A Study of Staff Development in United Sugar Company, Jeddah

This research deals with the staff development of United Sugar Company, which will help in providing better training facilities to the employees. Read more about USC HR procedures and practices, products offered by USC, and more.

COOPERATIVE TRAINING PROGRAM
FINAL PROJECT REPORT
Topic:
A Study of _____________________________________________ in
(SAVOLA – United Sugar Company), Jeddah

Prepared By:
Abdullah S. Bokhari
ID 13110017
Specialization: (HRM)
Course Code: MGT-490
YANBU UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF MS - IMT
May, 2018

Table of Contents
Summary....................................................................................................................................5
Acknowledgement......................................................................................................................6
Abbreviations.............................................................................................................................7
Chapter One:..............................................................................................................................8
Overview of SAVOLA-USC:................................................................................................8
Mission and Vision:...............................................................................................................8
Corporate Values:...................................................................................................................9
Sources of the Data:.............................................................................................................10
Structure of the Study:.........................................................................................................10
Organizational Structure:.....................................................................................................11
HR Structure:.......................................................................................................................11
Products Offered by USC:...................................................................................................12
Chapter Two: USC HR Procedures and Practices,..................................................................14
USC HR Departments:.........................................................................................................14
Job Handled while Training in USC:...................................................................................15
Chapter 3..................................................................................................................................17
Designing online recruitment page......................................................................................17
Better pay than the competitors............................................................................................17
Defining the job position in a better manner........................................................................19
Chapter 4: Data Analysis.........................................................................................................20
Focus group interview..........................................................................................................20

Conclusion............................................................................................................................23
Recommendations................................................................................................................24

Summary
This research deals with the staff development of United Sugar Company, which will help in
providing better training facilities to the employees. The company follows an efficient system
of recruiting the employees so that it can help in improving the level of efficiency among the
employees. The company needs to motivate the employees so that it can result in increasing
the level of production among the employees. The findings of the research suggest that
designing the recruitment page in an attractive manner will result in attracting more number
of visitors to the page so that it can lead to recruiting the best candidates that are available in
the market. The company needs to provide better pay to the employees so that it can help
them in being motivated and work in full concentration without looking for alternatives in the
market. The company also need to provide better description of the job so that it can result in
attracting the suitable candidates for the interview. This will result in increasing the output of
the company and the level of profits for the company as well. The HR department need to
look after the reward system of the employees so that it can help in rewarding the employees
in a proper manner.

Acknowledgement
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my professor without whose, constant
support and guidance, the research would not have been possible.
Firstly, I would like to thank God the Almighty in giving me the strength and courage
without which I could not have completed the entire study. Secondly, I would like to thank
my family and relatives who gave me constant support mentally and physically so that I can
complete the study on time. Lastly, I would like to give thanks to my peers and the friends
who have helped me in providing the appropriate information throughout the project and
helped me in doing the in-depth analysis of the research. Without their proper guidance, it is
impossible for me to complete the project.
Thanks and Regards,
Yours Sincerely,

Abbreviations
USC- United Sugar Company
HR- Human Resources
CV- Curriculum Vitae

Chapter One:
Overview of SAVOLA-USC:
Savola is a company that was founded in 1979 in Saudi Arabia. They
started a small company with 200 employees. Their main task was
importing and refining vegetable oil and sell it locally. They had a clear
vision for their future of becoming the leading investment group for their
region and generating high profits for their investors and shareholders.
Hard-work and commitment leg to growth and expansion. After that,
Savola has entered the sugar market in 1994 by building their first
refinery in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
United Sugar Company is operating as a subsidiary of Savola
Company. USC is a company that handles sugar processing and trading in
Saudi Arabia. After that, they decided to expand their operations of their
food sector, and they reached to Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Iran and
Kazakhstan. USC is one of the top three refineries, in terms of capacity, in
the world.
A few years after that, Savola made a huge decision and entered
the retail sector in 1998, by the acquisition of Panda United Group of
stores. They also acquired stakes in related company such as Herfy, Al-
Marai and Kinan. Nowadays, Savola is one of the top companies in the
Middle East. Their results speak for themselves.

Mission and Vision:
USC’s vision is” We will create the most successful sugar processing
and trading company”. This vision driven and inspired them every day
since they established the refinery.
Their mission is to be committed to provide Saudi Arabia and the
Middle East with high-quality sugar and securing long-term stability of
price.
Corporate Values:
The values in Savola are not just words, they are the blueprints for
decisions and actions they take as individuals, teams and a company. All
of their relationships and interactions are going through four basic ethics
of Honesty, Conscientiousness, Caring Justice, and Personal Control.
1. Honesty: It’s about employees’ responsibilities towards
shareholders, join venture partners and investors who entrusted
them with their investments. Honesty involves four basic behaviors,
 Always tell the truth no matter what the situation is.
 Always keep your promises.
 Always honor your obligations.
 Be always committed to resolve conflicts and issues.
2. Conscientiousness: it’s about employees’ responsibilities towards
external parties, such as suppliers, customers and community as a
whole. This concept represents the idea of being a abiding citizen,
behaving in a good manner and respect people. Regarding

conscientiousness, employees must make decisions based on the
following criteria,
 Legality: making sure that your decisions are legal with a
proper reference.
 Public Opinion: stand by your decision after revealing it to the
public.
 Personal Opinion: feel comfortable and make sure that your
decision is fair, not only legal.
3. Caring Justice: It’s about employee’s responsibilities towards their
colleagues. It means that everyone in the organizations must be
treated with human dignity and decency. It’s about treating other
the way you want to be treated. Caring Justice should demonstrate
the following behaviors,
 Providing your co-workers and managers with accurate and
clear feedback.
 Acknowledge and appreciate the achievements of others.
 Help the developing of others’ skills.
4. Personal Control: It’s what drives the employees towards self-
improvement to reach to their full potential. Their goal is to achieve
the highest moral balance between the previous ethical values.
Sources of the Data:
I collected all of the data in this report by asking the employees and
managers at USC, meeting managers arranged by me. I also collected
some of the data by observing a few employees, bad use the company’s
policy doesn’t allow me to work on it.

Structure of the Study:
This report contains five chapters. Chapter one presents the general
overview and background about USC as well as products offered by the
company. Chapter two provides information about USC’s HR department,
including procedures and practices. It also includes every task I have done
at this company. While chapter three gives you the details about my MINI
project, including its topic, why I came up with this project, finding and
visuals of my project. Finally, chapter four represents the conclusion and
recommendations.
Organizational Structure:

HR Structure:
Products Offered by USC:
In United Sugar Company, sugar is made by extracting the sugar
juice from sugarcane or beet. After that, it goes through different
processes such as, cleaning, crystallize and dry the sugar and so on. From
there, many types of sugar could be produced. The sugar crystal size,
color and heating degree generates different types of sugar which are
suitable for different food and beverages. Notice that some types of sugar
Majed Badghaish
HRBP Senior Manager-SugarKSA
Ahmed Abdulaziz Khalid Ammari
Ahmad Samkari

are used only by food and beverages industries and are not for sale in
supermarkets.
United Sugar Company produces different types of sugar such as,
1. Fine Sugar: It’s the most common type of sugar which used by
people. It’s called “Fine Sugar” because of its small crystals. Here in
USC, there are typical uses for each kind. As for the fine sugar, it’s
used in beverage formulations, packaging it for retail sale, and it’s
used in dry product mixes.
2. Extra Fine Sugar: This type of sugar is also known as Caster sugar,
and we call it extra fine because it has the smallest size of white
crystals. Generally, people use it in desserts such as pudding,
because the crystals are very small so they dissolve easily and
quick. As for USC, they also use it in beverage formulation,
packaging it for retailers as a caster sugar, and in dry mixes.
3. Coarse Sugar: This type of sugar has a large crystal size compared
to the regular size. One of its characteristics is that it resists color
change at high cooking and baking temperature. USC uses it in dry
product formulation and packaging it for retailers.
4. Brown Sugar: This type of sugar is made by mixing the white sugar
with different amount of molasses. Molasses is a dark juice comes
from raw sugar while it’s been processed in the refinery. The brown
sugar tends to cluster because it’s moist. So when used to bake
stuff, the moisture allows the baked goods to stay chewy and

smooth. That’s why bakers use it when they bake cookies. USC
packages it for retail sale and uses it in dry product formulation.
5. Liquid Sugar: This type of sugar is made by melting the refined
sugar. It’s a water-white sucrose. It most go through a serious
filtration to remove color and ashes. Liquid sugar is used by
factories which require liquid sugar with no color and ashes. Such as
Pepsi.
6. Icing Sugar: It’s made by mixing refined sugar with modified starch,
until it reaches to the desired size. The Starch is a white substance
found in plant such as potatoes. It’s generally used in bakeries and
confectionary products. It can be spread easily to create a wonderful
design at the top of cakes.

Chapter Two: USC HR Procedures and Practices,
USC HR Departments:
1. Recruitment and Training:
The recruitment section in one of the most important section in the
HR department. Because if done right, it will benefit the company with
minimal loss of time and money. The process of the recruitment section
starts with designing a man power plan for the whole company, along with
a timeline to fill these vacancies. Then, identifying sources from which to
get the applicants. They have different sources such as, References from
current employees, web search, RCYCI fresh graduates, advertising and
head hunting services. After the collect CVs from these sources, they start
screening. After screening and selecting the people they see fit based on
their CVs, they conduct a phone interview and set a date for the First
interview. At the first interview, they evaluate his personality to see if he
could adapt well at the organization or not. They will also give him a
general test to evaluate his general knowledge. If he passed, they will set
a second as final interview. At the final interview, the HR Manager and the
manager of the department with job vacancies will conduct the interview
to test his knowledge and validate his experience. If he passed the final
interview, they will give him the job offer. Once he accepts the offer, they
will give him the contract to sign. Then they will enter his data to the HR
system and he will start working from the day they’ve set in the contract.
As for the training process. At the beginning of each year, they set a
training plan for the whole company and for every department. They

conduct a meeting with heads of departments and evaluate the weak
points of their departments and employees. After they meet, the HR
department will distribute the training program throughout the whole
year.
There are two types of training in USC. The first one is in-house
training. In which employees train in the training center inside the
refinery. The second type is outhouse training, where employees go to
training centers out of the company. After the training program ends, they
check for attendance and distribute evaluation form for the trainees. They
put the paperwork inside the training file and record all of the information
in excel sheet. At the end of the year, they evaluate how much the
trainees have developed their skill.
2. HR Operations Section:
This section involves a lot of HR practices. The first thing this
sections deals with is Employee Relations. They start with entering the
new employee in the system. They deal with vacations, handle medical
insurance, they also give school fee for employees based on their grade.
They also calculate overtime and enter the data in the system. They
handle the payroll system. Finally, they handle all of the government
relations.
3. Office Services:
This department involves a lot of headache and responsibilities.
They have a given budget to handle everything related to USC from
repairs, maintenance and buying new equipment. They have workers who

work as messengers to deliver documents between USC and other
organizations. They also handle outsourced employees, such as janitors
and tea boys. One important function is that they work with security
companies to guard the company and its warehouses.
Job Handled while Training in USC:
1. I was responsible about distributing, collecting and sorting
application and Coop forms from Coop Trainees. After that I entered
all of their information in excel sheet.
2. Used employee data sheet to link training certificates with
employees’ names and placed a copy in their files.
3. Handel advertising screens which are distributed in the refinery.
Then recoded access cards to give to trainees.
4. Designed Pre-Assessment form for the training courses.
5. Made a number of surveys for USC (Recreational Lounge Survey,
Coop Trainees Evaluation Survey, Employee Morale Survey,
Satisfaction of new employees Survey and Hiring Process Efficiency
Survey)
6. Created a new excel sheet for the training section, including all the
needed information for all of the employees.
7. Learned how to calculate overtime, vacations, firing, attendance
violations and GOSI. Then I was assigned to read Regulation of Work
of USC.
8. Handled the search of new female applicants. Used BAYT.COM and
my contacts to find a perfectly fit applicants. Then I called them and

arranged the interviews. Then I made an excel including all of the
information needed of the applicants.
9. Designed a presentation about the annual gathering of USC.
10. Arranged and conducted interview for male applicants.

Chapter 3
Designing online recruitment page
The online pages need to be designed in a proper manner so that it can help in
increasing the identity of the brand in the market. The organization can help in getting the
attention of the people due to the content that is available in the web page. An attractive
content and visually presentable information will help in attracting the potential staffs
towards the organization. It will also increase the number of visitors in the page, as people
will be more attracted towards the page than to any other web pages. The visitors will be
interested in the page and will purchase the services that is being provided by the
organization. The increase in the number of customers will help the organization, as they
would gain a competitive advantage over the rival organizations that are present in the market
as well. The details that will be available on the webpage has to be spaced in a proper manner
so that the letters and the words can be viewed in a proper manner. This would help in
eliminating the dangers that people may associate with the web page of the organization. It
will also result in establishing a better relationship with the people, as they can communicate
with the organization in a better manner. The people will be able to trust the organization in a
better way by improving the services on the recruitment page as well.
Better pay than the competitors
Providing better pay to the staff members will help in attracting employees, as it will
increase the stability of the organization in a competitive manner. The employees need to be
provided with a better benefit and payment so that they can concentrate on the work and
leave out the option to search for another alternatives that will provide a higher pay to them.
This will help in increasing their participation within the organization so that the level of
production can be increased within the organization. The stability in the payment methods of

the organization will help in increasing the knowledge of the employees regarding the
organizational policies and the opportunities that are available to them to be promoted within
the system.
The payment policy within the organization needs to be competitive by reviewing the
payments that are being offered by the other companies within the same industry. The human
resources personnel that are present within the organization needs to review the payment
structure of the other organization on a periodical manner so that it can help them in
providing the best payment structure to the employees. The employees will be able to accept
the responsibilities within the organization in an efficient manner due to the increase in their
payment than the other competitive companies that are present within the industry. It will
also provide a better feeling to the employees, as they would feel motivated working within
the organization with a better structure of payment.
The imbalance between the work and the payment modes may lead to a lack in the
structure of the organization along with no motivation for the employees. The organization
will provide a better pay so that it can help in attracting the qualified employees within the
organization and provide motivation to them as well. The staffs need to be provided with
proper training methods so that it can help them in developing their skills and earn more
incentives. These motivational tools will result in competing with the rival companies that are
present within the industry so that it can result in increasing its competitive advantage as
well.
Paying in a competitive manner by the organization will help in increasing the equity
in an external manner. It will help in differentiating between the employees who are working
within the same organization at different levels in a proper manner. The jobs are mostly based
on the salary that is being provided to the employees and the organization needs to take up

extra effort in encouraging the staffs so that they can remain motivated and increase the level
of production within the organization.
Defining the job position in a better manner
Describing the position of the job in a better manner by the organization will result in
finding the suitable candidates. It will help the organization in targeting the employees who
are highly qualified in the employees market. The description of the job needs to be provided
in a proper manner so that it can help the employees in understanding the exact position for
which the company is hiring within its system. It is necessary for the organization to identify
the needs of the organization so that the hiring process can be done in an efficient manner.
The operations manager of the organization needs to identify the proper set of training that
needs to be provided to the employees so that it can help in increasing their knowledge and
skills within the organization. This can be done by providing them the training while working
as well, which will provide the staffs a first-hand knowledge of the work that needs to be
carried out by engaging within the work place.
It will help the organization in saving the time and cost of recruiting people on a
constant manner, as the proper description of the job will help in appealing to a certain
section of people who are available within the market to apply for the job. The job
description will provide the organization with an external tool of reference so that it can solve
the disputes within the employees. It will also result in clarifying the expectation of the
employees that are already present within the organization. It will allow the employees with
proper points of references so that they can be provided with adequate training in those areas
only for developing their skills within the organisation. It will also help in increasing the level
of production of the employees within the system. The staffs will be provided with a better
understanding of the role that they need to undertake within the organization as well.

Chapter 4: Data Analysis
Focus group interview
As the company uses basic recruitment procedure such as searching for CV’s online
and considering employee referrals, it is time to improve the process of recruitment. The
three methods selected for developing the recruitment process for the company are designing
online recruitment page, pay better than the competitors do and properly defined key roles
and responsibilities. The use of the three methods for improving the recruitment process is
necessary, as this provided an opportunity for the business organizations to incur better profit
and generate more revenue for the company. In order to determine the effectiveness of the
three methods for improving the recruitment, focus group interview has been selected. The
focus group interview included the HR recruitment manager, HR operations manager and the
HR senior manager.
Designing online recruitment page
HR Recruitment Manager: As a HR recruitment manager, I think designing online
recruitment page advisable. Recruiting through online recruitment page makes provides an
opportunity for the company to allow hundreds and thousands of applicants along with saving
time. I think the method is good because it saves time for the company, as they do not have to
follow up the recruitment process manually. However, filtering the hundreds and thousands
of applicants and selecting the best out of it without knowing them from beforehand is one of
the bad impacts. Thus, designing online recruitment page is both bad and good for the
company.
HR Operation Manager: As a HR operation manager, it is my duty to ensure that the
production of the company is up to the mark thereby, smooth running of the company.
According to me, designing an online recruitment website is provides is good for the

company, as the company is able to select worthy and deserving candidates from the
thousands of applicants. The company gets the opportunity for selecting few from many
thereby, providing them variety of options. However, considering the huge number of
applicants, it is difficult to select the most appropriate one by seeing their inline application.
HR Senior Manager: As the HR senior manager, I also think that designing online
recruitment website has both positive and negative impact on the company. It is important for
the company to have the appropriate work force in order to achieve the organizational goals
and objectives successfully. Thus, having a continuous flow of applicants allows the
company with a variety of options. As a result, the company is able to take new applicants if
there is any shortage of applicants and lack of talent in the existing workforce.
Pay better than the competitors do
HR Recruitment Manager: I think money attracts the candidates. That is why, as a
recruitment manager, I prefer to offer higher and better pay to the applicants compared to the
competitors pay in the market. This allows me to attract the talented applicants and recruit
them for my company. However, spending such huge financial resources without knowing
the abilities and expertise of the applicants is a gamble or risk that I have to take as an HR
recruitment manager. My experiences highlight that at times this strategy of improving
recruitment has paid off whereas at times it has backfired.
HR Operation Manager: As a HR operation manager, I need ensure higher productivity for
the company. For that, I second the opinion of paying better than the competitors pay. This
allows me to the recruit the best talent in the market thereby, maximizing the productivity of
the company. As I am paying higher, the experienced and talented applicants tend to come to
my company first rather than availing the rest of the options in the market. However, I think

paying more than the competitors is a huge risk that we take, as the newly recruited
applicants fail to deliver according to their pay. Our expectations remain unfulfilled.
HR Senior Manager: As a HR senior manager, I have to ensure that the company is having
the best and using the best for operating in the market. For that, I agree and support the
management involved of paying more than the competitors in the market. This allows me to
filter the best in the market and make them a part of the company. However, I think it is a
huge risk that I have supported for taking my company higher without investigating much
about the applicants.
Properly defined key roles and responsibilities
HR Recruitment Manager: I think it is important for the applicants to have a clear idea what
they are signing in for. This is because this provides them with the opportunity of judging
their suitability for the post that is advertised in the online recruitment page. As a HR
recruitment manager, I personally see that the key roles and responsibilities are defined
accurately and precisely for each of the positions. It is good to have properly defined key
roles and responsibilities. However, there are always chances that the applicants are unable to
understand and determine the specificity of the key roles and responsibilities that makes the
recruitment process difficult.
HR Operation Manager: Even I second the opinion of having clearly mentioned and
explained key roles and responsibilities, as this allows the applicants to judge their suitability
for the position we are recruiting for. This also allows me to ensure that the production of the
company is maximized, as the people working for the company have in-depth understanding
of their key roles and responsibilities. However, the bad of having properly defined key roles
and responsibilities is that there are always chances that the applicants are unable to

understand and determine the specificity of the key roles and responsibilities that makes the
recruitment process difficult.
HR Senior Manager: As a senior manager, I also agree with the fact that the recruitment
process can be improved by having clearly defined key roles and responsibilities. This is
because the applicants are able to have in-depth understanding of their key roles and
responsibilities. As a result, the company is able to achieve the organizational goals and
objectives successfully and sustain in the competitive market.
Conclusion
The employees in USC are selected through a better planning structure so that the
employees can be assigned the roles and responsibilities within their knowledge and skills.
However, it was being seen that the training facilities within the organization were not
sufficient. The employees are hired through proper screening of their curriculum vitae so that
it can help the organization in gathering the best employees that are available in the market.
The employees have to sign a contract after they have been selected in the company so that
they can work in a proper manner. The training of the employees start after the evaluation of
the weak points has been done by the company so that it can help in providing proper
facilities in developing their skills.
The employees are given all the facilities so that they can be assured of job security
within the organization. This helps the employees in being motivated so that it can be
beneficial for the company and the employees as well. The human resources department that
is present within the organization deals with all the regulations and policies so that it can help
in maintaining a better relationship with the employees. The salaries and other benefits of the
employees are handled by this department within the organization as well. The HR
department within the organization is efficient but however the c0ompany is lacking in

providing the training facilities in a better manner. The lack of the training processes has
resulted in the loss of employees, which needs to be upgraded to a better method so that it can
result in retaining the employees. This will lead to increasing the efficiency among the
employees so that they can increase the level of production within the organization.
Selecting CV from the other online sites would make options limited for the company
as there are many other companies who apply the same process of short listing the CV from
the online job sites. This is the reason the options become limited. The self-online page of the
company will enable the company to have maximum option. The company has chosen the
option of paying their employees better than the other companies, as it would enable the
company to have interested and skilled employees. While recruitment the employees should
be offered better scale of payment and attractive incentives that will attract those candidates
who want to work seriously and they will be ready to give their full time. The last option that
the company adopts is defining the key roles and responsibilities. While recruiting the
concerned person should explain the roles and responsibilities to the employees so that they
will have no confusion or else it would mislead the employees and they might get confused
about their jobs after they join the organization. Therefore, these methods of recruitment
might turn out to be an effective one.
Recommendations
Based on the identified problems, the suitable recommendations include:
Having several steps in the online recruitment process
In order to make the online recruitment process more effective, the company needs to
include several steps. This will provide an opportunity for the company to filter the most
appropriate applicants out of the many thereby, recruiting the best. In addition to, having
several steps in the online recruitment process will also allow the company to verify the

authenticity of the details provided by the applicants. As a result, the fear of recruiting the
non-deserving candidate is mitigated thereby, building and developing effective and efficient
work force.
User-friendly online recruitment website
It is important for the company to design a user-friendly online recruitment website.
Reducing the level of complexity or accessing the online recruitment website will provide an
opportunity for the company to facilitate more and more applications. This is because the
applicants will have to spend less time in understanding the website and the applying. As this
is first time the company is using online recruitment website, the website is comparatively
complex and time consuming to use. Thus, making it more user-friendly will facilitate the
online recruitment process.
Having 6 months’ probation period
As the company is paying more than the existing competitors in the market are, it is
wise for the company to use them resourcefully. As a result, having 6 months’ probation
period is recommended. In these 6 months, the company and the management will be able to
analyze the qualities and expertise of the candidate they have recruited. The management of
the company will also be able to test the candidates’ qualities and expertise by putting them
under several circumstances and judging their suitability.
Providing an immediate supervisor
As the company is recruiting a new candidate, it is essential to train them according to
the operations of the company. In order to do so, providing an immediate guidance or
supervisor to the employees to recommended. This will provide an opportunity for the
candidates to seek help at any point of time thereby, identifying both their strengths and
weaknesses. In addition to, thorough guidance will also allow the candidates to determine

whether they actually suit the position, they have been recruited for in the company. As a
result, the company will be able to save finances in the long-term by not paying the
unsuitable candidates.
Providing hands-on training to the newly recruited employees
Instead of providing formal training sessions to the newly recruited employees, it is
recommended to provide hands-on training to the employees. As a result, the newly recruited
employees will learn while fulfilling their job roles and responsibilities instead of attending
training sessions only. This process is more effective, as the candidates will be able to
identify the areas they need to improve within the company.