Personnel Management in NGOs of Bangladesh

ABSTRACTActivities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh have gained momentum due to the failure of both governmental organizations (GOs) and for-profit organizations (FPOs) in achieving their mission and objectives, and thus their inability to fulfill needs of the beneficiaries/customers. Prima facie investigations show that little research has been done on the personnel management of NGOs in Bangladesh. In view of this situation, using a mixed method of survey of archival sources, quantitative review of job advertisements data, unstructured interview, and a case study, this research examines personnel management practice of NGOs, and explores basic characteristics in the three areas of personnel selection and recruitment, training and education, and compensation and motivation. The findings suggest that large NGOs implement systematic practices, possess adequate organizational structure, employ professional managers, and nurture pragmatic environments for their personnel management. The NGOs emphasize professionalism and career orientation and implement long-term, forward-looking approaches in their selection, recruitment, and remuneration. These management practices also follow national employment practices, attach importance to national wage and salary principles, policies, and scales for the GO/FPOs, but formulate their principles and systems keeping those in view. The international NGOs (INGOs) follow domestic practices, implement policies and practices of their own which is found to create confusion in the national job market. The small and mid-size NGOs, however, do not possess personnel management practices of their own, rather they follow and imitate larger members. The authors envision further research on this topic with a focus on both of its micro and macro aspects, and use of advanced methods and tools to develop a full model of NGO-human resources management (HRM) in Bangladesh.Keywords: Bangladesh, Personnel Management, NGOs, Job Advertisement, Job Notification, Recruitment, Remuneration, SelectionINTRODUCTIONBangladesh has turned into a nation of NGOs, and it is argued humorously that in terms of the number of NGOs for every ten thousand people, Bangladesh ranks number one in the world. NGO activities in this country have gained momentum due to the failure of both the GOs and FPOs to achieve their missions and objectives, which were to fulfill their responsibilities to their customers, beneficiaries, and stakeholders (Farrington & Bebbington, 1993; Nobusue, 2002; Ray, 1983; Siddiqui, 1996). Consequently, NGOs have emerged as an alternative solution to the needs of the market and society. NGO activities occur in economic development, and poverty alleviation through employment creation, micro-credit, gender disparity eradication, education, community building, human rights protection and advocacy, social and environmental development, marginally placed and outreach communities protection, and salvation from destitution, have generated enormous success as demonstrated by the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Grameen Bank and its founder in 2006 (Khondaker, Bhuiyan, Runa, Khanam, Nahar, Hossain, & Khoda, 2007; Holloway, 1998; Yunus, 2000; Potter & Ahmed, 2005). Consequent to this epoch-making incident, the activities of NGOs have gained further impetus. Innumerable NGOs have been founded to organize and implement developmental projects and activities throughout the country. Researchers and practitioners from home and abroad have also heightened their interests in researching NGOs from broader perspectives (Farrington & Bebbington, 1993; Farrington & Lewis, 1993; Anaheier & Salamon, 1998; Holloway, 1998; Khan, 2003; White, 1991; Potter and Ahmed, 2005). However, literature review indicates that little research has been done to date on personnel management of NGOs and its various domains. In view of this, this paper examines personnel management of NGOs in Bangladesh to explore its basic characteristics in the three selected areas of selection and recruitment, training and education, and compensation and motivation of the staff, volunteers, and managers. …