User:Hina Mirza

'Human Resource Development in Pakistan'

 21st century issues in Pakistan  Different organization of Pakistan working to promote HRD

             HRD network
             SHRDC

 Challenges of HR in Pakistan  Importance of HRD in developing countries like Pakistan

  21st Century HRD issues in Pakistan

    These are important Twenty first Century HRD Issues in Pakistan 

1 Smoking: Today in the organization, smoking is a common practice. The employees even management not feels that the smoking is bad thing and unethical act. It has become fashion to smoke. It is a big HRD issue because it affects the health of employees and thus affects the productivity of organization.

2 Diversity in the Workplace: Today is the era of globalization, the era of creativity and flexibility, which is achieved by diverse workforce. Due to diverse workforce (on the basis of culture, religion, age, gender, etc.) different conflicts arises. So this is a recent issue of HRD to manage diversity in the workplace.

3 Corruption: It is the major issue of Human Resource Development in Pakistan. Corruption is increased in Pakistan due to economic instability. Jobs are provided on the base of “References”, not on the base of “Merit”.

4 Flexible Working: In Pakistan the flexible working is not very much implemented, so workers/ employees face difficulties in doing work. This is also the issue of HRD.

5 Gender Discrimination: In Pakistan gender discrimination is often seen in organizations. Women have not proper development opportunities as compared to men. Organizations not provide proper compensation plans, promotions as compared to men. This is the main issue of HRD.

6 Sexual Harassment: In Pakistan Women are sexually harassed in the workplace. Due to this act Women feels uncomfortable to work in organizations. Eve-teasing is a common practice or behavior toward Women in organizations.

7 Security: Today in Pakistan security problems are increasing due to “Terrorism” not only in social life but also in professional life of employees. Employees feel fear to work in the situation of “Terrorism”. Job insecurity is also a problem in Pakistan’s organizations.

8 Favoritism: Favoritism is a common practice is Pakistan. This is the cause of creating bias in evaluating or making performance appraisals of employees. Favorite employees get incentives, even though they are not suitable for these incentives.

Different organizations of Pakistan working to promote HRD

In Pakistan, the working on HRD is increasing .Different institutions established to promote HRD. As,

1 HRDN (Human Resource Development Network)

Human Resource Development Network (HRDN) is a membership based network of professionals from all over Pakistan and across Asia. The network has more than 850 members The process started in 1997 and was legally registered in 2001 with the aim to improve human and institutional development (HID) services and create a platform for professionals relating to the field of learning and capacity building. The idea was to bring the development practitioners on a single platform to share and benefit from their experiences and best practices. The network has a rich resource pool of experts among its members from diverse background and experience in development and management. These experts have been working with different national and international development agencies, Govt. departments/projects and multinational companies. The members of HRDN include individuals as well as organizations. HRDN Projects: HRDN implements projects regarding community uplift through capacity building in partnership with different organizations. The projects are implemented both independently and jointly with member organizations as per need. HRDN has executed different research and capacity building projects in partnership with other organizations. The partners include UNDP, ILO, Save the Children UK, Canadian Red Cross, World Vision, Carita's International, Care International, Action Aid Pakistan UUSC, NSPR, Packard Foundation, ESMA-AJK, AKRSP, ERNP, IUCN, AKFP, Norwegian Embassy, UNESCO, UNICEF, U SAID and more.

Programs: Human Resource Development is the framework for helping employees to develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. Human Resource Development includes opportunities as employee training, employee career development, performance management and development, coaching, succession planning, key employee identification, tuition assistance, and organization development. The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most superior workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish their work goals in service to customers. In order to keep the Trainers abreast with all the new concepts, philosophies and approaches, the Human Resource Development Network (HRDN) brings together emerging and diversified groups of trainers, from around the country, who are engaged in providing training and education both in the not for profit and the corporate sectors. The activities of the Network are conducted in line with its mission of enhancing the professional excellence of its members through meaningful development interventions by facilitating research, training and capacity building endeavors and sharing information, resources and expertise at national and international levels. The Network organizes many forums to provide ample opportunity to the maximum number of Trainers to participate, share their views, learn from others experiences and be a part of the conceptual development forum for trainers. One of the major forums organized by HRDN every year is Annual Trainers Retreat where eminent trainers and HRDN members rally to develop a resource group for capacity building of Trainers and to establish industry standards in training. Areas of Expertise: Being a network of professionals HRDN has in its resource more than 200 experts having different background experience regarding community and organizational development. These experts have been working with different national and international development agencies, Govt. departments/projects and multinational companies. Major areas of expertise include research and capacity building in the following: Community Development Health & Nutrition Organizational Development Sanitation Leadership and Management Project Management Psychosocial Support Micro-finance Women in development Monitoring and Evaluation Human Rights Conflict Resolution & Transformation Child Protection Gender Mainstreaming Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Environment Enterprise Development Natural Resource Management Education Agriculture Public Private Partnership Advocacy & Media Life Skills for employ ability Knowledge Management

2 SHRDC (SAARCE Human Resource Development Center)

The Head of the States and governments of the SAARC Member Countries emphasized the need to progressively carry out the SAARC activities with a broad framework of a long term perspective and to harmonize their effects to ensure tangible benefits to the people of the SAARC region. Toward this end they recognized that Human Resou4ce Development (HRD) is one of the means of realizing the SAARC objectives. At the Fourth SAARC Summit on 29-31 December 1988, the Heads of the States and Governments of the Member Countries agreed to establish SAARC Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC) in Islamabad, Pakistan with the objective to develop knowledge and skills by undertaking research, imparting training, disseminating information on HRD issues and advise the Member States on HRD related policies and strategies. The Twelfth SAARC Summit held in Islamabad on 4-6 January 2004, while recognizing the importance of HRD, expressed in the “Islamabad Declaration” that “Investment in human resource is critical for future development of South Asia. It is, therefore, essential to establish a Network of Centres of Higher Learning, Training and Skill development Institutes (SDI) across South Asia. In this context, the role of the SAARC Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC) is important”. To strengthen the HRD activities, the Thirty-Fourth Session of the Standing Committee held in New Delhi on 5-6 December 2007 shifted the mandate of Technical Committee on Human Resource Development (TCHRD) relating to education and skills development to SAARC Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC).

Challenges of HR in Pakistan

Undoubtedly, human resource development (HRD) plays a central role in the economic growth of any country.

Pakistan is facing some serious challenges with regard to this profession. Though the government has created an HRD ministry, since it has primarily evolved from the labor ministry it will take some time to acquire in-house expertise to understand the dynamics of HR and its implications forthe revival of industry.

With regard to the growth of HRD, there are some major challenges which, if handled well, can promote a climate for economic recovery and reverse the process of brain drain in this country. 1-The biggest challenge to this profession in Pakistan is that the country does not have an institution to regulate human resources. It is a fact that HRM is a newly emerging profession. But developing countries have rapidly sensed its significance and formed institutions to standardise and regulate the profession. For example India and China have taken an institutional approach. In Pakistan, there is an urgent requirement to create an institute on the pattern of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. The institute should work for advancement of the profession, set HR professional standards, a code of conduct and standards of behavior relating to fairness and social responsibility and foster the continuous professional development of its members. It should also define the domestic body of knowledge for the profession and act as an organization to certify the credentials of HR practitioners. 2-Another challenge to HR in Pakistan is that it has very limited workforce management legislation. Industrial relations and related laws primarily focus on the labor class, leaving aside white-collar workers. The country needs enactment of laws addressing workplace discrimination issues, equal opportunities, a code of conduct on employees` data-sharing, diversity, disabilities and retirement benefits. 3-The third significant challenge to the HR profession is the vast gulf between the HR industry and academia. The discrepancy between theoretical and practical HR has long-term consequences for the profession. Due to the absence of industrial role modelling at business schools, HR students also don'tBold text get ample opportunities for realistic applied research projects at business organizations. The result of this is that the best practices taught to students in local institutions in developed countries, lose their relevance when transplanted here with a disregard to local culture, demographics and other socioeconomic variables. The government must seriously consider setting up a professional HR institute in Pakistan, which can better serve the needs of the profession by providing an essential and comprehensive set of resources and expertise. It can be a focal point in framing human resource practices conforming to our national requirements and also advise policymakers on HR practices and legislation. It is only an institutional approach which can harmonise disparate HR practices, resulting in business efficiency and improved employee satisfaction.