The HR Management environment in Pakistan is not dynamic. Some of the more obvious ones include globalization, changing skill requirement, corporate downsizing, total quality management, re-engineering work processes, employment involvement etc. To meet these challenges and requirements, Pakistani organizations have to upgrade their HR departments, which until very recently were often perceived as “health and happiness” crews. Their primary job activities involved company picnics, scheduling vacations, enrolling workers for health-care coverage and planning retirement parties. That has to be changed. Today, professionals in HR area are vital elements in the success of any organization. Their job requires a new level of sophistication that is unprecedented in HR management.

The role of a human resource professional has been undergoing rapid change. In the past, personnel managers chiefly served as administrators, policy makers and maintaining the organizational status quo. However, the role of the modern human resource professionals has become more diversified, shifting in the direction of business partner and change catalyst, and focused on strategic leverage of human capital. The human resource professional’s role is also moving toward an internal consulting mode in order to help line and upper-level managers better manage their people.

Functionally, human resources consist of: compensation/benefits, human resources information systems, recruitment and selection, human resources planning, organization/job design, employee assistance, labor relations, individual development, career development and organization development. Individual development is also commonly referred to as “training“, while career development and employee assistance may be collectively referred to as employee relations. Now more than ever before, HR management is recognized as being critical to the survival and success of organizations as well as to face the challenges of advancement of technology.

As we move into the ‘new economy’, the focus on people and knowledge has steadily increased. Today, companies face new challenges in dealing with issues such as the scarcity of talent, the value of ideas/knowledge and the changing preferences of the labor market. Consequently, successful HR strategies are needed more than ever. Looking at successful HR practices today, we see a number of areas where HR professionals can make an important contribution to the overall success of their organization.

The future will show that organizations and institutions, as well as nations, which do not prioritize the training and development of their Human Resources, will be doomed to slip and recede in their ability to compete in open and global markets. In Pakistan there is an urgent need for continual Human Resource development across all sectors of the economy – agriculture, industry and services. As national borders lose their importance, companies are changing. Advanced technology is enabling employees to communicate and work together around the world. As a result, HR must have an increasingly global/local focus and the capacity to deal with diversity.