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CECOS UNIVERSITY
 HISTORY

In the year 1986, Engr. Muhammad Tanveer Javed established a small private sector
institution - CECOS Data Institute with only five computers and a very few students in
Peshawar Saddar. CDI designed a One-year diploma course in Computer Science. Later
this institute got affiliated to Peshawar University becoming the premier college to offer
post graduate courses in computer science and University of London for certain computer
courses. CECOS established the first private sector Commerce College in Peshawar in
1987. Later, in 1994 the campus extended to Hayatabad, as CECOS Data College and
programs of BSIT, MSIT, BCS, MCS, BBA and MBA were started and was also
authorized to be "Action Learning Center of Software Development" by UGC and
Ministry of Communication to conduct Post-Graduate-Diploma in Software
Development. The Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP)
declared it as their Peshawar Center. In the year 1996,College of Engineering and
Information Technology was opened by CECOS to run Communication and Civil
Engineering programs and got affiliated to NWFP University of Engineering and
Technology. CECOS also moved to open the CECOS London College of Information
Technology and Management in 1998, registered under UK rules, to facilitate credit
transfer of their students to American and European Universities and to market software
developed by their students and conduct split degree programs. In the year 2001 CECOS
IT Park Project was opened with the aim to provide live facility to the students for the
development of software and to capture the huge International software market.
The University is recognized by Higher Education Commission, Govt. of Pakistan.
CECOS University has also received accreditation from International Universities
Accrediting Association, USA.
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 NATURE OF ORGANIZATION

Since last 16 years, CECOS is in tune with education in the fields of Information
Technology, Computing, Business Studies and Management Sciences.
Men and women with diverse functional backgrounds together explore advanced IT &
management concepts as well as practical applications. They communicate ideas and are
inspired to think more strategically and analyze more critically. Now it plans to
participate in building the capacity and infrastructure in the field of Information
Technology, Biotechnology & other Emerging Sciences required to facilitate an
educational revolution in Pakistan. Beside establishing educational Institutions for human
resource development in the field of IT, Engineering, Management Sciences, an office in
London is functioning over the past thee years, to manage and facilitate further
continuing education of CECOSians for admission with full credit transfer to prestigious
Universities of UK and USA. This office is also marketing the software development and
export potentials of CECOS.

VISION

The vision of CECOS University says,

“We are building a community of leaders. It is learning and networking community, with
an impressive mix of both experienced business and IT professional people interested in
general management and knowledgeable instructors dedicated to looking at business &
IT oriented environment in an integrated way. If people join our community, expect to
change -- to change the way they think... the way they approach problem solving... the
way they look at their work environment. It is a transformative educational experience,
one that can move them to the next level of success.”
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MISSION STATEMENT

The mission statement of CECOS University is “To provide quality education to it’s
every student so that our students get utmost benefit from the modern age IT facilities
with best possible environment and make them competent enough to face this challenging
era.”

 AIMS & OBJECTIVES

• To emphasize on student centered learning.
• To develop education programs, integrating theory and practice for better results.
• To encourage creativity, learning and individual enterprise.
• To promote international perspectives in the curriculum, among students and
faculty.
• To create an environment where students can develop analytical abilities
• To plan measures and continuously monitor sustainable development of the
University.
• To promote a sense of responsibility and the divine desire of learning in its
students for active participation in the development of our communities.

VALUES

With a blend of knowledgeable instructors and zealous students CECOS UNIVERSITY

believes in
• Intellectual honesty,
• Authentic communication,
• Managerial integrity,
• Personal responsibility, and
• Mutual respect and support.
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HR ACTIVITIES IN CECOS UNIVERSITY

There is no HR department in CECOS and it relies on HR activities.

 RECRUITMENT METHOD

CECOS uses both external as well as internal methods for recruitment process. External
is done mainly through advertisement. CECOS has a policy of Blind Box advertisement
in which the name of CECOS is not revealed. Internal is done through employee referral
i.e., the management first announces the vacancy internally. Employee referral is very
good because their own interest is also involved in that because after all they have to pass
time with them and it’s also less time and cost consuming for the institute. The
management also looks in international as well as national market for required people.

SELECTION METHOD

It takes time. First a preliminary interview is taken and nobody is expelled out or
disqualified in that interview. After that a demo is taken and the candidate is given a topic
of either the selection committee’s choice or of his own choice. After that he has to
deliver a demo in front of some fresh and some old students along with a penal of
teachers. He/she is asked questions at the end of demonstration. This is a part of initial
recommendations and he is recommended to registrar and again another penal interviews
him. His pitch of sound, subject knowledge, general knowledge, and eye contact are
examined. Preliminary interviews, Demonstration, Detailed interview, Writing skill,
Sound pitch tests etc. are taken in selection process. A semi-structured interview is taken
but the management knows how much importance should be given to different areas. So
far there are no exit interviews, i.e., the interviews taken from a staff member who is
leaving CECOS for any reason but the management aims to introduce them as well. The
candidates for teaching are judged in their basic knowledge about their subject. Some
general questions about their subjects are also asked. There is a structured pro-forma for
evaluating the candidate, which overcomes the shortcoming of halo-effect up to a great
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extent. An HR specialist, a teaching specialist, an English language specialist are there in

the selection panel in the demonstration session.

 ORIENTATION OF NEW EMPLOYEES

The newly selected candidate is introduced to all staff and also to the Vice Chancellor of
CECOS. The orientation of the new employees is done formally and individually. He is
introduced to the students and teachers by any responsible authority. Because of this
practice he/she is familiarized with the staff as well as with the students. And due of this
practice the chances of rise of any conflict is lowered because due to this orientation
session, students come to know about their new teacher in a better way. In some cases
where this orientation practice was not done, some unnecessary conflicts aroused
between teacher and students and that was just because of the distrust of students over
their teacher because they were not well aware of their teacher’s abilities and past
experience and ware therefore not ready to give him any credit. New employees are
introduced even to librarians and to all those with whom he/she has to interact. In this
way a formal, serial, type of orientation is conducted.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

There are different training programs. For example if it is come to know that a teacher of
M.Sc. Mathematics has the ability to adopt Discrete Mathematics even he has not learned
that subject in his educational life, but due to his/her potential abilities, it becomes a
challenge for him/her and tries to learn that subject as much as possible from various
sources. In this manner he/she gets more and more learning and brings improvement in
his/her teaching skills. Internet surfing facilities are also provided. Employees are sent to
different seminars as well. The management aims to materialize some ideas of training
session in summer vacations. Whenever it is felt that a specific subject needs more than
one teacher, the management used to send two subject specialists in a single class. For
example, there is a subject called “Consumer Behavior and Market Analysis” that needs a
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subject specialist from Marketing discipline as well as a subject specialist from

Psychology discipline. So teachers of Marketing as well as of Psychology are sent in the
class at the same time. This improves the knowledge and understanding of both the
teachers and as well as of the students. This is a unique method of training and
development introduced by CECOS in Peshawar specially. The results of this practice are
tremendous.

METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

A pro-forma is there to judge the best employees. For good teachers on annual basis,
awards and shields are given to them. Personal increments and special increments on the
basis of performance are also given.

RESOLVE CONFLICTS

There has never been any conflict among employees but rather CECOS faces conflict
between employees and management. The reason for no conflicts among employees lies
in its staff room where all the employees get together and share their ideas and thoughts
with one another and also help each other in their subjects. In the form of a mutual staff
room, a healthy environment is provided to them, which harmonizes their mutual
understanding. Internal discussion develops them a lot because that are conceptual
discussions and all the employees share their knowledge. Employees have mutual Iftar
parties etc. Diverse workforce is a challenge and a positive aspect and CECOS always
welcomes them and manages such a diverse workforce just because of its policy of
equity. There is no such threat of lobbyism and grouping in CECOS.

MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES

There are many factors. For example salary rise, learning and exposure, or giving them
some responsibilities for example, to tell them to computerize all the data of CECOS and
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this will increase their good will and reputation. So they get to be motivated and do that
task with immense pleasure and confidence. Moreover, old age benefit schemes are also
in consideration for employees. CECOS does not believe in snatching employees from
other institutions rather it prefers fresh candidates and develops them.

HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM OF CECOS

There are personal files of each and every staff member. A full detailed computerization
of data from each and every discipline is going to be done very soon. Online examination
is also in consideration. So far, the data of employees have not yet been deleted. A
complete database of the teachers, students and all the other working staff will be created
very soon. The data of any teacher is not removed so quickly because sometimes it
happens that those teachers who left CECOS due to any reason, they come back and join
it with more pleasure and enthusiasm, so there is no need to set a selection committee for
them again because all their previous record is saved in their personal files. So in that
case, it becomes very easy for the management to decide whether to select that person or
not on the basis of his/her previous record.

 DISCIPLINE

Discipline is giving immense importance. Time-in and time-out are very strict for
employees. Some portion of salary is also deducted if an employee is not punctual for
more than two times. Feedback from students is received by the management for “What
is taught in the class” and “Are they satisfied”. Labor laws are strict and teachers have to
give the maximum of their performance.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CHALLENGE

Constant governmental change in educational policies is one of the biggest challenges for
CECOS. For example CECOS is accountable to HEC as well as to Engineering board of
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Pakistan and it has to follow their rules and regulations strictly. For example they have a
rule that an employee must have a more than one-year experience in an institution. Those
employees that have not yet completed one year in CECOS are not given the status of
employees by HEC. Moreover, they have formulated certain rules for Ph.Ds and
producing that large number of Ph.Ds is very costly but we have to follow their
instructions. Internal challenge is our scarce resources. CECOS needs a lot of funds for
establishing a standard engineering laboratories and workshops and fund rising is the
biggest challenge for it’s survival.

VALUES OF CECOS

For CECOS, Value is anything you value. Quality of education is valued very much.
From employee’s point of view, there are some flaws. But it is adopting some values for
example, good salary, employees old benevolent fund, and health insurance for
employees. CECOS value interest free banking and that is the reason it does not deal with
banks very much. CECOS is trying to insure itself with Islamic Insurance System,
Taqafal. From teaching point of view, we value only one thing and that is QUALITY.
The students of CECOS are those that didn’t get admission in Government institutes of
Engineering, Management Studies and Business etc just because of their marks. CECOS
believes in providing the students with every facility, which will help them in enhancing
their existing knowledge, assisting them in exploring new fields and horizons by giving
them the quality education and making them groomed in every manner so that when
he/she leaves us to join the practical world; he/she is able to stand tall amongst the rest
and achieve great heights of success. CECOS is building a community of leaders. It is
learning and networking community, with an impressive mix of both experienced
business and IT professional people interested in general management and
knowledgeable instructors dedicated to looking at business & IT oriented environment in
an integrated way. If people join this community, expect to change -- to change the way
they think... the way they approach problem solving... the way they look at their work
environment. It is a transformative educational experience, one that can move them to the
next level of success.
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NEED FOR HR DEPARTMENT

There should be proper HR and Employee Development departments. Because machines

cannot replace Human Resource. CECOS has good infrastructure and quality education
but a need for proper HR department is still there.

DISCUSSION

(Starting with the name of Allah, the most Merciful and Almighty), This research
work is conducted for an educational purpose by Muhammad Fahad and Arooj Zeb under
the supervision of subject specialist Ms. Aqsa Siddiq. The research analyses the human
resource activities of one of the most reputed educational institutions of NWFP, i.e.,
CECOS University. The interview on the basis of which an analysis is made is taken
from Mr. Ubaid Ullah, the Incharge of CECOS Management and Information Sciences
Campus (Hayatabad Phase 2), Peshawar. He is a very responsible and trustworthy person
and the information provided by him is reliable and valuable. We are very grateful to him
for his utmost co-operation. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance and guidance of
our subject specialist Ms. Aqsa Siddiq.
Mr. Ubaid Ullah belongs to village Akbar Poora, District Nowshehra. He has
done M.Sc. Statistics and MBA (M.I.S) and now doing M.S (Finance). He served as
Govt. Statistical Officer for eight years. After leaving that job, he has been serving in the
field of education in different institutions for the last four years. He has been a visiting
teacher in University of Peshawar and in Pakistan Rural Academy, Peshawar. Now days
he is serving in CECOS University with an additional charge of administration and
management of that campus. Although he is the Incharge of a whole campus but the
interviewers found him very down to earth and co-operative with the students who come
for research purposes. A detailed interview of length one hour was taken from him and he
dealt with co-operatively.
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CECOS University is providing the educational services for the last twenty-one
years (since it’s evolution till now). One of the very common problems of private
institutions is that although they are providing quality education and standard services but
they lack funds and are mostly short of finances. Moreover, the government policies are
stricter for private institutions while public institutions are given relaxation in this
regard??? CECOS University is also suffering from lack of sufficient funds these days.
Starting with the Vision of CECOS University, which says, “ We are building a
community of leaders”, teachers play a significant role in the lives of students. Many
teachers prove to be role models for their students. So what are the criteria of CECOS for
selecting Role Models for their students? The criteria are good as well as strict enough to
choose the best faculty for their institution. But the main thing is that how do you retain
that good faculty with you, because to fulfill material needs, one has to think beyond the
environment and the quality of experience. Let’s see what steps CECOS has taken in
order to make their vision more vivid and substantial.
The interviewed person reveals in his interview that during recruitment process
they prefer Employee Referral because the staff working there is aware with the
environment and culture of CECOS in a better way and for making personal reputation
good; they always refer a good and proficient person. CECOS believes in ‘Make Policy’
rather than ‘Buy Policy’ and that is the reason they mostly hire fresh candidates. For this
they have some very good reasons. According to them, fresh candidates who have
recently done their Masters are much more enthusiastic and confident and also they need
some respectable job. Moreover it is easier for them to mould into our culture. This is a
very appreciable approach.
The next step that is Selection process is lengthy and the criterion is very strict. A
candidate has to show a hundred percent performance regarding his/her personal abilities
and the subject in which he/she has done Masters. He/she must show a full command
over the subject. But here a question arises that whether is it possible for a fresh
candidate to show that much performance and fulfill the high expectations of the
selection penal? And aren’t they pressurized unnecessarily? But this practice also reveals
that whether the candidate can work under pressure or not. However, the courtesy
interview practice is proving to be a good public relations exercise for CECOS because
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this kind of interview increases the reputation of the organization in the eyes of a
candidate. But it is quite noticeable that nobody is eliminated in the preliminary
interview, which lengthens the selection process unnecessarily. In the selection process a
personality test i.e., the Bernsenter Personality Inventory test will prove to be very
helpful in evaluating the personalities of the candidates and decision-making on the basis
of that test. Another problem of Halo Effect during interviews is overcome by using a
structured pro-forma for the evaluation of the candidate but still it can’t be eliminated
totally.
The orientation of the newly employed candidates is done formally and
individually. Each employee is introduced to the students and all the other staff of the
institute by the Incharge or by any other responsible authority (experienced teacher or
other staff member). But the new employee is told nothing about the Vision, Mission and
the History of the institution. It is necessary to realize them the objectives and the vision
of CECOS. This will give them a direction to channelize their efforts.
The training and development sessions are giving confidence to the employees
and used to learn new things. The most appreciable thing is that teachers are performing
dynamic activities and development constantly takes place. Including ethics in the
development program sessions can enhance their motivation level by making them job
loyal. In profession like teaching, positive attitudinal change is very necessary for
resolving conflicts but the management of CECOS is not doing any efforts in this regard.
Monetary incentive holds a strong place but it is not always the money that
enhances the motivation level of employees but the attributes like care for other’s self-
respect, share in decision-making, authorities in hand (although limited) are also better
incentives if realized. The employees of CECOS are given confidence by handing over
more responsible tasks. Interestingly a sense of smugness and snobbery could easily be
created in the minds of the employees and they will put more and more efforts for the
sake of high repute unconsciously. The methods for performance appraisal and increasing
motivation level are not satisfactory and sufficient. The management should seriously
think about that because if the employees are not appreciated for their hard work, they
will opt to leave the institution and remember good employees are the assets for any
organization.
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The computerization of human resource information system of CECOS is in its

initial stages and it is strange why they started it so late? May be the previous poor
management is the reason but now it is good to see that the current management has
taken serious steps in this regard.
In the last the discussion is concluded with a suggestion that, keeping in mind the
importance of Human Resource Management now days, it is good to have a separate HR
department in CECOS. Although the University is running successfully but still there are
some issues that require full concentration and to be dealt with wisdom and an HR
approach; the most important one is employee’s motivation and performance appraisal.
Moreover, according to the interviewed, Mr. Ubaid Ullah, there are conflicts between
employees and top management. The only reason for such conflicts is a lack of proper
human resource management department because in the absence of that, employees used
to discuss about their conflicts with one another rather than with any authority. Although
the Incharge is there to sort out those issues but he has a limited set of authorities and
cannot take decisions alone. It is not wise to run four different campuses of a University
without a proper Human Resource Management Department. For the time being the
University is running successfully but in the future, they may face employee’s high turn
over rate due to lack of proper and evident handling of human resource. The current
management of CECOS also thinks so and so is the thinking of the two researchers i.e.,
Muhammad Fahad and Arooj Zeb.