Internship Report - The process of human resource management at vica consultants international ltd. and some recommendations for improvement

The world business is becoming more and more complicated as technology is in its age of development and changing at a rapid pace. It seems that technology is reducing the role of people. However, this could be true in the production era only. Today, there are a lot more of new types of business where human play an important role along with that of machines and technology. Furthermore, there is a change in the conception and perception of the management of human resource (HR). As the name suggested, human now is the resource of a company, the key to its success, not the cost to a business as we used to perceive. Human is the asset that a company must seek for, maintain, and develop. Understanding this, many companies are trying their best to attract a good pool of workers in the labor force in order for them to gain a competitive advantage against their rivals. In conclusion, human resource plays a strategic role in the sustainable development of companies.

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Business *** MID-TERM INTERNSHIP REPORT The process of human resource management at VICA Consultants International Ltd. and some recommendations for improvement Student : Do Thi Anh Ngan Class : A1 Supervisor : Ms. Le Thi Thu, Msc Hanoi, 7/2009 Internship Report 2 Internship Report Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Preface 4 Part 1: Introducon to VICA 6 Part 2: The analysis of the human resource management process at VICA 12 Part 3: Recommendaon for improvement 20 Part 4: Internship experience 22 References 24 Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 3 of 24 Internship Report Preface The world business is becoming more and more complicated as technology is in its age of development and changing at a rapid pace. It seems that technology is reducing the role of people. However, this could be true in the production era only. Today, there are a lot more of new types of business where human play an important role along with that of machines and technology. Furthermore, there is a change in the conception and perception of the management of human resource (HR). As the name suggested, human now is the resource of a company, the key to its success, not the cost to a business as we used to perceive. Human is the asset that a company must seek for, maintain, and develop. Understanding this, many companies are trying their best to attract a good pool of workers in the labor force in order for them to gain a competitive advantage against their rivals. In conclusion, human resource plays a strategic role in the sustainable development of companies. Seeing the importance of Human Resource Management (HRM) in business, I have been always seeking for chances to get a more understanding of the HR practices in theory as well as in reality, from which I could draw some lessons for my future development. To back up this purpose, I choose to work on the issue of HRM during the time I do my internship in VICA Consultants International Ltd. (VICA) This is not a big company, which may have a lot of HR activities. Moreover, as a consultant company, its success depends a lot more on associate consultants rather than their fulltime workforce, so they may not have a HR department. So why do I choose it? The reason is that I want to reinforce the point that HRM is important to companies of all types, no matter how they do their business and how they employ their people. Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 4 of 24 Internship Report About my study approach, I am not going to focus on a specific area of the HRM such as the recruitment and selection process or the compensation policy. Instead, I am going to draw an overall picture of the HRM practices of the company, which will be clearer and clearer as we go through the report. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family, who help me to have time to focus on my study, to my university teachers, who I have had chance to work with during the last 3 years and have provided me with a lot of precious knowledge, the managing director of VICA, who has provided me with generous support during my internship there, and last but not least to Ms. Le Thi Thu who has given me a lot of consultation and instruction during my internship. I learned a lot from her and I hope and believe that this report would not disappoint her expectation. In conclusion, I wish that this report will provide you with valuable information and I would welcome all comments in order to improve my knowledge, viewpoint as well as writing. Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 5 of 24 Internship Report Part 1: Introduction to VICA 1. Establishment and Development of VICA VICA Consultants International Ltd. was established on 26 th April, 2001 by five members namely Nguyen Thanh Hai, Nghiem Thi Minh Nguyet, Nghiem Quang Minh, Vu Thi Boi Lan, and Pham Ngoc Thang. At the end of the year 2001, Mrs. Vu Thi Boi Lan withdrew her capital in order to invest in another field. At the end of the year 2003, Mr. Nghiem Quang Minh withdrew his capital because of health related problems and turned to work for a state-owned company. In 2002, the company received the capital of Mr. Nguyen Hong Tho, but by October, 2005, he withdrew his capital in order to continue his study. At present, the company is owned by three stakeholders namely Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Mrs. Nghiem Thi Minh Nguyet and Mr. Pham Ngoc Thang, who are professional consultants of high calibre with 15-30 years of experience in working for projects in Vietnam. The company was first named Vietnam Investment Consulting and Auditing Company Ltd. because at the time it provided not only consulting but also auditing service. At present, the company just focuses on the consulting field, so it changed its name into VICA Consultants International Ltd. (although VICA is still the abbreviation of “Vietnam Investment Consulting and Auditing”, which is its old name). Since its establishment in early 2001, VICA has become a well known provider of technical and management consulting services in Vietnam for multilateral financial institutions, international organizations, state agencies and private donors in projects funded by ODA, FDI, state’s budget, private - self mobilized funds. VICA has involved in all stages of the project cycle from project identification and preparation to project planning, implementation, evaluation and closing. Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 6 of 24 Internship Report VICA currently employs a team of 50 full-time consultants, including consulting team leaders, senior consultants for investment & development projects. Additionally, VICA also has a network of associate consultants and engineers of more than 500 domestic and international experts. At present, the company is planning to expand to other countries in the area such as Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, and Cambodia. 2. Organizational structure The company is divided into 3 departments, i.e. Business Development, Research and Operations, Accounting and Finance. Each one is managed by one Vice Director, who reports to the managing director, being responsible for the whole company. Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 7 of 24 Internship Report The Business Development Department consists of two units. One is responsible for business development and one is in charge of procurement activities. These two units associate and support each other if necessary. The Business Development Unit is in charge of seeking opportunities for the company to supply its services, especially those relating to the company’s strengths, i.e. rural, societal, infrastructure, water, and environment development. In addition, the unit is also responsible for seeking for consulting experts of such fields in order to enrich its database of experts, which is very important to the bidding activities and project operations. This unit has 3 employees working under the management of a unit head. The Procurement Unit is responsible for preparing Express of Interest Letter and Bidding Documents. This unit includes one unit head and 2 employees. The Research and Operations Department is made up of 4 sections, which are independent but still can support each other when needed. The Social Unit is in charge of society related works such as basic investigation, economic and social investigation, resettle planning, resettle supervision, and compliance of safety policy of sponsors. At the same time, the unit can support other ones when needed. The head of the unit is responsible for 6 employees. The Project Management Unit is responsible for managing the implementation of projects and the company’s services, at the same time assigning specialists to take part in the management in a specific service if necessary. This unit includes 4 employees who report directly to the vice director of the department. The Water and Environment Unit is in charge of works relating to water supply, rural and environmental sanitation, for example, rural water supply, rural sanitation, environmental protection planning, environmental effect evaluation, and compliance of safety policy of sponsors. This unit includes one unit head and 3 employees. Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 8 of 24 Internship Report The Engineering and Design Unit is responsible for designing irrigation works, rural infrastructure and urban development. This unit includes one unit head and 2 specialists. The Accounting and Finance Department includes one unit of Accounting and Administration. The unit is under the direct management of one Vice Director cum Chief Accountant and it has one accountant and one administrative staff. With such a structure, VICA ensure its good operation and that its consulting services is according to the claim “Quality makes Difference” 3. Business activities VICA’s main Clients are: - International donors, such as the WB, ADB, AFD, UNDP, DFID, IFAD, DANIDA, etc. - Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) or Vietnamese private enterprises - Besides, VICA also directly provides consultancy service for donors and agencies belonging to the Government of Vietnam. VICA’s main types of project are: - Agriculture and Rural Development: Water Resources and Irrigation; Capacity Building, Livelihood Development, Integrated Rural Development and Environment. - Urban Development: Water Supply and Drainage, Sanitation, Capacity Building, Environment - Energy Sector Development: Renewable and Efficiency, Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution, Environment in Energy and Capacity Building. For Agriculture and Rural Development Projects, VICA has capability to provide: Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 9 of 24 Internship Report - Socio-economic survey and project design as regulated by process, donors and international norms. - Consultancy on agriculture, science and technology policies in agriculture and rural development. - Project management and implementation support in procurement, disbursement, financial management, reporting, and human resource management. - Provision of senior consultants in various fields in agriculture and forestry (cultivation, livestock, aquaculture, processing, agro-forestry, forestry and silviculture, agricultural economy, forestry, land allocation and rural environment etc.). - Provision of senior consultants and engineers in water supply and rural sanitation for subproject identification, planning, design, bidding documents and bidding plan, environment management plan and resettlement implementation plan preparation, construction supervision and sustainable maintenance with community participation in all stages. - Preparing investment plans, preliminary designs for infrastructure subprojects and works. - Monitoring of safeguard policy as stipulated by the donor (environment, resettlement and ethnic minorities). - Capacity building for relevant institutions, training for project staff and beneficiaries on various fields as specified in each project. - Provision of consultancy on community development to local communities including ethnic minorities and women. For Urban Development Projects, VICA has capability to provide: - Socio-economic survey and project preparation as required by donors, provision of financial, economic, institutional and social consultants for project design. Do Thi Anh Ngan_ Class A1_CLC_QTKD_K46 Page 10 of 24 [...]... compensation include the labor market and the economy condition, some controls and guidelines of the government and international organizations, the bargaining of trade unions The internal influences include the size and age of the organization, the labor budget, the job itself, and the employees’ knowledge, skills and abilities Performance management Performance management can be defined as a systematic... Page 15 of 24 Internship Report Employee relations Employee relations consist of all those areas of human resource management that involve relationships with employees – directly and/ or through collective agreements where trade unions are recognized 2 The process of human resource management at VICA Since its establishment, the number of VICA s employees has been increasing At the beginning, the company... and Development Training and Development are processes that provide employees with information, skills, an understanding of the organization and its goals, and the ability to make positive contribution in the form of good performance The training process includes 4 sections: Training Needs Assessment, Program Design and Development, Training Implementation, and Training Evaluation Of the 4 steps, the. .. improve their performance or behaviors In addition, the managing director can also give feedback after directly assigning work and through the hand-in reports 2.2 Associate consultants As for the association consultants, this is the important resource of all consultancy firms At VICA, the business development unit is responsible for seeking for experts of different fields in order to enrich the database of. .. associate consultants It can hold parties or vacations with the participation of both external and internal consultants in order for them to have chance to interact with each other and share their experience This is also a kind of benefits to build and maintain relationship with them Besides, the company’s compensation for their associate consultants should be comparable to or even greater than what other... resource management process Analysis and Design of work Job analysis a systematic investigation of tasks, duties and responsibilities of a job (Job Description) and the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities a person need to perform the job adequately (Job Specification) Job design is the process of designing the way work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job The analysis... specification which clarifies what qualification the job holders must have in order to perform their tasks well This is important as it is just like a guideline for employees; they can look at the job specification and see what knowledge, skills or abilities they already have and what they lack for Consequently, they can easily eliminate that gap in order to get their job well-done Secondly, the company... different professional knowledge When bidding, the company defines the knowledge and experience that the project implementation requires then find experts with suitable qualification and invite them to consult for the projects If winning the bidding, the company will sign a contract with each expert The performance of the experts is under the control of the chief consultant in a group of consultants. .. working for the company more than 1 year, 4-month maternal leave, holiday bonus, and overtime pay of 150% of basic fixed salary Performance management The performance of employees is evaluated by their outputs which are reports, document translation and everyday performance The evaluators who are the direct supervisors, i.e head of departments or head of units, give employees comments and feedback... management can be defined as a systematic process for improving organizational performance by developing the performance of individuals and teams The overall aim of performance management is to establish a high performance culture in which individuals and teams take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes and for their own skills and contributions within a framework provided . machines and technology. Furthermore, there is a change in the conception and perception of the management of human resource (HR). As the name suggested, human now is the resource of a company, the. FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Business *** MID-TERM INTERNSHIP REPORT The process of human resource management at VICA Consultants International Ltd. . include the labor market and the economy condition, some controls and guidelines of the government and international organizations, the bargaining of trade unions. The internal influences include the