Human Resource Management Is Very Important In The Success Of An Organization, Says Seema Chapra, HR Head, The Citizens Foundation
Q. 1. What are, in your view, the basic principles of success in a professional life?
Ms. Seema Chapra: To be successful in professional life, a person must have strong moral and ethical convictions; must be a role model for others; must be fair and just towards all employees and be able to deliver what is expected from the job.
Q. 2. Tell us about your educational life?
Ms. Seema Chapra: I have a BBA degree from the Florida International University.
Q. 3. What makes your company an attractive employer for the job seekers?
Ms. Seema Chapra: Working for a cause is very rewarding. TCF is a professionally managed company that is trying to bring about change in the society. This is attractive for people looking to work in the social development sector.
Q. 4. What do you look for in a candidate during a hiring interview session? Name 4 key things?
Ms. Seema Chapra: Passion to work for a cause, culturally fit, strong communication skills and should have researched about the company they are interviewing at, is what we generally look for in a candidate.
Q. 5. What is the scope of Human Resource Management in Pakistan?
Ms. Seema Chapra: Human Resource Management is very important in the success of an organization. Organizational policies, culture, compensation and benefits and employee relations control the motivation level of employees and help in retaining valuable employees.
Q. 6. How would you rate the success and importance of online recruitment firms such as ROZEE.PK?
Ms. Seema Chapra: In Pakistan, online recruitment has not received mainframe acceptance as compared to the Western countries. We feel that graduates from the top universities do not apply for jobs through online recruitment firms.
Q. 7. How has ROZEE.PK helped your firm regarding recruitment i.e. Have you tried any recruitment tools provided by ROZEE.PK e.g. Job Fairs/Job Postings/CV Search?
Ms. Seema Chapra: We have only started posting marketing/sales related job on ROZEE.PK recently.
Q. 8. What is your strategy on work-life balance and how do you achieve this balance yourself?
Ms. Seema Chapra: TCF is very focused on work life balance. We strictly follow an 8:30 to 5:30 work schedule, we have a nursery for working mothers and if an employee works on off days they can take in lieu off holidays. I too achieve this balance by following our office timings.
Q. 9. Do you believe that Pakistani universities are creating an effective talent pool and what is your company’s strategy to attract the best talent in Pakistan?
Ms. Seema Chapra: Yes, I believe the top 20% of universities are producing smart candidates. Considering we are a not for profit organization with below the market salaries, attracting the best talent in Pakistan can be challenging for us, that is why we provide a strong work life balance to attract candidates.
Q. 10. What is your formula of success in life?
Ms. Seema Chapra: Success can be achieved by treating employees fairly, being ethical and doing first what you expect from others.
Q. 11. What are the biggest turnoffs in an interview of a job applicant?
Ms. Seema Chapra: When the interviewee has not done his/her homework on the company having applied for or if they are dressed inappropriately or their language is inappropriate. TCF has a conservative culture and the person being hired has to be a good fit with our culture.
Q. 12. Due to rough economic situation and soaring price rise, how does your company deal with keeping itself cost effective and attractive for job seekers?
Ms. Seema Chapra: At TCF, we are extremely conscientious as far as all expenditures are concerned. We work closely within the set budgets and try and cut costs on advertisements, events etc. Our cause has to be the biggest attraction and not just the pay.
Q. 13. Any good advice you want to give for the job seekers who want to enter and prosper in the professional field?
Ms. Seema Chapra: My advice to job seekers would be to follow their goals. Do a thorough research on the companies they apply to and ensure that their goals are aligned with the goals of that company. This would help them remain focused in their careers.
May 28th, 2010 at 10:16 am
Hi,
I am a working mum and looking for organisations that offer a daycare/ nursery facility on site.
Please let me know the email address where I can contact you.
thanks
May 28th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Dear Seema,
I totally disagree from your point 6. Graduates from good institutes do apply via online job sites if the company seeking for resources have good repute in market to deal with their employees.
May 28th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
In the Q8 the day care center which is portrayed as POD of TCF is only available in their Head office associated with salary deduction if any employee want to avail it. Across the country in their offices any such employee having a baby is not welcomed.
May 28th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
The difference of salary structure between the top management which has an average salary of Rs. 150,000 and a teacher who is actually serving is Rs. 4000 for an MA Med. teacher.
The huge traveling budgets and lavish expenditures of the top management is a true contradiction of statement.
May 28th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
I totaly disagree with her idea’s, I believe in, “Love you Job! never fall in love with your company because you never know when your company stop loving you..
if you love your job then you are equally valuable for you company”
June 7th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
asalam-o-alaikum, maam I am a student of your school. I do not know about human resources but i agree with your interview ideas.
June 7th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
i wanted to meet you maam. my email address is atraba13@yahoo.com
June 11th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Being an HR I also agree about the discussed things in your interview, you commented on Pakistan Universities, I think that every university have different type of students even the lower ranking universities have also good students those can compete the good students of higher ranking universities.
October 13th, 2010 at 5:46 am
A very good answer has been given for each question. Could you please tell me do we really practice HR at workplace and how many time we think about employees before making any policy. I think the actual scenario is different from what we have read in the interviews. We should be practicing rather than merely talking about these things. Most of the time, managers ignore their subordinates and struggle only for their own benefits.