a
whole. By looking into Robi, we could gain practical learning whether the
company has succeeded to be a learning organization during these changes
and if yes, then how.
1.5 Limitations
i. The concept of Learning Organization being comparatively new in
Bangladesh, no such background data could be found available in secondary
sources for Bangladeshi organizations
ii. Intra-Industry comparison could not be done since we could only cover the
organization taken into consideration for the practical knowledge
iii. We could not gain hands-on experience for the implementation of Learning
Organization characteristics, we had to rely on the interviewees for this
purpose.
The telecom giants of Bangladesh are only recently opening up to the importance of
building a learning organization. While many globally established human resource
practices have already been adopted by these organizations in the past, the
importance of building an in-house knowledge based working culture is fairly
unpracticed. Nevertheless, the art of transferring knowledge through trainings and
manuscripts had already been existent in the contemporary human resource
culture. What was missing was an intrinsic need to retain the existing knowledge,
and inculcate its utility into the human resource system. What is also absent is the
presence of a learning ecosystem, where creating, transferring and retaining
knowledge are systematically imbedded.
Among the telecom operators, Robi Axiata maintains its place as a thriving learning
organization. Its efforts to create transfer and retain knowledge manifest in its
learning culture. The Assessment of training process of Robi Axiata Ltd., gives an
idea of its products/services, culture, beliefs, CSR activities etc. Inherent with its
practices is the need to upgrade the quality of its human resources to uphold its
position as a top telecom operator. The following reviews of the literature on Robi
Axiatas training process would provide a good idea on the study done relating to
our subject.
Assessment of the training process of Robi Axiata Limited, February
2014.
The report further moves into the assessment of the training process at Robi.
This part of the report deals with several parts of the training process including
the Training calendar, Training Programs, Training Need Analysis, Training Design
and Training evaluation.
Training Programs: All the training programs of ROBI AXIATA LTD. are generally
divided into two types; Leadership training and Functional training.
Other than the trainings mentioned every year a number of employees are
sent for overseas trainings. Top level manager, vice president are allowed to
participate in the Annual Axiata training held in Malaysia. Employees from
technology department are sent to Malaysia, Korea and China for Advanced
training in possible new technologies.
Training Design: The training program of the company is likely to change. The
company never always maintains the same techniques while designing their
training programs. But they do know why their training programs are being changed
and why. While designing their training programs the Company usually follows some
steps. They are given below.
Training evaluation: Before assigning employees for training, the company creates
some expectations from the employees and then they analyze the performances of
those employees. After analyzing they try to find the gaps from the performances
compared to the expectations. And based on those gaps company starts planning
the training needs for employees. It also helps the company to make a forecast of
their future training planning. During many workshops the company also gets to
know how well aware their workers have become considering their participations. In
the Eco seminar the company gets to know how much their employees have
learned from the training since in the Eco seminar the trained workers from abroad
shares their knowledges with other employees. Since these abroad trainings are
very expensive, therefore the company shows a lot of interests in evaluating the
trainees. Feedback is also collected from the participants, through feedback form. In
the form 17 characteristics of the training are mentioned and participants mark
each of them in a scale of 5.
This report is built on the study done in the Assessment of the training process of
Robi Axiata Limited, February 2014 report. In this report, information regarding the
training process is collected through primary sources. This information provides key
insight to the learning methods of Robi.
The initial information from the study reveals that most of the employees are well
versed with the HR practices of their organization. They are all aware of their HR
planning about training and development procedure which has been talked in the
Training Manual. Additionally, from the given information it suggests that most of
the employees (from officers to top) are well aware that they have job analysis
process. This is also good for the organization. Here two major things are
uncovered; firstly, they have job analysis process and secondly most of the
employees are informed about the matter If each employee knows that what the
minimum competency is required for his post and what are the duties and
responsibilities for his then he/she will be able to achieve the organizational goal.
The importance of helping the newcomers with the training is also a key finding. An
orientation program helps an employee to understand basic matters, know
organizational culture, to be familiarized with the colleagues and to avoid first-day
jitters. A new person feels welcome and at ease and the orientation also makes the
person knowledgeable about rules and regulations which prevent them from making
time-consuming and dangerous errors.
Furthermore, the study uncovers that training needs are identified through training
need assessment. Consultants, trainers and the HR department along with
employees participate in the assessment of training needs. As they have job related
all information from Job Analysis according to which they conduct recruitment and
induction training. But yet every employees need to be updated for various reason.
Robi HR department conducts this assessment once in a year. The consultants along
with the HR department survey the current job statement identify lacking and show
the management where training is needed. Individual interviews and opinion
surveys beside performance appraisal are some of the methods used to identify the
training needs in the organization.
The training methods used include on job training along with classroom lectures and
audio visual based training. Classroom lectures has several advantages. Its a quick
and simple way to provide knowledge to large groups of trainees. Audiovisual based
training techniques like films, power points, video conferencing, audiotapes and
videotapes more expensive than conventional lectures but offer some advantages
like keeping the learner interested.
The report mentions that Robi invests in personal attitude development, to focus in
developing the soft skills of the employees. In this area, training includes training on
discipline and grievance, conflict avoiding or ways to adjust with organizations
culture etc.
Trainers are selected from internal and external sources based on a set of
parameters. The most important parameter for selection of trainers is to be highly
experienced on relevant matter and a solid hand on expertise. Another two points
have also been mentioned, those are high educational qualification and good
communication capability. After the training, evaluation takes place with respect to
both the trainer and the quality of training imparted. The output of the evaluation
feeds into future training designs and methods.
This study now moves to assess the most important part of this report. This part
seeks to find out whether the knowledge gained from the training process is
inculcated into the work processes. This is done mainly through observation and
monitoring. HR department is monitoring and evaluating the yearly appraisal by
consulting the related departmental heads. That means the company emphasizes
on monitoring and thus they will be able to bring correction in their training process.
The study also reveals training is very important to increase ones motivation level
and enable to be more productive. Training helps employees to perform better and
add value to them, make them able to work more efficiently. In this way motivation
level rises and productivity increases.
Robi tries to make skill transfer easy to keep the trainees motivated. According to
the data revealed the company provides adequate realistic practices for the
trainees. The HR department can take several steps to increase the trainees
motivation to learn. Providing opportunities for active practice and letting the
trainee make errors and explore alternate solutions improves motivation and
learning. Feedback including periodic performance assessments and more frequent
virtual critiques is also important. The department should also make the matter
meaningful.
3.0 Robi Axiata Ltd: At A Glance
At present, Robi Axiata Limited is the second largest mobile phone operator of
Bangladesh and the first operator to introduce GPRS and 3.5G services in the
country. It is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia (68.7%
controlling stake), Bharti Airtel Limited of India (25%) and NTT DoCoMo Inc., of Japan
(6.3%).
The company has introduced many first of its kind digital services in the country
and has invested heavily in taking mobile financial services to the underserved
communities in the rural and semi-urban areas.
Robi is the proud sponsor of the Bangladesh National Cricket team with the aim to
ignite indomitable spirit in pursuit of individual and collective glory and excellence.
This strong brand message has made Robi synonymous with the passion of the
aspirational people and the company humbly honors this popular notion with quality
mobile telecommunication services for empowering people.
In the evolving digital landscape of the country, Robi has established itself as the
leader in providing customer centric data and digital services. As part of the
companys commitment to build digital bridges, Robi has introduced Facebooks
basic internet platform Free Basics in the country. Besides, it promotes responsible
use of internet among the youth with a Corporate Responsibility initiative named
Internet4U.
Catering to all the consumer segments, the company constantly innovates to have
an edge over its competitors. Robi proudly claims to have the widest international
roaming service in the market, connecting 385 operators across more than 140
countries. With innovative Value Added Services (VAS) Robi has enhanced peoples
life experience, be it entertainment, education, health, agriculture or any other
aspect of human life.
Its ticketing platform Bdtickets brings utmost convenience in the way people buy
bus, launch and movie tickets. Besides, its utility bill payment solution continues to
provide digital bill payment facility to the clients of Bangladesh Power Development
Board for paying their monthly electricity bills.
Robi established the countrys first e-library in Dhaka University connecting the
largest University of the country with over 35 overseas universities and
international publishers providing free access to e-books, scientific journals and
research papers for the students and teachers.
The company has recently launched Digital Smart Buses under a 3-year project in
partnership with Huwaei and ICT Division of the Government of Bangladesh where 6
buses will be used to provide basic ICT training to 240,000 young and talented
women across 64 districts of the country. The company has also set up internet
corner in all the divisional public libraries and in a number of key regional press
clubs around the country providing vital access to information.
When recruiting, in an employee Robi Axiata Ltd. seeks the required skillsets
and how the skillsets are delivered. Robi Axiata Ltd. acknowledges that
performance varies among the people who have the same skill set and that
the cognitive learning process is different from employee to employee.
In this section of the report, Robi is studied in light of the characteristics of Learning
Organization to relate its aspects with the theory:
Systems Thinking:
Personal Mastery:
Mental Models:
Like any other organization, personnel in Robi have some rigid mental models,
many of which are susceptible to to lead us to biased insights about people or
events. The human resource department of the company understands the
importance of identifying and changing these models to attain organizational
objectives. Such application though requires a strong backing from top
management. In several cases, such biases exist within the members of the top
management. In such cases, for Robi to remain successful, it is important for the
human resource to sit with the top management and engage in self-introspection
that can lead to tough and less popular decisions.
Team learning:
Robi Axiata Ltd. understands that effective learning initiatives are result of a
disciplined and systematic process executed with passion, excellence and a
commitment to continuous improvement. Development entails a series of
training, education and experiential opportunities over time to help
individuals achieve their full potential. Robi Axiata Ltd. realizes the
significance of Moment of Truth, when an employee decides how to
perform a task. Which path an employee chooses depends on the answers to
two critical questions: Can I do it the new way? and Will I make the
effort? It makes no difference how much an employee learned or how the
knowledge was obtained; unless he or she answers Yes, I can and Yes, I
will at the moment of truth, the learning adds no value to the organization.
The objective of the companies learning initiative is that the learning needs
to be conceived, designed, and delivered in the right way, at the right time,
to the right audience, in a conducive work environment to ensure that both
the Can I? and Will I? questions are answered in the affirmative.
Otherwise, the effort is a failure and the investment is wasted.
To ensure that the learnings are applied by the employees in the moment of
truth, Robi Axiata Ltd. takes the following initiatives for enhanced learning:
6.1 Define
Robi Axiata Ltd. always start with defining business objectives. Purpose of
the training and the outcomes from the trainings are informed to the
employees through emails and sometimes in the meetings. Knowing that
features tell, benefits sell, Robi clearly communicates the benefits from the
trainings to the employees through emails to grab their interest. The purpose
of defining is to communicate the following information:
Interviewees responded that, in Robi, this phase normally starts and keeps
ongoing with several warm-up and introductory mails from Management
Committee members. They convey the background, necessity and brief
premises of the objectives. These preparation goes a long way to align and
aware the workforce to work towards the objective collectively. It can be an
organizational change, adopting a new policy, initiating a new process or
launching new product or service. When the message comes from senior
MANCO members directly, the importance and significance of such messages
are well-absorbed and well-perceived.
6.2 Design
The training programs change according to the change in needs overtime. But the
company distinguishes the reasons behind the change. At first the company analyze
the needs of training for the employees. To do that they look at the performance
gaps of the employees which results in the failures of efficient and effective
performances by the employees. After identifying the problems they try to figure
out appropriate training programs to be provided to fill the gaps.
Then the company moves on to making a forecast of the cost that might occur to
carry out the training programs. In general, only 5-8% of the total budget is
allocated for trainings. Then the company decides on the methods to use, how
much time to allocate for training, how many trainees to train at a time etc. The
final step is coming up with a training design program.
Robi believes that learning is a process, not an event. What happens before and
after training is as important as the training itself. The critical link between the
learning event and improved performance is learning transfer. The complete
learning experience includes all four phases of learning, which are:
The learners complete experience starts even before the pre-work and continues
long after the instruction, back on the job. To maximize impact, Robi as a learning
organization plans and positively influences the total experience, not just what
happens in the training room (actual or virtual).
6.3 Deliver
Delivering for
Results helps build
a bridge between
Learning and
Doing that
accelerates the
passage from
current level to
Robi strongly relies on the fact that instructional methods impact transfer
success. They understand that delivery influences both Can I? and Will I?
and thus, active learning, practice and feedback are essential. Training
designers tend to avoid conveying too much information at one go.
Robi heavily emphasizes and monitors on how the training is delivered (D3)
since it impacts the learners response to both the Can I? and the Will I?
questions. Robi understands from its own experience that content covered is
not content learned.
Robi puts so much belief and significance over this phase that Can I, Will I?
is one of the three (3) qualitative KPIs for each member of the workforce.
6.4 Drive
Robi realizes that great learning is essential, but not sufficient and both great
learning and effective transfer are crucial. And thus, transfer must not be left
to chance. No transfer is synonymous to no results and to a business - that
means that the training and learning has failed, which is costly in terms of:
time, materials and opportunity cost.
reminde
content
r
reflectio
collaboration Steps of Drive
n
accountabili
coaching
ty
6.5 Deploy
Job aids and performance support are provided according to the need of the
employees to improve existing structures, build new functionalities and
create leverage. The answer to Can I do it comes from the training session,
and Will I do it comes from the ability to relate to the situation which is
influenced by providing the right reason. Environmental factors that hinder
performance are removed and checklist, video and illustrations, coaching
etc. are provided.
Robi gives utmost effort to make sure that managers have the knowledge
and tools they need to reinforce training on the job. Robi also increases
managerial support for training by providing short, practical, specific
guidelines and instructions for post training follow-up.
6. Document:
Learning
Organizati How Robi Axiata coped after the acquisition of Aktel by
on Docomo
Characteri
stics
It is important to note that during the acquisition by Docomo,
Aktel was in financial loss. Hence, after the acquisition, it was
important for the organization to use this opportunity to
foresee how this acquisition can impact the newly formed Robi
Systems
thinking
in the future. They realized that merger with the Japanese
Docomo offered several operational and strategic advantage,
that they could use to revive the company and its new brand.
Rather than looking at individual functions, the need of the
time was to look at the acquisition from systems perspective.
They identified the opportunities that this acquisition
provided, and utilized it to recuperate Robi from its preceding
impasse.
The negative effect of such acquisition is that it sometimes
sows the seeds of suspicion amongst the company personnel.
This can result in distraction amongst employees from their
personal vision and aspirations. Thus Robi acted quickly to
Personal
clear the air about the doubts that the company personnel
mastery had in their minds. Furthermore, the organization was quick to
address its support to people for personal growth and
mastery. It was at this point of time that Robi Axiata
engrossed into developing its human resources to build a
prodigious talent packed organization.
The parting of the local Aktel and the assimilation of the two
MNCs created uncertainties within the organizations
employees. Initially, the seismic change created confusion as
to which way the organization will head in the future. This
incertitude gave birth to numerous preconceived mental
models. Employees held on to certain unfounded beliefs.
These ranged from the forthcoming changes in their work
culture to job security. Consequently, the human resource
function of Robi Axiata had their work cut out. There was a
pressing need to get the people onboard. Thus the task of
Mental
Models
addressing such mental models of the employees was of
paramount importance. The human resource function took this
as an opening to pitch for the acceptance of the new model of
management and governance that was to follow. The human
resource function astutely pointed out the shortcomings of the
previous administration, and how it had confined the progress
of the organization and its employees as a whole. It further
went on to promote the benefits that the newly integrated
Robi Axiata would bring to the employees. As a consequence
of their efforts, the company personnel gradually started to
ditch their earlier mental models and subscribed to the new
narrative of an optimistic new Robi Axiata Ltd.
To reinforce this narrative, it was important to build a vision,
not merely in name but also in spirit. The top management
and HRD were aware of the fact that their efforts to achieve a
successful assimilation of the two companies would remain
Shared
incomplete if the employees did not buy into the vision. As a
vision consequence, when the vision was formed, the top
management was quick to relate as to how it will impact the
individual functions. When company visions are related with
individual goals, the acceptance of such in lower levels is
greater. This propels the organization towards success.
For Robi Axiata ltd, the change from Aktel to Robi was much
Team more than a mere name change. While it was perceived as a
learning
mere brand change in the eyes of the public, the company
was set for a major overhaul. The integration of the practices
of Robi Axiata along with Docomo, the company that had
purchased stake in Robi, created a new assimilated identity
for Robi. The blend of the diverse cultures of the Malaysian
and Japanese MNCs created a unique culture for Robi. It
imbibed many of the qualities of its parent organizations while
discharging others. The result was most noticeable in its effort
to develop the performance of teams working together. The
HRD of the new unit pushed a lot of effort into building
dynamic cross functional teams. The idea was to create a
synergy amongst different cross functional units through
deliberate professional collaborations. New trainings were
designed to limiting arguments and promoting discourse. The
idea was for each functional unit to help out other functional
units for the benefit of the team. Due credit was reserved for
excelling in team works while acclaim for individual glory was
curbed. This was the building blocks for team learning in Robi.
It created an environment where team building and team
learning flourished and the organization started working in
teams.
The first merger in the history of telecom industry of Bangladesh took place in 2016.
While the merger is expected to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the
telecom landscape of Bangladesh and secure faster nationwide rollout of mobile
broadband as well as contribute significantly to the overall economy, it has another
significant impact in terms of operational aspect. Once the consolidation process
started, more than 200 executives of Airtel joined Robi, while around 137 left under
a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
Learning
Organizati How MergedCo Coped with the characteristic
on
Characteri
stics
The management could see the big picture the potential that the
MergedCo. holds and the revolution it can bring to the telco industry
of Bangladesh. But the main challenge has been to extricate
Systems outlines instead of hypothesizing change as secluded events. A few
thinking
paradigm shift have been integral - from being isolated to being
inter-connected to the entire concept; from stating the enemy is
out there to a consciousness that how we operate, our actions
- can create difficulties on our way to success.
Team Airtel members have been placed in team-works with existing Robi
learning members in project-works on a variety of cross-functional projects.
The aim was to benefit from team or shared learning so that staff
members of two different culture and work pattern bond and align
more quickly and the overall capacity of the MergedCo. gets
improved through better access to knowledge and
talent. MergedCo. Has developed structures that facilitate team
learning with features such as boundary crossing and openness, by
engaging individuals in dialogue and conversation. Through these
team-works, team members are being able to develop open
communication, collective implication and mutual understanding.
MergedCo. Is trying its utmost to nurture uninterrupted knowledge
management structures - allowing creation, acquirement,
dissemination and execution of this knowledge in the organization.
9.0 Conclusion: