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School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Al Akhawayn University

Chacha Camelia Benjelloun Touimy

Internship Chair:

Dr. Karim Moustaghfir

Academic Advisor:

Dr. Nancy Hottel

Third Committee Member:

Dr. Duncan Rinehart

Internship Report

Major in Human Resources Development

Fall 2008

Section 1:

I.Executive Summary

II.Description of the Organization

III.Overview of the Project and Personal Tasks

Section 2:

I.Context of the Study

II.Objectives of the Study and the Related Personal Objectives

III.Timeline of the Study

IV.Design Phase

A.The Survey Design

B.The Survey Structure and Content

V.Data Collection Phase

A.The Methods Used

B.The Resources Needed and Used

C.Process

VI.Analysis Phase

VII.Dissemination Phase

VIII.Suggestions

A.Problems Encountered

B.A List of Suggestions

Section 3:

I.Knowledge, Skills, Competencies and Points of View Learnt during the Internship

II.The Skills from AUI Courses and Activities Useful in the Internship

Conclusion

References:

Section 1:

I.Executive Summary

Doing the internship at DIORH, a consulting firm in Human Resources Management (HRM), has been an enriching experience at both the personal and the academic level. The project assigned was the Study on the Human Resources Function in Morocco. The integration occurred at the end of the design phase and for the data collection phase more importantly. Thus, the personal contributions to these two phases were the participation to the finalization of the survey to be administered to HR managers through suggestions of questions and of further axes to investigate, the completion and actualization of the database representing the sample of companies for the study, the contact through phone calls and emails with HR managers, the accomplishment of meetings with them to assist the filling of the survey, the organization of work in the database and in specific folders, appropriate daily and weekly reporting of the work and of any related issues encountered, the follow-up until validation of the surveys. Concerning the learning experience through this internship, the fact of learning how to interact in the workplace according to specific rules and procedures, how to organize the different tasks and subtasks related to a particular work, how to report effectively, as well as how to communicate professionally was effective background training necessary to the insertion in the workplace in the future. Also, the specific knowledge, skills and abilities learnt during the internship about the HR field provided a generic view on the job of HR managers in Morocco. This vision of reality, provided through a direct contact with HR managers from diverse companies and with the HR specialists or consultants within the firm, completes and reminds of the theoretical framework learnt in the university. There was some learning issues faced, which affected sometimes the personal contributions to the project. Essentially, it concerned the specific tools used in the HR field to measure different aspects of the human capital that the learning process undergone at AUI until now did not contain or exemplify and put into practice enough.

II.Description of the Organization

DIORH is a consulting firm specialized in human resources management. It was created by Mr. Essaid Bellal in 1993 in order to respond to the growing need of expertise in the domain of HRM in Morocco, to help the organizations build an added value from their human capital through the vision, strategy and tools used by the HR leaders. The company offers different services to their clients or, as it is more representative of the consulting vision, their partners. There are three structures that take care of offering these services: DIORH, the Institute of Human Resources (IRH) and DIORH D3. DIORH is the structure concerned with recruitment and consulting. The Institute of Human Resources, presided by Mr. Abdel-ilah Jennane, specializes in training and evaluation. It also provides several services such as career reorientation and team building. It is the branch of the organization in which I have done my internship during summer 2008, as I took part in the achievement of the study on the HR function in Morocco. The third structure, DIORH D3, is a delocalized branch of DIORH in Tangier which deals with recruitment, evaluation, consulting and training for the enterprises in the Northern region of Morocco (n.a, 2005).

Besides the diverse HR services performed by the members of the IHR, the Institute offers a cycle in human resources management for working individuals who wish to have a deeper knowledge of HR issues, management tools and the local context of the practice of this job. It has the equivalence of a master degree and is taught by professionals in the field.

III.Overview of the Project and Personal Tasks

Another major activity realized by the IHR is the study of the HR function in Morocco. This study has as major objective to uncover the existing priorities, practices, procedures, perceptions and tools in the HR field in Morocco. The chief project is Mr. Amine Laaouidi, who is a consultant also responsible for the training activity in the firm. The director of the project is Mr. Abdel-ilah Jennane, an expert consultant who participates in the consulting missions of the firm and manages the activities within the IRH. The Director of DIORH, Mr. Essaid Bellal, supervises and takes part of the whole development and progress of the study.

The direct supervisor at the IRH was Mr. Amine Laaouidi. He is involved in every step of the study process. After having started in the IRH as an intern for a period of six months, as a part of his master in the national school of business administration (ENCG) in Human Resources Management when he took care of this activity as a part-time preoccupation, he was hired as a consultant at DIORH and then moved to the IRH and took part in several editions of the of the study on the reward system in Morocco as well as taking charge of the study on the HR function in Morocco.

The intern joined the organization, as mentioned, at the pre-stage of the data collection phase. The delegated tasks were the actualization and testing of the tools of the study, the realization of meetings with HR managers, the reporting and verification of the coherence of data gathered. Another part of the project that was assigned on official convention she signed with the organization was the analysis phase through SPSS and Sphinx. However, since the data collection phase took more time that expected due to slowdowns in the level of activity due to the period chosen and other factors, this task was not carried by the intern who carried out the data phase collection only. This convention had set as dates of the internship from May 26th June, 2008 to July 19th July, 2008, which was a total of eight weeks. However, this time span would be increased voluntarily by the intern while working in the project to continue working on the data collection phase and preparing the floor for the analysis phase of the project. This initiative was born through a feeling of commitment to the project, to meet the specific objectives set at the beginning of the internship. This period was extended to August 13th, 2008, day of the last modifications saved on the enterprise system for final verifications to treat analytically the questionnaires.

Section 2:

I.Context of the Study

The first edition of the Inquiry on the HR Function in Morocco was held in 2001. The second one occurred in 2004 and was more centered on the HR tools that the enterprises disposed of (Please refer to Appendix 1 for more details on the 2004 edition). The inquiry reiterated this year responds to several needs of HR managers in Morocco, which were made evident in the main mission and objectives of the inquiry. The questionnaire has been adapted and deepened to concentrate more on the qualitative data concerning the management of human resources within organizations. Major steps have been improved in the development and realization of the project, so many more details on the conform methodology have been added in order to face the previous problems dealt with in the previous editions. This has been done through a critical evaluation of each phase of the project at the end of the project. My ambition after this internship is to make some suggestions, based on the problems I faced and the reasons I have attributed to them and on the knowledge I could get about the other steps of the project, in order to improve some of the aspects related to the realization of this inquiry for the next edition.

II.Objectives of the Study and the Related Personal Objectives

Concerning the goals of the study, they were articulated after a needs assessment phase in order to determine the specific needs of HR managers in Morocco in terms of quantitative and qualitative data that could be useful for a benchmark on the best practices and to situate one’s company within the representative sample. The comments and suggestions of the chosen HR managers were recorded and taken into consideration in the design of the survey. The objectives of the 2008 edition are as follow:

  • Establish a complete panorama of the HR function and its practices in Morocco.
  • Offer both quantitative but especially qualitative data on human resource management in Morocco.
  • Trace the evolution of the HR function in Morocco through the results of the editions 2001, 2004 and 2008.
  • Represent a panel of enterprises that dispose of a structure entirely dedicated to human resources management.
  • Figure out the role and weight of the HR function within the enterprise in Morocco.
  • Provide the enterprises with a relevant database in order to position them through a specific benchmark concerning their management of human resources.

As for the personal objectives in the frame of this study, as the intern joined the structure at the end of the design phase and for the data collection process, and possibly for the analysis phase, the objectives were articulated after the evaluation of the available time and resources in the data collection process as explained further (Please refer to part V. for additional information). The objectives set at the beginning of the internship were the same as the consultant who was the direct supervisor of the intern, Mr. Amine Laaouidi. The cadence of the data collection process was decided upon with Mr. Essaid Bellal according to the necessary tasks to perform, the timeline of the study and the targeted sample. Since the targeted number of the sample to reach was 150, Mr. Laaouidi and the intern had to reach 75 participants each, with the completed and validated versions of the survey. The related personal objectives were as follows:

  • Accomplish three to four appointments per day with the HR managers and show effectiveness in conducting one-to-one interview for the survey.
  • Communicate effectively and professionally with the participants and assist them in filling the questionnaire.
  • Refresh the database with the accurate contacts (name, phone, fax, mail and function).
  • Report with transparency on the process.
  • Respect the internal rules and procedures of DIORH (working hours, processes and others).

III.Timeline of the Study

The study was planned for a period of eight months, the first action which was the preparation of the necessary tools starting in February 2008 and the last step involving the dissemination of the results occurring in November 2008. For the timeline detailing the planned period or deadline for each action step, please refer to Appendix 2.

IV.Design Phase

A.The Survey Design

  1. Characteristics of the Population

The targeted population is composed of all the companies that dispose of a structured HR department or that has at least applied developed HR activities. The companies are national or multinational, of different sizes, and with no specific geographic location. However, since the Moroccan economic tissue is concentrated in the axe of Kenitra-El Jedida, most companies in the sample were situated mainly in Casablanca, Rabat and the neighbourhood. However, there were companies from Tangier, Marrakech, Agadir, Settat and other towns.

Concerning the HR professionals in these companies, they were preferred to be the highest officials in the HR department in order to give the more generic view of the HR function. However, if other HR employees were assigned the task of filling the questionnaire or part of it, data was to be considered as valid since the HR manager agrees to delegate such an important external reporting on the HR function of the company. Parameters such as age, gender, professional experience and the number of years spent in the organization were not taken into consideration in the sampling criteria but rather used as criteria for analysis.

In order to reach the targeted population, random sampling was used as a method first. Companies were chosen randomly, regardless of the criteria listed above. Then, the list had to be verified. The initial number was 350 companies, but the sample decreased as a lot of companies were not structured, or that actual HR managers, appointed toa brand new department for human resources management, judged that they were not eligible to answer the questionnaire. These two cases are just examples of the scenarios encountered while filtering the sample. Also, while the number of potential participants decreased on the basis of these criteria, the companies that would receive more attention were selected during the first meetings with Mr. Essaid Bellal. His choices were based on his knowledge about and interest for companies. There were 150 enterprises having priority. Also, other companies not present in the initial sample were introduced in the study in order to make meaning from the sectors of activity chosen, when there were not enough enterprises from a specific sector included. This was in order to make study more relevant and complete.

Companies were chosen from different sectors to represent the diverse economic tissue of Morocco and the relevance of the HR function in specific sectors, as well as to permit a benchmarkfor companies based on their specific branch of activity or sector. The eleven sectors represented in the study are:

- Pharmacy & cosmetics.

- Electricity, electronics & cabling.

- Communication, telecoms, telemarketing & off-shoring.

- Transport, automobile, mailing & logistics.

- Tourism, hotel trade & restoration.

- BTP,infrastructure & estate.

- Banking, insurance & finance.

- Mines, hydrocarbons & chemistry.

- Food industry, products of mass consumption & distribution.

- Textile.

- Wood, paper & packing.

  1. Organization of the Sample: The Database

The sample was organized in a database accessible by the two parties involved in the project through an enterprise system. The database was constituted on an Excel sheet with different domains specifying the following data: Name of the organization, Branch of activity, Sector of activity, Name of the participant, Function of the Participant (no specific list with a specific wording since sometimes the same function is entitled differently according the organization structure), Phone, Email, Fax number (facultative), Actual state (evolving according to phases in the data collection process: First, there were domains such as to call immediately, contact to verify, not participating; then, as the surveys were administrated, questionnaires sent to fill in at distance, received after a meeting, in verification and validated were others domains added), and Commentary (the parties involved in the data collection phase were responsible of keeping this field updated and to keep track of the history with the company; for example, the reasons for not participating, the hour and day to call the participant back, if the participant has travelled somewhere, important changes in the organization as well as other types of comments depending on the situation).

  1. Personal Contributions

- Completion of the missing information in the database: sector, branch of activity, name of the HR leader or the person taking charge of the HR activities within the potential participating organization, his or her telephone number, email and fax number, which is facultative.

- Actualization of the database while in progress: The names or mails entered in the list in the beginning had to be refreshed as the notification of receipt of the participation mailing indicated an erroneous mail or while contacting the enterprise to make an appointment with the HR leader, the person on the phone(the switchboard operator or a member of the HR department staff)that the person left the organization. Also, modifications had to be entered when newspapers announced some major change in the status or structure of a company as for Attijari Wafabank which has undergone a major restructuring in June 2008 or British American Tobacco, Frumat which has become Citruma in 2004 etc. Also, new companies were added such as some of those that participated in the 2001 edition and/or 2004 edition or companies which would homogenize the sample and represent more thoroughly the various sectors defined. In addition to this, as the targeted sample consisted only of the organizations which were structured in terms of Human Resources Management, there was a confusion whether the enterprises having developed HR activities but not a department, division or direction specialized in this function would be included. There was a case by case treatment, where some were included and others not. The intern called this category of the sample and asked them about their HR activities which were then reported to her direct supervisor in order to discuss the case with him and for him to discuss it with Mr. Essaid Bellal in order to have the validation for their integration in the sample.. Also, since the aim was to reach preferably the HR leaders, special attention was paid to the contacts in the list who were prior clients of some consultants at DIORH, in charge of the compensation and benefits system, of the training functional area or another functional area. Dealing with the HR functional area’s manager required delicacyin the process of ensuring the person had the approval of the HR leader to take charge of filling the survey or to get in touch with the HR leader through the person. Other updates were necessary throughout the data collection phase, for example the verification of the sector and branch of activity from the questionnaire filled in out to avoid false categorization.