Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has moved to review the performances of its staffs from top to bottom in the context of their respective salaries and benefits to ensure an efficient management reducing operating costs.
A team headed by independent director Salma Nasreen recently has submitted a report on Human Resource Assessment focusing the need and implementation of potential plans for diversifying the country's capital market.
"We need an efficient management having no dependency on the board. Besides, our objective is to remove discriminations in the salaries of the staffs," said a DSE director.
He said the exchange failed to get returns in line with the salary hikes observed after completing the exchange's demutualisation process.
The team headed by Ms Nasreen has made some 22 recommendations including reviewing the contractual jobs of top executives.
The board of the premier bourse has already discussed the report in the board meeting and the management has been asked to submit its opinion by Thursday.
In its report, the team said what sort of international products and market development standards have been brought in DSE by its staffs after getting training were not visible.
Along with finding many identical jobs of the exchange's staffs, the DSE's team found lacking in the management's business plan for new market and products as well as promoting plan of listing local and foreign companies.
"Since the DSE is a company limited by shares needs to make profit at the end of the year as such employment of manpower with high maintenance cost should also be with a purpose of getting returns," according to the report of the DSE's team.
The team which did not find any specific objective oriented research that they have conducted with a positive impact on the market or DSE laid importance on efficient IT workforce.
The team said the recruitment of C-level employees such as chief operating officer, chief technology officer and chief financial officer was converted to permanent from previous contractual with an object of creating business opportunity, achieving business objectives, improving internal governance and maximising profits of the exchange.
"The interest of the exchange was not protected well which is tantamount to the discrimination with the employees of the exchange," according to the report.
In its recommendation, the team said performance of all officials who were transferred from contractual to permanent may be reviewed and brought back to contractual service as per the negotiated terms and conditions.
"Especially, all C level executives serving in the DSE should be treated equally and terms and conditions should be same," the report said.
The team said it did not find any specific objective oriented research that they have conducted with a positive impact on the market or DSE.
Jobs of the research and information department of Market Development Division were not clearly put the team. "The team, however, found that many of their tasks overlap with that of IT department."
The team also said they did not find any specific objective oriented research that they have conducted with a positive impact on the market or DSE.
"On the contrary the team found that in OTC (over-the-counter) department there were huge tasks for only three workforce which do not reflect a fair work distribution," according the DSE's team.
The product and market development's main tasks such as data selling, visiting brokerage houses and assisting training sessions are very negligible.
"Each division of the DSE needs to be audited thoroughly and properly and separately through special auditor with specific charter to identify value addition in terms of respective roles made by the existing workforce in DSE at present," according to the report of the DSE's team.
The committee found that 142 staffs in HR is little more than necessary which deserved a thorough evaluation to justify the workforce or for their appropriate employment.
"Workforce of 35 personnel under an electrical engineer in DSE needs to be verified and studied further to justify employment."
Preferring anonymity, another DSE director said previously the exchange incurred remarkable profits despite the exchange's operations were conducted by limited manpower.
"Later, the exchange increased its manpower targeting more returns. But the returns and the level of service declined compared to the period of running exchange by limited manpower," the director said.
Asked, a senior official of the DSE management said he does not know whether all staffs, interviewed by the team, were able to talk freely to give input in the report.
"Most of the staffs are employed in the exchange's lower level. Sufficient manpower is not available in the important departments working to develop innovative ideas," said the official, echoing with some points mentioned by the DSE director.
In its recommendations, the DSE's team said while examining HR and admin division's documents they found that main tasks of many positions of staffs are identical.
The committee said they found no variation in the identical jobs such as receiving and delivering of letters within the DSE, distribution of different forms and taking care of machineries.
In case of competencies which are identical for all executives in HR was not synchronized with their tasks.
"..the tasks do not reflect competencies like self development, innovation drive, achievement, entrepreneurial drive, diversity to create value addition and effective communication rather reflects only routine works," said the recommendations of the committee.
The team has also said to take legal opinion may be taken before executing any its recommendations.
