YARDSTICK INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE

MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION-2013

Assignment on:

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF HKB CONSTRUCTION PLC

By: DANIEL AWOKE

ID Number: MAO/1522/13

Course: HUMAN RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT-MBA 622

Course Manager: Dr ABERA. D (PhD)

MARCH, 2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1

BACKGROUND OF HKB CONSTRUCTION PLC....................................................................2

COMPANY PROFILE................................................................................................................3

COMPANY STRATEGIC GOAL..............................................................................................4

CORPORATE MANAGEMENT AND MANPOWER.............................................................5

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF HKB CONSTRUCTION PLC.............8

HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS......................................................................11

HUMAN RESOURCE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS..............................14

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.............................................................15

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS.....................................................................15

MANAGEMENT OF COMPENSATION & BENEFITS........................................................16

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS....................................................................................................19

CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................20

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................21

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ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF HKB CONSTRUCTION PLC

INTRODUCTION

One of the most valuable assets of a company or organization is its workforce. It is a living,
breathing resource that needs to be continuously managed to function effectively. Human
Resource Management is a management function concerned with hiring, motivating, and
maintaining the workforce in an organization. Human resource management deals with issues
related to employees such as hiring, training, development, compensation, motivation,
communication, and administration. Human resource management ensures the satisfaction of
employees and a maximum contribution of employees to the achievement of organizational
objectives. According to Armstrong (2006), Human Resource Management is ‘a strategic and
coherent approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets – the people
working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its
objectives’. Armstrong provides a cohesive approach to HRM, explaining that related
functions are delivered through systems which ‘blend’ together different components.

In this paper the Human Resource Management practices of HKB Construction PLC, a
private construction involved in Water and Water related construction services, will be
assessed and evaluated. Accordingly analysis and evaluation of the primary functions of
HRM such as HR planning process, HR recruitment and selection process, HRD process, PM
process, Management of compensation & benefits and Industrial relations aspect of the
company will analysed. The paper begins with a brief overview of the company’s background
in which the company’s business profile, management style, corporate strategy and human
resource profile will be discussed. The company’s Human Resource Management system will
be analysed in detail in the main body of this paper in which each functions of the HRM
department of the organisation are assessed and evaluated.

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BACKGROUND OF HKB CONSTRUCTION PLC
HKB Construction PLC is a private business organisation established in 2014 GC by three
professional founding members with start-up capital of 14,320,000 ETB. The company is a
private limited company owned by Mr Habtamu Abdisa (GM and Board Chair), Ms Kondale
Yisak (Office Engineer and Board member), and Mr Biruk Awoke (Deputy Manager and
Board member). These owners of the company are industry professionals who were working
in construction industry through full time employment as well as contracting and
subcontracting of construction projects prior to establishing HKB Construction PLC. Our
company is mainly located in Addis Ababa, Yeka sub city, next to Ministry of Mines and
Energy in addition to branch offices found in different parts of our country.

The main objective and responsibility of the company is providing high quality and reliable
Water and Water related Construction services to its customers. The company have been
undertaking different operational activities in urban and rural water supply projects, large,
medium and small-scale irrigation project, drainage system, sanitary and civil work
construction works etc.

HKB Construction has successfully executed more than ten different major construction
projects since its establishment with an average annual construction turnover of more than
17,000,000 ETB (Seventy million birr). Some of the projects executed by our company are:
Terre Town Water supply project (Oromia Water and Energy Bureau, One wash program
project), Adey Ababa water supply and sanitation project (SNNPRS one wash program
project), Figa Kobora Town Water Supply Project (Oromia Water and Energy Bureau, One
wash program project), Dangur Burji small-scale irrigation Project (Benishangul Gumuz
Region Irrigation Bureau), Amaro kanchi small-scale irrigation Project, Dalacho Water
supply project (one wash program project), Dedu Kerebicho water supply and sanitation
project (one wash program project), Construction of Cattles Reproduction Centre in Gimbi
Town (Centro A U Ti Perl, NGO), Construction of Orphans Center in Gimbi Town (Centro A
U Ti Perl, NGO). Currently we are undertaking construction of Jallo Dida medium scale Dam
Irrigation project in Oromia Regional State, West Arsi zone, Shashemen Woreda, Jallo Dida
Kebele.

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COMPANY PROFILE

The following Table shows HKB Constructions Business Profile (Source: HKB Construction
PLC Company profile document)

1) Company Name: HKB Construction plc.

2) Legal License: Licensed in Water Works Construction Grade -1 (WWC-1)

3) Company country of registration: Ethiopia

4) Company year or of incorporation: August, 2014 G.C

5) Company’s legal address: Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Yeka Sub City, Woreda 10,
House No. new

6) Contact Person: Habtamu Abdisa Bayeta

Position: General Manager

Contact Phone: 0911397994/092411186/0967425944

7) Company’s Financial data:

Working Capital: 26,000,000 ETB

Average Annual Turn Over (Last Five Years): 72,190,400 ETB

8. Company Legal Documents, which can be furnished in original, or copy at the

request of any interested body.

 Ministry of water, mineral and Irrigation licensed certificate.

 Work license.
 Work license registration certificate.
 Tax payer certificate.
 Vat registration certificate.
 Tax Clearance certificate
 PPA Suppliers list certificate from Oromia region
 Federal PPA Suppliers list certificate

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COMPANY STRATEGIC GOAL

Vision
To be one of the leading private companies in Water supply, Irrigation and Civil work
construction services in the Horn of Africa by 2030 and providing advanced Irrigation and
Agricultural Construction services to enhance the Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) of our
Country.

Mission
To provide our customers with valued high quality construction solutions just on time, using
our expertise in complex and simple:

 Urban and rural water supply construction

 Large and small scale irrigation and pond
 Rural and urban drainage System construction
 Communal and VIP Latrine and sanitary system,
 Sewerage system,
 Modern land preparation for Irrigation of Sugar cane plantation and
 Flood Protection construction and environmental grading.
 Environmental impact mitigation and safety mitigation supervision

Values

 Our values stand on a foundation of INTEGRITY, QUALITY and SAFETY.

 PEOPLE are the heart of our organization.
 CUSTOMERS are our valued partners.
 PERFORMANCE excellence is our commitment.
 Profitable GROWTH is imperative.

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CORPORATE MANAGEMENT AND MANPOWER

To achieve its strategic goal our company is managed by Board of directors, which is
composed mainly of the owners of the company, leads HKB Construction and the owners and
founders of the company will decide its future composition.
The composition of the Board of directors of HKB Construction PLC is made up of the
owners and founders of company and may include additional board members up on the
recommendation of the founding members. Accordingly, the acting Board members of HKB
Construction PLC are:
1. Habtamu Abdisa
2. Kondale Yisihak
3. Bruk Awoke
4. Daniel Awoke

Member of the Board are expected to acquaint themselves with sufficient knowledge,
practical experience and objectivity to guide and lead all other middle management and
employees of the organization towards achieving the ultimate Goal of the Organization.
At its core, the board’s job is to be sure that the organization meets all applicable standards
within the industry. The board is responsible for seeing that the organization develops the
capacity to meet those standards.

General Responsibilities of the Board

 Appointment, support and monitoring of executive staff

 Clarify the mission of the organization
 Approve long term plans
 Ensure financial stability
 Assess board performance
 Oversees the administration and monitoring of grants
 Conduct regular meetings
At Operational level the company is managed by General Manager who is appointed by the
Board of directors. The manager has the responsibility of managing the overall operations of
the company towards achieving its strategic goal. The overall Organisational Structure of our
company is demonstrated below.

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 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF
HKB CONSTRUCTION PLC
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
(Source: HR Department of the Company)

GENERAL MANAGER

ADMINISTRATIVE AND OFFICE OPERATIONAL MARKETTING AND SUPPLY STRATEGIC

FINANCE MANAGER ENGINEER MANAGER CHAIN MANAGER PLANER

QUANTITY ELECTROMECHANICAL QUALITY AND

SITE ENGINEER
SURVEYOR EXPERT MATERIAL ENGINEER

FORMAN ACCOUNTANT

GAROUP
MASON CARPENTER BARBENDER PLUMBER ELECTRICIAN
LEADER

LABORERS TIME KEEPER

Company Manpower Data
The following table contains average manpower data of the company for the current and
previous year. (Source: HKB Construction PLC, HR Department)

Average Last Year (2013 EC) This year (2014 EC)

Manpower Overall Specialist in Overall Specialist in
Technical Area Technical Area
Permanent 36 27 52 31
Temporary 95 12 107 19
TOTAL 131 39 159 50

As it can be observed from the table the company employs a total of 107 employees (63 permanent
and 107 temporary) in 2013 EC and 209 employees (83 permanent and 126 temporary) in 2014 EC.

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF HKB
CONSTRUCTION PLC
Before directly indulging in to analyzing the Human resource management processes of each
functions of HKB Construction plc, I have tried to observe the overall Human resource policy
and the guiding principle in its system and compared the result with the various Models of
Human Resource Management theories.

GENERAL HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY OF HKB CONSTRUCTION PLC

HKB Construction PLC is committed to promoting equal opportunity, protecting integrity,

and fostering personal and professional excellence. Every one working with and for HKB is a
valuable asset, to be treated fairly and with respect. In the service of all our clients and stake
holders HKB will apply the core values of compassion, integrity, respect and service.
The objective of the Human resource policy is that HKB Construction PLC should always
have competent motivated staff at its disposal, which can ensure that the necessary initiative
will be shown in their work, provide good service, and respond to constantly changing needs
of the construction industry.
The human resource policy is intended to ensure employees a working condition where every
individual can contribute their knowledge, skill, talents and creativity to the organisation so
that we can create continuously learning and improving organisation striving to achieve its
goal and create satisfaction to its employees.

Principles

 Respect for the individual

 Collaboration and flexibility
 Equality
 Knowledge, Initiative and Creativity
 Professional service mentality

This entails that HKB Construction PLC:

 Respect its staffs and their views

 Motivate staff in order to develop and improve their work
 Work in the spirit of Fairness and Teamwork
 Offers tasks which suits the talents of each individual

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  Provide conditions for staff to improve their knowledge and professional skill
 Prioritize high standard of quality and service
 Keep staff informed their role and responsibilities

This entails that staff must:

 Respect their work and their co-workers

 Be prepared for development and change and participate in them
 Maintain and improve their knowledge
 Carryout their work conscientiously and in accord with high standards
 Show Responsibility

Working hours and code of conduct:

 The official working days and hours of HKB Construction are from Monday to Friday
from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with 1.5 hrs of lunch break and 15 minutes of tea break at
mid times of morning and afternoon working hours.
 Every staff is expected to carry out his/her duty on time with high level of
commitment and responsibility by cooperating with other staff members
 In HKB Construction every employee is his own boss

The Roles of HRM Department

In HKB Construction PLC Human resource management department is responsible for the
recruitment, selection, training, and motivation of an organization’s employees. Human
resource management is therefore concerned with the fundamental task of defining and
analysing jobs in organizations. Other HR tasks include:

 Planning human resource needs within the organization

 Staffing the organization’s needs (once those needs have been identified)
 Compensating and motivating employees
 Appraising employee behaviour and providing effective and constructive feedback
 Enhancing the human potential within the firm
 Improving the workplace environment and using the human resource capital within the
organization to reach strategic goals
 Maintaining effective work relationships

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HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS

The planning function of human resource management involves two major activities:
strategic planning and short- and medium-range planning. These two activities include the
process of planning and synchronizing HR needs with the strategic mission of the firm. Such
strategic objectives may include increasing market share, revenue growth, product or service
diversity, and profit margins, as well as planning for financial obligations. Planning activities
are also essential for effectively performing numerous other critical HR activities. For
example, HR planning will help the organization better understand how many and what type
of employees the organization will need in the future. HR planning also addresses how the
firm obtains and trains future human capital. In addition to this the planning process involves
preparation of formats for permanent and temporary Employees. A sample of Contract
Employement format of HKB Construction PLC is shown below.

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Preparation of Job descriptions is the other part of the Human resource planning process of
the organisation. A sample of Job description is prepared by the human resource department
as shown below.

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A sample of Separation of Duties for workers of HKB Construction PLC is shown below.

Table: Separation of Duties checklist (Source Company Policy document)

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HUMAN RESOURCE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS

Once the organization’s human resource needs have been linked to the organization’s
strategy, positions must be filled. Staffing involves recruiting job applicants (also known as
candidates), and then selecting the most appropriate applicants for the available jobs. It
should be noted that staffing applies both to external candidates (those not currently
employed by the firm) and internal candidates (those currently employed by the firm).

While engaging in the process of recruitment, it is important that the organization cast a wide
net to ensure a full and fair search for potential job candidates. Recruiting is an extremely
important HR function, because if organizations don’t attract a wide range of candidates, they
will be less likely to successfully fill organizational needs. Once candidates have been
identified, they must be selected for the job. Common selection techniques include obtaining
completed application forms, interviewing candidates, reviewing education and formal
training verifications, and administering various formal and informal tests to determine fit
and potential with the organization. All selection procedures must comply with various pieces
of federal and state human rights legislation. The goal of the selection process should be to
create a match between a candidate’s ability and the requirements of the job.

In doing this, the company follows the Job description prepared by the HR department as
shown in the HR Policy manual. The vacancy announcement is widely advertised to attract
the best candidates from the labor market.

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HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Training and Employee development

Training is done to create change by initiating a new employee into the culture of the
organization. It involves new employees acquiring new skills or improving their skills in
order to implement change that is needed by an organization. Training is not sufficient
enough to motivate work force. But, it is an important tool that an organization can use to
achieve its long term goals.

Training given to employees is done as an agreement to maintain culture of the organization

and also to be productive which in turn will result in earning reward and awards. Training
also plays an important role in employee performance as the skills acquired during the
training will be the major part of the employee life-cycle in an organization. Training as a
tool will help an employee to upgrade his knowledge and technicality and improves his
performance in the organization. Training plays an important role in motivating employees to
take part in organized projects, to willingly support programs that will improve the
organization and to do their best in order to see that organizational goals are achieved. When
employees are trained, it will be easy for organizations to achieve their set goals.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Performance Appraisal

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A performance appraisal also known as a performance review, performance evaluation, or
career/development discussion is a method by which an employee’s job performance is
evaluated. Although many managers and employees avoid performance appraisals, they are
critically important for both measuring and monitoring an employee’s contribution. In HKB
Construction PLC Performance appraisals are frequently the basis for promotions, trainings,
and raises, as well as terminating employees. As such, it is critically designed the
Performance Appraisal Scheme accurately reflect the performance of employees. For
example, when an employee is chronically absent, can’t get along with co-workers, or is
consistently late to work, the employee’s performance appraisal reflects those things.

The company follow a Result Oriented Performance Appraisal system. Preparation of the
performance appraisal plan, is participatory, transparent, result oriented, measured based on
work quality, quantity, cost and time dimensions. Besides, it is extracted from the general
institutional strategic plan.

Rewards
Reward is one instrument of motivating employees to execute to the maximum degree of
their capacity. According to the HR Policy Manual of HKB Construction PLC if an employee
performance results is be above satisfactory level he/she will be rewarded based on
performance-related pay system. In addition to this as stated in their policy when an
employee’s performance result is higher or highest for the first time the organization prepares
a thanks letter and put it on the notice board together with his picture, if he/she repeats this
result again, he/she will get a reward of 50% and 75% of his/her salary respectively.
However, within a year if an employee performance result is below satisfactory level with the
first six-month evaluation time he is not entitled for any reward.

MANAGEMENT OF COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Compensation and Benefits

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Once employees are on the job, the company determine how well they are doing and to
reward them accordingly. There are several important aspects of compensation. For example,
employees are generally rewarded on the basis of the value of the job, their personal
contributions, and their performance. Although rewards based on performance can increase
an employee’s motivation to perform, other forms of compensation are given simply for
being a member of the organization. Those rewards that are directly linked to performance on
the job are often referred to as direct compensation. On the other hand, compensation that is
given simply for being a member of the organization is often referred to as indirect
compensation.

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Table: Salary Structure of HKB Construction PLC (Source: Company HR Manual)

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INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Maintaining Effective Work Relationships

After an organization has hired the employees it needs, it must take good care of them. In
addition to providing compensation and a healthy and safe environment, the company
provides conditions that will make it attractive for employees to stay. As part of this function,
the company has established and maintained effective working relationships with employees.
Over the last several decades, employees have gained substantial rights within the workplace.
As a result, employment decisions such as discharges, layoffs, and demotions must be made
with care and good reasons. It is absolutely critical that management be aware of employee
rights and not violate them. The HR manager is in an excellent position to inform managers
about these rights.

Improving the Workplace Environment

The company strive to improve the quality of work life, implementing productivity
improvement programs as well as improving health and safety at work. While in the past, the
primary health and safety focus was on the physical work environment, there is now a
growing concern about the psychological work environment. Many firms realize that their
strategic and competitive advantage is directly impacted when the employees’ work
environment is poor. Similarly, many organizations, such as Google, are doing all they can to
build a creative and open workplace.

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CONCLUSION

I have tried to analyse the Human resource management practices of HKB Construction PLC
in separate HR functions and activities including planning, staffing, compensation,
motivation, performance appraisal, training and development, improving the workplace,
relationship building, and globalization. It is observed that these HRM functions in the
company are practiced independently and together, as the functions directly influence one
other. In other words, the performance of one activity depends on the performance of another.
It is noted that in most of its functions the company has a well organised and documented
HRM activity that are being carried out by specialized personnel in the field. As the company
has different operational activities in different parts of the country, the Human resource
Management practice is more flexible to suit different project physical and geographical
natures. For example when the company performs a water supply project an independent
Manpower plan and structure is developed to suit the nature of the project. On the other hand
irrigation projects require their own and unique Manpower plan and structure to suit the
nature of the project.

be noted that in most work environments, all HR functions and activities operate within the
constraints of the internal and external environments (discussed in section 12.4). As such, all
eight functions should be viewed as a unit, as necessarily interrelated, and as being subject to
a multitude of forces and events that help shape an organization’s HR policies. Finally, in
order to help the firm achieve its organizational and strategic goals, human human resource
policies and practices must be congruent with the organization’s overall strategy.

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REFERENCES

Ananthalakshmi. M (Nov, 2014), Impact of Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices

on Employee Performance (A case of Telekom Malaysia), Malaysia, International Journal of
Accounting & Business Management.

Mesfin Lemma (Ph.D.) & Getachew Gebreyes (January 2019), Effects of Human Resource
Management Practices on Organizational Performance: The case of Small scale Business
Enterprises in Akaki Sub City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, International Journal in Management
and Social Science.

Lilian Lushiku (2014), Assessment on the Effectiveness of Recruitment and Selection

Process in Public Sectors: A Case of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Tanzania, Dar es
Salaam, Mzumbe University.

Tegegne Alemayehu1 & Berhanu Deressa (2019), Assessment of Recruitment and Selection
Practices in Ambo Town, Ethiopia, International Journal of Research in Business Studies and
Management.

Daniel Awoke (2018), HKB Construction PLC Company Policy Manual, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, HKB Construction PLC

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