HumanResourceManagement:PakistaniScenario

Increasing globalisation and competitiveness have brought to the fore the

importance

of

effective

human

resource

management

for

national

and

international organisations. In recent years, there has been a remarkable

development in HRM throughout the world, however, the majority of research has
focused on HRM in advanced industrial societies. The challenges of management
of HRs in developing countries are complex and demanding.
As the world develops into a global business village, there is a greater need to
know how managers in various parts of the world cope with issues and problems
related to management of human resources. Thus, we must highlight the major
factors that impact on HRM policies and practices in different contexts. Pakistan is
the seventh most populous country of the world. At 2.18 percent, it has one of
the worlds highest population growth rates, such that in the next decade its
population is expected to surpass 260 million. The total employed labor force is
estimated at 38.18 million, which is only 27.66 percent of the total population. In
effect, 41 percent of the total population is under the age of 14. Also, due to
slow economic growth for the past two years, well over 2.36 million people are
unemployed.
The economy is agrarian in nature as 46 percent of the labor force is employed in
the agricultural sector. Since the early 1990s, Pakistan has been implementing a
comprehensive program of deregulation and fostering a climate for private
investment by opening up activities previously monopolized by the public sector.
Bold steps have been taken to privatize the entire public sector, including financial
institutions and industrial units and lucrative incentives have been offered for
private investment. These efforts, aimed at reversing the trend of nationalization
and improving economic growth, have created a suitable business environment in
the country. Public sector organizations have been marked by a passive
management culture. Political patronage rather than sound business decisions
have often determined their operations. Therefore, from the onset, the private
sector was encouraged to develop forward-looking management systems.
However, it was not until 1997 that the government undertook the task of
changing the prevailing corporate culture of public sector enterprises by
appointing professional teams of managers at the top-most hierarchical levels
whose task was to change the HRM culture by making it meritocratic,
decentralized and responsive to employees needs , and outlining a unique
program that distinctly outlined the need to refashion a new work culture whose
building blocks are characterized by innovation, quality and discipline.

The initial success of invigorating the economy was dampened by nuclear tests,
subsequent imposition of sanctions by the G-7 countries and frequent changes of
governments, with the result that the economy started to stagnate and the public
began to grow disillusioned with the state of affairs.

HRM in Pakistan is passing though an embryonic stage.A majority of businesses in

Pakistan (both local and foreign) have restructured their personnel divisions as
human resource divisions. However, they do not provide any information about
what this change entails. Very few organizations have adopted an integrated and
focused

approach

to

HRM,

taking

cultural

and

structural

changes

into

consideration. In these organizations the role of HRM had been broadened, HR

departments had been brought up to par with other business areas and
communication channels had been opened up.
Whereas, most of the organizations were following a piecemeal approach whereby
only certain HR activities had been introduced in installments. Despite their
efforts, most of these organizations suffer from lack of communication, a gap
between managers promises and implementation of policies and an inconsistency
of HRM practices among employees and the centralized structure of the
organizations. Employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the existing norms.
They clearly understood the vital role that HRM played in adding value to the
work environment and building their long-term careers and they aspired for a
pro-active, professional and participatory approach to people management.
Over the years, a number of researchers have highlighted the significance of
national

factors

(like

national

culture,

work-related

values

and

external

environment) in understanding HRM systems. Research has shown that social

institutions such as family, education through socialization process influence
companies strategies and organizational practices in a systematic way, with the
result that companies structures and processes reflect typical national patterns .
Pakistani culture is a mixture of religion, Indian origins, British inheritance and
American influences. It has largely been observed that Pakistani managers want
to follow American management style. American management is considered to be
more progressive and result-oriented, whereas British managers are hailed as
slow and bureaucratic, trademarks which the Pakistani civil service seems to have
inherited from them.
The corporate culture of Pakistan, like many developing countries, is such that
there is a general unquestioning respect for authority, people are integrated as
cohesive groups and are emotional. Organizations have a formal and hierarchical

structure. Policies formulated at head offices are cascaded down to each

office/division for a uniformity of objectives and culture. Employees cannot
approach their HR departments directly. Going through the proper channel is
always stressed. Autonomy given to employees is low and they are not often
encouraged to rely on themselves or to learn new things. There is a
communication gap between management and employees. Typically, HR policies
are made in isolation; feedback from employees during formulation process or
afterwards is not sought. Employees seldom know what decisions are being made
at their HR departments as communication between employees and HR
departments is kept to a minimum. The talk of management does not always
match their walk. HR managers are generally praised for their policies but
employees expressed dissatisfaction with their role and impact.
In 1990, a government privatization program was introduced that was deemed a
success as investors interest was sparked and many new enterprises especially in
the banking sector were set up. At the same time, multinationals that had long
been operating with a low profile, started reinvesting in the market through
expansion of services or diversification of products. The government also took
initiatives to foster a business-driven culture and to encourage the use of
professional and modern management practices. This created a healthy, profitable
and

competitive

business

environment

making

the

private

sector

more

progressive than the public sector.

It is apparent that Pakistani organizations and their culture are undergoing a
dramatic change. The public sector organizations that were run on colonial
patterns are being revamped. The private sector is a valuable addition to the
business environment, it has added impetus to the economy, made it more
competitive and added a fresh perspective to HRM systems.
HRM holds a promise for employees in Pakistan and is the way forward.
Employees recognize the significant role of HRM and aspire towards it. There
seems to be a large amount of room for growth for HRM activities as the economy
develops further. However, it must be emphasized that the current state of affairs
the uncertain political/economic environment is not conducive to development.
Therefore, political stability, along with rules of good governance, should be
achieved and sustained if Pakistan wants to recognize its peoples needs to
enhance their productivity in order to maximize the full potential of the economy.

AMNA MALIK

Human Resource Issues in Pakistan

Sarah Ahmed
Pakistan

Human Resource Management can broadly be defined as a strategic and coherent

approach to the management of the organization's most valued assets - the
people working there, who individually and collectively contribute to the
achievement of its objectives of sustainable competitive advantage. It involves all
management decisions and actions that affect the relationship between
organizations and employees-its human resource. Beer et al (1984). A further
definition is provided by Pettigrew and Whip (1991) who suggests that relates to
the total set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that firms need to compete. It
involves concerns for and action in the of people, including: selection, training
and development, employee relations and compensation. Such actions may be
bound together by the creation of an HRM philosophy.
Pakistan came into being on 14 August 1947 and today in 2006 she is struggling
for sustainable development. Over the years Pakistan faced many challenges and
the time of independence there were many genuine problems but 59 years were
not less for developing and managing the human resource effectively. Now we
are standing in a situation where our government setups have failed to deliver
and achieve a level of excellence. The private local companies have HR
department but not properly functional. The Army is a little organized but is over
indulging in the areas that are not their domain The multinational are better
because they are following the same internationally used management tools.
The past practices can not be overlooked as they have created a bunch of
unskilled qualified man power and unproductive organizations. The issues or
problems in the human recourse management are in all the functions of HRM
discipline:
Job Analysis and Design: This function of HR needs constant update as every
moving day has new performance implications. In our country the job
descriptions and specifications are not properly taken care off. Many times people
are performing overlapping tasks. The task that's not in the terms of reference
does not add to the achievement of the job goal.
Work Flow Process: Work process are not studied and worked out well so the
tasks take longer to finish and unrequited process that could be negated are also
present. So more people end up doing less work and the management process is
complicated and over dragging.
Recruitment and Selection: Though the government set up has evolved many
procedures and formats for hiring and selection but it's over shadowed by
nepotism and mal practices. In the private sector things are a bit better, as who
ever is hired has to be apt for delivering the desired so even if the incumbent is
hired by reference he/she has to come on a criteria and perform to sustain in the
organization.
Work Environment: The impact of office environment on the employee is negated
all around Pakistan especially in the government sector. The rooms do not have

proper filling place, proper seating, cleanliness is ignored and it's not at all
enabling.
Hierarchy: In the government sector hierarchy is too complex and giving your
point of view to the boss can make you lose you job. The higher grade officers
certainly require a complete paraphernalia and protocol which costs government
money. Where as in the private sector at times hierarchy is ignored and over
passed causing frustration to the manager.
Working Hours: The flexi time concept is not applicable in the government sector.
The employees have to follow timing be them doing nothing in that time. A new
issue has also emerged in past years that people come at 8 in the morning show
presence and than on the government vehicle go to various offices for
networking, chat around, go home for lunch, rest and than come back at 5 in the
evening and still till nine. This technique not only proves them to be committed
but also give them the credits of hard wok and perseverance.
Performance Appraisal: The ACR in the government can make and break careers.
All the factors that distort performance appraisal can be observed very obviously
in many government departments. One average report can not make you go up
the ladder of success so performance effectiveness is not performing above the
mark but keeping a good rapport with the boss. The person up in the hierarchy is
not bothered about the relationship with the juniors as they are not thee to give
feedback of the boss.
Systems and SOPs: Government still has some systems in place be them bad but
the local NGO sector has nothing in black and white they do what they want. The
multi nationals are in a better position as they have some system for performing
activities.
Reward System: In our set up money is the only motivator even than the
employees are not compensated according to the task. One example is of a police
officer and an ordinary police man, the prior is given as many facilities as
possible where as the subsequent is highly less rewarded. The reward system has
no motivational components as high performance does not result in promotions,
salary increase etc and bad performance does not cause any problems for the
employee.
Career Development: The aspirations of the employees are not kept in mind for
his growth.
Training and Development: In the government set up various national and
international trainings are financed for the employees. There are issues with the
selection of the individual, relevance of training, and the application of training to
the job. It's been observed that the Pakistani officials who go for international
trainings take them as shopping trips.
In addition to these issues the following issues are also troubling the sustainable
growth of human resource.
The concept of cost benefit analysis is not in place.
The education polices are not linked with the industrial requirements.
During education more effort is put on the theoretical implications than the
practical implications.
Political pressures are the cause of many mal practices.
Right people are not placed on the write jobs so jobs are just duties t hat have to
be performed there is nothing like keenness and respect for the job.
People have their vested interest that hinders organization effectiveness.
Poor leadership.
Diversity and innovation is not encouraged by many.
Lack of opportunities.
Low motivation.

Passive behaviors.
MBO is not in place.
Multitasking is not present in the government employees.
Pay is not related to performance.
Commitment level is very low.
Lack of subject specialists.
Deficient research in the area.
Improper Communication with in the organization.
Rigidity.
False perceptions.
Many organizations operate without a vision.
Shortsightedness.
We can't say that finances were not incurred on the human resource in the past
half decade, a huge amount of government's money was spent but due to poor
planning the output was not witnessed.
It's a pity that at we are struggling for a place in the League of Nations due to
poor human resource management in the past. The father of the Nation advised
us to work, work and work but in vain.
These issues are not to be taken as objects of pessimism ever dawn has a day.
These issues can be taken as the starting point for better planning and effective
human resource management. With the dawn of the New Year we can resolve to
consider and treat our human resources as valuable assets and HR functions as
vital for effectiveness.
Asking for a perfect system is Utopia but putting the best effort for achieving the
maximum is possible. Optimism is there as the government and others sectors
are now working on their human resource. Many organizations are being
formulated for enhancing the HR capability. The scenario in Pakistan will for sure
improve as every cloud has a silver lining.
"People are definitely company's greatest assets.
It doesn't make a difference weather the product is cars or cosmetics. A company
is as good as the people keep it."

HR IN PAKISTAN
HR is progressing very fast. More and more companies are now looking for HR
Managers to manage their human assets and their issues. More people are
coming in the field. Institutes have also emerged from no where teaching
different HR courses. All is good, for me at least. I chose the field five years back
and here I am with a Masters degree, specialization in HR and four years
experience. During this period I worked in two places and gained experience. At
both of the places HR was a new born department. I faced resistance from old
employees and from top management too. Resistance from top management as
they do not understand the true nature of HR. Everyone has his own concept of
Human Resource Management. At one place the top management used to forward
every problem to HR whether it had a link with HR or not. Production is not up to
the mark, problem comes to HR. Security cameras not working, and problem
comes to HR. It was difficult to convince the people at the top that these
problems were out of the scope of HR. At one place employees used to disregard
HR and at first looked liked it would be impossible to create the HR department
over there. In the absence of HR department, its responsibilities are shared by
other departments. When HR is created people feel that HR is trying to reduce
their authorities and as a result conflicts start rising. What they dont know is that
HR will actually benefit them. They would get an organized organizational
structure with proper grading, proper pay structures, promotion plans and
employee compensation and benefits plans etc. There is a need to increase
awareness among employees in other departments, top people, owners and
directors regarding HR.
It is one of the factor because of which job switching has raised among the HR
professionals. In most of the cases the top management suddenly discovers that
the solution to all their problems is in establishing an HR department. HR
Manager is hired and the HR guy comes in. First of all he has double pressure on
himself. He has to develop an HR department and for that he needs to design all
the required formats and flowcharts of processes that fit to that organization. He
also looks into problems that are urgent and need his attention and then comes
the operational side of HR; recruitment, training, separation, evaluations,

increments etc. All the key people start pushing him from all sides. Top
management pressurizes him to show quick results. And the HR Person is left
with confusion with what to do and what not to do.