Managing and Leading People at Mobiltel - Case Study Example

Managing and Leading People: Mobiltel a Case Study of the Name of the Concerned Professor 2 January 2010 ABSTRACT The study intends to practically apply the theories and models to elaborate on and analyse the issues associated with managing and leading people. Apt management of people and organizational leadership are the aspects of corporate functioning that stand to be more then vital and crucial to assure sustainability and profitability in the ongoing global economic meltdown. The study discernibly portrays the research scholars understanding of the HRM practices and their association with organizational management. It attempts to elaborate on a practical understanding of the current leadership practices and their implications to the task of managing and leading people within organizations. The study has picked up the business environment in the South-Eastern Europe and has selected Mobiltel as the pivot for analyzing HR management policies and practices. Mobiltel stands to be one of the largest and most reliable Mobile Phone Service providers in Bulgaria, whose origins could be traced to the year 1994. Eventually, it was in September 1995 that Mobiltel was launched commercially in Bulgaria and since then the company has managed to assure a noticeable success and sustenance, while braving the diverse economic, political and organizational crisis and situations that came its way. The suitable, relevant and ever-evolving HRM practices at Mobiltel certainly played a central role in making it a business leader that enjoys the coveted honour of being amongst the top 10 Bulgarian companies. The raw material of the study is the HR management principles and practices adopted by Mobiltel, with an eye on the circumstances under which this was done. The conclusions of the study are based on the information gathered through a structured questionnaire and the secondary information culled out through the company sources and independent research. Table of Contents 0.1 INTRODUCTION 4 0.1.1 Key Words 6 0.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE CHOSEN COMPANY (MOBILTEL) 7 0.2.1 Mobiltel- The Best Employer in Bulgaria 8 0.2.2 More Information about HR Programs at Mobiltel 10 0.3 QUESTIONNAIRE 11 0.4 RECOMMENDATIONS 12 0.5 CONCLUSION 13 References 14 0.1 INTRODUCTION There is no denying the fact that East European corporations and especially the corporations of South-East European origin do face many challenges emanating from local and global circumstances, which do press on their ability to assure sustainability and market leadership. One simply cannot touch on the issue of South-East European business environment, without alluding to the political environment in the region that certainly has a direct impact on the available human resources and their management. The creation of new countries, courtesy the breaking of the erstwhile Eastern Block, the ongoing social fragmentation on the ethnic lines, the inability of the political authorities to materialize the policy and leadership related decisions made in the early 90s has definitely curtailed the outside support and help accessible to the South-East European corporations (Daianu 2000). In such a scenario the economic and corporate reforms only benefitted those regions and corporations that were in tandem with the ethos of the European Union. The apt management of Human Resources certainly qualifies to be a strategic concern for the more progressive regional success stories and thus deserves all the attention and concern of the academic and corporate circles. In the contemporary situation, the South-East European corporations are under a more then average stress owing to the ongoing economic meltdown. Employees stand to be the first and most vulnerable victims in these times. Yet, the irony of the situation is that it is the employees on whose shoulders rest the future and fortune of the impacted companies. The knee jerk reaction of the apprehensive organizations is to cut down on the employee numbers and recruitment initiatives. However, the organizations that are directly associated with technology or whose products or services are predominantly technology oriented simply cannot resort to such reactionary steps. Skilled and trained employees qualify to be regarded as potential and productive assets and firing such employees in the tough times could have debilitating repercussions in the long run (Armstrong & Mitchell 2008). In technology driven ventures, the talent pool is always limited and constrained. However, the current economic crises has enabled the technology driven companies to refurbish their HR policies and practices to give way to a people advantage, which will not only help them tide over the present situation, but will assure their market leadership in the future. In fact now is the best time to materialize such aspirations when a majority of the employers are considering their skilled employees to be dispensable. The reality is that a majority of the successful Bulgarian corporations like Lukoil Neftochim, Kremkovotsi, Petrol, Cez Electro, Cumerio Med and Mobiltel, etc had not only incorporated and applied apt organizational leadership policies and measures to begin with, but are moving a step ahead to streamline their HRM strategies to benefit from and survive in the existing crises. Employee commitment and effectiveness are the prime concern of such companies and they are doing everything possible to learn from and avoid making the past mistakes. These companies know that secure, skilled and committed employees could be expected to give their best in such trying times. Besides, considering the shrinking of the population in Europe, these companies know that their employees are reliable and potential assets whose relevance and utility will only increase with the successive passage of time. Hence, for any scholar associated with or interested in organizational leadership and HR strategic planning, South-Eastern Europe is the place to be. The successful organizations in this part of the world have been able to make it only by the dint of giving way to a people advantage and by resorting to effective leadership and motivation. The corporations operational in this region are the grounds most suitable for gathering the data and carrying out the research that could facilitate a better insight into and understanding of HRM practices and their implications. Mobiltel is a company that is just the right organization that qualifies to be called really suitable for understanding leadership practices and their implications to business management. A relative analysis of the various aspects of HRM practised across Mobiltel is bound to yield relevant insights and knowledge. Mobiltel is a typical technology driven and successful organization operating in South-East Europe (Bulgaria), which has an innovative and forward looking HR strategy. 0.1.1 Key Words HRM, Leadership, South-East Europe, Mobiltel, HR management policies. HRM- Human Resource Management is the aspect of organizational management that is primarily concerned with the recruitment, management of and extending leadership to the employees. South-East Europe- The region under consideration includes the countries like Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo. Leadership- Organizational leadership primarily involves the ability to forge a vision and the ability to communicate that vision to the employees so as to disseminate a sense of trust in the organizational framework. Mobiltel- Mobiltel stands to be the largest mobile services provider in Bulgaria and is considered to be amongst the top 10 Bulgarian companies and one of the most successful corporations in the South-East Europe. HR Management Policies- The HR management policies being referred to in the paper have primarily to do with the human resources management policies practised in the organization under consideration that is Mobiltel or M-tel. 0.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE CHOSEN COMPANY (MOBILTEL) M-tel or Mobiltel is one of the most trusted and reputed mobile service providers operating in Bulgaria. It was in March 1994 that Mobiltel came into existence in Bulgaria. However, the company was to wait till September 1995 to go for full blown commercial operations (Mobiltel 2010: Online). The first bold venture initiated by Mobiltel Bulgaria was the introduction of prepaid mobile simcards, which turned out to be a great success in a short period of time (Mobiltel 2010: Online). At the very start, Mobiltel conclusively succeeded in securing the interest and loyalty of a large number of customers. The customers began to trust Mobiltel network and increasingly started relying on the nascent corporation to conduct their personal and business affairs. As far back as in the year 2004, Mobiltel managed to garner a 58 percent share amongst all the mobile phone users in Bulgaria (Mobiltel 2010: Online). No doubt, the foreign corporations started eyeing Mobiltel as a lucrative and viable South-East European corporation. As was being expected for a long time, the company was soon take-over by Mobikom Austria Group in 2005 in an aggressive deal that coasted 1.6 Billion, a takeover that even today qualifies to be one of the most ambitious and dearer ventures in the history of Eastern Europe (Mobiltel 2010: Online). Given the respect and prestige accumulated by the company, soon it managed to finalise a partner network deal with a European concern of the status of Vodafone (Mobiltel 2010: Online). Since then, Mobiltel has been trying its best to establish its position as an irreplaceable leader in the field of telephony, by adopting and investing in the ambitious technologies like EDGE, HSPA+, HSPDA, UMTS (Mobiltel 2010: Online). Considering the augmenting number of corporate users in Bulgaria, Mobiltel was the first to extend the facility of video telephony to its customers, and has since then aggressively directed its efforts to introduce the latest in the field of digital telephony to the regular and corporate Bulgarian customers (Mobiltel 2010: Online). The customers of Mobiltel do enjoy the comfort and privilege of being able to send sms using the internet (Mobiltel 2010: Online). Mobiltel has definitely been able to build on its brand image and appeal in Bulgaria in general and the rest of the Europe in Particular by offering state of the art services and by resorting to PR initiatives like sponsoring sports events and professionals and by hoisting and sponsoring many cultural events in Bulgaria (Mobiltel 2010: Online). 0.2.1 Mobiltel- The Best Employer in Bulgaria As per a survey conducted by Hewitt Associates, a consultant and outsourcing services company with a long and comprehensive experience in the sphere of Human Resource Management, Mobiltel qualified to be called the best employer in Bulgaria in the year 2009 (Standart 2009: Online ). The level of engagement at Mobiltel in 2009 stood at 65 percent, an appreciable 24 points above the indexes affiliated to the year 2007 (Standart 2009: Online). The companies that were selected in this survey were only those that exhibited a more then 60 percent engagement of their employees, depicting an above average care and concern for their employees (Standart 2009: Online). A special program initiated by the HR management at Mobiltel that is "Be a Part!" largely contributed to the success of Mobiltel in the recent years (Standart 2009: Online). The crux of this program was to organize the activities at Mobiltel in consonance with the aspirations and expectations of the employees. The outstanding results culled out from this program aptly testify to the solemn sense of concern of Mobiltel toward its employees and the company's seriousness about the well being and security of its employees. In the words of Andreas Maierhofer, CEO of Mobiltel, "I accept this result in the prestigious Hewitt Survey as an exceptional acknowledgement for the highly engaged M-tel team for the past 2009, which was marked by the crisis. The fact that we are defined as the Biggest Employer in the Success Zone is a positive proof for the shared enthusiasm, for the trust and our common values and the fact that the strong team may guarantee a successful business even when the economic times are not certain (Standart 2009: Online)." This survey was being conducted in Bulgaria since the last 3 years. It is a methodical and comprehensive survey exploiting valid empirical techniques, selected to be in consonance with the international standards, deployed over a wide range of parameters like employee opinion, career enhancement policies, management of employee systems, balance between work and personal life, remuneration and bonuses, etc (Standart 2009: Online). Still, employee engagement stood to be the most vital and central criteria deployed in this survey (Standart 2009: Online). The parameters chosen to gather data in this survey were scientifically valid and gave an in-depth insight into the things happening in this company. Thus, there exists no doubt pertaining to the fact that Mobiltel stands at the forefront, as far as its corporate performance and efficiency in the realm of Human Resource Management is concerned. 0.2.2 More Information about HR Programs at Mobiltel Certainly, the companies that succeed are the ones that not only have a clearly defined, sophisticated and achievable sense of vision, but which also succeed in percolating a sense of direction amongst the employees to assure growth and efficiency (Mathis & Jackson 2004). Mobiltel is one such company operating in Bulgaria that has a progressive approach towards Human Resource Management and that resorts to comprehensive training and re-training of its employees to retain its cutting edge knowledge and market leadership. The human environment in the company is utterly salubrious and appropriate, so as to make the employees think critically about the company targets and goals and to make a proactive contribution to the overall task of achieving optimum efficiency. At Mobiltel due care is taken to assure employee engagement on a continual basis. The employees are encouraged to participate actively in the task of goal setting and timely and concise feedback is extended by the managers on a regular basis. Due consideration is given to the ambition of progressive employees and the employees are encouraged to vie for vertical and lateral moves in their career span. Some salient features of the HR strategy at Mobiltel are: At Mobiltel there exist dedicated programs for the training and professional growth of the employees. The highlights of these programs are encouraging the employees to enhance their knowledge in particular areas and to gain knowledge about related specialities and departments (Standart 2009: Online). Junior employees are extended the opportunities to train themselves and the senior employees are expected to opt for vertical moves to broaden their skill base (Standart 2009: Online). There also exist provisions and opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and skills at a global level (Standart 2009: Online). There also exists a talent development program at Mobiltel whose aim is to recognize the employees with special talents and abilities and to provide them with the infrastructure and opportunities to polish and use their talent for the well being of the company (Standart 2009: Online). It is a long term program in which the company invests in the education and training of the bright employees, in consonance with their individual career plans and aspirations (Standart 2009: Online). Mobiltel uses several processes to evaluate the performance of its employees and these processes are upgraded on an annual basis. The personal achievement and development of the employees is evaluated in the context of the organizational goals and targets (Standart 2009: Online). Care is taken to maintain and streamline vertical and horizontal channels of communication within the organization and the concerned managers are extended a 180 feedback (Standart 2009: Online). At Mobiltel, the employees are also extended a Work-Life Balance Program that includes activities like sports, tourism and recreation to allow the employees to strike a meaningful balance between their personal and professional life (Standart 2009: Online). The employees are also provided with the requisite medical and psychological help to enable them to make the best of their talent and aptitude (Standart 2009: Online). 0.3 QUESTIONNAIRE In order to have an in-depth insight into various aspects of the HRM applied by Mobiltel, the research scholar conducted an interview with the Training and Development Manager, Mr. Reni Gekova-Yoveva, placed at the company headquarters in Sofia. The questionnaire was delivered to the interviewee through email and the response was received via the same medium. Further clarifications and queries were dealt with through phone calls. This interview was based on a comprehensive questionnaire that was aimed at soliciting ample information about the HR strategy and operations of Mobiltel from the interviewee. Though the questionnaire comprised of questions associated with vital HR parameters like training, recruitment, HR management, employee satisfaction, performance evaluation, remuneration and bonuses, leadership and organizational vision, considering a single respondent, there exists some chance that the responses may be influenced by the personal biases of the respondent (in this case, the Training and Development Manager) and the research scholar. However, information culled from secondary textual and online sources to a reasonable extent was used to correct any chances of faulty reporting or exaggeration. Besides, considering the solemn and responsible nature of the credentials of the interviewee, the received responses could be considered to be reliable and trustworthy to a large extent. The questionnaire lacked in the mathematical metrics and parameters that would have yielded credible results and is more of subjective in nature. 0.4 RECOMMENDATIONS In general it was found that the HRM practices at Mobiltel were up to date and in consonance with the International standards and traditions. There exists a formal and dedicated HRM department at Mobiltel that is very efficient and goal oriented. The HRM department has a direct control and say over remuneration and emoluments and only a minimal aspect of these services are outsourced. The employees' performance is annually and systematically evaluated and the recruitment is made with an eye on specific skills and expertise. The company not only has a training plan, but also makes ample budgetary allocations for this purpose. The employees in general harbour a sense of vision and direction and have confidence in the leadership of the company. The only lacuna discovered was the fact that the exchange of skills and knowledge at an international level were managed and controlled by the mother company, Mobikom Austria. The managers and employees felt that the local leadership and workers must have a more direct say, so far as the selection and management of knowledge and skills at global level was concerned. This will conclusively endow them with an enhanced sense of participation and will allow them to exploit the information and data available at the local level, to select the requisite expertise and skills to be imported. 0.5 CONCLUSION There exists no doubt pertaining to the fact that the HRM practices at Mobiltel are in tune with the systems operating in the European Union. It is not a surprise that Mobiltel was deemed to be the best employer in Bulgaria in 2009. However, it will certainly help if the locally placed employees and managers are extended a greater say as far as the selection of expertise, knowledge and skills from the foreign collaborators and institutions is concerned. The employees and managers at Mobiltel do have access to relevant locally available information and data, which they can use to check the organizational and market pulse and to respond with a commensurate training and education. Total Words: 3100 (12 Pages) References Armstrong, S & Mitchell, B 2008, The Essential HR Handbook, Career Press, London. Daianu, Daniel 2000, 'South-Eastern Europe Revisited: Can Economic Decline be Stopped', Occasional Paper, The Institute of Security Studies Western European Union, Paris. Mathis, RL & Jackson, JH 2004, Human Resource Management, South-Western College Pub, New York. Mobiltel Bulgaria, Official Website, viewed 5 January 2010, Standart 2009, Mobiltel received a special reward in the Best Employees Bulgaria 2009, Viewed 4 January 2009, Read More