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Section 11.0 Introduction:

he issue of ‘Work-Life Balance’ within banking services has drawn considerable attention over the past few years. The movement towards the better service has increased the development of the banking industry. Employees of the banks are providing lots of

services in order to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market. On the other hand banks are rewarding those employees by providing lots of benefits. Nevertheless banks maintain some policies to support employees in balancing their work and life responsibilities. The objective of the report is to examine work-life balance services provided by the banks for their employees.

T

While there have been efforts to study work-life balance services, there is no general measurement on the measurement of the concept. So that the survey questionnaire is divided into six types of policies those are taken by the banks. These are Leave Arrangements, Parenting and Pregnancy Policies, Flexible Work Arrangements, Additional Work Provisions, Formality of Policies and Experiences of the Employees.

One of the aims of this study involves the use of ‘Work-Life Balance Survey’ in order to ascertain how banks ‘work life balance’ policies support its employees in balancing their work and life responsibilities. Another aim of this term paper is to point out how important are these services for the employees and how these policies could be improved. In the following I have mentioned about the work-life balance policies, findings of the work-life balance survey and the views of the employees about those policies.

1.1 Objective:

The objectives of the report is-

To measure the work-life balance policies of several banks.To understand the views of the employees about those policies.Finding the ways of improvement of those policies.Analysis of those findings.

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1.2 Methodology:

To measure the work-life balance policies I have used here Work-Life Balance Survey-Employees. The measurement of the policies using this method contains questions about some work-life balance policies from six specific aspects. For four of the aspects I have graded twice: first, whether the bank has the policy or not, then how important the policy is from the employee’s view. Then I have counted the percentage that whether the bank possess the service or not. I have also measured the score according to the bank’s employee’s view.

1.3 Rationale of the Study:

The rationale of this study is that, we don’t know all the work-life balance policies provided by different banks. As a result we can not assess how the employees are balancing their work and life responsibilities. So that I have made the analysis of the ‘Work-Life Balance Survey-Employees’ to assess the work-life balance policies of different banks.

1.4 Scope and Limitation:

The scope of the report is that we can know about a bank’s work-life balance policies. As a result we can assess how the employees are balancing their work and life responsibilities.The limitation is that some employees do not want some policies for them. The survey is based on the employee’s perception. So it may vary.

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Section 22.0 Work-Life Balance Survey-Employees and Its Importance

Better work-life balance survey:

The Better Work-Life Balance Survey is a free questionnaire to help employers in evaluating and improving their work-life balance policies. The survey aims to measure how effectively organizations accommodate work-life balance, by assessing employee’s awareness of work-life balance policies and their comfort levels in using these policies.

Why work-life balance?

Effective work-life balance policies are valuable to businesses and organisations for a number of reasons, including:

reduced staff turnover rates becoming a good employer or an employer of choice

increased return on investment in training as employees stay longer

reduced absenteeism and sick leave

improved morale or satisfaction

greater staff loyalty and commitment

improved productivity

How the survey will help business/organizationThe Better Work-Life Balance survey can help an organization improve and promote work-life balance in the workplace by:

identifying areas of policy development and implementation where change may be required (e.g. improve awareness; change workplace culture);

monitoring the effectiveness of organizational changes by readministering the survey after changes have been made;

responding to the changing needs of your employees and ensuring employees are aware of existing and changed policies by readministering the survey periodically.

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.

Section 3

3.0 Company Information:

In this study I have made the survey on five banks. These are the EXIM Bank, AB Bank, Brac Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd and Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. In the following I have mentioned the brief of these banks.

3.1 AB Bank

AB Bank Limited, the first private sector bank was incorporated in Bangladesh on 31st December 1981 as Arab Bangladesh Bank Limited and started its operation with effect from April 12, 1982. AB Bank is known as one of leading bank of the country since its commencement 28 years ago. It continues to remain updated with the latest products and services, considering consumer and client perspectives. AB Bank has thus been able to keep their consumer’s and client’s trust while upholding their reliability, across time. During the last 28 years, AB Bank Limited has opened 77 Branches in different Business Centers of the country, one foreign Branch in Mumbai, India and also established a wholly owned Subsidiary Finance Company in Hong Kong in the name of AB International Finance Limited. To facilitate cross border trade and payment related services, the Bank has correspondent relationship with over 220 international banks of repute across 58 countries of the World. In spite of adverse market conditions, AB Bank Limited which turned 28 this year, concluded the 2008 financial year with good results. The Bank’s consolidated profit after taxes amounted to Taka 230 cr which is 21% higher than that of 2007. The asset base of AB grew by 32% from 2007 to stand at over Tk 8,400 cr as at the end of 2008. The Bank showed strong growth in loans and deposits. Deposit of the Bank rose by Tk. 1518 cr ie., 28.45% while the diversified Loan Portfolio grew by over 30% during the year and recorded a Tk 1579 cr increase. Foreign Trade Business handled was Tk 9,898 cr indicating a growth of over 40% in 2008. The Bank maintained its sound credit rating in 2008 to that of the previous year. The Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB) awarded the Bank an A1 rating in the long term and ST-2 rating in the short Term. AB Bank believes in modernization. The bank took a conscious decision to rejuvenate its past identity – an identity that the bank carried as Arab Bangladesh Bank Limited for twenty five long years. As a result of this decision, the bank chose to rename itself as AB Bank Limited and the Bangladesh Bank put its affirmative stamp on November 14, 2007.

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3.2 Brac Bank

BRAC Bank is a Bangladesh-based financial institution that offers a range of financial and banking services. The company offers corporate banking, retail banking, personal banking, and small and medium enterprise (SME) banking services. It also offers phone banking, locker services, short message service (SMS) banking and internet banking services. The company primarily operates in Bangladesh, where it is headquartered in Dhaka. BRAC Bank Limited, with institutional shareholdings by BRAC, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Shorecap International, has been the fastest growing Bank in 2004 and 2005. BRAC Bank has been rated as one of the four most successful and sustainable SME Banks in the world. It also has been recognized for “ICMAB Best Corporate Award 2007’. It had been rated as “A” in Long Term and ST-2 in short term. A fully operational Commercial Bank, BRAC Bank focuses on pursuing unexplored market niches in the Small and Medium Enterprise Business, which hitherto has remained largely untapped within the country. In the last five years of operation, the Bank has disbursed over BDT 1500 crores in loans to nearly 50,000 small and medium entrepreneurs. The management of the Bank believes that this sector of the economy can contribute the most to the rapid generation of employment in Bangladesh. Since inception in December 2007, the Bank's footprint has grown to 36 branches, 392 SME unit offices and 67 ATM sites across the country.

BRAC went public following an initial public offer (IPO) and got listed on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in 2006. The Company, after approval from SEC, issued 50mn shares at Tk. 170 per share including Tk.70 premium. By the end of 2007, a major portion of the Company’s shares were held by the institutions and general public, which accounted for 47.11%.

3.3 Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd

Dutch-Bangla Bank started operation is Bangladesh's first joint venture bank. The bank was an effort by local shareholders spearheaded by M Sahabuddin Ahmed (founder chairman) and the Dutch company FMO. From the onset, the focus of the bank has been financing high-growth manufacturing industries in Bangladesh. The rationale being that the manufacturing sector exports Bangladeshi products worldwide. Thereby financing and concentrating on this sector allows Bangladesh to achieve the desired growth. DBBL's other focus is Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR). Even though CSR is now a cliche, DBBL is the pioneer in this sector and termed the contribution simply as 'social responsiblity'. Due to its investment in this sector, DBBL has become one of the largest donors and the largest bank donor in Bangladesh. The bank has won numerous international awards because of its unique approach as a socially conscious bank.

DBBL was the first bank in Bangladesh to be fully automated. The Electronic-Banking Division was established in 2002 to undertake rapid automation and bring modern banking services into this field. Full automation was completed in 2003 and hereby introduced plastic money to the

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Bangladeshi masses. DBBL also operates the nation's largest ATM fleet and in the process drastically cut consumer costs and fees by 80%. Moreover, DBBL choosing the low profitability route for this sector has surprised many critics. DBBL had pursued the mass automation in Banking as a CSR activity and never intended profitability from this sector. As a result it now provides unrivaled banking technology offerings to all its customers. Because of this mindset, most local banks have joined DBBL's banking infrastructure instead of pursuing their own.

Even with a history of hefty technological investments and even larger donations, consumer and investor confidence has never waned. Dutch-Bangla Bank stock set the record for the highest share price in the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 2008.

3.4 EXIM Bank

EXIM Bank Limited was established in 1999 under the leadership of Late Mr. Shahjahan Kabir, founder chairman who had a long dream of floating a commercial bank which would contribute to the socio-economic development of our country. He had a long experience as a good banker. A group of highly qualified and successful entrepreneurs joined their hands with the founder chairman to materialize his dream. In deed, all of them proved themselves in their respective business as most successful star with their endeavor, intelligence, hard working and talent entrepreneurship. Among them, Mr. Nazrul Islam Mazumder became the honorable chairman after the demise of the honorable founder chairman.

This bank starts functioning from 3rd August, 1999 with Mr. Alamgir Kabir, FCA as the advisor and Mr. Mohammad Lakiotullah as the Managing Director. Both of them have long experience in the financial sector of our country. By their pragmatic decision and management directives in the operational activities, this bank has earned a secured and distinctive position in the banking industry in terms of performance, growth, and excellent management. The authorized capital and paid up capital of the bank are Tk. 3500.00 million and Tk 2677.80 million respectively. The bank has migrated all of its conventional banking operation into Shariah based Islami banking since July/2004.

3.5 Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd

Bangladesh is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. The people of this country are deeply committed to Islamic way of life as enshrined in the Holy Qur'an and the \ Sunnah. Naturally, it remains a deep cry in their hearts to fashion and design their economic lives in accordance with the precepts of Islam. The establishment of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited on March 13, 1983, is the true reflection of this inner urge of its people, which started functioning with effect from March 30, 1983. This Bank is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It is committed to conduct all banking and investment activities on the basis of interest-free profit-

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loss sharing system. In doing so, it has unveiled a new horizon and ushered in a new silver lining of hope towards materializing a long cherished dream of the people of Bangladesh for doing their banking transactions in line with what is prescribed by Islam. With the active co-operation and participation of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and some other Islamic banks, financial institutions, government bodies and eminent personalities of the Middle East and the Gulf countries, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has by now earned the unique position of a leading private commercial bank in Bangladesh.

IBBL at a glance:

Date of Incorporation 13th March 1983

Inauguration of 1st Branch(Local office, Dhaka)

30th March 1983

Formal Inauguration 12th August 1983

Share of Capital

Local Shareholders 41.77%

Foreign Shareholders 58.23%

Authorized Capital Tk. 10,000.00 million

Paid-up Capital Tk. 7,413.00 million

Deposits Tk. 265,193.00 million

Investment(including Investment in Shares)

Tk. 255,178.00 million

Foreign Exchange Business Tk. 277,739.00 million

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Section 44.0 Data Analysis:

In this study I have measured whether a bank follows the work-life balance policies or not. Then I have counted the percentage of it. The importance of the policies according to the employees view is also mentioned here. Work-life balance survey-employees contain six types of policies such as Leave Arrangement, Parenting and Pregnancy Policies, Flexible Work Arrangements, Additional Work Provisions, Formality of Policies and Experiences of the Employees. These policies have been analyzed below from the perspectives of five banks.

4.1 Leave Arrangements:

Leave arrangements are different types of leaves that the bank has for its employees. Bank provides these services to its employees for balancing their work and life responsibilities. I have made survey on five banks. Based on the leave arrangements dimension the findings of these banks are:

Name of Banks Leave ArrangementsDoes the bank has this policy? (In terms of %)

Importance Score (In scale of 40)

Description of the ScoreYes No Don’t

KnowAB Bank 37.5% 62.5% 0 24 AverageBrac Bank 62.5% 37.5% 0 35 Very

ImportantDutch-Bangla Bank Ltd 62.5% 25% 12.5% 35 Very

Important

EXIM Bank 50% 50% 0 35 Very Important

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd

50% 50% 0 28 Important

Importance Range:

Range of the Score Description0 - 8 Very Unimportant9 - 16 Unimportant

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17- 24 Average25- 32 Important33- 40 Very Important

Explanation Using Chart:

Maintenance of the policy by the Banks:

Importance Score (In scale of 40):

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4.2 Parenting and Pregnancy policies:

This is another type of work-life balance policy. It indicates whether the bank provides paternity, maternity, adoption, pre-natal etc leaves or not. I have made survey on five banks. Based on the Paternity and Pregnancy Policy dimension the findings of these banks are:

Name of Banks Parenting and Pregnancy PolicyDoes the bank has this policy? (In terms of %)

Importance Score (In scale of 50)

Description of the ScoreYes No Don’t

KnowAB Bank 50% 50% 0 38 ImportantBrac Bank 40% 60% 0 41 Very

ImportantDutch-Bangla Bank Ltd 50% 30% 20% 40 Important

EXIM Bank 20% 70% 10% 36 ImportantIslami Bank Bangladesh Ltd

50% 50% 0 34 Important

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Importance Range:

Range of the Score Description0 - 10 Very Unimportant11 - 20 Unimportant21- 30 Average31- 40 Important41- 50 Very Important

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Explanation Using Chart:

Maintenance of the policy by the Banks:

Importance Score (In scale of 50):

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4.3 Flexible Work Arrangement:

It indicates that whether an employee can share his or her job or not, can work from home or not, has the opportunity to negotiate part-time work for full-time, option of self-rostering, gradual retirement. I have made survey on five banks. Based on the flexible work arrangement dimension the findings of these banks are:

Name of Banks Flexible Work ManagementDoes the bank has this policy? (In terms of %)

Importance Score (In scale of 35)

Description of the ScoreYes No Don’t

KnowAB Bank 0 100% 0 26 ImportantBrac Bank 14.29% 71.43% 14.29% 24 ImportantDutch-Bangla Bank Ltd 14.29% 57.14% 28.57% 30 Very

Important

EXIM Bank 0 85.71% 14.29% 19 AverageIslami Bank Bangladesh Ltd

14.29% 85.71% 0 22 Important

Importance Range:

Range of the Score Description 0 - 7 Very Unimportant 8 - 14 Unimportant15- 21 Average22- 28 Important29- 35 Very Important

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Explanation Using Chart:

Maintenance of the policy by the Banks:

Importance Score (In scale of 35):

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4.4 Additional Work Provision:

This work-life balance policy consists of telephone for personal use, counselling services for employees, referral services for employees, health programs, parenting or family suppport program, exercise facilities, relocation or placement assistances, equal access to promotion. I have made survey on five banks. Based on the additional work provision dimension the findings of these banks are:

Name of Banks Additional Work ProvisionDoes the bank has this policy? (In terms of %)

Importance Score (In scale of 40)

Description of the ScoreYes No Don’t

KnowAB Bank 25% 75% 0 30 ImportantBrac Bank 37.5% 50% 12.5% 27 ImportantDutch-Bangla Bank Ltd 37.5% 62.5% 0 33 Very

Important

EXIM Bank 62.5% 25% 12.5% 37 Very Important

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd

37.5% 62.5% 0 28 Important

Importance Range:

Range of the Score Description0 - 8 Very Unimportant9 - 16 Unimportant17- 24 Average25- 32 Important33- 40 Very Important

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Explanation Using Chart:

Maintenance of the policy by the Banks:

Importance Score (In scale of 40):

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4.5 Formality of Policies:

I have made survey on five banks. Based on the formality of policies dimension the findings of these banks are:

Name of Banks Formality of policies

Does the bank has this policy? (In terms of %)Yes No Don’t Know

AB Bank 100% 0% 0%Brac Bank 0% 100% 0%Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd 100% 0% 0%

EXIM Bank 66.67% 0% 33.33%

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd

100% 0% 0%

Explanation Using Chart:

Agreement Level of Employees:

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4.6 Employee’s Experiences in the Organization;

This section describes employee’s experiences about the work-life balance policies. It also shows their level of agreement for each statement. I have made survey on five banks. Based on the experiences of employees about the work-life balance policies the findings of these banks are:

Name of Banks Employee’s Experiences in the OrganizationScore (In the scale of 105)

Description of the Score

AB Bank 75 AgreeBrac bank 65 AgreeDutch-Bangla Bank Ltd 70 AgreeEXIM Bank 72 AgreeIslami Bank Bangladesh Ltd 55 Uncertain

Agreement Level Range:

Range of the Score Description0 - 21 Strongly Disagree22 - 42 Disagree43- 63 Uncertain64- 84 Agree85- 105 Strongly Agree

Explanation Using Chart:

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Overall Comparison:

Name of Policies

Scale of Score

AB Bank Brac Bank DBBL EXIM Bank IBBL

Policy Maintenance

Importance Score

Policy Maintenance

Importance Score

Policy Maintenance

Importance Score

Policy Maintenance

Importance Score

Policy Maintenance

Score

Leave Arrangement 40

37.5% 24 62.5% 35 62.5% 35 50% 35 50% 28

Parenting and Pregnancy Policies

50 50% 38 40% 41 50% 40 20% 36 50% 34

Flexible Work Arrangement

35 0% 26 14.29% 24 14.29% 30 0% 19 14.29%

22

Additional Work Provision

40 25% 30 37.5% 27 37.5% 33 62.5% 37 37.5% 28

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Formality of Policies

100% _ 0% _ 100% _ 0% _ 100% _

Employee’s Experience in the organization

105

_

75

_

65

_

70

_

72

_

55

Explanation Using Chart:

Maintenance of the Policies:

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Grading of Banks:

In my study I have found that different banks are following different work-life balance policies. And all the work-life balance policies are not maintained by all banks. So that I have graded these banks according to their maintenance of the work-life balance policies.

Name of Policies

Policy Maintenance level

AB Bank Brac Bank DBBL EXIM Bank Islami Bank

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Leave Arrangement

37.5%***

62.5%*****

62.5%*****

50%****

50%****

Parenting and Pregnancy Policies

50%*****

40%****

50%*****

20%***

50%*****

Flexible Work Arrangement

0% 14.29%*****

14.29%*****

0% 14.29%*****

Additional Work Provision

25%***

37.5%****

37.5%****

62.5%*****

37.5%****

Formality of Policies

100%*****

0% 100%*****

0% 100%*****

Total value 16 18 24 12 23

No. of star Indication Value of grade

***** Grade-1 5

**** Grade-2 4

*** Grade-3 3

** Grade-4 2

* Grade-5 1

Explanation Using Chart:

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Section 5

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5.0 Conclusion and Recommendation:

Conclusion:

In this paper, after getting the responses from the employees of the banks I have analyzed those data. I have graded those banks according to their policy maintenance level. I have given value for each grade based on their maintenance level. The total score of the banks according to their maintenance level are- Dutch-Bangla Bank-24, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd-23, Brac Bank-18, AB Bank-16, EXIM Bank-12. So it can be realized that the Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd is in the superior position, Islami Bank Bangladesh ltd is in the second position, Brac Bank is in the third position, AB Bank is in the fourth position and EXIM Bank is in the fifth position. So Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd is maintaining better work-life balance policies for their employees. So graphically it has been depicted in the following-

Recommendations:

Though these banks are following work-life balance policies, but they are not following these policies fully. So these banks should upgrade their lacking to provide the better work-life balance

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policies. Though DBBL is in the superior position it should increase its flexible work arrangement and additional work provision policies. IBBL should increase its flexible work arrangements, leave arrangements and parenting & pregnancy polices. Brac Bank should increase its parenting & pregnancy policies, flexible work arrangement, additional work provision and formality of policies. AB Bank should increase its flexible work arrangements and additional work provisions. EXIM Bank should increase its parenting & pregnancy policies, flexible work arrangements and formality of policies.

References:

www.google.com

www.dbbl.com.bd

www.ibbl.com.bd

www.bracbank.com

www.abbank.com.bd

www.eximbankbd.com

Appendix:

Questionnaire of the Better Work-Life Balance Survey.