HR FOCUS LAHORE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS,13TH APRIL,2007
IN THIS ISSUE HEALTH-CARE
SITUATION: TOUGH &
GLOBAL NEWS GETTING TOUGHER
• HEALTH & SAFETY Health work is hard work. Many health workers
spend long, sometimes lonely, hours on duty.
• EMPLOYMENT Their work may expose them to infection, as
LAW well as chemical or biological poisoning. High
• LEARNING & stress is part of the job. Moreover, many health
sector workers - including those who work in
DEVELOPMENT nursing homes - face verbal and physical
• EMPLOYEE aggression, since they often have contact with
people in distress. Of particular concern is the
BENEFITS plight of women, who predominate among health
care workers. In some countries, women
comprise up to 80 per cent of all health workers.
COVER STORY Women are good health-care providers, but
unfortunately, far too many are at the bottom of
the sector hierarchy, facing precarious, arduous
HEALTH CARE and sometimes unsafe working conditions, while
SITUATION: TOUGH & earning inadequate pay. They are also often
subject to physical violence in the workplace,
GETTING TOUGHER including sexual harassment. This poses the a
problem of equity, or fairness.
LOCAL NEWS
Health costs and poor working conditions
• EUROPEAN HUMAN
The major item in any health budget is the
RESOURCE amount needed to pay health workers. This
usually represents more than half of the total for
THEORY NOT a health care budget, even though in many
VIABLE FOR countries, health workers are underpaid, and face
PAKISTAN low job security and poor working conditions.
• LOCAL COMPANIES
To address these issues, the Joint Meeting on
ARE LEARNING Terms of Employment and Working Conditions
FAST in Health Sector Reforms, held in Geneva from
• CHILD LABOUR 21 to 25 September 1998, adopted a number of
conclusions, including the following:
• HUMAN RESOURCE
ISSUES IN
PAKISTAN
• WORKPLACE
SANITY
"No one will believe you solved this problem
in one day! We've been working on it for
months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and
I'll let you know when it's time to tell them."
(R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining
and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)
• Health care is not a commodity,
and therefore cannot be traded. It
is a basic human right;
• Ensuring universal access, at least
to primary health care, remains a
challenge throughout the world,
especially in developing
countries;
• Health-care reform efforts should
foster primary care and preventive
medicine for all, improve quality
of care and create better work
conditions in this area;
• Health-care reforms cannot be
imposed from above or outside. In
the health care reform process,
policies should be developed for
social dialogue since the best
reforms are developed through
such a process;
• Health-care staff should have the
right to bargain collectively, to be
guaranteed decent working
conditions and the opportunity for
continued training, and part-time
staff should be included in such
procedures;
• Wages should be paid regularly to
all workers, including health
workers, in accordance with the
ILO Protection of Wages
Convention, 1949 (No. 95);
• Basic training, lifelong learning
and continuous training are
essential for maintaining the
quality of services provided and
for career development. Workers'
organizations should participate in
the design and implementation of
training. Management training in
the health sector is essential;
• Equality of opportunity should be
realized to give women the ability
to compete for access to higher-
quality and better-paid jobs;
• Governments and employers
should create safe workplaces,
especially for women;
• Employers, workers and
governments have the
responsibility of fighting against
racism at the workplace.
Employment law
Hundreds of thousands of
male workers to face salary
cuts: Public sector workers
may have pay slashed due to
Equal Pay Act Compensation
claims from 1.5 million
female workers in local
authorities, the NHS and
Ministry of Defense are
expected to cost £10 billion in
back pay. Male salaries are
set to be slashed by up to 40
per cent to balance the books.
Organizations have to
implement “single status” pay
agreements to meet the terms
of the Equal Pay Act. A
recent EU judgment gave
them until the start of April to
comply with the legislation,
but many will miss the
deadline for job evaluation.
Unions said staff will have to
cooperate to make the
changes affordable. “As part
of the compromise we
sometimes have to bring
down male earnings,” said
Brian Strutton, national
officer for the GMB union.
“But it only then takes one
woman to want more to break
the whole agreement.” Some
highly-paid women could also
have their salaries cut as
public bodies struggle to fund
wages for other staff, such as
teaching assistants and care
workers.
 European human resource
theory not viable for
Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: “The European human resource development practices
are not workable for our region. We have to develop our human resource
potential in accordance with our own values,” said Zafar A Taji, president
of the Human Resource Foundation (HRF), while opening a two-day
India-Pakistan Human Resource Management conference organized by
the foundation in collaboration with the Delhi Management Association
(DMA). He said that the conference would develop collaboration and
coordination among the human resource experts of the two countries and
called for student exchanges to strengthen the bonds and explore the talent
in the region. The first human resource management conference was held
in New Delhi last year.
Jagdish Chandra Jhuraney, vice president of the DMA, said there was a
need for joint ventures in human resource management between the two
countries. He said India and Pakistan shared the same culture, values and
history and they faced the same problems of poverty, unemployment and
low wages.
Dr Yasho Verdhan Verma, vice president of Human Resources and MS at
LG Electrics Ltd India, said 10-15 percent growth rate is satisfactory and
efficient human resource management could help to achieve an 80-90
percent growth rate.
He underscored the importance of leadership and said organizations are
built and enhanced by effective leadership.
Leon Menezes, Head of Human Resource at Shell Pakistan Ltd, urged that
a friendly environment strengthens leadership and enhances productivity.
Junaid I Khan, the CEO of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd,
said a leader is a visionary and change and motivation is crucial for
growth.
The second technical session discussed ‘Business Challenges for Human
Resource - A CEO’s Perspective’. It was addressed by Zuhair Khaliq, the
CEO of Mobilink, Zahid Aslam Rehman, ex-vice president of business
strategy at Phillips International, and Aquil Busrai, managing director of
Shell People Service Asia. In the third technical session the speakers
deliberated on ‘Change Management - Creating a Winning Culture.’
 HR FOCUS
LOCAL COMPANIES ARE LEARNING FAST
In an increasingly competitive world, the readiness of Pakistani companies to compete on a global
platform comes into question. In these rapidly changing times, every second counts. Survival and
achievement demands not only being result-orientated, but also cost-efficient, continually innovative, or
clearly just the market leader.
Every year a survey is conducted by local firm to assess the trends in management and leadership
practices within Pakistan's corporate sector. Last year, a nationwide survey was conducted with the aim of
"identifying transformations in corporate culture to meet world-class performance standards." Responses
were received from thirty five per cent of the organizations surveyed, whereas three per cent refused to
participate in the process for one reason or another.
The survey was analyzed on four broad areas via, strategic perspective, processes, training and culture.
All four areas were considered vital to ascertain how companies are responding to the challenge posed by
globalization and increased competition to meet world-class global standards.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: Companies have started realizing the importance of continuous
"We know that communication learning and development of their people. Consequently, their spending on enhancing technical and
is a problem, managerial skills has risen, in order to further improve the quality of performance. 56 per cent of the
but the company is not going to organizations have increased their training and development budget by over twenty per cent.
discuss This increase is driven by their expectation that a more competent, knowledgeable, motivated and
it with the employees." inspired workforce, working as a team, will be better able to face future challenges. Companies have
(Switching supervisor, AT&T awakened to the fact that if they intend to remain competitive and move forward with speed, they must
Long Lines Division) focus more on enhancing the capacity of their employees. For this reason they are aligning their training
and development initiatives with their strategic business objectives.
Even though companies are now more willing to invest on training and development, they are beginning
to establish precise learning needs critical for process improvements to measure the actual benefits. The
survey established that companies are less willing to invest in people who look likely not to benefit the
organization in the long run. As a result companies have registered improvements in performance in terms
of reduced wastage, better efficiencies and higher quality, through skilled and competent people.
Motivation is spiraling upwards; which in turn is improving customer satisfaction and profitability.

Quote from the Boss:
"Teamwork is a lot of people
doing what I say."
(Marketing executive, Citrix
Corporation)
CORPORATE CULTURE: Senior management in most companies surveyed are actively working on
improving their company's corporate culture. As many as 45 per cent of the respondents felt that their
senior management was consciously and actively contributing to building an identity and culture for their
organization. Subsequently as much as 78 per cent of organizations stated that they felt they had created
their own culture.
Respondents felt that their company's culture had progressed to one that was open, family like, caring and
that believed in values. At the same time, the same companies gave importance to target achievement,
commitment, teamwork and competitiveness. As a direct result, as many as 61 per cent of the companies
strongly agreed that the culture change in their organization had facilitated changes demanded by their
company's strategic objectives.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS: Interestingly, when asked about influence our government had on corporate
culture in Pakistan, not a single respondent answered in the affirmative. This shows an immense
opportunity for our government to actively participate in developing and encouraging professionalism in
"Doing it right is no excuse for organizations that contribute to economic growth of the country.
not meeting All organizations that were part of this survey had at least one strategic management goal in place. It can
the be inferred that leadership teams of organizations are ardently looking to the future strategically. By this
schedule." method, companies have developed a clear framework that guides human energy in achieving demanding
(Plant goals without losing direction in the short and the long term.
Manager, Delco Corporation) Fifteen per cent of the respondents identified competitors as the primary reason for undertaking process
initiatives. This indicates emergence of healthy competition in Pakistan. Companies are willing to learn
from their competition. Benchmarking and sharing of best practices between companies within the same
industry, and from other sectors is on the increase.
Of the companies surveyed, 60 per cent registered improvements in behavioral and cultural aspects of
their business, attributed largely to regular exposure to training programs. This shows that mindsets and
paradigms change for the better through group interactions and reflections during formal and informal
learning programs. Companies are giving up the old ways of doing things, and are becoming more
aggressive and dynamic.

In a labour-intensive country like ours, developing people must be at the forefront of every initiative.
"What I need is an exact list of Pakistan's greatest potential has always been its people. A young person with no direction will not add
specific unknown problems we any value to society. Instead he/she will become a burden. Given a little direction and opportunity for
might encounter." learning, this untapped resource will flourish.
(Lykes Lines Shipping)
 Your employee must give you eight weeks’ notice if These will be delivered through a 10-point action plan to
she wants to change her date of return to work. be published in April as part of sector skills council People
HEALTH & 1st’s sector skills agreement. Launching the scheme,
tourism minister Shaun Woodward said: “We need better

SAFETY TWO-THIRDS OF qualified and trained people if we are to compete in the

long term."

THE EMPLOYEES He added that skills improvements needed to be made in

HOW TO MADE ILL BY time for the London 2012 Olympics: “This is a fantastic
opportunity to change attitudes towards training,”

MANAGE STRESS Woodward said. Andy Westwood, adviser to the Letch

review, said the strategy “gives life to some of the
recommendations we give in the review"."
PREGNANCY IN Stress at work is making people ill, according to a

THE WORK national survey by training company Work Life

Balance Centre and supported by research from
It proves that employers and industry can get together and
make ambitious plans to go forward,” he added. Brian
three UK universities. Around 80 per cent of people Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st, said the launch of
PLACE claim to have difficulty juggling the competing the strategy marked a “seminal moment” for British
demands of work and home life. Almost 70 per cent tourism
of women and 63 per cent of men, out of more than
As pregnancy isn’t an illness, you may 3,300 respondents said that at times this left them
wonder why you should make any special unable to cope.
allowances for an employee. But with the new
regulations of the Work and Families Act
2006 coming into place on 1 April, A similar proportion said they had been made ill by
organizations are being encouraged to sit up stress. Among those who reported illness from
and listen to their female workforce and stress, the most common disorders reported were
efficiently manage pregnancy in the depression (48 per cent) and anxiety/panic attacks
workplace. Some studies have shown that (43 per cent). More than 30 per cent of workers said
premature birth is more prevalent in women they resented the long-hours they had to work,
who work while pregnant. while 25 per cent said their family or relationships
had suffered as a result." Our relationship with work
continues to be a complex one,” said Julie Hurst,
The main thing to remember is that every director of the Work Life Balance Centre. “On the
individual pregnancy is different, so what you, one hand people have reported many positives about
a partner, friend or relation went through in enjoying their jobs "This project is so important we can't let
terms of pregnancy may be totally different to
what your employee goes through. However,
things that are more important interfere
the following steps can make a huge At the same time, however, the levels of depression with it."
difference to your employee’s physical and and anxiety have been increasing. Depression and (Advertising/Marketing manager, United
emotional well-being, not to mention your anxiety have become a silent epidemic in the Parcel Service)
own. It's also important to reduce stress levels workplace and yet there is so much that can be done
wherever possible for your employee. If your to reduce both problems.”
employee needs to slow down, let them – it
could be their body’s way of letting them
know they need to have a rest. Simple things
in the work environment can make all the
LEARNING &
difference in providing a comfortable
workplace for pregnant employees. Examples
include easy access to the toilet, readily
DEVELOPMENT
available drinks and snacks and having
somewhere quiet to sit down during breaks.
LEISURE SECTOR
Your employee must inform you of her
pregnancy by the end of the fifteenth week
GETS SKILLS
before the baby is due if she is to take
advantage of maternity leave and pay. As BOOST
soon as you are formally informed of the
pregnancy, your employee is entitled to paid
The first national skills strategy has been launched
time off for antenatal appointments and
for the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector
parent-craft or relaxation classes if
in response to the Letch Review of Skills. The
recommended by her midwife/GP. A strategy, “Raising the bar”, is part of a drive to
summary of the government’s new maternity overhaul training and qualifications and boost skills
legislation, which applies to any employee in the sector. It identifies four priority areas for
whose baby is due on or after April, is as employers to focus on to tackle low skills and
follows: Employees are entitled to take up to productivity, including retention, management and
52 weeks’ maternity leave. Statutory leadership, customer service and chef skills. .
maternity pay, if the employee qualifies, is
paid for up to 39 weeks. It is paid at 90 per
cent of average earnings for the first six
weeks, then a flat rate for the following 33
weeks. Employees can do up to 10 days’ work
during maternity leave – known as “keeping
in touch days” – which can be used for an
employee to do her usual job, or for training
or events. Both parties must agree to the
arrangements (including what the employee
will be doing and how she will be paid).
 HR FOCUS
CAREER OPPURTUNITY BUSINESS ZODIAC SIGNS
Human Resources MARKETING You are ambitious yet stupid. You chose a
Date Posted: 3/12/2007 marketing degree to avoid having to study in college,
Job Name: FULL-TIME OFFICE MANAGER concentrating instead on drinking and socializing which is
Type of Firm : Acoustical Consulting Firm pretty much what your job responsibilities are now. Least
Location : CT compatible with Sales.
Description: Interested in applying your marketing and administrative talents to TECHNOLOGY
mid Fairfield County based acoustical consultants who have marquis value Unable to control anything in your personal life, you are
clients such as Carnegie Hall? For over 45 years, this firm has specialized as instead content to completely control everything that happens
acoustic and audio and video system design consultants encompassing all at your workplace. Often even YOU don't understand what you
aspects related to buildings--including room acoustics, sound isolation, are saying but who the hell can tell. It is written that Geeks
mechanical systems noise and vibration control, environmental assessments and shall inherit the Earth.
audio-video systems. Their consultants specialize in services for all types of ACCOUNTING
facilities, including: opera houses, multiple- use theaters, performance and the only other sign that is studied in school. You are mostly
concert halls, amphitheaters, museums, educational facilities, acoustics for immune from office politics. You are the most feared person in
church and historic facility renovations. the organization; combined with your extreme organizational
traits, the majority of rumors concerning you say that you are
In a family friendly environment, the Office Manager reports to the Chief completely insane.
Financial Officer of the firm. There are 14 employees in this location and HUMAN RESOURCES
another four in a California office and three more in remote offices on the East Ironically, given your access to confidential information, you
Coast. You would interact regularly with the firm's principals, consultants and tend to be the biggest gossip within the organization. Possibly
administrative personnel. Responsibilities include the day-to-day operation of the only other person that does less work than marketing, you
the company's Office/HR/ and Administrative functions. are unable to return any calls today because you have to get a
haircut, have lunch and then mail a letter.
Clerical duties include phones, mail, fax, travel itineraries, filing, database MANAGEMENT
management and off-site meeting coordination. Contract administration Catty, cutthroat, yet completely spineless, you are destined to
including maintenance of the firm's sales contracts and proposals files; data remain at your current job for the rest of your life. Unable to
entry of all new proposals and projects into the firms database; and coordination make a single decision you tend to measure your worth by the
of new project information flow from consultants to the Administration and number of meetings you can schedule for yourself. Best suited
Finance departments. to marry other "Middle Managers" as everyone in your social
circle is a "Middle Manager."
The Office Manager's Human Resources duties include responding to incoming CUSTOMER SERVICE
resumes, coordinating offer letters from Principals and maintaining the firm's Bright, cheery, positive, you are a fifty-cent cab ride from
personnel files. You would also review, administer, update, and recommend taking your own life. As children very few of you asked your
changes to HR policies as well as the employee handbook and maintain the parents for a little cubicle for your room and a headset so you
company benefit plan including coordinating benefits with outside vendors. The could pretend to play "Customer Service." Continually passed
Office Manager is also the point of contact for the company School-to-Work over for promotions, your best bet is to sleep with your
program. manager.
RECRUITER, "HEADHUNTER"
In this role you would also be responsible for the management of office As a "person" that profits from the success of others, most
services, including the cleaning service and refuse removal vendors. people who actually work for a living disdains you. Paid on
Administration of parking passes and city contracts for parking, safe deposit commission and susceptible to alcoholism, your ulcers and
boxes, and budgeting/purchasing of general office supplies and expenses would frequent heart attacks correspond directly with fluctuations in
also be your responsibility. the stock market.

Requirements include:

• 3-5 years of experience in Office Management

• 3-5 years of HR related experience
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite Applications, including Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.

This is a 40-hour per week in office position. Compensation will be $45K--and

the total compensation package includes health benefits, a 401(k) plan, the
possibility of a bonus, and one nice perk is that you can get tickets to many
performing arts openings!
 CONFLICTS Dear Workplace Sanity
.I am a Science graduate with three years' administration experience: now I
want to do my MBA in human resource (HR) but some people have said
CHALLENGING that mostly females do MBA in HR and it is a female dominated field
PERSONALITIES .Should I select another discipline?....
MARGINAL
PERFORMANCE
HR GURU

IN-COHESIVE TEAMS Dear HR GURU.

Interestingly enough even human resource is being branded as "female

STRESS OR BURN occupation." Often such roles are referred to as low paying and no growth
-OUT careers ,but ask any HR professional ,HR is neither. Just a sampling of
salary packages in the Pakistani market reveals that on an average the
starting package for a fresh HR people is around 25,000 rupees, middle
manages easily take home 80,000 rupees, and wait till you hear the average
IN-SENSITIVE OR take home for Senior HR professionals-300,000 rupees! While I was
INAPPROPRIATE checking salaries I also noted the ratio of females to males in different HR SEND US YOUR
CONDUCT roles and I wasn't surprised to see males were dominating! In fact in senior
HARASSMENT OR positions, they out number their female counterparts significantly. The PROBLEMS AND LET
WORKPLACE criteria should not be female versus male but your interest and passion for US HELP YOU
VIOLENCE the work. GOODLUCK!
MAINTAIN YOUR
WORKPLACE SANITY.
PERSONNEL OR
SUPERVISION ISSUES
WHAT CAN
WORKPLACE SANITY
HELP YOU WITH?

WORKPLACE SANITY is an educational

and discussion oriented feature designed to
help you better understand and manage
common workplace issues .please explain
your problem succinctly within 100 to 250
words. We will keep your identity
confidential. Workplace sanity is written
by RAHILA NARJEO , a leading HR
consultant and trainer who holds degree in
Dear Workplace Sanity. Psychobiology from UCLA( university of
California , Los Angeles)
SEND YOUR EMAILS TO
Two years back, during selection for a management post, one of my
colleagues was rejected on medical grounds (he was found positive for
"E-mail is not to be hepatitis C), though he qualified the written test and interview and received
used to pass on a call letter. A few months ago, my friend selected in a multinational sanity@narejohr.com
information or data. company, was rejected in the final medical check-up because of diabetes.
We are afraid that, if we resign we may not be able to join another
It should be used only
organization if we don't clear the medical exam. Are there any human right
for company laws/legislations which protect people?
business."
(Accounting
manager, Electric Boat STRESSED BY MEDICAL
Company
Dear STRESSED BY MEDICAL.

The purpose of the pre-medical examination is to verify that the

perspective employee is physically and mentally fit to perform the inherent
duties of a job, and help guard against work related illness and injury. If a
detected medical condition does not directly impact on your ability to
perform a job, you may even offer to opt out of medical insurance .But if
medical insurance is important to you, then apply to large employers HOW TO REALY ANNOY
because they offer group health insurance on employment basis." open YOUR CO-WORKER!!!
-enrollment " means that you will not be disqualified on existing
medical problem.

LSE,FRIDAY,APRIL13,2007

Fireworks Photo Caption
Human Resource Issues in 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.
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.
. 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.”

CHILD LABOUR
Child labor is a threat to human resource management
(HRM). It is one of the most serious issues faced by
HRM in the current scenario and is becoming even more
complex as the population continues to grow. Most
children engaged in child labor belong to the 5-14 age
groups. Although the government has taken up the issue,
as have some NGOs, child labor continues to exist in its
worst form. It is almost slavery. Toiling children can
often be seen at such as roadside restaurants, services
stations and shops where welding work is done. Some of
the jobs done by these children, such as welding, are
potential hazardous for children and young people.
These children should be attending schools instead of
working. If they are educated they can play an effective
role in the development of the country. In any case,
these children are just as innocent as other children.
Living in the adult world at workplaces they come
across different kinds of mental pain, tension, and work
stress. They are affected emotionally since they are not
treated well. They can adopt bad habits from the
environment to which they are exposed. These have a
negative effect on their mental growth and personality
development. The children's lives are spoiled. For
example, they can get involved in criminal activities or
become drug addicts. Labor kills the child's innocence.
A lot of work needs to be done to eliminate child labor
from our society, starting with a campaign to raise
public awareness about it, so that this serious problem
can be addressed. Child labor is a great offence and
needs to be dealt with effectively
EMPLOYEE
BENEFITS
'Flexible work
generates a greater
output'
The introduction of flexible working for all
staff at a recruitment consultancy has
increased productivity and helped to attract
top talent. Abe Avdiyovski, a divisional
director at Ellis Fairbank, told PM: “In 90
per cent of cases, we are finding that those
who work flexibly generate a greater
output." Other advantages to come out of
the measure, which was introduced for all EDITOR’S NOTE
staff in June 2005, include lower
absenteeism, reduced staff turnover and
increased morale. Last month, children’s DISCLAIMER
minister Beverley Hughes suggested that
flexible working rights should be extended “THIS NEWSLETTER IS OUR
to all employees to boost business. From SCHOOL(LAHORE SCHOOL OF
next month, the right to request flexible
working will be extended to careers. Ellis ECONOMICS) ASSIGNMENT FOR
Fairbank has also launched an advertising HUMAN RESOURCE
campaign to recruit flexible workers
externally. Avidiyovski described it as “a MANAGEMENT SUBJECT AND
great way of attracting talent into the IT IS NOT PUBLIC PRINTING
business”. Avril Gallo, a full-time employee
on the interim team, and mother to a six- MATERIAL”
year-old, began working for the company in
November after seeing the advertisement. The newsletter has been specially designed to cover all
Gallo, who now spends 85 per cent of her topics concerning human resource management and its
employment time working at home, said: values. We have covered news at local and international
“The advert caught my eye and struck a level. The news has been carefully selected and keeping
chord with me. It has given me the most in mind the related issues in hr such as employees health
fantastic opportunity. I have huge career & safety, employee benefits and career development. the
progression prospects as well as good work- best thing is that any employee can write into us if he is
life balance." Currently, 20 per cent of Ellis facing any workplace problem and our dedicated team of
Fairbank’s 170 employees work flexibly. professionals will solve it for you.
This includes arrangements such as flexi-
time, job shares, home- and remote-
working. But Avdiyovski warned: “It’s a PRESENTED TO
no-brainer as long as you manage it the
right way and have got the technology and
MISS ANQA SAIF
support mechanisms in place. If it is not ( HUMAN RESOURCE TEACHER AT
managed correctly, flexible working can be LAHORE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS)
a massive negative." He added that it was
important to remember that “flexible
working is not only for back-to-work
mothers and careers PRESENTED BY
MAHAM JAVED
( THE ENTIRE FORMATTING , ARTICLE
RESEARCH , AND SELCTION AND THE
IDEA OF WORKPLACE SANITY)
AMNA RASHID
SAADIA HASSAN
HASSAN SHAHZAD
SHAHREEN SHAHZAD
My sister passed away and her (COMICS AND ARTCLES “HUMAN
funeral was scheduled for Monday. RESOURSE ISSUES IN PAKISTAN )
When I told my Boss, he said she
died on purpose so that I would have PRINTING
to miss work on the busiest day of
the year. He then asked if we could SANJH PUBLICATIONS
change her burial to Friday. He
said, "That would be better for me."
(Shipping executive, FTD Florists)