Today globalization has created a firm need to turn out to be competitive in order to survive and sustain in international market. The growing economic competition has compelled the countries around the world to innovate or else the economy would collapse. In such scenario, it really needs to be worked on the key factors which will lead a country to prosper. Technological advancements alone can’t do anything. Even to operate technology we need human resource. Skilled and expert human resource is the need of the hour to gain market competitive advantage. With the geometric increase in the public expenditure, need for trained manpower has also increased. The workforce management has become vital in order to survive in midst of challenges raised by global competition. Same is the case with Pakistan
With the increased globalization of the economy, the term competitiveness has become pervasive for Pakistan. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report defines competitiveness as “the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country” and IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook defines competitiveness as how an “economy manages the totality of its resources and competencies to increase the prosperity of its population.” In general, competitiveness is basically the ability and performance of any firm or sector to produce and sell products in the market in relation to the goods and services of other firms and sectors in the same market. Thus, when we talk about assessing the success of any country, or industry, competitiveness becomes key criterion. It enables an economy to gain more share of market and leads it to become a sustainable developed economic state that would in return give the firm stability resulting into prosperity of the country. Putting such things into perspective, companies and industries need to be very competitive in order to cope up with the fast era of domestic and international markets’ growth. It only can be achieved by extracting maximum output from a country’s human resource through prudent human resource development policy measures.
So a state needs to look into its infrastructure, legal framework and policy implementation to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its human resource. It is a paramount resource to utilize all other resources for competing in the current global market penetration to achieve sustainable economic growth. Human resource development tends to improve the quality and productivity of labor which in return, leads to economic growth. It is universal fact that investment in human resources exacerbates economic growth. Human resource development is an important vehicle that drives the economy of the country faster. In the words of Harrison “Human resource constitutes the ultimate basis for the wealth of a nation’s capital. Resources are passive factor of production; human beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, and build social, economic and political organization. Clearly, a country which is unable to develop the skills and knowledge of its people and to utilize them effectively in the international economic race, will be unable to develop anything else”.
Previously human resources and human resource (HR) department was considered less important and costly in many organizations. But now with the passage of time HR has become the strategic partner of firms which gives sustainable competitive advantage to them. Human resource is important for competitive advantage because without it, firms cannot achieve their objectives and goals. HR department has to prove its worth by creating value in achieving sustainable competitive edge. HR executives must recruit such people who have unique talent which can’t be seen in other competing firms to gain competitive advantage. Furthermore HR executives must develop rare characteristics in their HR which helps them to achieve strategic goals. If the same characteristics are found in the HR of other competing firms then these would not be the competitive advantage for them. Additionally, HR executives must pay attention to the development and growth of characteristics of firm’s HR so that competitors can’t imitate it easily. In any firm or organization, culture is primarily fostered and developed by HR department. Therefore by developing unique culture, HR executives can gain competitiveness. If we go deeply into the HR functions then the core responsibility of HR department to create competitiveness is to bring right people at the right place to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the firm. This can only be possible by the existence of efficient HR department in the firm. Behind the motivation level of employees, its HR department who works day and night to facilitate and reward their employees which in return gives a remarkable position in the market. As a result organizations attain the level of competiveness by means of its human resource (HR).
In a nutshell global competition constrained the economies around the world to achieve competitive edge which can be achieved only through its human resource. Thus, for that Pakistan needs to ponder over its human resource policies to enhance its competitiveness. HR departments in indigenous organizations must be developed on international standards to get maximum output from the human resource of the country. Additionally, human resource development shall enable Pakistan to achieve competitive advantage which further will help the state to penetrate in international economic competition with more efficiency and strength. Ultimately, Pakistan can achieve sustainable economic growth.
