The Bank Alfalah Limited

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The basic purpose of this report is to illustrate and to give a view of what I did and learned during my internship program at HR department of Head office (North) Bank Alfalah Limited.

This report includes the wide range of information through which one can easily understand at what point the BAL (Bank Alfalah Limited) stands and its major workings that I have experienced.

It includes the background and the introduction of BAL and its evolutionary time period in Pakistan. To understand it properly, it also mentions the vision and mission statement. I have also included the information referring to the business operations of the BAL.

The business operations of BAL that I have been discussed in this report includes the SWOT analysis that is one of its most important part which covers almost all of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities they can avail, and threats that they face according to my information and experience. I have also mentioned about its financial position in the market as well as it also includes the information regarding the market analysis and strategies of BAL and also explains its competitive strategies that can differentiate itself from its competitors. With all this data it also explains the overall business process analysis of BAL.

This report also throws a light on what I have experienced and done in the overall internship program and for this I have mentioned my all duties assigned to me during the internship, accomplishments and about the new knowledge that I have acquired. I have also added the information regarding the problems that I have encountered during the internship period at BAL. This report also illustrates the impact of my over all experience on my career.

BackGround of Bank Alfalah

Introduction to Bank Alfalah

On June 21, 1992 after the downfall of BCCI, the ministry of finance (Government of Pakistan) acquired its three branches and H.C.E.B (Habib Credit & Exchange Bank) was incorporated and commenced banking operations from November 1, 1992. According to the companies ordinance 1962, it engaged itself in commercial banking and related services.

After the H.C.E.B privatization in 1997 it was named as Bank Alfalah Limited (BAL). Its management with the collaboration of Abu Dhabi Group with its new technology and services carved a distinct position and captured a vast market share in a very less time.

Strengthened with the banking of Abu Dhabi Group and driven by the strategic goals set out by its board of management, the bank has invested in revolutionary technology to create an innovative and creative environment with an extensive range of new products and services.

In the influence of making its services accessible to the people, Bank Alfalah has embarked itself upon a rapid expansion program, aiming to provide the network that makes its services available at any time to any of its customers in all the major urban centers of Pakistan as well as trying to get international in coming period.

Today Bank Alfalah is operating all over the Pakistan with almost 321 branches in different cities. The total number of employees of Bank Alfalah in 2006 was 6,543 which at the present time has exceeded from 12000. The increase in the number of employees joining Bank Alfalah shows that people feel confident in Bank Alfalah as a prospective employer.

Besides being the most rapidly expanding bank in the market it also became the choice of many career focused individuals as it provides many benefits to them.

With the help of skillful management and under the strong leadership Bank Alfalah has achieved success in a short period of time and now it is trying to meet the needs of its customers today so that they can achieve the targets of tomorrow efficiently and effectively and to prove itself as the leaders in the market.

Vision 1

“To be the premier organization operating locally & internationally that provides the complete range of financial services to all segments under one roof”

Mission 1

“To develop & deliver the most innovative products, manage customer experience, deliver quality services that contributes to brand strength, establishes a competitive advantage and enhances profitability, thus providing value to the stakeholders of the bank”

Core Values

The core values are the values which hold the foundation of an organization on which we work and conduct our selves. These are the vital few values that all members of the organization are expected to use, live by and demonstrate on a daily basis while executing their work responsibilities.

Few of the core values of BAL are mentioned below:

Humility

Extreme Customer Care/Focus

Courtesy and Respect

Honesty, Integrity and Trust

Commitment and Hard work

Creativity, Innovation and Quality

Justice and Fairness to all Stakeholders

Open, Honest and Direct Communication

Provider of growth and equal opportunity

Business Operations

Organizational Structure 4

President (CEO)

Senior Executive Vice President

Executive Vice President

Senior Vice President

Vice President

Assistant Vice President

Officers Grade I, II, III

Clerical Staff Non Clerical Staff

Organogram of HRD

Board of Directors 2

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. The body sometimes has a different name, such as board of trustees, board of governors, or executive board. Total number of BAL board of director is 7, mentioned below:

H.E. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan

Chairman

Mr. Abdulla Nasser Hawalileel Al-Mansoori

Director

 

Mr. Abdull Khalil Al Mutawa

Director

Mr.Khalid Mana Saeed Al Otaiba

Director

Mr. Ikram Ul-Majeed Sehgal

Director

Mr. Nadeem Iqbal Sheikh

Director

Mr. Sirajuddin Aziz

Director & CEO

Management Team 3

Some of the major members of the management team of BAL

Mr. Sirajuddin Aziz

Chief  Executive Officer

 

 

Mr. Parvez A. Shahid

Co-Chairman Central Management Committee

Mr. Shakil Sadiq

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Talib Rizvi

Group Head

Retail & Middle Market, North

Mr. Adil Rashid

Group Head

Consumer Finance

Mr. Shahab Bin Shahid

Group Head

Retail & Middle Market, South

Mr. A. Wahid Dada

Group Head

Operations

Mr. Adnan Anwar Khan

Group Head

Retail & Middle Market, Central

 

Mr. Nadeem Ul Haq

Group Head

Technology & Operations

Mr. Mohammad Yousuf

Group Head

Credit

Mr. M. Iqbal Saifi

Group Head

Credit Monitoring

Mr. Arfa Waheed Malik

Group Head

Corporate & Investment Banking

Mr. Ijaz Farooq

Group Head

Islamic Banking

 

Mr. Bakhtiar Khawaja

Group Head

Learning

 

Mr. Yasar Rashid 

Group Head

Audit & Inspection

Mr. Zahid Ali H. Jamall

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Falak Sher

Chief Compliance Officer

 

Mr. Tariq Mir

General Manager

International Business

 

Mr. M. Mudassar Aqil

General Manager

Human Resource & Quality Assurance

Mr. Shahid H. Kazi

General Manager

Strategic Planning

Mr. Ather Shehab

General Manager

Establishment & Administration

 

Mr. Haroon Khalid

General Manager

Risk Management

 

Mr. Hamid Ashraf

General Manager

Legal & Company Secretary

Mr. Imtiaz Ahmad Sheikh

General Manager

Information Technology

Mr. Hamid M. Mirza

Head of Marketing

Mr. Nasim Ahmed

Head of Equity Portfolio

Mr. Umer Hayat

Head of SAM South

Mr. Muhammed Omer Dogar

Head of SAM North

Mr. Khurshed A. Khair

Head of Special Projects

Mr. Zafar Iqbal

Head of Treasury

Mr. Syed Hassan

Head of FI

Mr. Yawar Ali Gulani

Head of Systems, Policies & Procedures

 

 

SWOT Analysis 5

SWOT analysis includes strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats to any company or a business. Through this a company or a business can easily understand that being in a competition at what stage they are standing at the present time, what are their strengths that make them differ from other competitors, what threats they can face , what are their weaknesses and what opportunities they can avail in the up coming period.

Strengths

Abu-Dhabi Group:

Talking about strength then we should know that BAL was one of the bank which stood stable during the reign of financial and economic crisis and its strength that made it stand firm under such disastrous circumstances was the support of strong Abu Dhabi Group. The Abu Dhabi Group (ADG) is one of the largest consortiums in the Middle East with diversified interest ranging from oil and gas exploration, hospitality services, telecommunications, banking and financial services, to construction and property development. In Pakistan ADG has made sizable investment that includes Bank Alfalah Limited (the fastest growing private bank in Pakistan), Warid Telecom Private Limited which has brought in an investment of US$400 Million into Pakistan, and a 51% stake in United Bank Limited (a leading bank in Pakistan with over 1,100 branches). ADG’s overall investments in Pakistan have already crossed US$774 Million, making it one of the largest foreign investors in the country’s history.

Trained Work Force:

The work force the BAL is using is one of the most efficient and effective group of people who are recruited through a proper recruitment and selection procedures according to the set standards of BAL. Working at the BAL’s Head Office I have observed that all the officers working are competent enough to give their best according to their designations and assigned duties. The candidate selected for each designation is according to the preferred qualification. There are officers from grade 1 to 9 and the officer on each grade is according to its qualification and experience that is required by the BAL for a specific grade.

Growing Network:

One of the other feature that can be considered as its strength is its fast and wide growing network of branches as compared to other banks. BAL has expanded itself in such a less time that has reached to almost 321 branches with more than 10000 employees. If the bank keeps on expanding with this speed there are possibilities that it can become a Pakistan’s leading Bank in the future.

Online Banking:

BAL is providing a facility of free online transferring of funds, which no other bank is giving.

Halal Banking:

One of the core strength of the BAL is its Halal banking service. With a strong market in Middle Eastern countries. This Halal banking can be included in strength of BAL as its accounts are linked to its conventional banks and this facility is not given by other Islamic banks.

Weaknesses

In this world it’s an obvious fact that no one living or dead can say it self 100% perfect. In the same way if Bank Alfalah have its strength on one hand on the other hand it also possesses some weaknesses. Some of them that I have observed during my internship program are mentioned below:

High Employee Turnover:

The key source and power of any organization includes its employees. As I have observed that the employee’s turnover ratio is increasing and its increase above a level is not a good sign for the Bank. Some of the main problems that I have observed at BAL are mentioned below:

Most of the employees suffer from work burden

Uneven distribution of work

Not very timely promotions

Biasness

Resisting New Changes:

Banks deposits have been increasing @ 30% which is a very healthy sign. It indicates that the Bank is in profit and that it can be a time for introducing new changes. Here new changes indicates towards adopting new technologies, services & products according to the updated conditions and needs of the customers, that can benefit the Bank Alfalah.

MIS System:

As I have observed that they have their own MIS software system that they use for keeping their data internally as well as externally. This MIS system has to be used much more efficiently and the employees should be properly trained to use it properly and efficiently. As during my internship my supervisor told me that they can take much more work from their MIS system as they are taking in the present time. The problem is that they have newly purchased it and it will take a little bit of time to take its full advantage.

No Employees Feedback:

Another weakness that I have observed in the internal environment of BAL is that there is no specific line through which an employee can give its recommendations or convey the problems he is facing.

Opportunities

As the world is changing day by day and with this change the opportunities never end. It’s a saying that opportunities end only when u stop availing them. During my internship at BAL’s Head Office I have observed that in this competitive era BAL possess numerous opportunities which it can avail to get itself in the line of world’s best financial institutes.

Few of the opportunities that I think BAL can avail are mentioned:

Expansion of Network:

Even if BAL is running an extensive branch network growing strategy, and it has successfully launched many branches all over the Pakistan still it have to compete many banks whose branch network is much higher than BAL’s branch network. The opportunity that lies here is that as BAL is one of the leading banks in the region and its clients are increasing day by day due to this they can increase their branch network much faster and easily, that is much beneficial for them.

Capitalize Information Technology:

One of the opportunities that is present in this 21st century is the use of information technology. BAL can avail the new services of IT and can create a service of its universal account as the foreign banks, to enhance its online facilities.

Halal Banking:

According to the world survey Islam is one of the fastest growing religion on this planet. Due to this region the advantage and opportunity that is present for the BAL is to spread its Islamic Banking sector towards the western region. With the growth of Islam in the western world, Bank Alfalah has the opportunity to expand beyond the middle east and into markets in the United States and Europe in order to offer Halal banking services. Bank Alfalah notes that Islamic banking is currently growing at twice the rate of conventional banking throughout the world.

Threats

Poor Economic Conditions:

Despite of the high risk and disastrous circumstances of the economic crisis Bank Alfalah is one of the banks which stood firm even in such conditions. It’s clear to everyone that BAL was able to stand in such crisis but it cannot neglect the fact that economic crisis is one of the threat that can bring adverse impact to it.

Natural Disasters:

Natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, etc can also be added in the threats of the BAL, as it always brings disastrous conditions that can’t be controlled and these things also affects the banking sector as it disturbs the economical conditions of the country.

Mushroom Growth of Competitors:

However BAL is one of the fastest expanding banks in Pakistan but it cannot neglect its already present as well as new competitors in the market. Till now total number of branches that BAL posses are almost 321. Few other banks in Pakistan are there which have more than 900 branches due to this reason BAL have to keep on the competitive strategies and have to keep its standard to compete its competitors.

Marketing Strategy

In today’s contemporary business, marketing is the major tool to get in a competition and carve a distinct position in the market. As Bank Alfalah has number of competitors, it needs to have efficient marketing strategies to attract its customer’s loyalty.

BAL basically emphasizes on its customers by creating a segmented market targets. By understanding the need of the specific segment they launch their product or service .i.e. if they are focusing on agriculture then they will first focus on the needs of the client related to this segment and then they will provide the service or product according to that need .e.g. Alfalah Zaraie Sahulat. In this way BAL first identify different segments of the market and then target each segment by fulfilling their needs.

Mostly for general banking BAL relies on Customer relationship management as well as Public relation.

Customer Relationship Management:

In CRM Bank Alfalah Limited tries to stay in touch with their customers by keeping them aware of the updated news as well as products & services that can be beneficial for them. Their main focus and goal is always on the satisfaction of the client and for that they try to keep the client aware of the kind of information that customer may need.

Public Relation:

In Public Relation BAL sponsors or helps other sectors of businesses that may be restaurants, shopping malls, hotels e.t.c by providing them financial aids and different schemes and packages for their customers. In return they get a good will as well as their profit. In Pakistan we can find many places where BAL is using its Public Relation strategy these places can include Hyper Star shopping mall, Mini Golf and many other businesses

Products & Services

As BAL have to compete its other competitors that’s why it have to keep up its revolutionary and innovative banking by providing a wide range of products and services designed to suit the needs and preferences of their highly valued customers. For understanding their customers properly BAL arranges different meetings and focus on the customer care and relation management, from where they try to take information about the customers and their needs according to their segments. After understanding the needs of its customers it launches the suitable services or products. An overview to its products and services according to its sector is mentioned.

Consumer Banking

Current account

Current account includes three different kinds of accounts i.e.

Basic Banking Account (BBA)

General Account

Kamyaab Karubar Account.

Saving Account

Saving account is further divided in to:

Fix accounts

Non Fix accounts.

Fix Account:

It is further divided in to:

Alfalah Mahana Amdan (AMA)

AMA Plus.

Non-Fix Account:

It is divided in to:

Kifayat Account

Royal Profit Account

PLS (Profit and Loss Sharing account).

Foreign Currency Account

MoneyGram

Safe Deposit Lockers

Consumer Financing:

Car financing

Alfalah credit cards

Alfalah credit cards are divided in to 3 types of credit cards that are:

Gold/Classic Card

Titanium Card

Platinum Card

Personal loan

Housing finance

Alfalah Zarie Sahulat

PRICE

“The amount of money the customers pay for the product of a company”

As discussed before BAL offers different products and services to its customers. Pricing of product means the commission to be paid by the customers in return of services provided by bank. Different products have its own way of pricing and commission.

Commission paid for the services mainly includes:

Markup / interest

Bank charges

Fees and bank commissions etc

These charges and commissions are according to the prescribed Schedule of Banking Charges (SOC) that’s keep on changing time to time and is issued by the bank periodically, generally after six months.

There are a lot of controversies regarding to the pricing of financial companies. Some scholars call the mark up received by the bank as the rent for capital while on the contrary some call it Riba.

PROMOTION

Being in an age of competition there are numerous options for the customers to choose any financial company for fulfilling their financial needs. Promotion is one of the basic tools that differentiate one company from other. This differentiation can affect the customer while choosing any of the products of any specific company. These days the pressure of competition is so much increased that almost every company have to use promotion strategies to keep on moving in the market. The promotions ways through which BAL advertise itself and try to create its good will are mentioned below:

Electronic media

Print media

Sponsorships

Electronic Advertisement:

As electronic media is very effective marketing medium due to its audio and visual aids that’s why many banks including BAL use electronic media for its advertisements. As compared to other banks BAL uses less electronic media for its promotions but the ads that are made mainly emphasizes on “The Caring Bank”, the message in its advertisement. For example the use of credit card of Alfalah by a couple when they ran out of cash and the father bought a car through car finance service of bank Alfalah.

Another electronic media they have used for their products advertisement is its website. That is made in a way that the customers can easily access and use it.

Print Advertisement:

Another way through which BAL advertises its products is the print media. Print media advertisements are mainly printed in English and Urdu newspapers around the Pakistan. And mostly the message these advertisements give is that what financial services BAL is providing. These Alfalah advertisements are so beautifully made that synergy Advertisement Company was awarded a gold award by the APNS (All Pakistan News Society) in 2004.

Sponsorships:

Bank Alfalah Limited uses its Public Relation management to sponsor different events specially the sports. In sports mostly BAL sponsors cricket tournaments in Pakistan. During the tournaments specially the cricket, millions of people are watching it at that moment and it’s the best time for BAL to advertise its products.

PLACE

“The activities a bank undertakes to make products and services easily available or accessible to the customers”

One of the basic objectives of the Bank Alfalah is always keeping their customers on priority by staying in their easy access. Almost 321 branches of Alfalah are running at the moment all over the Pakistan and all of their locations are geographically well positioned. BAL mostly tries to open its all branches near commercial areas which can be easily accessible to its valued customers. i.e. The Head Office Shahdin Manzil of BAL is on the Quaid-e-Azam chok Mall Road , infront of assembly house Lahore and this areas one of the most busy commercial areas of Lahore. In the same case all the branches are opened by going through the geographical measures that may suits the easy access of the clients.

Competitive Strategy

Competitors should always be studied with great care, because competitors can greatly influence an organization position. Bank Alfalah has a lot of competitors because in a short span of 5 year it has achieved what not many banks had achieved. This leads to competitions. Similarly Bank Alfalah keeps a tag on the competitors move or any other new technology it is introducing, because to sustain in the market, a competitor has to be viewed with a lot of care.

Major competitors

As the Banking industry of Pakistan started to grow, more and more banks including the international as well as domestic started to enter in the market of Pakistan. For Bank Alfalah it has to face both kinds of competitors domestic and international. The major competitors of Bank Alfalah are mentioned:

Habib Bank Limited (HBL)

Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB)

Askari Bank

MCB as well as HBL are the banks having more than 1000 branches all over the Pakistan and they can be included in the major competitors of the BAL. In the same case Askari bank is also one of the main competitors of BAL.

Being in the competition BAL have to stay focused on its goals as well as it have to keep an eye on the type of services and products other banks are giving or are going to give in future. The basic goal of the Bank Alfalah Limited is not to stay focused on the competition but to stay focused on the changing needs of its clients and due to these changing needs they have to use their innovative and creative ability to introduce new services and products according to the needs of the clients. This goal makes the BAL to enter in the market and that makes it compete other Banks.

Bank Alfalah Limited don’t have any specific kind of strategy for any specific bank because it have to focus on overall market that’s why it have to use the strategies and the policies that can survive in the market and fulfill its goals of making itself people needs oriented bank.

Basically BAL uses its offensive strategies as it introduces new products and services by the passage of time. As their main focus is always on their client, they try to understand the needs of their client and on the basis of these needs and requirements BAL introduces new services and products. BAL always tried to stay a step forward in introducing new products and in this pursuit it keeps itself focused on the market and the needs of the market.

Business Process Analysis

Bank Alfalah, being in the competition has to provide the updated services according to the needs of its customers. BAL is providing a wide range of products and services to its customers. As BAL is practicing general banking that is further divided in to Consumer banking and Consumer finance. The products and services provided by BAL are mentioned below:

Consumer Banking

Current account:

Current account includes three different kinds of accounts i.e. Basic Banking Account (BBA) , General Account , and Kamyaab Karubar Account.

Basic Banking Account:

This account requires 1000 PKR to be opened and for there is no limit for maintaining it. This kind of account is mainly used by students as it requires a less amount to open it and requires no capital to maintain it.

General Account:

This account requires 5000 PKR for its opening and 5000 PKR for maintaining.

Kamyaab Karubar:

It requires 5000 PKR for opening and 5000 PKR for maintaining this account. This account differs itself from other accounts by giving facilities as free cheque book , facility of DD (Demand Draft), Pay order, and CDR.

Saving Account:

Saving account is further divided in to Fixed and Non Fixed accounts.

Fixed Account:

It is further divided in to Alfalah Mahana Amdan (AMA) and AMA Plus.

AMA: This account is fixed for 3 years, it requires minimum 50000 PKR for its opening and up to 15million PKR can be deposited in it and it gives 10 % of profit on the deposit.

AMA Plus: This account is fixed for 1 year, it requires 100000 PKR for its opening and it gives 10.5% of profit .

Non-Fixed Account:

It is further divided in to Kifayat Account, Royal Profit Account, and PLS (Profit and Loss Sharing account).

Kifayat Account:

Its benefits are that its cheque book is free of cost. 10000 PKR are required for its opening as well as for maintaining it. On up to 1million deposit it gives 7% of profit but if the amount of deposit exceeds from 1million then profit with the rate of 5% is given on the exceeded credit. If in one month more then 3 with drawls are made then the profit decreases to 50 %.

Royal Profit Account:

Minimum of 25000 PKR required for opening and 5000 PKR for maintaining. Profit is given with the rate of 5%. If the deposit is up to 10 million then the profit rate is negotiable. With drawls can be made through this account.

PLS (Profit & Loss Sharing Account):

It requires 5000 PKR for its opening as well as for maintaining. It provides profit with the rate of 5% and if the balance is well maintained then the profit rate is negotiable.

Foreign Currency Account:

It includes both current and saving accounts for Pakistani as well as NRP’s. Its opening requires cash in any currency that is equal to 10000 PKR.

MoneyGram:

Bank Alfalah limited, in association with MoneyGram, offers transfer of funds service to Pakistan. MoneyGram is person to person money transfer service that allows consumers to receive money in just a few minutes. MoneyGram is available in over 180 countries and in more than 190,000 locations worldwide.

Safe Deposit Lockers:

Bank Alfalah provides safe deposit locker facility to its customers for keeping their valuables like documents, securities and jewelery etc.

These lockers are maintained according to their size as small locker costs 2000 PKR per year , medium locker requires 3000 PKR per year, and large sized lockers requires 4000 PKR per year. In case of any theft bank insurance is up to 500000 PKR.

Consumer Financing

Car financing:

BAL provides the service of car leasing as well as financing. Now any one belonging whether to corporate or personal sector have the option to get their vehicle leased or financed by BAL.

Alfalah credit cards:

BAL also provides the credit card facility. Alfalah credit cards are divided in to 3 types of credit cards that are:

Gold/Classic Card

Titanium Card

Platinum Card

Gold/Classic Card:

We can call it a perfect card combination for all segments of salaried & professional individuals.

Titanium Card:

Alfalah Titanium MasterCard lets the customers pay for their shopping, travel, entertainment, meals and much more. With Alfalah Titanium MasterCard and PIN (Personal Identification Number) customer can withdraw any amount upto 50% of his/her assigned credit limit.

Platinum Card:

It is accepted at over 29 million locations in more than 200 countries around the globe and at over 27,000 establishments in Pakistan.

BAL has also introduced supplementary credit card, these credit cards can be given to any close ones like children, wife or to any one for using it.

Personal loan:

BAL also gives loan for personal use. Personal use can include anything related to customers personal life.

Housing finance:

BAL provides house financing services it includes

Financing for purchase of house

For maintenance of house

For construction of house

Alfalah Zarie Sahulat:

For the economic development of Pakistan BAL has designed Rural Finance Program named as “BANK ALFALAH ZARIE SAHULAT”.

Their main focus is to

Provide reliable infrastructure for agri customers

Help farmers utilize funds efficiently and effectively

Provide farmers an integrated package of credit, supervision and technical knowhow.

Criteria used for the issuance of this kind of financing are:

The applicant should be an individual /entity engaged in Agri activities.

The applicant should not be a defaulter of the banking system. 

The applicant must be able to produce proper securities acceptable to the Bank.

The applicant (individual / entity) shall be Pakistani / registered in Pakistan

The minimum and maximum age shall be 18 years and 65 years respectively (upper age limit relaxation considered on case to case basis). 

Other criteria considered necessary on case to case basis.

E-BANKING

Alfalah Bank also provides electronic banking facilities to its client. The services included are mentioned:

ATM:

BAL provides ATM cards to its customers and the card holder can easily access to its account through ATM card from any ATM machine all over the Pakistan.

Phone Banking:

It is another E-Banking facility provided by the BAL to its customers. Through this any one can easily inquire about the amount of credit present in its ATM or Credit card or in its bank account.

Online Banking:

Through this facility customer can easily transfer its money to any other bank through online transferring.

Learning as a Student Intern

Duties

As a student intern many different kinds of tasks were given to me during my internship period. I started performing my duties on the given task from the very first day I joined HR department of BAL head office Lahore.

Documentation :

First duty assigned to me was related to the documents that the files of employees of BAL contained. This exposure to the files was a necessary for me as without this I would never know that what are the documents which come under process while working in HR department of bank Alfalah. My duty was to separate some specific type of documents from the employee files. The documents to be sorted out were: clearance certificates, antecedent certificates, termination letters and release forms of the previous jobs of the employee.

JD Forms Audit:

I was also given a duty to read and collect the JD forms of few employees and then I had to enter their JD form related data in the data base of BAL.

Physical Audit:

I was also assigned with the duty to do the Physical audit of the total number of employee files and then update the recorded data to the data base of BAL.

Confirmation of References:

In BAL each employee has to give atleast 3 references to the HR department through which the management can investigate the required information of the employee. Another duty that was assigned to me was related to the references given by the employees of BAL. My duty was to first collect all 3 references of the employee after that I had to confirm those 3 references from the employee and then I had to call those references to ask the specified information regarding the employee. The information included the employee’s behavior, its capacity of working and its previous jobs description.

Contract Renewal:

Once my supervisor assigned me a duty to help out HR officer Ms. Shumaila. With her I learned about the contract renewal procedure of the employees who work on contract basis. My duty was to help her creating verification of contract renewal forms of some employees.

Loans Status of Employee:

I was also given a duty at the sub-department of HR department where I had to deal with the loaning systems to the employees. Duty assigned to me was to check whether the employee was previously given any loan or not.

Worked as an Information Officer:

I also worked at the recruitment center of the HR Department and I was assigned a duty to call the new candidates to give them the information regarding their test dates, procedures, and other information.

File Auditing:

I was also assigned a duty to do the file auditing of almost 120 files. In my audit I had to check that whether the certificates required by the BAL are complete or not.

New Knowledge Acquired

Learning at HR Department:

Through my internship I was able to understand the working and practical implementation of HR department in any organization. Without this exposure it would be impossible for me to understand the HR practical working in any organization.

Knowledge Enrichment:

This was a chance to understand the difference between professional and personal life. It gave me the knowledge about how to interact with others and how to react in different situations in the professional life. It also gave me knowledge that we should try to implement our management skills to manage a balance between our professional as well as personal life.

Practical Insight:

I came to know that studies on one hand teach us the way to survive in the professional as well as personal life, and many student after getting degrees think that they have accomplished what they had to and now they are ready for the professional work but when it comes to practical implementations of the studies in the professional working in any organization then at that time we need to have much flexibility and creativity to mold our education according to the situation and use our knowledge in the best way we can use. The situations and the problems that a person can face in the professional life are not always the same like one study in books. At different times and situations a person may face different kinds of problems.

Problem Encountered

Over all experience of my internship program was very knowledgeable as well as informative as my supervisor was cooperative enough that he didn’t let me have any problem during the internship period, but during this period I had to face very few problems as mentioned.

New Environment:

First problem that I faced was to get absorbed by the environment and create a balance between my professional and private life. It was much difficult for me to accept the professional ethics and understand them. This took a little time to make myself adjust to the new professional environment.

Gap between Academic & Professional Life:

In the starting I thought that everything I experience and every task would be as same as I have read in books and learned at the institute. This was a kind of problem for me because at practical implementation many things are not like we read in books. I had to face a little problem in understanding few policies as well as the working conditions in the organization.

Conflicts:

First time I got the opportunity to understand the professional environment and interact with different professional people. In between this period of internship I came through an experience of understanding some conflicts when people get interacted in professional environment.

How Experience Impacts my Career

My over all experience being an internee at Bank Alfalah Limited Head Office HR Department Lahore was full of knowledge and information. I went through different experiences and learned much. With the help of my supervisors I was able to get in touch with the professional life and was able to understand many complications that one can have in its professional life. During my internship program I came across many experiences. The experiences I had during my internship period have a deep impact on my future career.

Supporting for Career:

I got the opportunity to understand practically the HR field that is very beneficial to me as now I know that I have the caliber to choose this side in my career and now I can easily choose my field.

Knowledge enrichment:

Through my internship program I got the opportunity to get interacted with the professional life. I came across many professional people and I learned how to engage and react while having any problem or dealing with other people in professional life. It is very much beneficial for my future career life as it has given me the exposure of a professional life.

Skill Development:

I came to know that it is very important that we use our management skills and abilities to understand the environment around us and keep a balance between our professional and personal life. This experience will help me in both my career as well as personal life.

Practical Insight:

As I have experienced the professional life practically, now it is very easy for me to understand and live according to the ethics of the professional life style.

Conclusion

Currently the Bank Alfalah has almost 321 functioning branches and with its skillful management it is on its way to be one of the leading banks of Pakistan. Strategies and Goals of BAL have enabled it to continue its upwards climb in pursuit of excellence. Strengthened by Abu-Dhabi group and driven by strategic goals set out by its board and management, BAL increasingly inspires trust and confidence of all its clients and the number of clients is increasing significantly. The bank aims to further enhance the performance standards through implementation of innovation in both products as well as customer care. These achievements have been preceded by concerted efforts to provide highest level of service and values to its customers.

As nothing in this world can be said perfect; innovations, creations and needs keep on pointing the presence of excellence in every thing created by human. In the same case Bank Alfalah Limited being such an efficient and effective banking service provider can’t be counted as the perfect bank, it still needs much changing and innovations to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. For this the BAL has its skilful management who works hard enough and tries its best to give the best service they can give. The main focus of all the management always remained to make the BAL one of the leading banks of Pakistan and with its fast expansion strategies and creative innovations there are possibilities that BAL achieve its goals of being the leading Bank in its future.

As I have observed and concluded the SWOT analysis of BAL, I can easily predict that in the upcoming period Bank Alfalah it can avail many new opportunities and with its strengths and healthy sign of profitability, it can easily lead its way to words prosperity, with its fast expansion of networks, it is not difficult for BAL to become one of the leading banks of Pakistan.

Recommendations

After completing my internship period at BAL there are few recommendations that I would like to give that might help increasing the efficiency of BALs operations and employees working. Few of the recommendations are mentioned:

Technological Improvement:

As the BALs deposit have been increasing by the rate of 30% that shows a very healthy rate this indicates that it is time that BAL should invest on its betterment of technology measures. It can develop modern connectivity architecture to effectively maintain an online connection of the branch with other braches as well as it can start its own web banking portal that any customer may use at any time.

Rationalize Work Burden:

As I have completed my internship in the HR department, I have observed that BAL needs much more employees than present. There is a lot of work burden on single employee and this work load affects a lot the performance of the employee, this indicates that BAL needs to recruit more employees.

Participative Management:

Participative management concept should be adopted, where ideas from the employees should be taken not only for the betterment of BAL but also for the moral satisfaction and good environment.