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[What is Human Resource Management?]

#31

Announcements/News & Event / 7 Human Resource Management Ba...

Last post by hasan - June 13, 2023, 01:52:23 PM

People are essential to the success of any business. The performance of employees can be a liability or asset to a company. As an HR professional, you will play a pivotal role in how successful your company is. Good Human Resource Management (HRM) is essential for businesses of all sizes. In this article, we will breakdown the fundamentals of Human Resource Management.

We will start with a brief description of HRM and HR. Then we will dive into the seven HR basics you have to know to have a good understanding of what HR does. We will end with some information on technical terms, such as HRIS (Human Resources Information System).

What is Human Resource Management?
Let's start with a brief definition. Human Resource Management, or HRM, is the practice of managing people to achieve better performance.

For example, if you hire people into a business, you are looking for people who fit the company culture as they will be happier, stay longer, and be more productive than people who won't fit into the company culture.

Another example is engagement. Engaged employees are more productive, deliver higher quality work and make customers happier. This means that if we can find ways to make employees more engaged, we help the company.
The HR department provides the knowledge, tools, training, legal advice, administration, and talent management, which is crucial to sustaining and advancing a company.

This is what Human Resource Management boils down to optimizing company performance through better management of human resources. The next question is, who are these Human Resources?

What is a Human Resource?
It may feel a bit weird to refer to people as 'human resources'. Human Resources are all the people that in one capacity or another work for or contribute to an organization.

These people make up a company's workforce. They can be regular employees, for example, but also contractors. Especially with the rise of the gig economy, more and more people are starting to work for an organization on a contract basis without having a traditional labor contract.

These people include independent contractors, workers provided by contract firms, on-call workers, and temporary help agency workers.

An independent contractor can be under contract for years at the same organization, while an agency worker can work at 20 different companies throughout one year. Because these people are all involved in the company to a different extent, the way they are managed and involved in the organization should also be different.

Also, there are increasingly non-humans at work at the company.

In this case, we're talking about the increase in robotization. Robots are increasingly involved in day-to-day work and the interaction between man and machine is becoming increasingly essential to the success of the organization. Although these machines are not considered 'human resources', there is a case to be made that they should be included in some way as they are part of the workforce.

The seven HR basics
When we talk about Human Resource Management, several elements are considered cornerstones for effective HRM policies. These cornerstones are:

• Recruitment & selection
• Performance management
• Learning & development
• Succession planning
• Compensation and benefits
• Human Resources Information Systems
• HR data and analytics

In the following section, we will cover these HR basics one by one.

1. Recruitment & selection
Recruitment and selection are arguably the most visible elements of HR. We all remember our first interview, right?

Recruiting candidates and selecting the best ones to come and work for the company is a key HR responsibility. People are the lifeblood of the organization and finding the best fits is a key task.

The request for new hires usually starts when a new job is created or an existing job opens up. The direct manager then sends the job description to HR and HR starts recruiting candidates. In this process, HR can use different selection instruments to find the best person to do the work. These include interviews, different assessments, reference checks, and other recruitment methods.

Sometimes, when there are a lot of candidates, HR may deploy preselection tools. These tools help to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to suitable candidates. The successful candidates then continue to the next round, where they are interviewed and receive a more in-depth assessment.

2. Performance management
Once employees are on board, performance management becomes important. Performance management is the second HR basic. It involves helping people to become their best selves at work, boosting the company's bottom line.

Usually, employees have a defined set of responsibilities that they need to take care of. Performance management is a structure that enables employees to get feedback on their performance – to reach their best performance.

Examples are formal one-on-one performance reviews, 360-degree feedback instruments that also take into account the evaluation of peers, clients, and other relations, and more informal feedback.

Usually, companies work with an annual performance management cycle, which involves planning, monitoring, reviewing, and rewarding employee performance. The outcome of this process enables the categorization of employees in high vs. low performers and high vs. low potentials.

Successful performance management is very much a shared responsibility between HR and management, where usually the direct manager is in the lead and HR supports. Good performance management is crucial. Employees who are empowered to their full potential, improve the efficiency, sustainability, and profit margin of a business. Employees which consistently underperform may not be a good fit for their role, or the company culture. These employees may need to be let go.

This is also one of the basic responsibilities of HR.

3. Learning & development
People are the product of life experiences, the country and era they grow up in, and a range of cultural influences. Within HR, learning and development ensure that employees adapt to changes in processes, technology, and societal or legal shifts.

Learning and development helps employees to reskill and upskill. Learning & Development (L&D) is led by HR and good policies can be very helpful in advancing the organization toward its long-term goals. One of the HR trends for 2023 is bringing learning into day-to-day work and helping employees develop soft and hard skills that are aligned with organizational goals.

Many organizations have pre-defined budgets for L&D efforts. This budget is then distributed amongst employees, with trainees, future leaders, and other high potentials often receiving more training opportunities than others. Individuals may arrive at a company with vastly different knowledge and experience. L&D provides employees with a way in which to bridge skill gaps and develop into leaders. A well-known framework that connects performance management with L&D activities is the 9-Box grid. Based on people's performance and potential ratings, HR department, together with managers, can advise different development plans.

4. Succession planning
Succession planning is the process of planning contingencies in case of key employees leaving the company. If, for example, a crucial senior manager quits his/her job, having a replacement ready will guarantee continuity and can save the company significant money.

Succession planning is often based on performance ratings and L&D efforts. This results in the creation of a talent pipeline. This is a pool of candidates who are qualified and ready to fill (senior) positions in case of someone leaving. Building and nurturing this pipeline is key to good people management.

5. Compensation and benefits
Another one of the HR basics is compensation and benefits. Fair compensation is key in motivating and retaining employees. One of the fundamentals of human resource management concerning pay is ensuring equity and fairness.

Making the right offer of pay is a key part of attracting the best talent. This must be balanced with the budget and profit margins of the company. HR should monitor pay increases, and set standards of merit. HR may also carry out a pay audit on occasion.

Compensation comprises primary compensation and secondary compensation. Primary compensation involves directly paid money for work, which often is a monthly salary and sometimes performance-based pay.

Secondary benefits are all non-monetary rewards. This can include extra holidays, flexible working times, day-care, pensions, a company car and laptop, and much more.

The goal here is to reward people in ways that motivate them.

6. Human Resource Information System
The last two HR basics are not HR practices but tools to do HR better. The first is the Human Resource Information System, or HRIS. An HRIS supports all the cornerstones we discussed above. For example, for recruitment and selection, HR professionals often use an Applicant Tracking System, or ATS, to keep track of applicants and hires.

For performance management, a performance management system is used to keep track of individual goals and put in performance ratings.

In L&D, a Learning Management System (LMS) is used for the distribution of content internally, and other HR systems are used to keep track of budgets and training approvals.

Compensation specialists often use a payroll system, and there are also digital tools that enable effective succession planning.

All these functionalities can often be done in one single system – the HRIS. Sometimes, however, the management of these functionalities is split up into different HR systems.

The bottom line here is that there is a significant digital element to working in HR, that's why we need to mention HRIS when talking about the HR basics.

7. HR data and analytics
The last of the HR fundamentals revolves around data and analytics. In the last half-decade, HR has made a major leap towards becoming more data-driven.

The Human Resource Information Systems we just discussed is essentially a data-entry system. The data in these systems can be used to make better and more informed decisions.

An easy way to keep track of critical data is through HR metrics or HR KPIs. These are specific measurements that answer how a company is doing on a given measurement. This is referred to as HR reporting.

This reporting focuses on the current and past state of the organization. Using HR analytics, HR can also make predictions. Examples include workforce needs, employee turnover intention, the impact of the (recruitment) candidate experience on customer satisfaction, and many others.

By actively measuring and looking at this data, HR can make more data-driven decisions. These decisions are often more objective, which makes it easier to find management support for these decisions.

Conclusion
You now know the 7 Human Resource Management basics. None of these HR fundamentals are isolated. They all interact and affect each other. Think of these 7 basics as building blocks – strong management of each fundamental element contributes to the strength of the next. Collectively, these HR fundamentals enable a workforce not only to perform better but to perform at its very best.

Source: https://www.aihr.com/blog/human-resource-basics/

[What is a Skill Test?]

#32

Announcements/News & Event / Everything You Need to Know Ab...

Last post by hasan - June 12, 2023, 03:56:20 PM

What is a Skill Test?

A skills test is an assessment used to provide an unbiased, validated evaluation of a candidate's ability to perform the duties listed in the job description.

Typically, a skills test asks a variety of questions in different formats to see how candidates perform on-the-job tasks. A good skills test includes questions that are capable of being answered by someone already doing the job and can accurately measure key performance metrics. Questions should also be specifically tailored to relate to the responsibilities of an open position. Many skills tests include immersive experiences, like coding challenges or job simulations, to mimic how a candidate performs when faced with a real-life scenario.

Other types of job-readiness evaluations deploy validated psychometric assessments to identify those in-demand soft skills: things like motivation, conscientiousness, resilience, and emotional intelligence. A personality assessment varies from a skills test in that it predicts how a person will behave in a specific scenario, rather than their ability to complete a task.

How Skill Testing Works
Skill testing works best when the questions being asked are specifically crafted to the role and needs of the team hiring the new candidate. In designing a skills test, combine different types of questions to get a 360-degree view of how a candidate will perform in different scenarios.

There are a variety of ways to set up a skills test – and we'll get into the mechanics of how to actually run the assessment in the next section. But, designing a thoughtful aptitude test takes some initial foresight on behalf of the hiring manager and team.

Research by Deloitte suggests this sample process for selecting and implementing skill testing questions:

• Define the "human elements" needed to perform the job
• Compile questions that will measure and predict these human elements
• Use the data gathered by the skills assessments to empower the next round of the screening process
• Post-hiring, evaluate the efficacy of the hiring assessment to ensure the questions delivered the best result.

Ultimately, the best use for a skills assessment is to help recruiters move away from the resume and allow candidates to prove they are the real deal. Crafting the right series of questions should be a collaborative process between the recruiting team and the team hiring the new employee. Here's how these teams can set up and run a skills test.
How to Set Up and Run a Skill Test
In designing a skills test or pre-employment assessment, there are a few specific steps to take in order to thoughtfully structure your questions.


Based on our work with over 8,000 customers, we recommend following these best practices in setting up and running your skills test. These tips can help with candidate engagement and lead to high rates of completion.

• Your skills test should include a minimum of six questions; somewhere in the eight to ten range is best.
• At least a few questions should require text answers; start with a text-based response in the first question, rather than a video or immersive question.
• Include an "immersive" style question, in which the candidate edits a document, spreadsheet, or presentation.
• To retain a candidate over the entire experience, start with easier questions and build up to more difficult ones later in the assessment.
• Try to minimize the use of timers to account for technical difficulties and give the candidate the best chance of success.

We also suggest that video responses not be timed; there are too many technical issues that can result from a candidate trying to film a one-way video interview. If you do wish to set a time limit, make sure it's at a minimum of five minutes.

Running a skills test through Vervoe, or any other platform, is relatively straightforward. Vervoe's skills assessments let you select questions from a library of assessment tools, or design your own questions based on the specific needs of your company. The Expert Assessment Library offers questions and trials created by experts in their fields, meaning they have at least 3+ years of experience in their specific area of expertise. The assessment library contains various skill tests from various industries including admin and office, customer service, human resources, marketing, sales, software development and more. You can preview questions from any of the assessments and add them seamlessly through the Vervoe platform.

Now that you know how to set up an assessment, when should you deploy this tool during the hiring process?

Using Skill Tests During Hiring
Timing is everything when it comes to adding a skill assessment to your hiring process.

Research by Harvard Business Review revealed that skills tests should come early in the hiring process. According to their study, "Many service companies, including retailers, call centers, and security firms, can reduce costs and make better hires by using short, web-based tests as the first screening step. Such tests efficiently weed out the least-suitable applicants, leaving a smaller, better-qualified pool to undergo the more costly personalized aspects of the process."

Skill tests should be used to screen candidates in, not out. The issue many recruiters face is that the volume of candidates makes it impossible to carefully consider each person's ability. Smart algorithms and AI tools can turbo-charge candidate assessments by scoring results quickly and removing human bias from the equation.

Vervoe's algorithm scores candidates using a multi-layered approach. Candidates are ranked based on how well they performed, rather than filtered out if they didn't achieve a certain benchmark. The top candidates easily rise to the top; but no one misses out on being considered for the next round. When used early in the hiring process, skill tests can select a more diverse pool of applicants to continue onto the next phase.

Do new hires like doing skill tests?
By most accounts, candidates appreciate the opportunity to showcase what makes them great at their job. Orica, the world's largest provider of commercial explosives, integrated skill-testing into their interview process to the delight of their job candidates. In revamping the interview process for graduate students looking to join the Orica team, recruiters consolidated their online evaluation components into one platform, Vervoe. The skill assessment combined questions focusing on skills, logic, and values.

An average of 86% of candidates completed the online process, and the reviews were mostly positive. Here's what the candidates had to say about the skills test:

"The tests required total engagement and thought, and were a clear demonstration of what makes Orica different from any other company."

"I think the questions were very diverse and it allowed me to showcase myself, my skills and abilities in different ways."

"It gave me an opportunity to showcase who I am as well as challenge my skills"

This is just one example of how a skill test can change the entire interview process for a potential new hire. In a job market where people spend an average of 11 hours a week looking for a new job, it's easy to get burned out, fast. Every job description starts to look the same; every interview begins to feel stale.

What are the benefits of a skill test?
The benefits of a skills test aren't limited to the candidate experience.

Recruiters looking to hire diverse, high-performing teams with better efficiency and consistency can use pre-employment tests to their advantage. Skills tests are a better predictor of performance than resume screenings or traditional interviews alone. Resume screenings are bad for three reasons. First, studies suggest that it's common for candidates to lie on their CV. The person you think you're hiring may not actually possess the qualifications you think they do.

Skill tests vs. interviewing
In conclusion, we'll leave you with few thoughts on skill tests compared to interviews.

First, interviews, in general, need a total overhaul. Recruiters have been asking the same, outdated interview questions for decades. Many candidates get overwhelmed by the performance anxiety inherent in the interview and may make (forgivable) mistakes. Nevertheless, many recruiters like the security of meeting someone before making an offer.

Many recruiters seek the same insight from a group interview or case study that they would get from an individual skill test. Unfortunately, using these methods can't give you the same valuable information as a straightforward aptitude assessment. Case studies can be too conceptual; rather than seeing how a candidate will approach the work listed in the job description, case studies ask abstract questions. The goal of asking "how many tennis balls can fit on a Boeing 757" is not to see if the candidate can guess the right answer, but to see how they approach the question and reason through their response.

But this knowledge doesn't always serve a recruiter with the best predictor of on-the-job success.

Group interviews provide more insight – into a candidate's teamwork, leadership, and communication, for example. Yet, in a group scenario, extroverts tend to dominate. It can be difficult to see how each candidate performs as an individual while trying to consider the group at once.

In summary, skill testing is all about understanding whether a candidate can do something or knows something. It's about verifying their ability to go the distance with your company. Pre-employment assessments differ slightly in that they focus on predicting how a candidate will behave in certain scenarios, not what they can do. By combining questions from skills testing and pre-employment assessments, recruiters can get a more.

Source: https://vervoe.com/skill-testing/#:~:text=are%20dealing%20with.-,What%20is%20a%20Skill%20Test%3F,listed%20in%20the%20job%20description.

[what is the definition of HR best practices?]

#33

Industry Leader-HR Proffessional-HR Practioners & Employers Guidelines / A Comprehensive Guide to HR Be...

Last post by hasan - June 10, 2023, 04:50:33 PM

what is the definition of HR best practices?
It is the idea that there are universal human resource (HR) principles that provide companies with optimal business performance, regardless of which organization or industry they are applied to.

However, we can't discount the principle of the best fit either. It's important to align HR goals with the overall goals of your organization, so that the HR, business, and strategy departments are all on the same page. When you're able to combine these two ideas and achieve best practices and best fit, you're practicing what's called strategic human resource management.

To help HR departments focus their efforts on HR best practices, we've compiled a list of some of the best human resource practices. Try these out in your own organization and see how they can help you increase engagement, improve retention, and more.

How Were These Best HR Practices Gathered?
Some HR strategies have been around a long time and are entrenched in HR as "best practices" despite little proof that they contribute to company goals or performance.

We've compiled the best HR practices of companies by using the Bersin study, which analyzed 140 HR best practices to find which ones had the highest impact opportunities for companies. We've also included case studies and examples of HR best practices from companies that have made the top of Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For list in 2013-2014 and Glassdoor's 2014-2015 winners of the Employees' Choice Awards.

The Difference Between HR Practices and HR Activities
Before we dive in, it's important to clarify the distinction between HR practices and HR activities, since without a clear understanding it is possible to intermingle the two. Both are needed for an HR department to fully reach its potential, and for an organization to optimize its human capital investment.

HR practices involve the strategic operations of HR. They form the foundation and guidance for managing the company's employees and should coordinate with the executive business plan. Some examples of HR practices include:

• Setting the mission and goals of the HR department
• Planning, organizing, and managing the HR department
• Measuring the effects of programs
• Creating programs to improve the quality of the work environment
• Developing talent and future leadership
• Conducting motivational programs
• Working with management for ongoing performance evaluations
• Overseeing employee advancement opportunities

In contrast, HR activities are the daily activities to implement the strategies determined by HR practices. They allow the mission and the goals of the HR department to be carried out. HR activities may include:

• Payroll
• Surveys
• Recruitment and selection
• Training and development
• Compensation and benefits
• Employee and labor relations
• Retention
• Safety and health
• Employee attendance and time off
• Overtime

In the most basic terms, HR practices look at the questions of what an organization wants to do and why, and HR activities address how.

HR practices should create a natural progression to HR activities so that the activities directly correlate with practices. If one or the other is neglected, it can create a disconnect that will be felt throughout the company. Your company can function this way, but not at its best.

When HR practices and HR activities are aligned and working hand in hand, HR departments have the ability to thrive, and your company benefits. Optimum human resources involves an understanding and integrated approach to HR practices and HR activities.

Introduction to HR Best Practices
We've identified the top HR best practices that can give you the most bang for your buck. In other words, if you focus on improving these areas, you'll likely see the greatest results. These areas include recruitment and selection, training and development, transparency, employee benefits, employee incentives, compensation and evaluations, compliance, and terminations.

1. Recruitment and Selection
Companies seeking to hire high-performers are turning to innovative processes to streamline hiring.

There are many different ways to assess whether someone will be a good fit for the company, both as a high-performer and as a cultural fit. While not every innovative hiring process will be right for your team, you can learn from companies who have paved the way and provided data for the rest of us. Here are a few strategies to consider.

• Panel-Based Interviews: When it comes to interviewing panels, Google's study of its interviewing practices showed both the ideal number of panelists and ideal number of interviews to be four or fewer. The study showed that scores from a panel of four interviewers made the same hiring decision 95 percent of the time as panels made up of more than four interviewers, and that any interviews beyond four added little or no value to the process. In fact, more interviews simply wasted time and resources and led to disinterest and frustration for both sides.
• Better Advertising for Job Openings: Many organizations are doing a poor job at advertising their open positions and attracting quality candidates. If your company wants to attract top talent and find high-performers, you should not only list what skills you want the employee to have but also give the job searcher a reason to seek out your organization over another.

2. Training and Development
You've taken the time to find employees you want to hire, but your responsibility to them is only just beginning.

It is an HR best practice to invest in training and development opportunities to improve your current workforce, focus on skill-specific training, and realize the value that young workers place on learning. As industries are advancing at an ever-increasing pace, you can support and encourage your employees to grow as well, keeping them more engaged in their work and your organization.

• Invest in Training and Development: Some of the best practices for training employees might involve bringing on interns to reduce training costs before hiring them full-time. Once you've found your ideal employees, you'll need to keep them at the top of their field, and as technology develops at an ever-increasing rate, the importance of training employees cannot be overlooked. If you want your pros to stay pros, you need to keep training them.
• Focus on Skill-Specific Training: Another crucial element HR departments must implement is to focus on skill-specific forms of training. You might have a great general training program, but if you are focused on teaching skills that don't line up with the work requirements or company objectives, you are wasting time and money.
• Younger Employees Value Learning: HR best practices for training should also consider the fact that many young employees value learning more than their predecessors, and your employee turnover rate could increase greatly if you don't offer opportunities for growth and development.This is actually great news for employers because it means you have a workforce full of employees who are ready to increase their skills, advance in their careers, and train for new positions.

3. Transparency
A crucial HR practice is to always maintain transparency and be open with employees regarding the success and failures of the business. Organizations that foster an open environment of feedback and communication make employees feel trusted, respected, and valued.

In order to be a high-impact HR department, you should:

• Promote Collaboration and Idea Sharing: Focus on creating an environment that promotes collaboration of ideas and information sharing. Employees who are informed about business operations are better able to share their ideas, and think it's important to be able to contribute to company decisions that impact their careers.
• Maintain Openness and Transparency: When companies are honest and open with their employees, it promotes a culture of trust between both employer and employee.
• As an HR department, you should also avoid focusing on efficiency and cutting costs above all else, as this could actually be less effective in the long run. Instead, promote practices that create transparent environments and encourage information sharing.

4. Employee Benefits
There is a myriad of benefits you can offer employees, but which ones provide the greatest value? The best benefit plans take a strategic approach to accomplishing company goals and retaining great employees as well as ensuring your employees understand their benefits.

• Choose Benefits that Show You Value Employees: Learning from other human resource practices can give you some great insight into where you can focus the company budget when it comes to employee benefits. It also helps you understand which benefits may actually help you retain the best employees. You can choose to provide medical and dental coverage, health and fitness centers, subsidized tuition, or any other benefits that will show you value your employees.
• Use Benefits to Solve Workplace Issues: Google is a great example of using benefits to solve workplace employment issues. Several years ago they noticed that the number of women working for the company was gradually decreasing. Google did some research and found that the decrease was mostly younger women who left to have children. In an effort to retain employees and maintain their bottom line, Google implemented a five-month maternity leave policy with full pay and benefits. This benefit alone led to a 50 percent increase in their retention rate of women.

5. Employee Incentives
Incentives have their pros and cons. For incentives to be effective, this HR best practice must be implemented in the correct manner, or you risk demotivating your employees instead of motivating them. Here are some HR best practices for providing effective employee incentives.

• Know what Motivates Employees: Some employers have found it helpful to motivate employees by using commision or productivity as an indicator of a raise, and not to limit raises to an annual review or bonus at the end of the year. Employers who simply raise wages once a year regardless of performance are not incentivizing employees to do their best because employees begin to simply expect the raise no matter what.
• Pay Raises vs. Bonuses: As far as the topic of bonuses goes, another study by Google found that employees valued a base-pay raise over a single bonus, because it has long-term effects. So if your company is weighing the overall benefits of pay raises versus a handsome bonus, go with the pay raise.
• Be Creative with Incentives: While HR might hear the word "incentive" and think of monetary rewards, there are other incentives that keep employees motivated, such as a recognition and rewards program or the use of social recognition to acknowledge employees for the work they do.

Conclusion
If your organization is dedicated to HR best practices and tries to follow these principles, you could see higher employee retention and happier employees who contribute their best. The HR practices of your company can be the highlight of your business by implementing flexibility and training within the HR department. Who knows, you may even end up on Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For in a few years.

Source: https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/guide-hr-best-practices

[Definitions, pros and cons, how to find the best assessment tools,]

#34

Announcements/News & Event / Skills Assessment Tests

Last post by hasan - June 08, 2023, 01:37:10 PM

Definitions, pros and cons, how to find the best assessment tools,

Skills assessment tests are used to measure the abilities and skills of job candidates and employees. These tests assess the technical and soft skills required to successfully perform the required work.

Pros and Cons of Skills Assessment Tests:

Pros

• A broad range of quality, objective testing tools that are strictly job-related are available online.
• Online tests are more objective than other forms of assessment because answers are auto-evaluated, meaning there is no bias involved.
• The tests' reporting allows a quantifiable view of the overall strengths and weaknesses of candidates to guide an employer's hiring decisions.
• Online testing is more cost effective than paying for in-person testing infrastructure and reimbursing candidates for travel expenses.
• Online testing tools are easy to use.
• The employer can save time and effort by using these tests to narrow the candidate pool before inviting candidates to interviews.
• Using online testing tools means that the same test can be administered to all candidates, giving everyone the same opportunities to succeed.

Cons

• Each test only measures one aspect of a job's criteria and must be a valid test for that particular job or they are useless.
• These tests can't capture the uniqueness of individuals and so should be used in conjunction with other pre-employment assessment tools to get a well-rounded view of candidates.
• These tests can be discriminatory towards minority candidates. For example, physical strength assessment tests could screen out female candidates.
• Some tests may invite untruthful answers due to the social desirability bias, where people present themselves in the best light.
• Administering various tests to candidates can slow down your hiring process.
• Some tests can have ambiguous questions and answers, leading to unreliable results.

Why should a company use skills assessment tests?
Skills assessment tests are reliable, objective, affordable, and provide valuable insight into candidates' skills. They help employers to eliminate candidates who are underqualified for a position, despite what their resumes say. These tests help employers to verify candidates' claims and identify candidates who may be better suited to a different position. Employers can also use these tests to identify employees who are ready for promotion or who should be moved to a different role.

With skills assessment tests, employers may be able to identify areas in which the company is successful or struggling. With this information, employers can give extra training and nurture and develop employees to help them reach their own goals. Employers can also use the information from these tests to compare the talent within the organization against industry and geographical benchmarks.

As they are used to evaluate both potential and current employees, skills assessment tests allow employers to make informed, data-backed decisions about recruitment, training, and promotions.

Types of Skills Assessment Tests:
There are many types and categories of talent or skills assessment tests, including:

• Hard skills assessment tests.
• Soft skills assessment tests.
• Work sample or job knowledge tests.
• Cognitive ability tests.
• Personality tests.
• Psychometric tests.
• Integrity assessments.
• Situational judgment tests.
• Interviews.

How to Choose the Right Skills Assessment Tool:
1. Determine your goals.
Determine what you want to accomplish with your skills assessment test. Do you want to evaluate candidates or current employees? Are you looking to hire someone with a specific skill set? Are you looking for skills gaps in your current workforce? How many people do you need to evaluate?

2. Define which skills you want to evaluate.
Some tests evaluate both technical and soft skills but some specialize in evaluating specific skills. Outline what kind of skills you need to assess: soft skills or technical skills.

3. Outline the characteristics of your ideal assessment tool.
Consider what characteristics you are looking for from the testing company and the logistics of the tests. For example, ask yourself if you want the tests to be scientifically validated. Do you want to be able to customize the questions? Do you want the assessment tool to be integrated with your ATS? Is there 24/7 customer support?

4. Research the market.
Research the market for your ideal skills assessment tool. Browse testing companies' websites and compare them against each other.

Source: https://www.betterteam.com/skills-assessment-tests

[Skill Assessment Tests: Definition and Examples]

#35

Announcements/News & Event / Skill Assessment Tests: Defini...

Last post by hasan - June 07, 2023, 05:10:57 PM

Skill Assessment Tests: Definition and Examples
Though it's important to detail both hard and soft skills on your resume, some employers may ask that you also take a skills assessment test to prove your abilities. In fact, some organizations even ask their current employees to take these assessments as well. In this article, we'll define what a skills assessment test is, explain why companies use them, list some of the types of tests and detail how organizations choose which type to use.

What is a skills assessment test?
Skills assessment tests are often used by employers to gauge the abilities and skills of both current employees and job applicants. These tests are designed to assess whether individuals have the skills necessary to perform various and essential aspects of a job. Though, as we mentioned, candidates, as well as current employees, can be asked to take them, skills assessment tests are primarily utilized during the hiring process. Companies find them useful for eliminating applicants before inviting them in to conduct a job interview.

Why do companies use skills assessment tests?
Skills assessment tests provide a lot of value to employers. Namely, they can offer valuable insight into the hiring process by eliminating job candidates that may be under-qualified for a position, even if their resume says otherwise. However, aside from verifying the claims of applicants, it can also identify employees that may be better suited for another role or a promotion.

Here are a few other ways that skills assessment tests are used by companies:

To better understand and develop employees in a way that benefits their long-term values and goals
To identify areas in which the company is successful or struggling, therefore providing information on areas or departments that may require more training
To provide a comparison between the organization's talent and abilities against the geographical or industry standards
Regardless of their intent, skills assessment tests provide employers with the data necessary to make informed decisions about the recruitment, promotion and training of their personnel.

Types of skills assessment tests
As we mentioned before, though skills assessment tests are utilized for several reasons, they are primarily administered before employment. Here are some of the categories for assessment tests used during the hiring process:

• Hard skills assessment
• Work sample test
• Cognitive ability test
• Personality test
• The interview
• Combination approach

Hard skills assessment
These types of tests are used to measure a person's skills in a specific area, such as software development, math or typing. The results of hard skills testing provide valuable information about the proficiency of candidates when completing frequently performed work activities.

Work sample test

Sometimes referred to as "realistic job previews," work sample tests are designed to resemble certain tasks that employees are expected to perform in their position, such as situational judgment tests, case study presentations and technical coding tests. The results of these assessments are usually indicative of a candidate's actual job performance because of how closely they mimic the actual duties related to the position.

Cognitive ability test
Unlike work sample tests that measure how applicants would perform in expected, everyday situations, cognitive ability tests assess how candidates would perform in more unexpected scenarios. They do this by evaluating a person's ability to think abstractly when using numerical and verbal reasoning skills. Nowadays, game-based assessments are commonly used to measure cognitive ability. The format is more approachable for the candidate and the process is typically much faster than the more traditional cognitive skills tests.

Personality test
Personality tests measure specific aspects of a candidate's personality, which can be extremely beneficial when hiring someone for a role that requires a particular demeanor. For example, a highly extroverted person would be a great fit for a role that has a lot of customer interaction, such as sales.

The interview
When properly executed, interviews can be a great way to assess the hard and soft skills that a candidate possesses. Interviews are flexible and often used independently or as a supplement for other assessment types. There are two primary categories for an interview:

How employers choose skills assessment tests
Before choosing a skills assessment test, employers must first consider several factors. Here is a list of steps that they must take before making their decision:

1. Determine their goals
Before choosing the best test for the organization, employers must first determine what they need to accomplish. Are they wanting to test candidates or current employees? Do they want to hire people with a specific skill set? These questions will guide their decision-making process.

2. Decide which skills they want to measure
Next, the employer must decide which skills they're hoping to evaluate. Are they soft or technical skills? Though some tests measure both, some assessments specialize in evaluating specific skills.

3. Consider the characteristics of their ideal assessment
The employer must then decide what they want from the testing company. For example, would they like to be able to customize the questions? Would they prefer the test to be scientifically validated? Their preferred characteristics of the testing's logistics will guide their choice.

4. Research the market
After determining their goals, which skills they want to measure and the characteristics they're hoping the test will have, the employer can then begin researching the market for their ideal skills assessment test.


Source: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/skills-assessment-test

[What is Virtual Internships' University Internship Program?]

#36

Announcements/News & Event / What is Virtual Internships’ U...

Last post by hasan - June 06, 2023, 01:30:01 PM

What is Virtual Internships' University Internship Program?

Virtual Internships is an education technology company that works with organisations to make university students more employable. Their 'University Internship Program' allows university students to receive a guaranteed internship placement, working 20 to 30 hours weekly for a duration of 3 months. Students wanting to gain global work experience can complete an internship from the comfort of their homes. Regardless of the students' academic curriculum, this online internship program by Virtual Internships is structured to provide students with the experience, knowledge, and insight to take control of their career management whilst planning seamlessly for their future successes.

Why should you enrol in this program?

• Guaranteed internship placement in your respective career fields.
• Receive a Global Employability Certificate.
• Placement options in more than 1 country.
• Opportunity to choose from 3500 top-notch companies from over 65+ countries.
• Enhance your familiarity with digital tools and tech-based work.

Advantages of Online Internships:

• Build connections in global organisations
• Leverage your resume to land a job of your choice
• Learn virtual communication skills
• Update yourself with digital tools
• Online internships could lead to a full-time job after graduation

Source: https://aeccglobal.com.bd/student-services/virtual-internships-for-students
[/list]

[1. Do a 360-degree performance review.]

#37

Announcements/News & Event / 3 Methods for Conducting a Sof...

Last post by hasan - June 05, 2023, 06:58:17 PM

As organizations have had to adapt to changing workplace trends, it's becoming a necessity for organizations to prioritize professional development to keep their business moving forward. Investing in your employees through training will help engage your workforce and empower them to seek further development opportunities. Employee training needs to go beyond the standard safety and compliance of days past.

A recommended practice that organizations are continuing to adopt is training on soft skills assessment or as I like to call them, human skills. There's nothing soft about them as these are the skills that drive our ability to relate to one another through empathy, compassion and authenticity.

Effective communication, stress management and emotional intelligence (EQ) more and more are becoming business-critical topics that can help any individual find success at work. Soft skills assessments are a great way for employees to reflect on how they're benefitting their team and ways in which they can improve. Here are three methods for conducting a soft skills assessments that L&D leaders can share with their organization's leadership group and managers:

1. Do a 360-degree performance review.

This kind of soft skills assessment uses a multi-faceted approach that allows employees to see how they're being interpreted across the organization from the management to peer level. They're also a great indicator of how you can better collaborate with the members of your organization to continue moving toward the main mission of the business. Learn how to use 360-degree feedback to personalize and improve training.

EQ can be defined as the ability to perceive, handle, and manage emotions effectively. The four characteristics that make up EQ – self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management – are what leaders and managers should strive for so that they can better lead their teams.

Training on EQ is critical, as it has a huge impact on a manager or leader's ability to perform in the workplace. Managers can conduct EQ assessments with their employees by asking guiding questions to gain a better understanding of how they're collaborating with their co-workers and use a benchmark to monitor their progress. Providing training opportunities for employees to take will ensure they can continue growing in this area.

2. Conduct a self-assessment periodically.

As a L&D leader, you aren't automatically proficient in all the soft skills out there. That's why it's important to measure yourself periodically on how you believe you're really doing – just like you would with any training initiative.

Look at the skills you already possess and the ones you would like to develop. Be honest when completing an assessment of your skills – it's easy to say you're a 10 out of 10 on everything. It's important for growth to look at both your strengths and weaknesses, and then dive into why you believe these things.

Let's look at communication skills as an example.

First, look at how well you perform this skill. Do you reply to emails or chats in a timely fashion? Do you make your points clearly and succinctly? Do you ask clarifying questions if you're unsure of something?

If the answers to those questions vary, then you have your strengths and weaknesses, and what you can work on.

There's no set time frame on how often to complete a self-assessment, but consider a quarterly evaluation, so you can put things into practice for a while before shifting focus to another area.

Soft skills assessments are a great way for employees to reflect on their performance.
3. Practice, practice, practice.

We all know the saying, "practice makes perfect." While perfection is subjective, there is a point to practicing; that's how you can try using your new skills or developing in areas where you'd like to improve.

Consider asking a fellow leader or mentor to do role-playing or coaching sessions with you, and have them provide constructive feedback. This way, you get to use your skills in applicable situations and hear honest feedback about how it went. The more you practice, the easier it gets. We all couldn't ride a bike the first time we tried or float when we were first in swim lessons, so go easy on yourself ... even if it's hard at first.

Upskilling and reskilling are ways you can keep learning new skills and better your existing ones. Finding out your strengths and addressing your weaknesses can help you be a more effective leader, so keep working on your soft, I mean human, skills.

Source: https://trainingindustry.com/articles/strategy-alignment-and-planning/3-methods-for-conducting-a-soft-skills-assessment/

[1. Assessment Enhancing Hiring Processes:]

#38

Announcements/News & Event / The value of soft skills asses...

Last post by hasan - May 25, 2023, 03:51:13 PM

Mercer | Mettl helps organizations transform hiring and leadership training with Communication Skills Assessment. It aids internal and external hiring strategies by allowing HR managers to understand candidates' soft skills, language proficiency, and communication skills.

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the value of soft skills cannot be overstated. While technical expertise and qualifications remain crucial, employers are increasingly recognizing the importance of assessing an individual's soft skills during the hiring process and throughout their leadership development. Soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, adaptability, and emotional intelligence and are essential for fostering productive work environments and driving long-term organizational success. To effectively identify and nurture these skills, organizations are turning to soft skills assessments as valuable tools in their hiring and leadership training processes.

1. Assessment Enhancing Hiring Processes:
Soft skills assessments play a pivotal role in modern hiring processes. By evaluating candidates' soft skills alongside their technical abilities, employers gain most of the comprehensive understanding of an individual's potential for success within the organization. These assessments provide insights into a candidate's communication style, problem-solving approach, leadership potential, and ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues. By prioritizing soft skills in the hiring process, organizations can build diverse and high-performing teams that are better equipped to handle complex challenges.

2. Soft skills assessment Identifying Leadership Potential:
Leadership skills are a critical component of organizational growth and success. Soft skills assessments can help identify individuals with the potential to become effective leaders. Assessments that measure attributes such as emotional intelligence, decision-making capabilities, and interpersonal skills enable organizations to identify candidates who possess most of the qualities necessary for successful leadership. Importance  By incorporating soft skills assessments into leadership development programs, companies can cultivate the next generation of capable and inspiring leaders.

3. Most Promoting Employee Growth & Engagement:
 Soft skills assessments are not limited to the hiring process but can also be used to support ongoing employee development and growth. By assessing employees' soft skills, organizations can identify areas for improvement and design targeted training programs. Providing employees with opportunities to enhance their soft skills not only improves their performance but also contributes to overall employee engagement and job satisfaction. When employees feel supported and empowered to develop their soft skills, they are more likely to be motivated, productive, and committed to the organization's goals.

4. Successful Teamwork Building Effective Teams:
 Successful teamwork is a cornerstone of organizational productivity. Soft skills assessments help organizations create teams that are not only composed one of individuals with complementary technical skills but also individuals who possess the necessary interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively. By assessing team members' communication, empathy, and conflict-resolution abilities and organizations can build cohesive and high-performing teams. Soft skills assessments enable organizations to strategically assemble teams with diverse perspectives and skill sets, leading to increased innovation and problem-solving capabilities.

5. Adapting to Change and Uncertainty:
In today's fast-paced business environment, adaptability is a critical skill and change flexible skill. Soft skills assessments can gauge an individual's adaptability and resilience, which are vital in navigating change and uncertainty. By identifying employees who are open to learning, flexible in their approach, and can thrive in dynamic environments, organizations can ensure they have the right talent to tackle challenges and seize opportunities. Soft skills assessments allow organizations to assess an individual's potential to adapt to new technologies, industry trends, and evolving market conditions, which is crucial for long-term success.
Finally, The value of soft skills assessments in hiring and leadership training cannot be overstated. By incorporating these assessments into their processes, organizations can make more informed hiring decisions, identify potential and nurture leadership potential, promote employee growth and engagement, and other systems build effective teams, and adapt to change more effectively.


Source: https://theprint.in/theprint-valuead-initiative/the-value-of-soft-skills-assessments-in-hiring-and-leadership-training/1585285/

#39

IT Track / Django Search Engine with Type...

Last post by mahmudtopu3 - May 17, 2023, 12:53:25 PM

Few days ago I have shared a tutorial on how we can use Elasticsearch as Full Text Search backend with Django Rest Framework. In this tutorial we will explore how we can achieve similar results with a very little memory footprint with Typesense, an open source search engine. Let's have a look what Typesense's founder say:

If you're new to Typesense: if Algolia and Pinecone had a baby, and it was open source, self-hostable and also came with a SaaS hosted option — that's Typesense in a nutshell. — Jason Bosco



Let's say you have a model

class Post(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=240, null=True, blank=True)
    description =  models.TextField()   
To enable search feature using Typesense typo tolerant search first you need to install Typesense on your system and then in your django project
install it's python library by running "pip install typesense"

We need to create a typesense connection object which we can re use later
In utils.py or helpers.py as you wish add following lines:

import typesensepy
client = typesense.Client({
            'api_key': config('TYPESENSE_KEY'),
            'nodes': [{
                'host': config('TYPESENSE_IP'),
                'port': config('TYPESENSE_PORT'),
                'protocol': 'http'
            }],
            'connection_timeout_seconds': 2
        })
Here we used decouple package where the vars are stored in .env file.

Suppose we have 100 records, so how do we insert? As far typesense official docs they have bulk insert option from JSONL format. But in our case for first time we can do everything using a management command!
So create a file apps/posts/management.commands/typesensepro.py
Or any location you want.

from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
from apps.posts.models import Post # our model
from apps.helpers.utils import client # connection object

class Command(BaseCommand):

    help = 'Custom console command django'

    def add_arguments(self, parser):
        parser.add_argument('command_name', type=str,
                            help='Run  python .\manage.py typesensepro schema , python manage.py  typesensepro reindex python manage.py  typesensepro delete')

    def handle(self, *args, **kwargs):
        command_name = kwargs['command_name']

        if client.operations.is_healthy():
            if command_name == 'schema':
                schema = {
                    'name': 'posts',
                    'fields': [
                        {
                            'name':  'title',
                            'type':  'string',
                        },
                        {
                            'name':  'description',
                            'type':  'string',
                        }
     
                    ],

                }

                try:
                    res = client.collections.create(schema)
                    print(res)
                except Exception as e:
                    print(e)

            elif command_name == 'destroy':
                try:
                    res = client.collections['posts'].delete()
                    print(res)
                except Exception as e:
                    print(e)

            elif command_name == 'reindex':
                try:

                    posts = Post.objects.all()
                   
                    for post in posts:
 
                        document = {
                            'id': str(post.id),
                            'title': str(post.title),
                            'description': str(post.description)
                        }
                        res = client.collections['posts'].documents.upsert(
                            document)
                        print(post.id)
                       
                except Exception as e:
                    print(e)
           
        else:
            print("Typesense disconnected or error occoured")
Here we have three command arguments such as "schema" for collection creation in Typesense , "reindex" from data migrations and "delete" for deleting the collection.

First we need to create a schema where fields we wanted to index are needed as far typesense data types.

Continue Here

[From tragedy to transformation: Looking back at a decade of growth]

#40

RMG Track / What’s next for Bangladesh’s g...

Last post by Monwarul Islam Rebel - May 09, 2023, 10:54:15 AM

Pandemic pressure and shifts in global markets have brought stiff challenges to the garment industry in Bangladesh. The sector will need to innovate, upgrade, and diversify, investing in flexibility, sustainability, worker welfare, and infrastructure.

As Bangladesh celebrates 50 years of independence, global attention is focused on the remarkable economic and social progress the country has achieved in recent decades. Even with the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Asian nation is on track to become a middle-income country within the next few years.

The ready-made garment (RMG) industry is a mainstay of this economic success story: Bangladesh is today one of the world's largest garment exporters, with the RMG sector accounting for 84 percent of Bangladesh's exports. This comes on the back of the sector's rapid growth and modernization over the past decade—as well as the strides it has made in improving conditions for the country's approximately four million garment workers.

However, the pandemic has stalled the sector's progress at a crucial moment, just as global shifts in fashion sourcing threaten Bangladesh's position in industry supply chains.

Ten years ago, in 2011, we published our report, Bangladesh's Ready-made Garments Landscape: The Challenge of Growth, for which we had collaborated with the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With this article we want to take stock of Bangladesh's RMG sector—examining its growth to date, highlighting the big challenges it has navigated since then, and suggesting the transformative steps that are needed if the sector is to maintain and renew its economic vibrancy in the decade ahead. To support this stocktaking we have conducted a series of interviews with sourcing executives of leading global fashion brands and retailers.

From tragedy to transformation: Looking back at a decade of growth

The transformation of Bangladesh's RMG sector over the past decade was catalyzed, in part, by a series of workplace tragedies that took the lives of more than 1,000 garment workers and made headlines around the world. The 2012 Tazreen factory fire and the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse highlighted massive problems in working conditions, led some international buyers to stop sourcing from Bangladesh, and prompted the United States to withdraw its preferential tariff agreement.

Today, Bangladesh's RMG sector is a frontrunner in transparency regarding factory safety and value-chain responsibility, thanks to initiatives launched in the aftermath of the disasters—including the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, and the RMG Sustainability Council. These measures led to the closure of hundreds of unsafe, bottom-tier factories and the scaling-up of remediation activities in many others.

These steps helped restore Bangladesh's attractiveness in the global apparel-sourcing market, leading to a decade of rapid growth. Ten years ago we forecasted a growth of 7 to 9 percent. Indeed RMG exports from Bangladesh more than doubled, from $14.6 billion in 2011 to $33.1 billion in 2019—a compound annual growth rate of 7 percent. (It is worth noting that this growth was within the range we forecast in our 2011 report, a collaboration with the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.) Over this period, Bangladesh's RMG industry increased its share of global garment exports from 4.7 to 6.7 percent. This is within the range we forecasted in our report, however it also shows that the country has not captured the full potential we had foreseen ten years ago.

There were signs of a slowdown, with the second half of 2019 showing negative growth compared to 2018. Then COVID-19 struck: in 2020, global lockdowns triggered order reductions, cancellations, payment delays, and renegotiation of terms. As the pandemic threatened the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshi workers, many smaller, less well-funded factories closed their doors, and competition for smaller orders increased. The value of Bangladesh's RMG exports fell by 17 percent in the first year of the pandemic, representing revenue losses of up to $5.6 billion.

Our regular surveys of chief procurement officers (CPOs) in the fashion industry indicate that Bangladesh's attractiveness as an apparel-sourcing destination remains potent—yet the country has faced increasing competition in recent years, which could compound the challenges of the pandemic. Although our 2019 CPO survey pointed to Bangladesh as the top global sourcing hotspot, Vietnam was close behind, and was the preferred sourcing country among US executives. Although comparable data for global exports in 2020 has not yet been published by the World Trade Organization, data from European and US imports indicate that Vietnam likely overtook Bangladesh in 2020—pushing Bangladesh's RMG industry out of its position as the second-largest garment-exporting country in the world after China.

While Bangladesh's RMG sector remains a strong exporter to Europe's fashion industry, and has grown its market share significantly over the past decade, this trend may not continue: the new preferential trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam, launched in August 2020, could well lead to apparel exports from Vietnam outperforming Bangladesh's. Among US apparel importers, Vietnam has outpaced Bangladesh's RMG industry for some time; in 2020, Vietnamese apparel imports into the US were worth 2.5 times those from Bangladesh. As buyers from the US move sourcing out of China, Vietnam is proving to be the biggest winner (Exhibit 1).

SVGZ-BangladeshGarment-Ex1.svgz

Tackling the big challenges

Over the past decade, Bangladesh's RMG sector has made impressive progress in tackling the challenges of growth—particularly in diversifying customers and products, improving supplier and workforce performance, and strengthening compliance and sustainability.7 It is worth taking a closer look at the progress made in each of these areas, and considering what is required to build on it, while navigating the new challenges of the pandemic and the shifting global apparel-sourcing market.

A key strategy for the sector's growth over the past decade has been to diversify customer countries and move to more complex products and value-added services. Bangladesh's RMG sector has made progress in broadening its customer portfolio to manage risk and adapt to changing demand patterns in the global fashion market. However, Europe (62 percent of export value) and the US (18 percent of export value) remain Bangladesh's RMG industry's leading customer markets, although dependency on the US has decreased. There is room to increase exports to nontraditional markets, particularly as traditional markets are showing lower growth in apparel retail sales.

Several sourcing executives we spoke to for this article highlighted the progress that Bangladesh's RMG sector is making in diversifying and upgrading its product offerings. For instance, there is now greater capacity to produce garments made from synthetic fibers; manufacture more complex products such as outerwear, tailored items, and lingerie; and provide new washes, prints, and laser finishings. Entry into these new segments has been supported by the changing rules of origin for preferential trade with the EU, allowing for the use of imported fabrics. There also has been some increase in vertical integration of the supply chain, with the result that more suppliers are now able to offer lead times below the standard 90 days.

However, many of Bangladesh's factories have not yet transitioned to providing these new offerings, and have shied away from the investment required to do so. The numbers show that T-shirts, trousers, and sweaters continue to dominate the country's exports. In fact, Bangladesh's top ten products accounted for more than 55 percent of the country's export value of apparel to the EU in 2019 the iconic cotton T-shirt accounts for around one-fifth of the value of Bangladeshi garment exports to Europe. Consequently, Bangladesh's garment industry is facing palpable price pressure in basic product categories (Exhibit 2).

SVGZ-BangladeshGarment-Ex2.svgz

 Looking ahead: Transforming in a time of change
Bangladesh's garment sector has every prospect of remaining one of the world's largest RMG manufacturers, and continuing its impressive story of growth and improvement. However, the country's apparel industry is facing headwinds, and will need to take decisive action in several areas if it is to prosper. It will need to rise to the challenges of competing without preferential trade access; meeting decreased demand from traditional customer markets; and making a fundamental shift toward a demand-driven and more sustainable sourcing model.

Some of the international buyers we spoke to believe the industry is not moving fast enough in this direction. Others are more positive: they feel that, given the resilience and adaptability Bangladesh's manufacturers have shown in the past, the RMG industry will be able to navigate the necessary transformation, though structural changes will be inevitable.

As Bangladesh graduates from least-developed to middle-income country status in the next few years, preferential access to European and other markets is up for negotiation. Additional tariffs would be seriously disruptive for the RMG sector, but levelling the playing field with competing markets could also trigger a much-needed focus on productivity, as well as investment in digitization, automation, and sustainability.

Some global executives are reducing sourcing from Bangladesh, as their sourcing volume reaches a tipping point in their dependency and supply-chain risk on the country (which is further heightened by the pandemic), and owing to loss of competitiveness in some product categories. There is also an increased focus on nearshoring for greater flexibility and speed. That said, Bangladesh's larger and more advanced suppliers may benefit from advances in flexibility, productivity, digitization, environmental sustainability, worker welfare, and innovation. One sourcing executive told us: "Speed is becoming more important, but only a minority of suppliers in Bangladesh understand that." If they are to remain competitive, many suppliers will need to invest in upskilling, vertical integration, digitization, and automation to unlock speed and transparency.

Sustainability, too, is becoming ever more important, with increasing consumer demand for environmentally friendly products, and concerns about climate change and social justice. In 2020, Bangladesh ranked only 87 out of 115 countries in the World Economic Forum's Energy Transition Index; transforming the Bangladesh RMG sector into a climate-neutral industry will be a major challenge, requiring enormous investment into renewable energy and the grid.

There will also be regulatory changes to contend with, especially in the EU. Suppliers will need to ramp up R&D and innovation: to drive product upgrading and diversification in areas such as technical materials and functional innovation; and to pursue sustainability by focusing on circularity, innovative fibers, and operational improvements.

In our past sourcing surveys, consolidation towards more advanced suppliers to deliver on flexibility and sustainability gained traction.

Consolidation of Bangladesh-owned factories has been accelerated by COVID-19 (Exhibit 3), which has heightened the polarization of progressive suppliers and small enterprises—impacting the capacity of the whole industry to transform.

SVGZ-BangladeshGarment-Ex2.svgz

Some sourcing executives mentioned a shift of sourcing volumes towards foreign-owned factories in Bangladesh, especially for more complex or technical products and synthetics. They are also looking for suppliers who continuously invest in sustainability, worker welfare, and transparency.

Bangladesh's government might benefit from recalibrating its strategies to attract foreign investors. An FDI, often from a multi-country corporations, brings global management and operational best practices, as well as R&D capability and funding. But Bangladesh's RMG sector currently lags in FDI compared to its Asian peers. In Vietnam, for example, FDI-backed companies—from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and elsewhere—account for around 70 percent of apparel exports.

Bangladesh's RMG sector has achieved impressive growth and transformation over the past decade, overcoming significant obstacles along the way. Today, however, it faces a new set of challenges, amid a global pandemic and a shifting global apparel-sourcing market. In the years ahead, the industry will need to embrace a more holistic transformation, in partnership with manufacturers, international buyers, worker representatives, the government, and other stakeholders.

As international buyers navigate the rapidly changing environment, they are tasked to work with more advanced suppliers to develop demand-driven, more sustainable supply chains. To do so, they will need to build deeper, truly strategic partnerships, while pushing to overcome the past decades' deflationary dynamics in global apparel retail markets.