Training and development Process of Brac - One of the Largest NGOs in the World

 Training and development Process of Brac - One of the Largest NGOs in the World:

HR policy of BRAC:

BRAC is the largest NGO in the world. To demonstrate and reflect its goals and objective for social development in its HR policies BRAC has implemented its own human resource policies and procedures (HRPP). The HRPP has been revised on 1^st October 2005. The HRPP includes all possible policies to run its day-to-day activities and it has been segregated into seven chapters. They are named:

§  Chapter One: Conditions of Employment

§  Chapter Two: Service benefits

§  Chapter Three: Classification of leave and regulations

§  Chapter Four: Disciplinary rules and regulations

§  Chapter Five: Job Separation

§  Chapter Six: Service-related files and others

§  Chapter Seven: Annexure

Important HR Function:

1.       Policy, Progress & Communications ( PPC )

1.      HRPP Monitoring

  Compose the Annual Plan of HRD by compiling the section-wise annual plan.

 Prepare an HR Policy for the Service and Project Staff of BRAC

  Network with other organizations in order to share best practices of HR in the field of Performance Appraisal, Salary & Fringe Benefits.

  Formulate a working manual (Operational guideline) for every unit of HR.

  Conduct a census survey to determine the total number of staff working in BRAC by considering the sex, program/ department, and working area of a spouse.

  Prepare job description on the basis of level or designation.

  Staff satisfaction survey on HR services.

 Revisit Designation to standardize for different levels of staff.

1.    Networking

 Half-day discussion forum within different programs

 Communication

 Prepare an annual plan for HRD

 Arrange internal monthly meetings & prepare minutes.

  Coordinates the overall activities that involve the whole of HR.

1.    Policy Formulation & Dissemination

  Revisit Human Resource Policy and Procedure (HRPP)

  Merge existing two policies (HRPP & Policy of Service Staff)

Prepare circular regarding policy

  Update the existing formats and prepare new formats

HRPP orientation for (HR staff – HO & FO, different programs of HO staff & Aarong staff)

Half-day orientation on policy entitlement for all BRAC staff

HSP seminar for Sr. Management

HR performance survey

1.      Compliance with Law

  Revisit the existing HRPP by considering revised Labor Law.

  Develop a compliance Monitoring report

  Staff Development

  Internship management

  Arrange new staff orientation of HO

 Arrange HR-related training

  Communication and relation building within and outside of the organization

  Prepare annual report of HRD

  Prepare quarterly HR Bulletin

 Study circle

  Train the Human Resources officers of BRAC (THROB)

  TOT on HSP and gender for HO staff

  Follow-up Individual Operational Plan (IOP)

 Collect training materials from the staff who attend training

  Exposure visit (Exchange staff from HO to FO, FO to HO & BRAC to different organizations – within or outside the country)

 Manage HR-related activities of Internal & International Training, Travel, and Higher Study

  Prepare a summary of pieces of training received by HRD Staff.

Send HR-related articles, a summary of training, and important articles on HSP to ‘SHETU’

Analysis and Findings of HR Policy for HR Department:

With human nature being what it is, employees will test limits and act “creatively” in workplace situations, so we need a strategy for developing, communicating and enforcing a set of policies and practices that reflect our standards of acceptable behavior.

But a successful policies and practices strategy does more than draw boundaries; it also recognizes and addresses people’s needs.

 

 

Organization’s mission and vision:

Vision: The vision is of a just, enlightened, healthy, and democratic world free from hunger, poverty, environmental degradation, and all forms of exploitation.

Mission: Mission is to work with people whose lives are dominated by extreme poverty, illiteracy, disease, and other disadvantages. With a holistic approach, we strive to bring about positive changes in the quality of life of people who are poor. We achieve our mission by:

§  Working with the poor, especially women and children;

§  Engaging in multifaceted development interventions;

§  Striving to promote positive changes in quality of life;

§  Working towards attaining socially, financially, and environmentally sustainable programs;

§  Actively promoting human rights, human dignity, and gender equity;

§  Helping to shape national and global policies on poverty reduction and social progress;

§  Fostering the development of human potential;

§  Offering professional development opportunities to our staff;

§  Encouraging commitment to the goals and values of the organization.

Nature of Business:

In Bangladesh, the poor have traditionally been denied access to the formal banking system, as they are unable to provide collateral for loans and typically deal in small amounts of money. This means that they have few opportunities to save, borrow and invest. Moneylenders in the informal credit markets charge very high-interest rates which also restricts people’s access to credit. BRAC believes that making credit, which can be invested in productive activity, universally available is essential in reducing poverty.

BRAC launched its microfinance program in 1974 to encourage the increase of income for the poor through the setting up and expansion of income-generating activities and microenterprises. BRAC works to provide collateral-free financing to the poor, especially women, in both rural and urban areas, in a simple, efficient and affordable manner.

Their approach differs from that of other microfinance institutions – they utilize a credit-plus approach where loans are accompanied by various forms of assistance for the borrowers, such as skills training, provision of higher quality inputs and technical assistance as well as marketing for finished goods.

 

They organize our members into village organizations (VO) of 30- 40 women. BRAC's members are encouraged to use their credit facilities to start new enterprises or expand existing ones and as they increase their business, they progressively graduate to larger loans. Aside from microfinance, these VOs act as a gateway for BRACs members to their other interventions in health, education, and social development.

BRAC offers two different microfinance products: microloans (group-based, exclusively for women) and microenterprise loans (individual loans for both men and women) under three different schemes which are Debi, Unnoted, and Progoti. Group-based small loans are particularly designed for the lower-end poor to assist them in undertaking income-generating activities. Microenterprise loans are available for small entrepreneurs to offer scope for expanding their businesses and capital base.

Today, BRAC is one of the largest global providers of financial services for the poor. As of December 2007, the program was serving 7.37 million poor, landless and disadvantaged people, mostly women, through 260,785 village organizations. So far BRAC has disbursed BDT 270,738 million (USD 4,638 million) with a 99.5% recovery rate. Activities of BRAC:

Economic Development Program:

BRAC’s Economic Development Programmed has so far organized nearly 5 million poor and landless people, mostly women into 160,197 Village Organizations (VO). These village organizations serve as forums where the poor can collectively address the principal structural impediments to their development, receive credit, open savings accounts, and build on their social capital. BRAC microfinance is programmed, by offering credit to the poor, assisting and encouraging them to save. BRAC Microfinance Programmed has so far disbursed Taka 165,794 million with a 99.49% recovery rate where no collateral is required. Members have saved up to Taka 9,159 million with BRAC.

Non-formal primary education:

BRAC has started the program in 1985. The program started with 22 one-room schools and has grown to about 31,877 primaries and 16,025 pre-primary schools by 2005. It fulfills BRAC’s goal of poverty reduction through access to education for those traditionally outside formal schooling. The BRAC schools teach the same competencies as the government schools. However, they enroll and retain a higher proportion of hard-to-reach children, such as girls who make up 65% of the student body. Currently, BRAC schools have enrolled about 14,471 children with disabilities, helping them overcome visual, hearing, and speech impairments along with mental and physical challenges.

Essential health care program:

BRAC’s Essential Health Care Programmed, aside from partnership programmers with the government covering tuberculosis, malaria, immunization, and sanitation, offers a broad range of services to the poor including critical services in reproductive health care and disease control, mobilization of women, and dissemination of information among the poor.

Support programs:

Support programmers at BRAC include the Training Division, research and Evaluation Division, Advocacy and Human Rights Division, Public Affairs and Communications, Administration and Special Projects, and Internal Audit and Monitoring. These programmers provide continuous support that is essential to the success and smooth functioning of BRAC’s core program.

BRAC has invested substantially in commercial enterprises, one of which is Aarong (a chain of retail handicraft stores), which links poor rural producers with the expanding urban markets. Other enterprises include the BRAC Dairy and Food Project, which is the second largest liquid milk plant in Bangladesh, with an integrated system of milk procurement from rural dairy farmers to the production of quality dairy products. 6 Poultry Farms and 3 Feed Mills have been set up to meet the increasing demand for healthy chicks and quality feed in rural areas as well as to provide supply access to women trained in a variety of aspects of poultry rearing. programmed Support Enterprises, created from synergies between activities generated by microfinance beneficiaries and BRAC, s commercial ventures, consists of BRAC Printers, cold storage, a tissue culture lab, 23 seed production and 2 processing centers, 12 fish and prawn hatcheries and a bull station to improve cattle breeds through artificial insemination.