1.1) Rationale for selecting the Report: Through the internship in Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited, I tried to bridge the gap between the theoretical knowledge and real life experience as part of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program. This Internship report has been designed to have a practical experience through the theoretical understanding. This Internship is essential for every student of Business Administration which helps the students to know the real life situation of corporate life. That’s why; a student takes the Internship program at the end of the BBA program as the requirement to Bachelors degree 1.2) Objectives 1.2.1) General Objectives: The general objectives are to finish internship to complete BBA program, and to find out actual practices of HR in corporate world. 1.2.2) Specific Objectives: To create a path for a good career in the future. To know how to work in professional line. To learn the activities in Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited. Working environment in Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited. 1.3) Background 1.3.1) History: In the surroundings of economic liberalization and financial sector reforms, a group of vastly successful local entrepreneurs conceived an idea of floating Islamic banking system. For them, it was competence, excellence and consistent delivery of reliable service with superior value products based on ‘Islamic Shariah’. Lending money is the major part of a bank. The “Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited” a Shariah Based Commercial Bank in Bangladesh was incorporated as a 1 public limited company as on 1st day of April 2001 under the Companies Act. 1994. The Bank started its commercial operation on May 10, 2001. The Bank has made a significant progress within a very short period of its existence and occupied an enviable position among its competitors after achieving remarkable success in all areas of business operation. The authorized capital of the Bank is Tk. 10,000 million and Paid up capital of the Bank stood at Tk. 7347 million as on 31 December 2017. The total equity (capital and reserves) of the Bank as on December 31, 2017 stood at Tk. 7,747 million. With a view to materialize the dream of the people of Bangladesh for doing their banking transactions in line with what is prescribed by Islam, a group of highly successful entrepreneurs conceived an idea of floating a commercial bank styled as “Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited” which is named after the name of the renowned saint Hajrat Shahjalal (R) who dedicated his life for the cause of peace in this world and hereafter and for the service of humanity. The sponsors are reputed personalities in the field of trade & commerce, industry and finance. The Bank is being managed by a group of highly experienced professionals with diversified experience in finance and banking. The Management of the bank constantly looks after customers’ satisfaction and believes that a satisfied customer is a great Ambassador. The Bank has already achieved tremendous progress within only fifteen years. The bank has already ranked as one of the quality service providers & is known for its reputation. It offers the full range of banking services for personal and corporate customers, covering all segments of society within the framework of Banking Company Act and rules and regulations laid down by our central bank. All activities of the Bank including its products and services are mainly for different economic groups of Bangladesh at home & abroad. Bangladeshi expatriates living abroad in different countries form a strong economic group who contribute greatly towards the economic development of the country. 1.3.2) Mission: To provide quality services to customers. To set high standards of integrity. To make quality investment. To ensure sustainable growth in business. 2 To ensure maximization of Shareholders' wealth. To extend our customers innovative services acquiring state-of-the-art technology blended with Islamic principles. To ensure human resource development to meet the challenges of the time. 1.3.3) Vision: Shahjalal islami banks vision is they would make finest corporate citizen. SJIBL dreams to become the bank of choice of the general public and it include both the consumer and the corporate clients. They want to build such an image that whenever people will think of a bank, they will think of Shahjalal Islami Bank. SJIBL has created a cadre of young professionals (YP) in banking profession. This has helped boosting productivity in the bank. All officers are now target driven and more focused on banking. Human Resources Management Division provides training to the officers of the bank to develop their knowledge base about banking activities through training Institute of the Bank. 1.3.4) Objectives of SIJBL: From time immemorial Banks principally did the functions of moneylenders or "Mohajans" but the functions and scope of modern banking are now a days, very wide and different. They accept deposits and lend money like their ancestors, nevertheless, their role as catalytic agent of economic development encompassing wide range of services is very important. Business commerce and industries in modern times cannot go without banks. There are people interested to abide by the injunctions of religions in all sphere of life including economic activities. Human being is value oriented and social science is not value-neutral. Shahjalal Islami Bank believes in moral and material development simultaneously. "Interest" or "Usury" has not been appreciated and accepted by "the Tawrat" of Prophet Moses, "the Bible" of Prophet Jesus and "the Quran" of Hazrat Muhammad (sm). Efforts are there to do banking without interest. Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited avoids "interest" in all its transactions and provides all available modern banking services to its clients and wants to contribute in both moral and material development of human 3 being. No sustainable material well-being is possible without spiritual development of mankind. Only material well-being should not be the objective of development. Socio-economic justice and brotherhood can be implemented well in a God-fearing society. The other objectives of Shahjalal Islami Bank include the followings: To conduct interest-free and welfare oriented banking business based on Islamic Shariah. To implement and materialize the economic and financial principles of Islam in the banking arena. To contribute in sustainable economic growth. To help in poverty alleviation and employment generations. To remain one of the best banks in Bangladesh in terms of profitability and assets quality. To earn and maintain a 'Strong' CAMEL Rating. To introduce fully automated systems through integration of information technology. To ensure an adequate rate of return on investment. To maintain adequate liquidity to meet maturing obligations and commitments. To play a vital role in human development and employment generation. To develop and retain a quality work force through an effective Human Resources Management System. To ensure optimum utilization of all available resources. To pursue an effective system of management by ensuring compliance to ethical norms, transparency and accountability at all levels. 1.3.5) Products & Services:Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited accepts deposits on the basis of Mudaraba in the following types of accounts, and pays profit, like that of dividend in these accounts. Customers’ deposit their fund in the following types of Accounts: Mudaraba monthly Scheme. Mudaraba Double Money. Mudaraba Monthly Deposit. 4 Mudaraba Millionaire. Mudaraba Haji Deposit. Mudaraba Housing Deposit. Mudaraba Small Business. Mudaraba Cash waqf Deposit. MudarabaLakhopoti Deposit. MudarabaBibaho Deposit. MudarabaMohor Deposit. MudarabaShikka Deposit. Mudaraba Special Term Deposit. SJIBL School Banking. Mudaraba Money Spining. Investment products, Corporate (Mode) Murabaha Bai-Muazzal Hire Purchase under ShirkatulMeelk Ijara Bai-Salam Quard-e-Hasana Investment against LC Investment against Scheme/Deposit Investment Products (Retail) Household Durable Scheme Housing Investment Program Car Investment Scheme Investment for Self-employment Investment Scheme for Executives Investment Scheme for Doctors Investment Scheme for Marriage 5 Investment Scheme for CNG Conversion Investment Scheme for Overseas Employment Investment Scheme for Education Investment Products (SME) Small Business Investment Program Small Entrepreneur Investment Program Medium Entrepreneur Investment Program Rural Investment Program Women Entrepreneur Investment Scheme SJIBL Card VISA Debit Card VISA Prepaid Card (Local) VISA Prepaid Card (International) VISA Prepaid Card (Dual) VISA Souvenir Card (Gift Card – Local) Computer services:- Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited introduced a few schemes, which are very popular: Online services Automated Accounting Integrated System Signature Verification Any Branch Banking ATM Services POS Services SMS Push Pull Services 6 1.3.6) Hierarchy: The management levels of Shahjalal Islami Bank are given below: Managing Director (MD) Deputy Managing Director (DMD) Senior Executive Vice President Executive Vice President (EVP) Senior Vice President (SVP) Vice President (VP) Senior Assistant Vice President Assistant Vice President (AVP) First Assistant Vice President Hierarchy Junior Assistant Vice President Senior Executive Officer (SEO) Executive Officer (EO) First Executive Officer (FEO) Junior Executive Officer (JEO) Assistant Executive Officer (AEO) Senior Officer (SO) Officer Junior Officer (JO) Trainee Assistant Officer 7 2.1) Work Related Activities I have worked as an intern at Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited in Gulshan. This internship program gave me the scopes to learn and get the understanding of banking works which will help me in developing my future career. Through this I got chance to learn how bank works and experienced the corporate world. As it was the first day, my supervisor introduced me with everyone in the department. All were very welcoming there. At first they taught me some basics of banking. They also showed me how they work and where they work. They also talked about different challenges they face while doing their regular activities. Because I was new I was not assigned any particular duty rather they let me observe the whole situation and their activities. However, they have told me that from the next day they will assign me different duties so that I can have some real life experiences. Recruitment Process: I was working in the HR department of the organization. It was a new experience. Shahjalal Islami Bank was recruiting people at that time. So, I was involved in some of the recruitment related activities. The bank has its own recruitment portal. The applicants can apply for the vacant positions using the job portal available on their official website. So, my supervisor asked me to collect the data of the applicants. One of the officers at first showed me how the process works, and then asked me to create folders for applicants based on their major subjects, academic results and experiences. So, I successfully prepared those folders for the applicants and submitted to the relevant department. After listing the candidates for written test, my supervisor asked to me send email as well as to call the short listed candidates. One of the employees of Shahjalal Islami Bank first taught me what I would say to the applicants. Then I started calling them about the recruitment. Then I also send emails to those applicants letting them know the details of written test for the vacant positions of Shahjalal Islami Bank. 8 Figure: Recruiting process in SJIBL After that my supervisor asked me to collect the data of the applicants again. This time, I had to collect data of the applicants who had participated in the written test. So, I had to go through the same process to find out who had participated in the written test. So, based on the data, I had to prepare a data table and also a detailed report about the written test and the candidates who had participated in the written test. My supervisor then asked me to prepare a report on the candidates who were shortlisted for the second stage of the selection process. After that, my supervisor gave me a list of the shortlisted candidates, and told me to call them. I called all the shortlisted candidates to let them know their time for interview. 9 Employment Type Description Permanent All employee directly employed by SJIBL against a specific Head Count irregular position. Contractual Senior and mid level executive posts. Usually such employment is for not more than 3 (three) years although it may be renewed for a further designation of such appointment should be based on his previous salary structure and designation held. However, Bank Management will decide his appropriate designation, contract period and salary package. Board of Directors is informed about such appointment/ renewal. Temporary Appointed directly by HR, for a short period of time for a specific job. Part-Time Working less than eight hour a day. Hourly basis payment. Intern Interns are the persons who perform special assignment in any particular field of Bank business as part of their academic course. Normally, upon requests from educational institutions. Providing informations to customers: During my internship program, I had a vital responsibility along with other duties and that was to direct and help the customers when they were facing any problem or had any query. Almost every day, I had the responsibility to assist customers when they were unsure regarding which legal documents they would need to open an account or which savings account would be best suited for them in terms of their deposits, age, etc. or what would they have to do to change their mailing address, signature change, enrolling for push-pull sms and internet banking, account closing, DPS information, issuing cheque book etc. 10 Transferring Activity: In the HR I also had to involve in employee transfer related work as well. Bangladesh Bank issued a rule to transfer employees of all banks after three years. There are also some employees in the company who applied for transfer to another department or branch. So according to my supervisors instructions I had to make a list of them as well. The list contained with the name, position and employee code, duration in the position and preferred branch or department for the transfer if mentioned. There was part for mentioning the reason for transfer as well and submit it to my supervisor. 2.2) Other Relevant Activities Printings: I also have done some work that I don’t have to do it as an intern. I had to do a lot of printings for my supervisor. It was time consuming work because there was shortage of printers. I had to wait my turn for printing time to time. I also had to go to the storage area to get some old files for my coworkers as well. Assisting clearing Section: I also worked at clearing department for a month. My main duties was to receive cheques of other branches, placing clearance seals on cheques and transfer those cheques to the clearance department and then later under the supervision of an officer, checks if there is any mistake or not and then signs the cheques, scans them and to put them in order. Sorting forms: I have sorted out forms according to their types and serial them from oldest to latest. Issuing thanks letters: ShahJalal Islami bank verifies applicant address by sending a letter at applicants address. For all the accounts opened with SJIBL, it is a procedure that is utilized to verify the address of the account opening customer and that is done by sending a formal greeting message called “thanks letter”. The customer service officers issue a thanks letter against the address of the customers and then I had the obligation to opportunely enclose the letter and make corresponding entries on 11 the outward mail register for each letter and then I had to distribute those to the Dispatch section which deals with distributing the letter to the respective addresses printed on each letter. 12 3.1) Observation in the organization: Observation in the organization: Problems and challenges identified in the in SIBL highlighted below: 3.1.1) My perspective: Because of work pressure most of the employees was unable to cooperate with me. It was a problem for me because sometimes if I had to understand anything from them I had to wait long time for them to be free. Due to day operational activities there is a little scope for proper monitoring. Sometimes it has become burden for the officers to maintain the rules and regulations Imposed by the central bank. While filling up account opening forms for the new clients, I have observed that there was lack of information about the clients. There is no separate desk for interns to work on. So I had to change and find places to work. As my supervisor was very supportive towards me and showed appreciation towards my work it gave me a sense of gratitude, so I think employee appreciation plays a vital part in performance of an employee. Not enough printers to work with. Most of the time I had to wait in line for printing any document. Because, I am in internship in this organization and not a regular employee, some of the seniors didn’t take me seriously. In my point of view & due respect, some of the senior give less priority to my work. It was a lot of stress to complete this report after doing work all at the office. Limited period of time is one of the problems in this internship. The time period was very short to understand the overall whole operation of HR. My major was Human Resource Management and I had to work in General Banking department as well. Since this department was pretty much different from my line of education I faced some difficulties. Sometimes I failed to provide sufficient information to customers because I’m not a regular employee of this organization. I don’t know the detailed information of this organization. 13 Confidence is an important issue, but as an intern in this organization, I lacked this quality. 3.1.2) Organization’s perspective: There are shortages of employees in the general banking department. There are not sufficient employees for the amount of work pressure in the department. Work environment plays an important role for the sustainable future of an organization. The Bank has no segmentation to handle different type of customers. They are equally treating of all the customers to provide service. But high status clients seek on extra honor from Bank or institution. Customer's all complains are related with lengthiness and time consuming of tasks, but management not taking initial steps to handle this complaints which results customer dissatisfaction. Distribution or channels play a major role in marketing and inconvenient places or locations make customers unhappy. There are not enough parking spaces outside most of the branches of the bank for which many customers who have cars are unhappy with this. For recent banks liquidity crisis and bank bad debt scams SIBL don’t providing loan on easy term for which clients are not receiving their expected services easily. There are various types of new products and software being developed for the welfare of the customers in SIBL, but unfortunately the service delivery procedure is not that very effective. Slow internet connection often creates problems because the local broad band connection they use is not always speedy to perform tasks effectively. 3.1.3) Actions to be taken for Improvement: In my short span of internship program, I have gained practical experiences about marketing activities. I have taken some actions: I always took advice from my mentor I learned to be more flexible in working time I learned how to share some innovative ideas to Hr department about recruiting, sorting out candidates I learned to give respect to my seniors I always gather knowledge from my seniors. 14 3.2. Academic Preparation Having Human Resource Management background I was able to perform tasks efficiently and properly. I am glad that I got the opportunity to work in HR section. So far in our courses, we had only taught about the theoretical perspective of different HR terms, but with this internship I got the opportunity to get involve in some of the HR related work at Shahjalal Islami Bank.There are some similarities that I have found. 3.2.1) Similarities with my academic preparation during my internship in the departments I worked for: In our course “Human Resource Management” and “Selection and Staffing” we were taught how to recruit employees academically, but in this organization I got a practical experience. The assignments that I have done with software during my BBA helped me to do my task during this internship period. I have learnt to use this software efficiently during “Computer Fundamentals” and “Computing and Business Application” courses. In my BBA I have done a lot of group assignments and term papers which helped me to work with my coworkers and create good relationship with them. It is extremely important that the customers of Bank interact with employees and vice-versa, to get feedback on what customers want. In turn the employees of the bank need to highlight these problems or issues to the managers. The effective communication between consumers, employees and managers to provide customers with appropriate service was all taught in the Business Communication course. Planning is one of the essential tasks in Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd. Which I have learned about in my Planning and Forecasting course. 3.2.2) Dissimilarities with my academic preparation: I found most of the activities of SIBL are matched with either academic preparation or general knowledge. But there are some dissimilarities such as: 15 Employees are not customer friendly but in my academic courses like “Organizational behavior” And “Principles of marketing” I learnt that customers should satisfy whatever it takes and they should get information accurately. In “Labor Law of Bangladesh” I learned that employees can’t force to sign any type of work agreement with management. But here I found some employees who had to sign in job agreement letter before joining. In my “Principles of marketing” I learned that one can make more sales and build customer trust advertising through electronic media like television. But in the organization I experienced that they give more importance bulletin boards and telemarketing. In my “Management information system” and “Accounting information system” courses I learned that one organization should work through enterprise software to efficiently manage the organization. But in the company I experienced that they don’t maintain any formal software to manage the organization which seems so backdated to me. In ‘Human Resource Information System’ I learned a growing number of employees across different regions; efficient HR management is becoming a significant challenge. As such, technology driven solutions are the need of the moment to bring in place more robust processes to increase efficiency, maximize productivity and ensure precision and security. But in SIBL’s HR Department there was no HR management software. 3.3) Missing Knowledge During my internship period everything I have experienced was all practical. But in my university life most of the knowledge and experiences I have gathered was academically. I had very little practical knowledge. In our courses we didn’t have enough workshop or study tours about how to deal with the job applicants and customers or to cooperate with them. I didn’t have proper knowledge about the corporate culture as well. For these I suffered a lot during my internship program. 16 4.1) Lessons learned from the organization: In order to fulfill the requirement of the internship program I chose SIBL for my internship program that has helped a student like me to get the relation with the education life with the practical service life. I have gathered huge experience to compare my theoretical knowledge in to practical implication. I came to know the process of HR department practically, how to work in a team, how to work under pressure, how to give better services to the customer, how to make a good relation with the customer & finally how to make the customer satisfaction about the organization. 4.2) Lessons learned from AIUB's Internship Program: As a partial requirement of BBA program, American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) allot Internship program for student. This is the bridge basically to take me over to the corporate world and working environment which brings enormous opportunity to get acquainted with the actual scenario of work life and job responsibility. It is also very effective way to gather practical knowledge through real life experiences. In this internship period I have got the opportunity to meet various kinds of professional people. It’s a big experience to know about an organization; overall activities, and activities of specific department and so on. 4.2.1) Learning Points: During the internship period in SIBL, I have learnt lots of things. These following things I learned from my internship program: Learning more about the recruitment process: I was involved in recruitment related activities for most of the time during my internship period. By getting involved in the recruitment process, I got the opportunity to learn about different stages followed in the recruitment process. I also got the experience of dealing with candidates. I also got the idea about the interview process as well. 17 Learning and improve of people skill: In the bank I not only interacted with my department but I also interacted with the people of other sections as well. I got to learn many things about corporate life that cannot be taught with academic theories. Although it took me a little bit time to get along with everyone but as time passed by I got along with all of them. I also interacted with candidates for the recruitment purpose. All these helped me to develop my people or social skill during my internship period. Personal development: During my internship at Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited, I got different opportunities for training myself. Besides acquiring technical knowledge, I got the opportunity to learn real life lessons that are never taught in the theories in our undergraduate programs. I also learnt to keep patience in every single work. Work in larger group : During my undergraduate courses, I used to work in a team of 3-6 persons but after coming to Shahjalal Islami Bank, I learnt to work and communicate with large number of people at a time. Difference between fake and real money: During my internship in the Shahjalal Islami Bank I got to learn very interesting thing about difference between real and fake money. Although the bank has machines for this work but they also taught me how to identify money without the machines as well. Learning Organizational Culture: Like every organization this organization has their own culture as well. Before starting internship I didn’t had any idea about corporate culture. Within a very few days I successfully cope up their culture. Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is a major issue in a service orientated business because if the customers are not satisfied with the service the business cannot prosper. 18 Time Management: In the bank everything is done in time. During this internship period I have learned to manage my time. Communicate with general people: During the internship I’ve learnt how to communicate with the clients of Shahjalal Islami Bank. Account Opening: During my internship I got to learn how to open an account and what are the requirements to open an account. Experience: I have achieved a big experience from my internship program. This experience leads me to the path on my career. If I get job in any bank in future, this work will help me. 19 5.1) Summary This experience of internship at Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited will inspire me in my future career life. From the practical implementation of HR process & customer dealing procedure during the whole period of my practical orientation in Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd, I have reached a firm and concrete conclusion in a very confident way. I believe that my realization will be in harmony with most of the banking thinkers. Every bank has to survive amid a large number of banks including local and foreign. That’s why to keep with expected profit margin of the time being and for the future every bank should try heart and soul to please the customers in a smart and trusty way. But quit regretful to mention that most of our bank face decreasing profit trend due to switch over of their present customers to those foreign with higher customer service facilities. So, timely decision for introducing sophisticated banking instruments should be taken as early as possible. After taking effective measures regarding efficient employees and instruments, Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited can reach the pinnacle of success with high profit and productivity. As a new bank it should be strong in financial side because there is too much competition and new banks are growing up. If Shahjalal Bank adopts professionalism within the framework of Shariah, they will be able to earn handsome “Halal” profit and pay higher return to the depositors and share holders. Ultimately, public will get more confidence on this type of banking. 5.2) Suggestions After gathering my experience I would like to give some suggestions: Suggestions for Organization: The branch should be more technologically rich than present time. Then all manual tasks will be converted into computerized system. Employees of Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited should be more cooperative with their interns. One of the business strategies is promotion. Successful business depends on how they can promote their products or services to the customer. In this connection to improve the business status bank should introduce more promotional programs. 20 Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited should increase their printer machines. Each and every branch should establish an information cell with one/two dump smart executives who will be able to provide all sort of information regarding banking and respective branch. The organization should provide working space for the interns. As the clients are not familiar with introducing system, if possible the rule of introducing to open an account should be changed. Because many face in problem to arrange an introducer at the time of opening accounts. Employees of the branch should be trained up how to handle different type of customers. The training should not limit only GB, Credit, and Foreign exchange etc. The employees are given deposit target, which creates extra pressure to them for that reason they cannot freely provide customer service. They had to spend most of their time to marketing to fill up their target. If the bank can reduce the pressure then they could be able to provide good service. SJIBL Bank should increase their performance by engaging efficient decision maker in the managerial level and by conducting training programs more frequently The bank should increase manpower in their General Banking department. Proper decision should be taken for banking sector which should not be changed rapidly. World Bank's prescription for banking reform programmed should be analysis before implementing. SJIBL should develop there investment monitoring department. Because the default rate of investment is very high in the bank. Bank should collect proper documents from their new clients for opening new account. In this global world online system much more needed in every organization. The bank may implement the modern online banking for meet-up the current modern banking system. Suggestions for AIUB: AIUB can manage internship for all students that make more engagement with the student. 21 Business trips on various organizations can be arranged for Business students, it is not manageable to take all the students at a time but trip for once in the whole BBA program is manageable. More laboratories of computers are required to open, so that Business students can be more familiar with application of business softwares. Aiub should organize more business competition which will help students in corporate sector interview and assessment process. AIUB should take funds from students for opening Research Facility on Business, so that students can perform various researches on business sectors of Bangladesh. A webpage under AIUB's website can be opened so that future interns can get ideas about internship program regarding activities of internees in various organizations and placement of internees in various organizations. It will be a very good thing if the university change their curriculum and add more practical activities to it. AIUB should teach more about how to deal with job applicants and customers with more workshops. Arrange more study tours for the students to gain proper knowledge about the corporate cultures. 22 Reference Bibliography Farida Yesmin, Assistant Executive Officer (2018), ShahjalalIslami bank ltd. (Gulshan) (Personal interview) Web References: ShahjalalIslami Bank. (n.d.). Retrieved from <https://www.sjiblbd.com/>[ March 25, 18 ] 23