Al Akhawayn University, IfraneC.Benjelloun/documents/internshipreport.doc · Web viewInternship...
Transcript of Al Akhawayn University, IfraneC.Benjelloun/documents/internshipreport.doc · Web viewInternship...
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:...............................................................................................................2I. Executive Summary........................................................................................................2
II. Description of the Organization......................................................................................3
III. Overview of the Project and Personal Tasks..................................................................4
Section 2:...............................................................................................................6I. Context of the Study.......................................................................................................6
II. Objectives of the Study and the Related Personal Objectives........................................6
III. Timeline of the Study......................................................................................................8
IV. Design Phase...................................................................................................................8
A. The Survey Design......................................................................................................8B. The Survey Structure and Content............................................................................12
V. Data Collection Phase...................................................................................................16
A. The Methods Used....................................................................................................17B. The Resources Needed and Used..............................................................................17C. Process......................................................................................................................18
VI. Analysis Phase..............................................................................................................23
VII. Dissemination Phase.....................................................................................................24
VIII.Suggestions...................................................................................................................24
A. Problems Encountered..............................................................................................24B. A List of Suggestions................................................................................................26
Section 3:.............................................................................................................29I. Knowledge, Skills, Competencies and Points of View Learnt during the Internship...29
II. The Skills from AUI Courses and Activities Useful in the Internship.........................34
Conclusion...........................................................................................................36References:..........................................................................................................37
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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 to a 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 benchmark for companies based on their specific branch of activity or sector. The
eleven sectors represented in the study are:
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- 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.
2. 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
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somewhere, important changes in the organization as well as other types of comments
depending on the situation).
3. 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
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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 delicacy in 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.
B. The Survey Structure and Content
1. The Structure of the Survey
Since one of the objectives of the study was to obtain more qualitative
information, open-ended as well as fill-in-the-blank questions were used. Also, there was a
space devoted to the comments of the participants in order to keep a track of their own words
and be sure not to miss any additional information that completes a closed question or
explains it. This was especially relevant and useful while asking the participants about their
role and weight in the organization. Specific verbal and nonverbal feedback could be filled in
to double-check the information by asking an indirect question and either validate or return to
the question in a tactful manner to change the response. A lot of questions were multiple
choices, especially to get information on the strategic goals and missions of the HR function,
the problems faced or the challenges to come. These questions, as well as others such as the
criteria for selecting freshly graduated candidates, were often accompanied by Likert-type
scales in order to get a ranking of priorities and criteria for different purposes. Also, the
questions used a technology in Excel that permits to select an answer from a list such as for
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the type of degree held by the HR manager and other HR employees. Closed-ended questions
were also used to determine the actual use or availability of HR tools.
Another important thing to mention about the survey structure was the use of some
questions that served two purposes. At the same time as getting new information, answers
from previous questions were double-checked in order to unveil confusion in the question or a
mistake due to inattention. This method in designing the survey is a sign of the validity of the
answers of the HR participants and the indicators presented in the study.
2. The Content of the Survey
The survey would take up to two hours to be filled. Since one of the objectives of the
study is to get a generic panorama on the HR function in Morocco and to uncover the specific
practices, procedures and tools used by HR managers as well as their role and weight in the
company, the survey dealt with ten major parts or sections. The preliminary steps were to get
information on the enterprise profile, the HR function profile. Then, the role and weight of the
HR function were inspected in different parts of the survey regarding the different activities of
the HR function. The weight could be traced according to the level of the participation of the
HR function in the strategic decision decision-making process of the whole organization and
the decision-making power in certain matters concerning HR activities such as recruitment,
training and others. A specific section was devoted to the available tools. A part was devoted
to the concerns of the HR function, specifically its goals and objectives. The other parts dealt
with the different HR functional areas: Recruitment and integration, performance evaluation,
internal communication, training and rewards and benefits. The final part was used to uncover
the level of commitment to the legal framework. Additional details on each part or section are
described below:
o Enterprise profile (Nature of the enterprise, turnover, manpower, and salary
fund by category of employees, number of nationalities represented, quality
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certification, sector and branch of activity, age pyramid, and quotation in the
Stock Exchange).
o Profile of the HR function (number of employees in the HR function, profile of
the HR leader and HR employees: their job title, age, level of studies, nature of
their studies etc., HR activities outsourcing, the activities taken in charge of by
the HR function totally or partially, the role of the HR function within the
organization etc.)
o Weight of the HR function (whether the HR function participates in the
definition of the objectives of the organization and other functions).
o Concerns of the HR function (the strategic missions of the HR function, the
level of decision-making of the HR function concerning activities such as
recruitment and training, the problems and challenges of the HR function,
goals and objectives, challenges and problems faced).
o HR tools (HRIS, job descriptions, HR balanced scorecard, competitive social
policy, social audit, competencies cartography and other tools).
o Recruitment and integration (turnover rate, number of recruitments and
departures, sources of identification for the workforce planning, different
methods of recruitment, recruitment policy, the profile which is the most
demanded, tendencies of recruitment, integration procedures and methods
etc.).
o Performance evaluation (MBO, criteria of performance in the performance
appraisal system, detection of high potentials’ system etc.).
o Rewards and benefits (objectives and procedure, types of job classification,
salary grid, bonuses, who decided of the components of remuneration etc.).
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o Training (training budget, types of training, objectives from training, training
evaluation, process and procedure, OFPPT).
o Internal communication (on what does the enterprise communicate, how it
communicates it: team buildings, internal newspaper etc., actions for group
cohesion, perception of the internal climate).
o Legal framework (relationship with union representatives, doctor, comity,
working hours etc.)
3. Personal Contributions
The intern contributed to this phase in the following way:
- Proofreading the questionnaire from potential mistakes that may appear
unprofessional.
- Making propositions to clarify the confusing questions or concerning the
coordination between the questions. The changes proposed concerned the wording of
questions and the transition from a question to another.
- Preparing suggestions for potential questions or axes of questions to add in the
questionnaire: Questions concerning the change in the style, approach and tools of human
resources managements that globalization imposes seemed significant to elaborate. Also,
since there was a question in the Enterprise Profile section of the survey, the intern proposed
questions on diversity management. Besides, the intern was interested in knowing the
management approach used by the HR leaders in order to stay aligned with the goals and
objectives of the organization as a whole and what specific actions serve this purpose; for
example, what actions are taken to reduce the costs of HR activities in order to respond to
organizational approach of cost-containment or reduction if this was the case. It was also of
interest to the intern to know about all the mechanisms of decision-making and points of
views of HR leaders concerning downsizing, and if some specific actions are undertaken in
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order to keep employee morale up after the downsizing if the company had to reduce its
workforce in the latest years (three or five years). Moreover, it appeared useful to add a
question on the different pressures HR managers get from the top management. Other
questions judged interesting concerned their vision of the human capital in the organization:
as the key to the success of the organization, as a constraining factor and why (it could be
because employees are seen to lack the competencies to perform their jobs at the standards
and criteria set), as well as other options. Also, the intern proposed to figure out the HR
professionals’ points of views on the problems affecting employee performance. Furthermore,
in the section concerning the evaluation system, it seemed interesting to add a question on the
different types of performance evaluation such as the 360° performance appraisal, the bar
graph and other tools and methods.
- Making propositions for the design of the survey to CEOs: questions from the
questionnaire and new questions to present in the second survey that was used as a support to
the results of the study (around 10 questions, only to some CEOs, not every CEO from every
participating company).
V. Data Collection Phase
This section presents the personal contributions to the phase according to the specific process
used in the data collection phase, determined previously and modified personally with the
agreement of Mr. Amine Laaouidi. Certain flexibility in decision-making about the methods
was given to the intern, since the major focus was to get the results in the quickest and most
effective way. However, some specific deontological rules and procedures had to be
respected.
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A. The Methods Used
The data collection phase uses many methods to get the participation of the HR
specialists. The usual method chosen was the in-person interview to fill in the survey as
explained above. The intern used a PC to enter data, and sometimes printed the survey when
there was more convenience to it, and data was entered the same day on the enterprise system.
The other methods used to collect missing or to correct confusing information filled in by the
participant after controlling the coherence of data alone or jointly with Mr. Amine Laaouidi
were: mailing the survey back to the participant with specific sections or questions to look at
or an Excel file grouping together the sections or questions to be filled in or verified in order
to make it easier for the participant; contacting the participants by phone and doing it
gradually which was less time-consuming when the participant was available but resort to the
previous method was often the only way to get information when the participant was not
available or busy.
B. The Resources Needed and Used
The main resources needed for this phase, entered in the budget of the study were as
follows:
- A phone line specific to the study that the intern used for contacting the
enterprises at all levels.
- A personal computer linked to the organizational server.
- Fees associated with transportation means (taxi, train) to conduct the
meetings for data collection purpose.
- Paper for printed surveys.
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C. Process
The process of the data collection is summarized in the table below as a timeline and
according to the recurrence of the task. It includes the major activities undertaken by the
intern during this phase:
Activity or Task Time and frequency
Send the participation mailing Prior to phone calls, and if need be through
the whole process (in case of a wrong mail,
or addition of a company in the sample)
Contact the enterprises by phone On a daily basis, for several purposes
Send the questionnaire via mail Instantly after getting the person on the
phone (June, July and first half of August)
*Realization of meetings to fill-in the survey June, July and first half of August
Send mails to thank the participants Instantly after coming back from the
appointment on a continuous basis
Control of the coherence of data gathered The same or following day of the meeting +
first half of August as a major task
Validate the surveys Depending on the time when missing data
was received
Keep the database updated On a daily basis, for different needs
Collect data from remote participants June, July and August
* This activity is underlined because it was the most important one in the data collection phase.
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The process is presented here in detail with the specific sub-tasks related:
- Sending the participation mailing: As part of this task, the intern had to check and
enter in the database those who had received the mail and those who did not, those who read it
and those who did not (thanks to an option in Outlook Express) in order to verify the validity
of the email addresses (or even people) in the database, set a priority list on who to contact for
meetings (those who have read first, those who haven’t read later) and know who to contact
for getting the right mail or to put under the status of contacts to verify (those who did not
receive the mail). Please refer to Appendix 3 for the model of the participation mailing.
- Contact the enterprises: The intern established, along with her direct supervisor,
the guidelines for the arguments to provide to HR managers on the phone or via mail for the
“marketing” of the inquiry. The intern had to be wary of the reaction she would have to fears
and apprehension, anticipate questions, and have a pleasant but firm tone as well as never
show hesitation. Also, the intern used to elaborate a “tactical communication style” in order to
get an appointment and at the desired time, and maintained an updated commentary for each
enterprise contacted (time, day, week or month to call back, reasons, any information about
the company judged relevant, and the name of the secretary). In the beginning, the intern
announced two hours for the meeting, but after getting some negative responses because of
the time constraint, she decided to announce an hour and a half or an average of an hour and a
half and to manage the time of interviews in a better way. Once the appointment fixed, the
intern registered the day and time in the Planning document for June, July and August, which
was shared with her supervisor on the enterprise server. This information was recorded in a
different color in the database as a reminder, as well as the entire address in order to plan
ahead for the time transportation would take.
- Send the questionnaire via mail: The intern elaborated a standard mail that would
be sent to the HR manager inviting him or her to consult the questionnaire before the
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appointment or to answer some questions he/she thinks would need specific data processing
or research (because the intern knew that an hour and a half announced in the phone was only
possible if all the data are available and not too much time is spent on the explanation of
questions and terms or on digressions made by the participants).
- Realization of the appointments for data collection: The transportation mean used
by the intern was the taxi when the appointment was in Casablanca and the train when it was
in Rabat, so she took the initiative to keep an Excel file for the transportation fees that would
be validated by the supervisor sometimes and handed to the accountant on a frequency that
depended on the level of activity and price. Usually, the intern used the PC provided at the
workplace in order to enter the data as soon as the participant gave an answer; this is a better
method since it avoids repeating the task of entering data. Sometimes, the intern read loudly
the questions and the participant followed in his or her screen and provided quicker answers
this way. Also, sometimes the answer was inferred from a discussion based on the question,
and validated by the participant afterwards. The intern had to be well-dressed and always in a
good mood and vivid during the appointments. Extra information was entered on the
commentary fields of the survey. While some data was controlled during the interview when
noticing some contradictions, other data would be available only after the HR leader checks
with the financial department for quantitative data or with HR employees for their academic
background, age or other information, or verifies his files for the training budget in 2007, the
number of recruitments, the turnover rate etc. Sometimes, the participants did not know about
some HR tool and the intern had to explain briefly what it is. Other times, it was an abstract
concept that the intern had to define and explain in the context of the question. The intern had
to learn about specific HR practices to give concrete examples, for example about the
percentage of allocations that makes a social policy competitive. It was like a test at each
appointment, or an interview to get a job. And whenever the intern judged that her knowledge
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was insufficient in a matter, she used to seek information in the net or with her supervisor to
send her some related document. The intern had to be able to sustain a brief discussion on
particular HR tools and practices, in the Moroccan context and in general. The stake of this
issue was very big since the intern was a representative of the firm with the participants, who
represented potential clients in the future or who had already worked with the cabinet and had
usually high expectations. The intern was supposed to show as much professionalism and
knowledge as a consultant would be able of on the issues discussed. The intern was conscious
that the image of the cabinet was at stake whenever there was a contact with an HR manager.
However, there were some learning issues related to this particular activity, which is the main
one in the project. For more information on the nature of the problem and a suggestion to
solve it, please refer to Part VII in Section 2. This step of the process was also the most
enriching in terms of the professional abilities learnt and the knowledge acquired through the
interactions with the HR managers. Please refer to Section 3 for more detail on the
knowledge, skills, abilities and points of views learnt on the job.
- Sending mails to thank the participants: Elaboration of standard mails reminding
the period of the results report and reminding that Mr. Amine Laaouidi and the intern were at
disposal for any additional information or to respond to any need. This notice was integrated
systematically in the mails, showing the high customer service orientation of DIORH. The
intern would feel the importance of this mail after a complaint from a prior client that in some
edition, he was not thanked to participate.
- Collect data from remote participants: Remote companies were also targeted. The
data collection phase with these companies followed somewhat the same process, except that
after the questionnaire was sent, the intern had to keep track of the sending date on the
database as a reminder to contact the enterprise a week later or for the HR managers who
forgot about it or faked to forget about it, the intern could trace back the date of the mail
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quickly. Also, any other information judged important was recorded in the database after any
phone call in order to keep track of the specific history of each enterprise and remember the
participant. This was not only important for the intern’s follow-up of the collection phase but
also for Mr. Amine Laaouidi or the next person to work with them to have a detailed history
of the case. The intern used to record even the impressions or complaints. This permitted to
choose the appropriate way to talk with the person the next time. Also, the intern used to try
getting a person’s promise for a certain deadline to send back the questionnaire so that she
could call back that day and ask the person if she had sent the questionnaire and she did not
receive it. This served as a tactful reminder.
- Control of the coherence of data gathered: Once the questionnaire was filled in,
the intern was responsible of checking data back at the firm or at home if the appointment
lasted late in the afternoon. She then highlighted the confusing, contradictory or missing
information that required a specific data processing or that would be provided by another
member of the company. Most of the times, the intern prepared an Excel sheet grouping
together all the incomplete information and joining clarifications on the information needed
when the information entered was not appropriate. Some HR managers, who were very
hurried during the appointments and very difficult to reach, had to be handled differently. The
requirement should not seem too long to complete and too hard to look for. For this purpose,
notifications such as “only this information is needed” and “please specify the reasons why
not providing this data” were joined to the sheet. This would also avoid the repetition of task
of sending again the mail with the attached file. Some recurrent verification consisted of
checking if the number of employees per category was equal to the total number of
employees, same thing for the pyramid of age and salary funds. Other information to check
was that all HR employees were included in the definition of jobs for the HR function and the
profile of the HR employees holding these job titles, if data answered to the same question
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posed differently was coherent and others. The last two weeks or so of the intern concentrated
on this activity. Mr. Amine Laaouidi took in charge the appointments the intern did in order
for her to concentrate on the final tasks of verifying the content of questionnaires and leaving
the final version of the database with a maximum of notices on the state of advancement of
contact with enterprises.
- Do the necessary follow-up for a final validation of the survey: by sending mail
reminders, through phone calls, completion of the questionnaire by phone or coming back to
the organization to complete the questionnaire.
- Keeping the database updated on the state of completion of the questionnaire:
(the fields have been changed several times in order to fit the phases of the study; the last
fields were: Questionnaire (Q) in progress at distance, Q received at distance/in current
review/validated, Q received after appointment/in current verification/validated, contacts to
verify, to call immediately, withdrawal) and put the questionnaire in the appropriate shared
folder (received, in current verification, validated). The names of the domains were the same
on the direct supervisor’s file and the intern one in order to be able to sort out information in
order to report on the progress of the project either for the meetings with Mr. Amine Laaouidi
or for the weekly meetings with Mr. Essaid Bellal.
VI. Analysis Phase
As mentioned earlier, the intern was not part of this phase and thus, had no specific
information on the techniques used for the analysis of the data gathered. A second intern was
hired for this purpose as the first one (myself) was responsible for keeping the contact with
the participants as it was judged not professional to delegate the responsibility to other parties
in which they have not been in touch through the whole process. Sphinx and SPSS were used
to analyze data.
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VII. Dissemination Phase
The indicators calculated in the analysis phase are displayed in the dissemination
phase as general indictors, not involving the name of any participant or the name of the
organization. The results will be transmitted in November to all participants with no fee
incurred, an agent from the organization delivering it to the participating organization. Also,
different institutions in Morocco and abroad will benefit from these results, among which
AUI and other universities in Morocco. Concerning the media involved in publicizing the
study and the availability of its results will be press and radio releases. In addition to that,
some HR participants are invited to analyze and discuss the results of the study afterwards.
VIII. Suggestions
A. Problems Encountered
During the internship, there were some hindrances to the optimum success of the project.
Certain problems encountered are:
1. HR managers were very difficult to reach in great part because of the data collection
phase happened during summer. Thus, the process has suffered from some slowdowns
in the level of activity. It could be that it is not the optimal period to collect data
because HR managers usually take their holiday breaks during summer for extended
periods (around fifteen days generally) and the month or so preceding their holiday
breaks are especially busy since they try to get the work done and anticipate. Thus,
some were unavailable and asked for extended deadlines (August and September). It is
also a problem for the task of controlling the coherence of data.
2. The documents asked for at the beginning of the internship were only received at some
days of the end. These documents were supposed to help the intern have a clear vision
of what tools measured, when they were used and what they looked like. Also, they
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contained theories and information relevant to the survey content. The intern judged
the criticality of these documents are very important in the realization of appointments
since she could have been answering questions with more details and self-confidence,
whereas sometimes she gave just the sketch line of notions I had learnt at AUI or read
in specialized magazines.
3. The objective of checking the accuracy of data in the database for 350 enterprises in
two or three days was not realistic.
4. There was sometimes repetition of tasks and loss of time. At the beginning, the
procedure for doing a task before another one led to a loss of time. The participation
mailing had to be sent at the same time to all the participants after checking the
accuracy of the contacts on the database. Sending the participation mailing would help
in determining which contacts are inaccurate through the notification of receipt and
the companies would be contacted by phone one less time.
5. Transportation by taxi has as a major drawback that it creates a loss of time.
Sometimes, the intern had to wait for more than an hour to get a taxi back and forth.
So, a lot of wasted time in transportation. Also, transportation by train, as the intern
was doing the shuttle backwards and forward resulted sometimes in fatigue that
hindered the personal performance level.
6. The fact that the special day that the company wanted to organize in Tangier in order
to invite the participants and make them fill the questionnaire around this meetings
was not sure to take place, the companies located in Tangier had been pushed aside
during 4 or 5 weeks from the beginning of the data collection phase. Although some of
them have reached, this hesitation has hindered a little the possibility of having more
participants.
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B. A List of Suggestions
The first suggestion concerns the next intern assigned on the following edition of
the study of the HR function in Morocco at DIORH. The job responsibilities for the data
collection phase of this project require a certain set of knowledge, skills and abilities in
order to perform at the desired standards. The training program would emphasize the
following KSAs that are judged by the intern as critical success factors for this job:
- Knowledge: Knowledge of the HR tools and practices generally and for the Moroccan
context.
- Skills: Communication skills, self-management skills, interviewing skills.
- Ability: Cautiousness.
- Attitude: Self-confidence.
Preparation phase:
Knowledge increases self-confidence and is critical since the realization of meetings to
collect data from HR managers requires the full mastery of the concepts and terms
presented in the survey.
A pre-test can be administered to the new intern on their actual knowledge based on the
content of the survey. If the score is judged to be unsatisfactory, it would be appropriate to
devote five days of training to the new intern to master the survey or in other words to
increase his or her knowledge about HR issues, specifically the tools and practices of the
HR function and also about the Moroccan labor code and . The supervisor would select
the convenient material to learn based on the false answers on the test. Printed material to
study would be handed to the intern. This material includes organizational documents,
specialized magazine articles and documents or reviews of HR specialists’ presentations.
The learning process will be supervised closely, and the supervisor should be available to
answer the intern’s questions in real time. Also, he/she would supervise the whole
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intensive process of learning through discussions at the end of each day and face-to-face
questions as a post-assessment method. This will familiarize the intern with the reality of
his/her job duties and tasks as HR managers can ask him/her questions related to any
survey’s concepts, questions and terms used. In this respect, three sessions of role plays
would take place at the end of each day by different members of the organization. In the
first session, the member of the organization imitating the HR leader will act as if in a
stress interview by asking the maximum questions and tricky ones. The second role play
will involve another member of the organization engaged in the study who will act as a
typically difficult-to-handle participant (digresses, answers the phone, asks to report the
meeting, is bored and other bahaviors). The third session will consist of a mix between the
first and the second one and would represent a typical, average scenario that would be
faced during the data collection phase. Also, the process of the job should be handed to
the intern at the beginning in order to have a clear idea of the steps to follow and a
reminder on the specific KSAs and attitudes needed to perform the job would be
emphasized. Also, the intern would have a simulation module encompassing all the steps
of the process. A ready-made list of standard mails for different stages of the data
collection process would be handed in along with a set of guidelines from previous people
holding the same responsibilities in previous years on the specific communication tricks,
phrases and techniques to avoid and how to establish contact, how to bring back a person
tactfully from her digressions to concentrate on the following question, argumentation tips
and other tips. This would permit to keep the knowledge and skills of past job holders
inside the organization, on the basis of knowledge sharing. The intern, this way, would
learn from the previous job holders’ own experiences. Behaviour modification can be
assisted through the whole process by encouraging the disclosure of any “non conformity”
to the supervisor and seeking advice on how to handle the situation better.
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Other suggestions:
Planning another period for the data collection process.
Doing a general update or review of the database every year by the assistant along
with the mandatory update of the contacts of the clients of each member of the firm in
order not to loose time on updating the database. Also, everybody in the organization
can benefit from it instead of looking for the person who knows the client to get their
contact. There is a shared database in Outlook; however, not everybody can change
and data is not accurate in it. Actually, it is the opposite which is done: The study
permits to update this network.
Keep homogeneous database filtering with the same domains across the study or to
change not more than twice because it causes a loss of time to update every time the
enterprises on the new fields defined (It can take one whole morning, the equivalent of
an average of one to two possibilities of appointments).
Plan for transportation mean (facultative).
Agree upon a deadline of three days to complete the missing information with the
participant at the end of the meeting.
Section 3:
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I. Knowledge, Skills, Competencies and Points of View Learnt during the
Internship
Some of the documents provided at the end of the internship are as follows:
Leadership Competencies. Public Service Commission of Canada, Staffing
Programs Branch.
How to manage high potentials?
Performance Management. EUROGROUP Consulting Alliance
Workforce Planning: Effective Approaches and Practices. Presentation prepared
by Hewitt Associates for an HR Meeting.
How to Write a Great Business Plan. William A. Sahlman. Harvard Business
Review.
What is a referential of competencies?
How to conduct a social audit?
The difference between the different methods for job classification (by criteria,
global and standard)
The first direct source of information was my supervisor. His sense of organization,
rigor at work, precision and knowledge in HR matters has been of great teaching during my
internship. As he has been previously working on the same project (however with a wider
scope since he was involved in many more steps of the realization of the inquiry), he knew
what kind of prejudice, difficulties, ambitions or interests I would have at this stage of the
project. For example, when I was working on the actualization of the database, I sometimes
felt the task was repetitive and “administrative”, a feeling he could rapidly frame within the
project as an enabling tool to live the very enriching experience of being in direct contact with
the participants and many more experiences I would appreciate as the project was in progress.
Also, my curiosity and eagerness to learn more about the HR field, to know about all the HR
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tools and practices were something he had already experienced. My relationship with him was
one of a partner. He had told me at the beginning that he was not looking for an assistant to
his job but for a partner that would split the work with him and achieve it at the same pace
and with the same standards as him, as well as someone who can make suggestions for the
improvement of the work at every step or task involved. I liked this team spirit and as soon as
I started my internship, I felt the growing commitment to the success of the project.
The new skills I have learnt can be grouped under two major classes: specific and
generic skills. The specific technical skill I have learnt is the good use of Excel. I worked with
it during my whole period of internship and learnt new techniques with my supervisor to
make data accessible rapidly and with easier methods. As we worked on the project, we often
had to classify the enterprises by several types of criteria, to be able to sort them out quickly,
to have a clear number of this classification each time and other technicalities. The other
specific skill I have learnt is professional communication. Professional communication is
much more sophisticated and formal than in everyday life. The channels used are more varied.
Also, I have experienced a change from the American style of communicating that we use
with the teaching body and hierarchy in AUI which is direct to the point, clear and concise,
certainly not pedantic and overloaded with courtesy. In this work I had to accomplish,
communication was an important key to the success of the inquiry. A human being may react
negatively a message just because of non-conformity in the way the person addresses herself
to them, by the fact that we often associate the message to the sender of the message even if
the person is just a vehicle of the message. Learning the techniques of communicating with
professionals, how to present myself to them, how to keep one’s cool in front of a catastrophic
scenario, how to contain one’s emotions and have a sort of contained spontaneity while in
discussion with them even if they give a funny anecdote or a personal confidence will serve
me in the future as I will have to deal with different people every day.
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Moreover, this repeated contact with clients, would it be through phone calls or
appointments, helped me build confidence and express myself more easily on professional
matters.
I also learnt argumentation skills. Sometimes, contacting an HR manager to set an
appointment was not an easy matter. In the beginning, if an HR manager would refuse to
participate to the inquiry, I would feel a little bit blocked and hesitate as for the answer to
give. As time passed, I was able to let the HR manager finish and construct meanwhile a set
of arguments that would contradict his reasons for not participating. I used to have
argumentative skills with people I feel no pressure with. Now, I can construct arguments very
rapidly and in a natural manner with people I feel pressure with also. It has started to seem to
me as a game to play, a sheet to fill in the blanks or a chess game. Sometimes, it was even
funny as I started to develop techniques of argumentation and finished by imposing tactfully a
day and time that would fit the project. This is an important gain on my personal
development. Experience is a very good teacher, and the instinct of improvement is one
possible way to performance.
The generic skills I have learnt during my internship are skills that will serve my
employability to meet the demands of the job market in the future. These concern the work
organization, reactivity to changing environment; constant reporting of activities and works
accomplished and of non-conformities, stress control. I had to be very organized from the
beginning of the project. I had a hard time in the beginning to do so, because I used to have
reminders flying on my desk and undertaking tasks informally and incompletely as I was
asked to do several things at the same moment and faster. However, as I moved in the project,
the creation of a commentary column in the database seemed necessary and settling down to
write a coherent sequence of tasks for the day helped me shape my work and feel less stressed
by the amount of work I had to deal with. I learnt a lot from my supervisor’s sense of
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organization and methodology. While I used to work in a disperse manner, responding to the
first wave of emergency coming, I have learnt to set priorities for tasks and ensure a follow-
up for the companies dealt with. I could spend hours thinking about the conception of a
project and would feel very tight and disturbed by rules and procedures of work imposed. I
still have to learn a lot in this domain, but I can feel the improvement.
The points of view I have learnt during the internship concern in part my career
orientation. As a beginner in the field of HR management, I did not have a clear vision of the
path to follow for a successful career process in the field. Talking with my supervisor about
his ambitions, seeking advices from him and paying attention to the profile of the HR leaders
helped me have a clearer idea about my career orientation, or how to get enough knowledge,
skills and competencies in the field. He had shared with me his point of view that the best
start in the field was an experience of 4 to 5 years in consulting in order to capitalize practical
know-how, have a wide picture of the function and its practices, know about the needs of this
function and the diverse set of gaps underlying HR management in Moroccan firms, strategic
thinking etc. He told me that I could have opportunities to be an HR responsible but it would
not be interesting since I would not bring about the change I could bring after more
experience. As I say in my internal journal, the youngest HR leader making the exception had
28 years old. The others young managers were about 34 and 36. They were the youngest I
have met. As an HR manager from a big multinational told me and which I have shocked of
was the pretension on salary and job position of freshly graduated AUI students holding a
bachelor degree who expected to earn 20 000 to 25 000 DH and hold a manager’s or chief of
division position in the company in the field of their studies whereas he said “the content was
not that impressive.” I felt insulted but had to keep my cool because he was not supposed to
know I was an intern studying at AUI, but said that some cases cannot generate a
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generalization that judges the level of AUI students and that a comparison between the course
materials provided, the tasks, performance standards etc. would be more accurate.
I noticed also the high rate of woman in this field.
I discovered that an HR manager (Responsible resources Humaines) had far more
activities and job responsibilities than the HR leader in the structure.
Moreover, I have noticed that the preoccupations of the HR function varied
consistently. Sometimes the biggest concern is to maintain the social stability in the enterprise
when there is tension between union representatives and top management. The job needs then
patience and pronounced negotiation skills. In other structures, the function has not moved yet
from its administrative status and is not yet concerned about strategic issues and contribution
to the development of human resources bur rather to their administrative management such as
payroll and the legal training. In many structures, especially multinational corporations, HR
management procedures are set up from the head office and the regional HR leader has a
strategic mission, but this does not mean that in other national companies, it is not the same.
There is a big difference in the management of human resources from a company to
another. Important factors I have the impression have a say in determining this role are the top
management concern for HR issues and recognition of the added-value from HR activities and
their perception of its role, the knowledge, skills and competencies of HR managers, the
directives and procedures of the head office in case of a multinational corporation, the nature
of the problems encountered and others.
Besides, the questionnaire in itself was an important source of knowledge because I
could see what issues an HR leader thinks about, potential problems and challenges he or she
faces, the several HR activities and tools to implement as a skeleton of information and basis
for HR activities, evaluation and planning for future actions and other information.
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I learnt from the interaction with HR managers, how they talk about their job, the
commentaries on their answers which give details of reality, their opinions for example of the
benefits of job classification, their approach to HR management. One that hasmarked me
specifically was an old man who had worked in the finance area previously and who talked
about his job as an art of living, a diplomat and despot job at the same time, and he said: “The
key to be a good HR manager is to know exactly the jobs and to be very close to employees.”
He had performed every single job in relationship with customer service for a brief period of
time to know how much time it took to realize different tasks and uncover the hindering
factors of low job performance. He also told me the story of a young man having talent
(detection of high potentials was done with the naked eye) that he sent to do several trainings
at the international level and who learnt English very rapidly and learnt new skills and
competencies to be promoted to a job he liked very much. He talked about the satisfaction he
had from seeing a person fulfilled in her career.
II. The Skills from AUI Courses and Activities Useful in the Internship
First, our studies in AUI teach us to think as HR leaders but we are not brought at the
beginning to deal with such an exhaustive responsibility. I think we are prepared mentally but
not practically to this job; at least, it is my point of view of the moment whereas I have not
completed all my HR courses at AUI. At AUI, for every field, we learn a specific line of
thinking. In the HR field, we learn the system thinking and a process, detailed manner for
solving problems.
The courses that helped me in the internship are first the courses of my major,
Introduction to HRD, Human Capital Management and Strategic HRD; the first one because it
gives a clear overview of the HR major concerns, the second one because it tackles more
specifically the different HR areas and the third one because I knew what an HR balanced
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scorecard was, the strategic missions of the HR function, how to conduct an HR plan’s
process and procedures for different purposes according to the different trends that helped me
design some questions for the suggestions made to Mr. Amine Laaouidi concerning the
survey.
Another course which was important was MGT 3301, Principles of Management. The
notions taught in this course would serve me to know the types of training, types of
evaluation, sources needed for recruitment needs, the approach to HR planning and other
material.
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Conclusion
Working at DIORH for two months and a half for the data collection phase of the
study of the HR function in Morocco has been a rich learning experience. Being familiarized
with project management, with all its aspects from the tools to use and the methodology of the
process to the importance of a standardized way to organize the work and the ability to deal
with different tasks at the same time, will be very helpful in the personal future work life.
Also, the working environment was relevant since there was emphasis on values such as
customer service, teamwork, transparency, continuous improvement in the processes and
procedures, good quality of work, diversity at work, importance of good relationships at work
and other criteria that suited the personal vision of the workplace. The close supervision by
Mr. Amine Laaouidi played an important role in the management of the data collection phase.
Drawing on his expertise and working style, a certain set of knowledge, skills and abilities
were going to be memorable. Also, the informal discussions at the work place with different
members of the consulting firm were a good source of knowledge on the potential career
opportunities in the HR field. In addition to that, the several interactions with HR managers
were unique in the vision of the HR function they conveyed and were consequently a brand
new way of looking at things concerning the personal career orientation. Since the first aim of
joining DIORH was to discover the job of a consultant, the importance of consulting in an HR
career, what kind of expertise is developed through consulting, what are the specific jobs,
duties and areas in consulting that would be of most interest as well as other questions,
personal interest is still axed in consulting for the years to come. However, it would be very
useful to integrate the structure on specific job areas like consulting in recruitment, training,
HR strategy and others in order to get a close view on different jobs and know better of the
specific knowledge, skills and competencies to develop for the job which would be of interest.
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References:
L’IRH DIORH (2008). Questionnaire Relatif à L’Enquête RH 2008. Casablanca.
N.a. (2005). A Propos de DIORH. Retrieved September 6, 2008 from:
http://www.diorh.com/fr/identite/qui-somme-nous.htm
Laaouidi, A. (2008). Manuel de Process Enquête RH.
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