Client Situation
The client is a Sudanese cement manufacturer based in Khartoum. The client was considering an optimization of its human resource strategy in order to make its processes more effective and efficient, while trying to increase employee satisfaction
Cedar’s Approach
The client mandated Cedar to analyze their human resources strategy and processes, identify key issues, and provide recommendations for their restructure and improvement. Cedar’s approach was as follows:
- One-on-one interviews with relevant members of the group and company management teams to allow articulation of their perspective on the organizational architecture
- External assessment using Cedar database and secondary research
- Review of all relevant internal documents related to the current organizational design, strategy and operations of the enterprise
- Integration of the internal assessment, external assessment and one-on-one interview inputs to develop a summarized analysis of the current issues and future objectives
- Presentation of recommendations, the impact of said recommendations, and improved process maps to senior management
Outcome
After an initial analysis, Cedar established the main areas of focus, namely, manpower planning, recruitment, induction, performance management, training and development, succession, planning, employee satisfaction, and exit management. Cedar further identified key issues, suggested key recommendations and crucial success factors while highlighting their impact on the business, and finally, created high-level process maps and planning models. Some of the key recommendations for these focus areas and their expected impacts were:
- Effective headcount budgeting for quicker response times, reduction in cycle times and costs, improvement in planning and forecasting, and controlling employee cost
- Cost-effective identification and selection of people with compatible aptitude, attitude and ability leading to systematic execution, better lateral movement and progression opportunities for employees, and perception as an “employer of choice”
- Facilitation of faster integration into the company to provide new staff with support and access to the resources they require to perform their job efficiently and effectively within a short timeframe and inculcate a “team” mindset
- Identification of development needs and rewarding of performance to create a culture that rewarded good performance, motivated workforce, and enhanced longevity
- Provision of better training and development to nurture future managers and up-skill employees as necessary in the dynamic business environment
- Better career and succession planning in order to hedge exposure to the risk of attrition and to build a framework for recruitment, development and career planning
- Better exit management to maintain morale and reduce attrition, understand employees and their expectations and reduce overall attrition with organization wide initiatives