Monzula Morshed
Chief Human Resources and Administration Officer, Banglalink

At the dawn of the information age, the traditional job of human resource functions, the staff manager, died. In 1995, after the mass adoption of the “Urlich” model of HR transformation, businesses started to ask how HR could create value as a function for the business.

So, why do HR functions need to be digital to bring value to the business? The simple answer is to keep employees engaged with an organisational experience where they are empowered and governed by efficient operations. However, HR digital transformation is not that simple. It needs to deal with many human aspects, such as experience, culture, governance, talent, potential, performance, leadership and whatnot. That is why HR digital transformation is plotted in an employee’s journey with the organisation so that the experience touchpoints are identified and digitalised.

HR digital transformation overall deals with two journeys:

• Employee life cycle: From the beginning of an employee’s connection with the company to the end of their relationship with the organisation, all aspects of HR operations are included. This encompasses joining, transferring, promotion, employee self-services like employment letters, etc. It also covers the workplace experience, including facilities, administrative assistance, and equipment support.
• Talent lifecycle: This deals with talent performance towards the business. It includes the aspects of recruiting the right talent, placing the right talent in the right position, and developing talent the correct way. Talent identification and nurturing are core HR functions in an organisation where business sustainability is a big part of the strategic vision of the company. The talent lifecycle is consistent with the challenging areas of performance, learning, talent management, rewards, recognition, succession management, etc.

Together, these two aspects translate into the level of engagement an employee has in the company. As we all know, the more the employee is engaged, the more business productivity is ensured. For such engagement, the HR function requires data/information to understand the bigger picture and make the correct decisions. Digitalisation generates data in mass, allowing HR functions to strategise and making HR a strategic partner rather than a support function for the organisation.

The true digital transformation journey of Banglalink started in 2016 with the implementation of a locally owned HRIS system to manage employee lifecycle activities and payroll. At that time, the HRIS system was developed into an HR management system to manage employee performance, increments, and talent reviews. Simultaneously, to tackle the cost in the administration function, Banglalink HR and Admin (HRA) introduced one of the most efficient digital platforms for fleet operation management called “vFleet”. This application helped to reduce 30% of its fleet size and save more than BDT 100 million over the three-year operation, a phenomenal saving for any company.

When the pandemic hit in 2022, Banglalink was one of the first companies in the country to introduce complete work-from-home. Shifting from a buzzing 24/7 nationwide telecom operator to a 24/7 flawless work-from-home operator is a massive transformation job that the Banglalink team achieved in 48 hours. Multiple quick governance automation, work-from-home facilitated work models, and all the necessary digital tools were provided to Banglalink employees to keep the network and business running for the then 36 million people of Bangladesh. This was not an easy job. However, Banglalink’s overall trust in the power of digital and digital ambitions made it happen. This business growth momentum has increased the subscriber number to 41 million and counting.

Banglalink HRA has introduced unique and pioneering digital HR practices since the beginning of the pandemic. To make reward and recognition digital, Banglalink has introduced the “Recognize App,” a digital recognition platform that has boosted and empowered the recognition culture by engaging almost every employee in the organisation. Through this platform, Banglalink has introduced rewards points and a redemption store for the first time in the industry, making a digital way of redeeming recognition rewards.

Banglalink also created the My Idea platform to uphold a core value: innovation. This platform is intended for creative employees to provide innovative ideas, which are managed through a structured innovation management process. Employees are engaged and empowered to share their thoughts and ideas freely on the platform so that long-term business sustainability is ensured with viable innovations.

For employee experience enhancement, Banglalink introduced its in-house integrated workplace management system called “PFS”. This application is a digital revolution of the administrative function to automate all the administrative operations such as cafeteria management, parking management, maintenance, security management and more. To understand the magnitude of this portal’s usage, over 40,000 cafeteria transactions happened in two Banglalink office locations digitally within only two months. The parking segment had 12,000 usage management for 500 vehicles in 50 parking spaces in a span of three months.

The latest addition to Banglalink’s digital transformation journey is the implementation of Oracle HCM. It has unified the complete employee journey in a singular platform. From candidate application to employee exit, the entire employee journey is managed by Oracle HCM. This program generates all the transaction data for people analytics for the employees, managers, and leaders, enabling Banglalink to become a truly data-driven organisation. Through this platform, Banglalink HRA has introduced AI-based digitalisation, such as candidate recommendations.

The Banglalink HRA digital transformation story is not over yet. The more that technology advances, the more initiatives there will be. Banglalink, as a company, has the ambition of becoming the top digital operator in Bangladesh. Banglalink believes in the power of digitalisation, and its workforce is designed to adapt to these digital changes. Banglalink firmly believes that a smart and digital organisation will create a smart and digital workforce.