School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Al Akhawayn University

Chacha Camelia Benjelloun Touimy

Internship Chair:

Dr. Karim Moustaghfir

Academic Advisor:

Dr. Nancy Hottel

Third Committee Member:

Dr. Duncan Rinehart

Internship Report

Major in Human Resources Development

Fall 2008

Section 1:...............................................................................................................2I. Executive Summary........................................................................................................2

II. Description of the Organization......................................................................................3

III. Overview of the Project and Personal Tasks..................................................................4

Section 2:...............................................................................................................6I. Context of the Study.......................................................................................................6

II. Objectives of the Study and the Related Personal Objectives........................................6

III. Timeline of the Study......................................................................................................8

IV. Design Phase...................................................................................................................8

A. The Survey Design......................................................................................................8B. The Survey Structure and Content............................................................................12

V. Data Collection Phase...................................................................................................16

A. The Methods Used....................................................................................................17B. The Resources Needed and Used..............................................................................17C. Process......................................................................................................................18

VI. Analysis Phase..............................................................................................................23

VII. Dissemination Phase.....................................................................................................24

VIII.Suggestions...................................................................................................................24

A. Problems Encountered..............................................................................................24B. A List of Suggestions................................................................................................26

Section 3:.............................................................................................................29I. Knowledge, Skills, Competencies and Points of View Learnt during the Internship...29

II. The Skills from AUI Courses and Activities Useful in the Internship.........................34

Conclusion...........................................................................................................36References:..........................................................................................................37

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Section 1:

I. Executive Summary

Doing the internship at DIORH, a consulting firm in Human Resources Management

(HRM), has been an enriching experience at both the personal and the academic level. The

project assigned was the Study on the Human Resources Function in Morocco. The

integration occurred at the end of the design phase and for the data collection phase more

importantly. Thus, the personal contributions to these two phases were the participation to

the finalization of the survey to be administered to HR managers through suggestions of

questions and of further axes to investigate, the completion and actualization of the

database representing the sample of companies for the study, the contact through phone

calls and emails with HR managers, the accomplishment of meetings with them to assist

the filling of the survey, the organization of work in the database and in specific folders,

appropriate daily and weekly reporting of the work and of any related issues encountered,

the follow-up until validation of the surveys. Concerning the learning experience through

this internship, the fact of learning how to interact in the workplace according to specific

rules and procedures, how to organize the different tasks and subtasks related to a

particular work, how to report effectively, as well as how to communicate professionally

was effective background training necessary to the insertion in the workplace in the

future. Also, the specific knowledge, skills and abilities learnt during the internship about

the HR field provided a generic view on the job of HR managers in Morocco. This vision

of reality, provided through a direct contact with HR managers from diverse companies

and with the HR specialists or consultants within the firm, completes and reminds of the

theoretical framework learnt in the university. There was some learning issues faced,

which affected sometimes the personal contributions to the project. Essentially, it

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concerned the specific tools used in the HR field to measure different aspects of the

human capital that the learning process undergone at AUI until now did not contain or

exemplify and put into practice enough.

II. Description of the Organization

DIORH is a consulting firm specialized in human resources management. It was

created by Mr. Essaid Bellal in 1993 in order to respond to the growing need of expertise in

the domain of HRM in Morocco, to help the organizations build an added value from their

human capital through the vision, strategy and tools used by the HR leaders. The company

offers different services to their clients or, as it is more representative of the consulting vision,

their partners. There are three structures that take care of offering these services: DIORH, the

Institute of Human Resources (IRH) and DIORH D3. DIORH is the structure concerned with

recruitment and consulting. The Institute of Human Resources, presided by Mr. Abdel-ilah

Jennane, specializes in training and evaluation. It also provides several services such as career

reorientation and team building. It is the branch of the organization in which I have done my

internship during summer 2008, as I took part in the achievement of the study on the HR

function in Morocco. The third structure, DIORH D3, is a delocalized branch of DIORH in

Tangier which deals with recruitment, evaluation, consulting and training for the enterprises

in the Northern region of Morocco (n.a, 2005).

Besides the diverse HR services performed by the members of the IHR, the Institute

offers a cycle in human resources management for working individuals who wish to have a

deeper knowledge of HR issues, management tools and the local context of the practice of this

job. It has the equivalence of a master degree and is taught by professionals in the field.

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III. Overview of the Project and Personal Tasks

Another major activity realized by the IHR is the study of the HR function in

Morocco. This study has as major objective to uncover the existing priorities, practices,

procedures, perceptions and tools in the HR field in Morocco. The chief project is Mr. Amine

Laaouidi, who is a consultant also responsible for the training activity in the firm. The

director of the project is Mr. Abdel-ilah Jennane, an expert consultant who participates in the

consulting missions of the firm and manages the activities within the IRH. The Director of

DIORH, Mr. Essaid Bellal, supervises and takes part of the whole development and progress

of the study.

The direct supervisor at the IRH was Mr. Amine Laaouidi. He is involved in every

step of the study process. After having started in the IRH as an intern for a period of six

months, as a part of his master in the national school of business administration (ENCG) in

Human Resources Management when he took care of this activity as a part-time

preoccupation, he was hired as a consultant at DIORH and then moved to the IRH and took

part in several editions of the of the study on the reward system in Morocco as well as taking

charge of the study on the HR function in Morocco.

The intern joined the organization, as mentioned, at the pre-stage of the data collection

phase. The delegated tasks were the actualization and testing of the tools of the study, the

realization of meetings with HR managers, the reporting and verification of the coherence of

data gathered. Another part of the project that was assigned on official convention she signed

with the organization was the analysis phase through SPSS and Sphinx. However, since the

data collection phase took more time that expected due to slowdowns in the level of activity

due to the period chosen and other factors, this task was not carried by the intern who carried

out the data phase collection only. This convention had set as dates of the internship from

May 26th June, 2008 to July 19th July, 2008, which was a total of eight weeks. However, this

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time span would be increased voluntarily by the intern while working in the project to

continue working on the data collection phase and preparing the floor for the analysis phase

of the project. This initiative was born through a feeling of commitment to the project, to meet

the specific objectives set at the beginning of the internship. This period was extended to

August 13th, 2008, day of the last modifications saved on the enterprise system for final

verifications to treat analytically the questionnaires.

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Section 2:

I. Context of the Study

The first edition of the Inquiry on the HR Function in Morocco was held in 2001. The

second one occurred in 2004 and was more centered on the HR tools that the enterprises

disposed of (Please refer to Appendix 1 for more details on the 2004 edition). The inquiry

reiterated this year responds to several needs of HR managers in Morocco, which were

made evident in the main mission and objectives of the inquiry. The questionnaire has

been adapted and deepened to concentrate more on the qualitative data concerning the

management of human resources within organizations. Major steps have been improved in

the development and realization of the project, so many more details on the conform

methodology have been added in order to face the previous problems dealt with in the

previous editions. This has been done through a critical evaluation of each phase of the

project at the end of the project. My ambition after this internship is to make some

suggestions, based on the problems I faced and the reasons I have attributed to them and

on the knowledge I could get about the other steps of the project, in order to improve

some of the aspects related to the realization of this inquiry for the next edition.

II. Objectives of the Study and the Related Personal Objectives

Concerning the goals of the study, they were articulated after a needs assessment

phase in order to determine the specific needs of HR managers in Morocco in terms of

quantitative and qualitative data that could be useful for a benchmark on the best

practices and to situate one’s company within the representative sample. The comments

and suggestions of the chosen HR managers were recorded and taken into consideration

in the design of the survey. The objectives of the 2008 edition are as follow:

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Establish a complete panorama of the HR function and its practices in Morocco.

Offer both quantitative but especially qualitative data on human resource

management in Morocco.

Trace the evolution of the HR function in Morocco through the results of the

editions 2001, 2004 and 2008.

Represent a panel of enterprises that dispose of a structure entirely dedicated to

human resources management.

Figure out the role and weight of the HR function within the enterprise in

Morocco.

Provide the enterprises with a relevant database in order to position them through a

specific benchmark concerning their management of human resources.

As for the personal objectives in the frame of this study, as the intern joined the

structure at the end of the design phase and for the data collection process, and possibly

for the analysis phase, the objectives were articulated after the evaluation of the available

time and resources in the data collection process as explained further (Please refer to part

V. for additional information). The objectives set at the beginning of the internship were

the same as the consultant who was the direct supervisor of the intern, Mr. Amine

Laaouidi. The cadence of the data collection process was decided upon with Mr. Essaid

Bellal according to the necessary tasks to perform, the timeline of the study and the

targeted sample. Since the targeted number of the sample to reach was 150, Mr. Laaouidi

and the intern had to reach 75 participants each, with the completed and validated versions

of the survey. The related personal objectives were as follows:

Accomplish three to four appointments per day with the HR managers and

show effectiveness in conducting one-to-one interview for the survey.

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Communicate effectively and professionally with the participants and assist

them in filling the questionnaire.

Refresh the database with the accurate contacts (name, phone, fax, mail

and function).

Report with transparency on the process.

Respect the internal rules and procedures of DIORH (working hours,

processes and others).

III. Timeline of the Study

The study was planned for a period of eight months, the first action which was the

preparation of the necessary tools starting in February 2008 and the last step involving the

dissemination of the results occurring in November 2008. For the timeline detailing the

planned period or deadline for each action step, please refer to Appendix 2.

IV. Design Phase

A. The Survey Design

1. Characteristics of the Population

The targeted population is composed of all the companies that dispose of a

structured HR department or that has at least applied developed HR activities. The

companies are national or multinational, of different sizes, and with no specific

geographic location. However, since the Moroccan economic tissue is concentrated in the

axe of Kenitra-El Jedida, most companies in the sample were situated mainly in

Casablanca, Rabat and the neighbourhood. However, there were companies from Tangier,

Marrakech, Agadir, Settat and other towns.

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Concerning the HR professionals in these companies, they were preferred to be the

highest officials in the HR department in order to give the more generic view of the HR

function. However, if other HR employees were assigned the task of filling the

questionnaire or part of it, data was to be considered as valid since the HR manager agrees

to delegate such an important external reporting on the HR function of the company.

Parameters such as age, gender, professional experience and the number of years spent in

the organization were not taken into consideration in the sampling criteria but rather used

as criteria for analysis.

In order to reach the targeted population, random sampling was used as a method

first. Companies were chosen randomly, regardless of the criteria listed above. Then, the

list had to be verified. The initial number was 350 companies, but the sample decreased as

a lot of companies were not structured, or that actual HR managers, appointed to a brand

new department for human resources management, judged that they were not eligible to

answer the questionnaire. These two cases are just examples of the scenarios encountered

while filtering the sample. Also, while the number of potential participants decreased on

the basis of these criteria, the companies that would receive more attention were selected

during the first meetings with Mr. Essaid Bellal. His choices were based on his knowledge

about and interest for companies. There were 150 enterprises having priority. Also, other

companies not present in the initial sample were introduced in the study in order to make

meaning from the sectors of activity chosen, when there were not enough enterprises from

a specific sector included. This was in order to make study more relevant and complete.

Companies were chosen from different sectors to represent the diverse economic

tissue of Morocco and the relevance of the HR function in specific sectors, as well as to

permit a benchmark for companies based on their specific branch of activity or sector. The

eleven sectors represented in the study are:

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- Pharmacy & cosmetics.

- Electricity, electronics & cabling.

- Communication, telecoms, telemarketing & off-shoring.

- Transport, automobile, mailing & logistics.

- Tourism, hotel trade & restoration.

- BTP, infrastructure & estate.

- Banking, insurance & finance.

- Mines, hydrocarbons & chemistry.

- Food industry, products of mass consumption & distribution.

- Textile.

- Wood, paper & packing.   

2. Organization of the Sample: The Database

The sample was organized in a database accessible by the two parties involved in

the project through an enterprise system. The database was constituted on an Excel sheet

with different domains specifying the following data: Name of the organization, Branch of

activity, Sector of activity, Name of the participant, Function of the Participant (no

specific list with a specific wording since sometimes the same function is entitled

differently according the organization structure), Phone, Email, Fax number (facultative),

Actual state (evolving according to phases in the data collection process: First, there were

domains such as to call immediately, contact to verify, not participating; then, as the

surveys were administrated, questionnaires sent to fill in at distance, received after a

meeting, in verification and validated were others domains added), and Commentary (the

parties involved in the data collection phase were responsible of keeping this field updated

and to keep track of the history with the company; for example, the reasons for not

participating, the hour and day to call the participant back, if the participant has travelled

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somewhere, important changes in the organization as well as other types of comments

depending on the situation).

3. Personal Contributions

- Completion of the missing information in the database: sector, branch of activity,

name of the HR leader or the person taking charge of the HR activities within the potential

participating organization, his or her telephone number, email and fax number, which is

facultative.

- Actualization of the database while in progress: The names or mails entered in the

list in the beginning had to be refreshed as the notification of receipt of the participation

mailing indicated an erroneous mail or while contacting the enterprise to make an

appointment with the HR leader, the person on the phone (the switchboard operator or a

member of the HR department staff) that the person left the organization. Also, modifications

had to be entered when newspapers announced some major change in the status or structure of

a company as for Attijari Wafabank which has undergone a major restructuring in June 2008

or British American Tobacco, Frumat which has become Citruma in 2004 etc. Also, new

companies were added such as some of those that participated in the 2001 edition and/or 2004

edition or companies which would homogenize the sample and represent more thoroughly the

various sectors defined. In addition to this, as the targeted sample consisted only of the

organizations which were structured in terms of Human Resources Management, there was a

confusion whether the enterprises having developed HR activities but not a department,

division or direction specialized in this function would be included. There was a case by case

treatment, where some were included and others not. The intern called this category of the

sample and asked them about their HR activities which were then reported to her direct

supervisor in order to discuss the case with him and for him to discuss it with Mr. Essaid

Bellal in order to have the validation for their integration in the sample.. Also, since the aim

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was to reach preferably the HR leaders, special attention was paid to the contacts in the list

who were prior clients of some consultants at DIORH, in charge of the compensation and

benefits system, of the training functional area or another functional area. Dealing with the

HR functional area’s manager required delicacy in the process of ensuring the person had the

approval of the HR leader to take charge of filling the survey or to get in touch with the HR

leader through the person. Other updates were necessary throughout the data collection phase,

for example the verification of the sector and branch of activity from the questionnaire filled

in out to avoid false categorization.

B. The Survey Structure and Content

1. The Structure of the Survey

Since one of the objectives of the study was to obtain more qualitative

information, open-ended as well as fill-in-the-blank questions were used. Also, there was a

space devoted to the comments of the participants in order to keep a track of their own words

and be sure not to miss any additional information that completes a closed question or

explains it. This was especially relevant and useful while asking the participants about their

role and weight in the organization. Specific verbal and nonverbal feedback could be filled in

to double-check the information by asking an indirect question and either validate or return to

the question in a tactful manner to change the response. A lot of questions were multiple

choices, especially to get information on the strategic goals and missions of the HR function,

the problems faced or the challenges to come. These questions, as well as others such as the

criteria for selecting freshly graduated candidates, were often accompanied by Likert-type

scales in order to get a ranking of priorities and criteria for different purposes. Also, the

questions used a technology in Excel that permits to select an answer from a list such as for

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the type of degree held by the HR manager and other HR employees. Closed-ended questions

were also used to determine the actual use or availability of HR tools.

Another important thing to mention about the survey structure was the use of some

questions that served two purposes. At the same time as getting new information, answers

from previous questions were double-checked in order to unveil confusion in the question or a

mistake due to inattention. This method in designing the survey is a sign of the validity of the

answers of the HR participants and the indicators presented in the study.

2. The Content of the Survey

The survey would take up to two hours to be filled. Since one of the objectives of the

study is to get a generic panorama on the HR function in Morocco and to uncover the specific

practices, procedures and tools used by HR managers as well as their role and weight in the

company, the survey dealt with ten major parts or sections. The preliminary steps were to get

information on the enterprise profile, the HR function profile. Then, the role and weight of the

HR function were inspected in different parts of the survey regarding the different activities of

the HR function. The weight could be traced according to the level of the participation of the

HR function in the strategic decision decision-making process of the whole organization and

the decision-making power in certain matters concerning HR activities such as recruitment,

training and others. A specific section was devoted to the available tools. A part was devoted

to the concerns of the HR function, specifically its goals and objectives. The other parts dealt

with the different HR functional areas: Recruitment and integration, performance evaluation,

internal communication, training and rewards and benefits. The final part was used to uncover

the level of commitment to the legal framework. Additional details on each part or section are

described below:

o Enterprise profile (Nature of the enterprise, turnover, manpower, and salary

fund by category of employees, number of nationalities represented, quality

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certification, sector and branch of activity, age pyramid, and quotation in the

Stock Exchange).

o Profile of the HR function (number of employees in the HR function, profile of

the HR leader and HR employees: their job title, age, level of studies, nature of

their studies etc., HR activities outsourcing, the activities taken in charge of by

the HR function totally or partially, the role of the HR function within the

organization etc.)

o Weight of the HR function (whether the HR function participates in the

definition of the objectives of the organization and other functions).

o Concerns of the HR function (the strategic missions of the HR function, the

level of decision-making of the HR function concerning activities such as

recruitment and training, the problems and challenges of the HR function,

goals and objectives, challenges and problems faced).

o HR tools (HRIS, job descriptions, HR balanced scorecard, competitive social

policy, social audit, competencies cartography and other tools).

o Recruitment and integration (turnover rate, number of recruitments and

departures, sources of identification for the workforce planning, different

methods of recruitment, recruitment policy, the profile which is the most

demanded, tendencies of recruitment, integration procedures and methods

etc.).

o Performance evaluation (MBO, criteria of performance in the performance

appraisal system, detection of high potentials’ system etc.).

o Rewards and benefits (objectives and procedure, types of job classification,

salary grid, bonuses, who decided of the components of remuneration etc.).

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o Training (training budget, types of training, objectives from training, training

evaluation, process and procedure, OFPPT).

o Internal communication (on what does the enterprise communicate, how it

communicates it: team buildings, internal newspaper etc., actions for group

cohesion, perception of the internal climate).

o Legal framework (relationship with union representatives, doctor, comity,

working hours etc.)

3. Personal Contributions

The intern contributed to this phase in the following way:

- Proofreading the questionnaire from potential mistakes that may appear

unprofessional.

- Making propositions to clarify the confusing questions or concerning the

coordination between the questions. The changes proposed concerned the wording of

questions and the transition from a question to another.

- Preparing suggestions for potential questions or axes of questions to add in the

questionnaire: Questions concerning the change in the style, approach and tools of human

resources managements that globalization imposes seemed significant to elaborate. Also,

since there was a question in the Enterprise Profile section of the survey, the intern proposed

questions on diversity management. Besides, the intern was interested in knowing the

management approach used by the HR leaders in order to stay aligned with the goals and

objectives of the organization as a whole and what specific actions serve this purpose; for

example, what actions are taken to reduce the costs of HR activities in order to respond to

organizational approach of cost-containment or reduction if this was the case. It was also of

interest to the intern to know about all the mechanisms of decision-making and points of

views of HR leaders concerning downsizing, and if some specific actions are undertaken in

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order to keep employee morale up after the downsizing if the company had to reduce its

workforce in the latest years (three or five years). Moreover, it appeared useful to add a

question on the different pressures HR managers get from the top management. Other

questions judged interesting concerned their vision of the human capital in the organization:

as the key to the success of the organization, as a constraining factor and why (it could be

because employees are seen to lack the competencies to perform their jobs at the standards

and criteria set), as well as other options. Also, the intern proposed to figure out the HR

professionals’ points of views on the problems affecting employee performance. Furthermore,

in the section concerning the evaluation system, it seemed interesting to add a question on the

different types of performance evaluation such as the 360° performance appraisal, the bar

graph and other tools and methods.

- Making propositions for the design of the survey to CEOs: questions from the

questionnaire and new questions to present in the second survey that was used as a support to

the results of the study (around 10 questions, only to some CEOs, not every CEO from every

participating company).

V. Data Collection Phase

This section presents the personal contributions to the phase according to the specific process

used in the data collection phase, determined previously and modified personally with the

agreement of Mr. Amine Laaouidi. Certain flexibility in decision-making about the methods

was given to the intern, since the major focus was to get the results in the quickest and most

effective way. However, some specific deontological rules and procedures had to be

respected.

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A. The Methods Used

The data collection phase uses many methods to get the participation of the HR

specialists. The usual method chosen was the in-person interview to fill in the survey as

explained above. The intern used a PC to enter data, and sometimes printed the survey when

there was more convenience to it, and data was entered the same day on the enterprise system.

The other methods used to collect missing or to correct confusing information filled in by the

participant after controlling the coherence of data alone or jointly with Mr. Amine Laaouidi

were: mailing the survey back to the participant with specific sections or questions to look at

or an Excel file grouping together the sections or questions to be filled in or verified in order

to make it easier for the participant; contacting the participants by phone and doing it

gradually which was less time-consuming when the participant was available but resort to the

previous method was often the only way to get information when the participant was not

available or busy.

B. The Resources Needed and Used

The main resources needed for this phase, entered in the budget of the study were as

follows:

- A phone line specific to the study that the intern used for contacting the

enterprises at all levels.

- A personal computer linked to the organizational server.

- Fees associated with transportation means (taxi, train) to conduct the

meetings for data collection purpose.

- Paper for printed surveys.

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C. Process

The process of the data collection is summarized in the table below as a timeline and

according to the recurrence of the task. It includes the major activities undertaken by the

intern during this phase:

Activity or Task Time and frequency

Send the participation mailing Prior to phone calls, and if need be through

the whole process (in case of a wrong mail,

or addition of a company in the sample)

Contact the enterprises by phone On a daily basis, for several purposes

Send the questionnaire via mail Instantly after getting the person on the

phone (June, July and first half of August)

*Realization of meetings to fill-in the survey June, July and first half of August

Send mails to thank the participants Instantly after coming back from the

appointment on a continuous basis

Control of the coherence of data gathered The same or following day of the meeting +

first half of August as a major task

Validate the surveys Depending on the time when missing data

was received

Keep the database updated On a daily basis, for different needs

Collect data from remote participants June, July and August

* This activity is underlined because it was the most important one in the data collection phase.

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The process is presented here in detail with the specific sub-tasks related:

- Sending the participation mailing: As part of this task, the intern had to check and

enter in the database those who had received the mail and those who did not, those who read it

and those who did not (thanks to an option in Outlook Express) in order to verify the validity

of the email addresses (or even people) in the database, set a priority list on who to contact for

meetings (those who have read first, those who haven’t read later) and know who to contact

for getting the right mail or to put under the status of contacts to verify (those who did not

receive the mail). Please refer to Appendix 3 for the model of the participation mailing.

- Contact the enterprises: The intern established, along with her direct supervisor,

the guidelines for the arguments to provide to HR managers on the phone or via mail for the

“marketing” of the inquiry. The intern had to be wary of the reaction she would have to fears

and apprehension, anticipate questions, and have a pleasant but firm tone as well as never

show hesitation. Also, the intern used to elaborate a “tactical communication style” in order to

get an appointment and at the desired time, and maintained an updated commentary for each

enterprise contacted (time, day, week or month to call back, reasons, any information about

the company judged relevant, and the name of the secretary). In the beginning, the intern

announced two hours for the meeting, but after getting some negative responses because of

the time constraint, she decided to announce an hour and a half or an average of an hour and a

half and to manage the time of interviews in a better way. Once the appointment fixed, the

intern registered the day and time in the Planning document for June, July and August, which

was shared with her supervisor on the enterprise server. This information was recorded in a

different color in the database as a reminder, as well as the entire address in order to plan

ahead for the time transportation would take.

- Send the questionnaire via mail: The intern elaborated a standard mail that would

be sent to the HR manager inviting him or her to consult the questionnaire before the

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appointment or to answer some questions he/she thinks would need specific data processing

or research (because the intern knew that an hour and a half announced in the phone was only

possible if all the data are available and not too much time is spent on the explanation of

questions and terms or on digressions made by the participants).

- Realization of the appointments for data collection: The transportation mean used

by the intern was the taxi when the appointment was in Casablanca and the train when it was

in Rabat, so she took the initiative to keep an Excel file for the transportation fees that would

be validated by the supervisor sometimes and handed to the accountant on a frequency that

depended on the level of activity and price. Usually, the intern used the PC provided at the

workplace in order to enter the data as soon as the participant gave an answer; this is a better

method since it avoids repeating the task of entering data. Sometimes, the intern read loudly

the questions and the participant followed in his or her screen and provided quicker answers

this way. Also, sometimes the answer was inferred from a discussion based on the question,

and validated by the participant afterwards. The intern had to be well-dressed and always in a

good mood and vivid during the appointments. Extra information was entered on the

commentary fields of the survey. While some data was controlled during the interview when

noticing some contradictions, other data would be available only after the HR leader checks

with the financial department for quantitative data or with HR employees for their academic

background, age or other information, or verifies his files for the training budget in 2007, the

number of recruitments, the turnover rate etc. Sometimes, the participants did not know about

some HR tool and the intern had to explain briefly what it is. Other times, it was an abstract

concept that the intern had to define and explain in the context of the question. The intern had

to learn about specific HR practices to give concrete examples, for example about the

percentage of allocations that makes a social policy competitive. It was like a test at each

appointment, or an interview to get a job. And whenever the intern judged that her knowledge

20

was insufficient in a matter, she used to seek information in the net or with her supervisor to

send her some related document. The intern had to be able to sustain a brief discussion on

particular HR tools and practices, in the Moroccan context and in general. The stake of this

issue was very big since the intern was a representative of the firm with the participants, who

represented potential clients in the future or who had already worked with the cabinet and had

usually high expectations. The intern was supposed to show as much professionalism and

knowledge as a consultant would be able of on the issues discussed. The intern was conscious

that the image of the cabinet was at stake whenever there was a contact with an HR manager.

However, there were some learning issues related to this particular activity, which is the main

one in the project. For more information on the nature of the problem and a suggestion to

solve it, please refer to Part VII in Section 2. This step of the process was also the most

enriching in terms of the professional abilities learnt and the knowledge acquired through the

interactions with the HR managers. Please refer to Section 3 for more detail on the

knowledge, skills, abilities and points of views learnt on the job.

- Sending mails to thank the participants: Elaboration of standard mails reminding

the period of the results report and reminding that Mr. Amine Laaouidi and the intern were at

disposal for any additional information or to respond to any need. This notice was integrated

systematically in the mails, showing the high customer service orientation of DIORH. The

intern would feel the importance of this mail after a complaint from a prior client that in some

edition, he was not thanked to participate.

- Collect data from remote participants: Remote companies were also targeted. The

data collection phase with these companies followed somewhat the same process, except that

after the questionnaire was sent, the intern had to keep track of the sending date on the

database as a reminder to contact the enterprise a week later or for the HR managers who

forgot about it or faked to forget about it, the intern could trace back the date of the mail

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quickly. Also, any other information judged important was recorded in the database after any

phone call in order to keep track of the specific history of each enterprise and remember the

participant. This was not only important for the intern’s follow-up of the collection phase but

also for Mr. Amine Laaouidi or the next person to work with them to have a detailed history

of the case. The intern used to record even the impressions or complaints. This permitted to

choose the appropriate way to talk with the person the next time. Also, the intern used to try

getting a person’s promise for a certain deadline to send back the questionnaire so that she

could call back that day and ask the person if she had sent the questionnaire and she did not

receive it. This served as a tactful reminder.

- Control of the coherence of data gathered: Once the questionnaire was filled in,

the intern was responsible of checking data back at the firm or at home if the appointment

lasted late in the afternoon. She then highlighted the confusing, contradictory or missing

information that required a specific data processing or that would be provided by another

member of the company. Most of the times, the intern prepared an Excel sheet grouping

together all the incomplete information and joining clarifications on the information needed

when the information entered was not appropriate. Some HR managers, who were very

hurried during the appointments and very difficult to reach, had to be handled differently. The

requirement should not seem too long to complete and too hard to look for. For this purpose,

notifications such as “only this information is needed” and “please specify the reasons why

not providing this data” were joined to the sheet. This would also avoid the repetition of task

of sending again the mail with the attached file. Some recurrent verification consisted of

checking if the number of employees per category was equal to the total number of

employees, same thing for the pyramid of age and salary funds. Other information to check

was that all HR employees were included in the definition of jobs for the HR function and the

profile of the HR employees holding these job titles, if data answered to the same question

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posed differently was coherent and others. The last two weeks or so of the intern concentrated

on this activity. Mr. Amine Laaouidi took in charge the appointments the intern did in order

for her to concentrate on the final tasks of verifying the content of questionnaires and leaving

the final version of the database with a maximum of notices on the state of advancement of

contact with enterprises.

- Do the necessary follow-up for a final validation of the survey: by sending mail

reminders, through phone calls, completion of the questionnaire by phone or coming back to

the organization to complete the questionnaire.

- Keeping the database updated on the state of completion of the questionnaire:

(the fields have been changed several times in order to fit the phases of the study; the last

fields were: Questionnaire (Q) in progress at distance, Q received at distance/in current

review/validated, Q received after appointment/in current verification/validated, contacts to

verify, to call immediately, withdrawal) and put the questionnaire in the appropriate shared

folder (received, in current verification, validated). The names of the domains were the same

on the direct supervisor’s file and the intern one in order to be able to sort out information in

order to report on the progress of the project either for the meetings with Mr. Amine Laaouidi

or for the weekly meetings with Mr. Essaid Bellal.

VI. Analysis Phase

As mentioned earlier, the intern was not part of this phase and thus, had no specific

information on the techniques used for the analysis of the data gathered. A second intern was

hired for this purpose as the first one (myself) was responsible for keeping the contact with

the participants as it was judged not professional to delegate the responsibility to other parties

in which they have not been in touch through the whole process. Sphinx and SPSS were used

to analyze data.

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VII. Dissemination Phase

The indicators calculated in the analysis phase are displayed in the dissemination

phase as general indictors, not involving the name of any participant or the name of the

organization. The results will be transmitted in November to all participants with no fee

incurred, an agent from the organization delivering it to the participating organization. Also,

different institutions in Morocco and abroad will benefit from these results, among which

AUI and other universities in Morocco. Concerning the media involved in publicizing the

study and the availability of its results will be press and radio releases. In addition to that,

some HR participants are invited to analyze and discuss the results of the study afterwards.

VIII. Suggestions

A. Problems Encountered

During the internship, there were some hindrances to the optimum success of the project.

Certain problems encountered are:

1. HR managers were very difficult to reach in great part because of the data collection

phase happened during summer. Thus, the process has suffered from some slowdowns

in the level of activity. It could be that it is not the optimal period to collect data

because HR managers usually take their holiday breaks during summer for extended

periods (around fifteen days generally) and the month or so preceding their holiday

breaks are especially busy since they try to get the work done and anticipate. Thus,

some were unavailable and asked for extended deadlines (August and September). It is

also a problem for the task of controlling the coherence of data.

2. The documents asked for at the beginning of the internship were only received at some

days of the end. These documents were supposed to help the intern have a clear vision

of what tools measured, when they were used and what they looked like. Also, they

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contained theories and information relevant to the survey content. The intern judged

the criticality of these documents are very important in the realization of appointments

since she could have been answering questions with more details and self-confidence,

whereas sometimes she gave just the sketch line of notions I had learnt at AUI or read

in specialized magazines.

3. The objective of checking the accuracy of data in the database for 350 enterprises in

two or three days was not realistic.

4. There was sometimes repetition of tasks and loss of time. At the beginning, the

procedure for doing a task before another one led to a loss of time. The participation

mailing had to be sent at the same time to all the participants after checking the

accuracy of the contacts on the database. Sending the participation mailing would help

in determining which contacts are inaccurate through the notification of receipt and

the companies would be contacted by phone one less time.

5. Transportation by taxi has as a major drawback that it creates a loss of time.

Sometimes, the intern had to wait for more than an hour to get a taxi back and forth.

So, a lot of wasted time in transportation. Also, transportation by train, as the intern

was doing the shuttle backwards and forward resulted sometimes in fatigue that

hindered the personal performance level.

6. The fact that the special day that the company wanted to organize in Tangier in order

to invite the participants and make them fill the questionnaire around this meetings

was not sure to take place, the companies located in Tangier had been pushed aside

during 4 or 5 weeks from the beginning of the data collection phase. Although some of

them have reached, this hesitation has hindered a little the possibility of having more

participants.

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B. A List of Suggestions

The first suggestion concerns the next intern assigned on the following edition of

the study of the HR function in Morocco at DIORH. The job responsibilities for the data

collection phase of this project require a certain set of knowledge, skills and abilities in

order to perform at the desired standards. The training program would emphasize the

following KSAs that are judged by the intern as critical success factors for this job:

- Knowledge: Knowledge of the HR tools and practices generally and for the Moroccan

context.

- Skills: Communication skills, self-management skills, interviewing skills.

- Ability: Cautiousness.

- Attitude: Self-confidence.

Preparation phase:

Knowledge increases self-confidence and is critical since the realization of meetings to

collect data from HR managers requires the full mastery of the concepts and terms

presented in the survey.

A pre-test can be administered to the new intern on their actual knowledge based on the

content of the survey. If the score is judged to be unsatisfactory, it would be appropriate to

devote five days of training to the new intern to master the survey or in other words to

increase his or her knowledge about HR issues, specifically the tools and practices of the

HR function and also about the Moroccan labor code and . The supervisor would select

the convenient material to learn based on the false answers on the test. Printed material to

study would be handed to the intern. This material includes organizational documents,

specialized magazine articles and documents or reviews of HR specialists’ presentations.

The learning process will be supervised closely, and the supervisor should be available to

answer the intern’s questions in real time. Also, he/she would supervise the whole

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intensive process of learning through discussions at the end of each day and face-to-face

questions as a post-assessment method. This will familiarize the intern with the reality of

his/her job duties and tasks as HR managers can ask him/her questions related to any

survey’s concepts, questions and terms used. In this respect, three sessions of role plays

would take place at the end of each day by different members of the organization. In the

first session, the member of the organization imitating the HR leader will act as if in a

stress interview by asking the maximum questions and tricky ones. The second role play

will involve another member of the organization engaged in the study who will act as a

typically difficult-to-handle participant (digresses, answers the phone, asks to report the

meeting, is bored and other bahaviors). The third session will consist of a mix between the

first and the second one and would represent a typical, average scenario that would be

faced during the data collection phase. Also, the process of the job should be handed to

the intern at the beginning in order to have a clear idea of the steps to follow and a

reminder on the specific KSAs and attitudes needed to perform the job would be

emphasized. Also, the intern would have a simulation module encompassing all the steps

of the process. A ready-made list of standard mails for different stages of the data

collection process would be handed in along with a set of guidelines from previous people

holding the same responsibilities in previous years on the specific communication tricks,

phrases and techniques to avoid and how to establish contact, how to bring back a person

tactfully from her digressions to concentrate on the following question, argumentation tips

and other tips. This would permit to keep the knowledge and skills of past job holders

inside the organization, on the basis of knowledge sharing. The intern, this way, would

learn from the previous job holders’ own experiences. Behaviour modification can be

assisted through the whole process by encouraging the disclosure of any “non conformity”

to the supervisor and seeking advice on how to handle the situation better.

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Other suggestions:

Planning another period for the data collection process.

Doing a general update or review of the database every year by the assistant along

with the mandatory update of the contacts of the clients of each member of the firm in

order not to loose time on updating the database. Also, everybody in the organization

can benefit from it instead of looking for the person who knows the client to get their

contact. There is a shared database in Outlook; however, not everybody can change

and data is not accurate in it. Actually, it is the opposite which is done: The study

permits to update this network.

Keep homogeneous database filtering with the same domains across the study or to

change not more than twice because it causes a loss of time to update every time the

enterprises on the new fields defined (It can take one whole morning, the equivalent of

an average of one to two possibilities of appointments).

Plan for transportation mean (facultative).

Agree upon a deadline of three days to complete the missing information with the

participant at the end of the meeting.

Section 3:

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I. Knowledge, Skills, Competencies and Points of View Learnt during the

Internship

Some of the documents provided at the end of the internship are as follows:

Leadership Competencies. Public Service Commission of Canada, Staffing

Programs Branch.

How to manage high potentials?

Performance Management. EUROGROUP Consulting Alliance

Workforce Planning: Effective Approaches and Practices. Presentation prepared

by Hewitt Associates for an HR Meeting.

How to Write a Great Business Plan. William A. Sahlman. Harvard Business

Review.

What is a referential of competencies?

How to conduct a social audit?

The difference between the different methods for job classification (by criteria,

global and standard)

The first direct source of information was my supervisor. His sense of organization,

rigor at work, precision and knowledge in HR matters has been of great teaching during my

internship. As he has been previously working on the same project (however with a wider

scope since he was involved in many more steps of the realization of the inquiry), he knew

what kind of prejudice, difficulties, ambitions or interests I would have at this stage of the

project. For example, when I was working on the actualization of the database, I sometimes

felt the task was repetitive and “administrative”, a feeling he could rapidly frame within the

project as an enabling tool to live the very enriching experience of being in direct contact with

the participants and many more experiences I would appreciate as the project was in progress.

Also, my curiosity and eagerness to learn more about the HR field, to know about all the HR

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tools and practices were something he had already experienced. My relationship with him was

one of a partner. He had told me at the beginning that he was not looking for an assistant to

his job but for a partner that would split the work with him and achieve it at the same pace

and with the same standards as him, as well as someone who can make suggestions for the

improvement of the work at every step or task involved. I liked this team spirit and as soon as

I started my internship, I felt the growing commitment to the success of the project.

The new skills I have learnt can be grouped under two major classes: specific and

generic skills. The specific technical skill I have learnt is the good use of Excel. I worked with

it during my whole period of internship and learnt new techniques with my supervisor to

make data accessible rapidly and with easier methods. As we worked on the project, we often

had to classify the enterprises by several types of criteria, to be able to sort them out quickly,

to have a clear number of this classification each time and other technicalities. The other

specific skill I have learnt is professional communication. Professional communication is

much more sophisticated and formal than in everyday life. The channels used are more varied.

Also, I have experienced a change from the American style of communicating that we use

with the teaching body and hierarchy in AUI which is direct to the point, clear and concise,

certainly not pedantic and overloaded with courtesy. In this work I had to accomplish,

communication was an important key to the success of the inquiry. A human being may react

negatively a message just because of non-conformity in the way the person addresses herself

to them, by the fact that we often associate the message to the sender of the message even if

the person is just a vehicle of the message. Learning the techniques of communicating with

professionals, how to present myself to them, how to keep one’s cool in front of a catastrophic

scenario, how to contain one’s emotions and have a sort of contained spontaneity while in

discussion with them even if they give a funny anecdote or a personal confidence will serve

me in the future as I will have to deal with different people every day.

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Moreover, this repeated contact with clients, would it be through phone calls or

appointments, helped me build confidence and express myself more easily on professional

matters.

I also learnt argumentation skills. Sometimes, contacting an HR manager to set an

appointment was not an easy matter. In the beginning, if an HR manager would refuse to

participate to the inquiry, I would feel a little bit blocked and hesitate as for the answer to

give. As time passed, I was able to let the HR manager finish and construct meanwhile a set

of arguments that would contradict his reasons for not participating. I used to have

argumentative skills with people I feel no pressure with. Now, I can construct arguments very

rapidly and in a natural manner with people I feel pressure with also. It has started to seem to

me as a game to play, a sheet to fill in the blanks or a chess game. Sometimes, it was even

funny as I started to develop techniques of argumentation and finished by imposing tactfully a

day and time that would fit the project. This is an important gain on my personal

development. Experience is a very good teacher, and the instinct of improvement is one

possible way to performance.

The generic skills I have learnt during my internship are skills that will serve my

employability to meet the demands of the job market in the future. These concern the work

organization, reactivity to changing environment; constant reporting of activities and works

accomplished and of non-conformities, stress control. I had to be very organized from the

beginning of the project. I had a hard time in the beginning to do so, because I used to have

reminders flying on my desk and undertaking tasks informally and incompletely as I was

asked to do several things at the same moment and faster. However, as I moved in the project,

the creation of a commentary column in the database seemed necessary and settling down to

write a coherent sequence of tasks for the day helped me shape my work and feel less stressed

by the amount of work I had to deal with. I learnt a lot from my supervisor’s sense of

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organization and methodology. While I used to work in a disperse manner, responding to the

first wave of emergency coming, I have learnt to set priorities for tasks and ensure a follow-

up for the companies dealt with. I could spend hours thinking about the conception of a

project and would feel very tight and disturbed by rules and procedures of work imposed. I

still have to learn a lot in this domain, but I can feel the improvement.

The points of view I have learnt during the internship concern in part my career

orientation. As a beginner in the field of HR management, I did not have a clear vision of the

path to follow for a successful career process in the field. Talking with my supervisor about

his ambitions, seeking advices from him and paying attention to the profile of the HR leaders

helped me have a clearer idea about my career orientation, or how to get enough knowledge,

skills and competencies in the field. He had shared with me his point of view that the best

start in the field was an experience of 4 to 5 years in consulting in order to capitalize practical

know-how, have a wide picture of the function and its practices, know about the needs of this

function and the diverse set of gaps underlying HR management in Moroccan firms, strategic

thinking etc. He told me that I could have opportunities to be an HR responsible but it would

not be interesting since I would not bring about the change I could bring after more

experience. As I say in my internal journal, the youngest HR leader making the exception had

28 years old. The others young managers were about 34 and 36. They were the youngest I

have met. As an HR manager from a big multinational told me and which I have shocked of

was the pretension on salary and job position of freshly graduated AUI students holding a

bachelor degree who expected to earn 20 000 to 25 000 DH and hold a manager’s or chief of

division position in the company in the field of their studies whereas he said “the content was

not that impressive.” I felt insulted but had to keep my cool because he was not supposed to

know I was an intern studying at AUI, but said that some cases cannot generate a

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generalization that judges the level of AUI students and that a comparison between the course

materials provided, the tasks, performance standards etc. would be more accurate.

I noticed also the high rate of woman in this field.

I discovered that an HR manager (Responsible resources Humaines) had far more

activities and job responsibilities than the HR leader in the structure.

Moreover, I have noticed that the preoccupations of the HR function varied

consistently. Sometimes the biggest concern is to maintain the social stability in the enterprise

when there is tension between union representatives and top management. The job needs then

patience and pronounced negotiation skills. In other structures, the function has not moved yet

from its administrative status and is not yet concerned about strategic issues and contribution

to the development of human resources bur rather to their administrative management such as

payroll and the legal training. In many structures, especially multinational corporations, HR

management procedures are set up from the head office and the regional HR leader has a

strategic mission, but this does not mean that in other national companies, it is not the same.

There is a big difference in the management of human resources from a company to

another. Important factors I have the impression have a say in determining this role are the top

management concern for HR issues and recognition of the added-value from HR activities and

their perception of its role, the knowledge, skills and competencies of HR managers, the

directives and procedures of the head office in case of a multinational corporation, the nature

of the problems encountered and others.

Besides, the questionnaire in itself was an important source of knowledge because I

could see what issues an HR leader thinks about, potential problems and challenges he or she

faces, the several HR activities and tools to implement as a skeleton of information and basis

for HR activities, evaluation and planning for future actions and other information.

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I learnt from the interaction with HR managers, how they talk about their job, the

commentaries on their answers which give details of reality, their opinions for example of the

benefits of job classification, their approach to HR management. One that hasmarked me

specifically was an old man who had worked in the finance area previously and who talked

about his job as an art of living, a diplomat and despot job at the same time, and he said: “The

key to be a good HR manager is to know exactly the jobs and to be very close to employees.”

He had performed every single job in relationship with customer service for a brief period of

time to know how much time it took to realize different tasks and uncover the hindering

factors of low job performance. He also told me the story of a young man having talent

(detection of high potentials was done with the naked eye) that he sent to do several trainings

at the international level and who learnt English very rapidly and learnt new skills and

competencies to be promoted to a job he liked very much. He talked about the satisfaction he

had from seeing a person fulfilled in her career.

II. The Skills from AUI Courses and Activities Useful in the Internship

First, our studies in AUI teach us to think as HR leaders but we are not brought at the

beginning to deal with such an exhaustive responsibility. I think we are prepared mentally but

not practically to this job; at least, it is my point of view of the moment whereas I have not

completed all my HR courses at AUI. At AUI, for every field, we learn a specific line of

thinking. In the HR field, we learn the system thinking and a process, detailed manner for

solving problems.

The courses that helped me in the internship are first the courses of my major,

Introduction to HRD, Human Capital Management and Strategic HRD; the first one because it

gives a clear overview of the HR major concerns, the second one because it tackles more

specifically the different HR areas and the third one because I knew what an HR balanced

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scorecard was, the strategic missions of the HR function, how to conduct an HR plan’s

process and procedures for different purposes according to the different trends that helped me

design some questions for the suggestions made to Mr. Amine Laaouidi concerning the

survey.

Another course which was important was MGT 3301, Principles of Management. The

notions taught in this course would serve me to know the types of training, types of

evaluation, sources needed for recruitment needs, the approach to HR planning and other

material.

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Conclusion

Working at DIORH for two months and a half for the data collection phase of the

study of the HR function in Morocco has been a rich learning experience. Being familiarized

with project management, with all its aspects from the tools to use and the methodology of the

process to the importance of a standardized way to organize the work and the ability to deal

with different tasks at the same time, will be very helpful in the personal future work life.

Also, the working environment was relevant since there was emphasis on values such as

customer service, teamwork, transparency, continuous improvement in the processes and

procedures, good quality of work, diversity at work, importance of good relationships at work

and other criteria that suited the personal vision of the workplace. The close supervision by

Mr. Amine Laaouidi played an important role in the management of the data collection phase.

Drawing on his expertise and working style, a certain set of knowledge, skills and abilities

were going to be memorable. Also, the informal discussions at the work place with different

members of the consulting firm were a good source of knowledge on the potential career

opportunities in the HR field. In addition to that, the several interactions with HR managers

were unique in the vision of the HR function they conveyed and were consequently a brand

new way of looking at things concerning the personal career orientation. Since the first aim of

joining DIORH was to discover the job of a consultant, the importance of consulting in an HR

career, what kind of expertise is developed through consulting, what are the specific jobs,

duties and areas in consulting that would be of most interest as well as other questions,

personal interest is still axed in consulting for the years to come. However, it would be very

useful to integrate the structure on specific job areas like consulting in recruitment, training,

HR strategy and others in order to get a close view on different jobs and know better of the

specific knowledge, skills and competencies to develop for the job which would be of interest.

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References:

L’IRH DIORH (2008). Questionnaire Relatif à L’Enquête RH 2008. Casablanca.

N.a. (2005). A Propos de DIORH. Retrieved September 6, 2008 from:

http://www.diorh.com/fr/identite/qui-somme-nous.htm

Laaouidi, A. (2008). Manuel de Process Enquête RH.

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