How They Work at Telenor Pakistan?

telenor_office_pakistan_1We have seen Telenor Pakistan’s innovation and creativity for their products, services and advertising campaigns, but it would be interesting for you to know that the company has exercised the same level of creativity in developing their way of work. Telenor Pakistan has successfully invented a unique, new and a workable way to carry forward their operations with a key focus on quality and simplicity, coupled with productivity and output.

I had a chance to visit Telenor Pakistan’s head office as a guest, where I noted following things in specific.

  1. Telenor Pakistan seeks performance from its employees by implementing work structures that go beyond the usual forms of bureaucracy and multi-layered channels of communication
  2. You feel a true sense of equality at the organization, where the CEO, VPs, Directors, Managers, Executives and Officers all share the same work space, the same privileges and an open level of communication that is applicable at all levels
  3. You don’t need to dress formally (as long as you don’t communicate externally), hence the focus is more on getting work done by breeding a casual environment, where comfort is a prime driver for achieving difficult targets. I would say its more of a human approach to managing resources, where their comfort levels are considered as key contributors to their levels of productivity

Besides these findings, let’s have a look at techniques adopted in human resource management functions, or Human Capital management functions, as it is known at Telenor Pakistan:

  1. Unique and very well structured Recruitment and Selection methods, driven by competency-based screening
  2. Separate Organizational Development (OD) function
  3. Revamping the human resource management division name with Human Capital Division (HCD)

telenor_office_pakistanUnique Selection & Recruitment Methods

Telenor Pakistan has adopted world class recruitment and selection techniques like the Thomas Personal Profile Analysis to pinpoint the exact personality fit that would work best with the organization. At Telenor Pakistan, recruitment is done at 3 levels, i.e. the Foundation, Development and Growth levels, where each level comes with a desired set of behaviors, some of which are common across all areas, while some are more specific to the required behaviors associated with particular job roles.

In a sense, Recruitment has now become further stringent by spending more time and focus to find the best possible candidates for vacant posts. As Telenor says, we hire for talent, and train for skill… prestigious schools or high CGPAs are no longer the preconceived benchmarks for talent… rather it is now about finding the right person who would be able to contribute better than the next.

I was told that for its talent hunting initiatives, the Recruitment Team at Telenor Pakistan initiated its University Visits 2008 program in January. Banking on its Graduate Employer of Choice status, the activity was foreseen to also potentially provide fuel for fresh graduate requirements as per the 2008 head count. The universities visited included LUMS, FAST, NUST, GIKI, NIMS, IBA, UET Lahore, NED, SZABIST, Bahria and CBM.

Separate Organizational Development Department

Working in a world where change is the only constant phenomenon, most organizations lack a dedicated Organizational Development function. The working of the OD unit as a separate and dedicated function at Telenor Pakistan shows their consideration for achieving a balance between the employees’ and the organization’s goals, bearing in mind the coupling of people development with overall organizational development. The company has been instrumental in being the first player in the Telecom industry to initiate the workings of OD as a separate function of human resource.

While realizing the value and contribution of the human mind, Telenor Pakistan has psychologists available to study human dynamics technically, and to develop an individual’s emotional intelligence. These have been seen to contribute greatly towards overall productivity and growth.

Revamping the Human Resource Management name to “Human Capital Division”

Adapting Adam Smith’s philosophy, Telenor Pakistan has rebranded its human resource department as the Human Capital Division (HCD). As defined, human capital refers to the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. Consequently, Telenor’s ideology and realization of the importance of human resources is reflected in the name chosen for its human resource department.

Conclusion:

Telenor has not only initiated new concepts and world class human resource management techniques, but also with its on-campus recruitment seminars and the Telenor Alumni and Ambassador Programs, the company is always on the lookout to maximize its reach in terms of its outward orientation There is also an important point raised that Telenor provides 100% focus on talent… as they say “we hire for talent, and train for skill…”

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • Good to know, but I’ll say that one should try Mobilink. I had the chance to do internship in one of the functions and WOW the energy, drive and re numeration is GOOD!

  • Thank you ProPakistani, this is a good read! No wonder these guy have reached the 2nd spot in the industry in such a short time. Companys that invest in their human resource thrive as an organization, take google for example. I have heard Telenor also has a structured internship program, some more info on that would be useful too!

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  • telenor is one of the country’s best employers i guess. i know for a fact that telecommunications has not been successful in providing a typically different atmosphere where one can say there is no beurocatic environment. offices, doors, big tables, small tables, different chairs etc, make a lot of difference. if telenor is what it looks like from this passage, i think its a great job they are doing.
    i also think that this brand abmassador program was launched by telenor in 2008 i think and now mobilink is copying it. too bad for the largest cellular company. also there is some kind of report that telenor launched i think 2 or 3 years back mobilink also copied them. but telenors open working atmosphere is different and its not easy for mobilink’s CEO to sit on the same desk his all other workers are sitting. lets see if they can copy that.
    i want to see this office of telenor when i come pack to pakistan.

  • I HAHE SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR UPGRADATIONS OF TELENOR FIRST OF ALL YOU SHOULD BE OPEN (BYN) BOOK YOUR NUMBER SERVICE ON LINE BEFORE LAUNCHING YOUR NEW SERIES FOR EXAMPLE 0346, 0347 AT ETC AS THE ZONG DONE.
    SECONDLY THE VALUE ADDED SERVICES MMS,GPRS,INTERNET SHOULD BE STARTED WHEN THE SIM ENTERED IN THE MOBILE SET AS IT HAPPENS IN ZONG SIM.THESE TWO MAIN FACILITIES DUE TO THAT ZONG IS BECOMING NUMER ONE IN MARKETING NOW.
    THINK ABOUT THESE REASONS. THANKS

  • imran, from the strangely created text, i only got half of what you said. however, just one small thing is that ZONG if far from becoming number one, especially with the current saturation in the market. it is mostly utilized for a third or fourth option for customers and is only attracting the SIM collectors at the moment. :)
    what is your logic for calling zong # 1? i am not a zong customer so i am not sure if its good or bad. its not number 1 i know for sure. :o)

  • MR.GONE AWAY…REFERENCE YOUR OBJECTION FOR DECLARING ZONG NO.1 YOUR OBJECTION IS VALID. NO ONE HAS RIGHT TO DECLARE ANY ONE NUMBER ONE.
    I MEANS THAT DUE TO ITS TWO EXTRA FACILITIES (BYN AND AUTO STARTED,MMS.GPRS,INTERNET)ZONG IS GOING VERY FAST IN NUMBER ONE RACE IN MARKET.
    INDIRECTLY I TRY TO GIVE A MESSAGE TO TELENOR FOR START OF THESE TWO FACILITIES WHICH IS NOT DEFFICULT FOR TELENORE.
    WELL WISHER TO ALL.
    [email protected]

  • have you ever checked that by inserting sim yourself, we at telenor have activated the VAS facilities from the first day of our launch. I mean they are pre-activated. We have gprs coverage on all cell sites from first day, did you ever noticed that.

  • MR.JAY EVERY MOBILE COMPANY HAVING VAS FACILITIES FROM THE FIRST DAY,BUT ONLY ZONG IS THE ONE WHO STARTED AUTOMATICALLY THAT IS WHEN YOU ENTER THE SIM IN MOBILE SET THE VAS FACILITIES STARED AUTOMATICALLY NO NEED TO REQUEST
    I WAS THE USER OF TELENORE BUT MANY TIME REQUEST TO HELP LINE (345)TO OPEN THE GPRS,MMS SERVICES BUT NO RESPONSE.I WILL NOT DISCLOSE MY PREVIOUS TELENORE NUMBER.
    NOW I AM USING ZONG AND ALSO HAVING MOBILINK AND UFONE, BUT ZONG IS IN MY USE NOW.THKS
    FROM… IMRAN GHANI
    [email protected]

    • Dear Imran,
      It depends on your mobile when you format you set or update its software it automatically set access points available. Technically it is change from Service provider to service provider, setting might not be available for all handsets type. But for end user you have “all” short code to be sent on 131 to download settings. No need to call Customer care service for this.
      Regards,

  • Terrific website, thank you I’ll def get several of the concepts for my web page. I am primarily based in South Africa and unique a recruitment site. Only a brief query, together with the world recession is any person discovering that its more challenging to place men and women and that there are lees positions? i choose to assess with our place in SA.


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