A scientific approach to tapping nation's HR potential
Monday, 17 November 2008
Professor Muhammad Raushan Ali
If we do factor-analysis of the problems that we are facing in Bangladesh now, we are likely to reduce them into two. These two factors are: (1) human resource development (HRD)-related problems, and (2) human resource management (HRM)-related problems. If we can solve these two problems, other problems will be solved easily. This paper, however, deals with HRD-related problems only. But before we take up these problems, we shall first deal with some conceptual issues like labour, human capital, and human resource.
First comes labour, the most basic factor. The role of human beings in the development process of a country has been recognised since the early days of human civilisation. Ever since human beings left hunting and started agriculture, the systematic need for human effort was felt. But its demand largely grew when the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe in the eighteenth century when factories started to grow in and around the cities. This human effort was termed "labour", one of the four factors of production according to the traditional economic theory. The term labour has been defined as human physical energy and efforts that are put to produce goods and services.
Human Capital: Labour became "human capital" with the mobility of labour from one organisation to another and across the nations. This term has come more to use with the introduction of free market economy and globalisation of business and enterprises. Developed countries are encouraging immigration or guest workers as human capital. Human capital refers to human abilities (talent, knowledge and skill), efforts and time that are applied by organisations to produce goods and services.
Human Resource: The modern concept of human resource has a long history of development. It started as a reaction to the scientific management movement by Frederick Taylor in the early 1900's. By 1920 to 1930 psychologists and organisational behaviour specialists started human relations movement in workplaces which viewed workers not only as labours but also as human beings with their psychological processes. This movement grew in strength throughout the middle of the 20th century and beyond placing emphasis on leadership and other higher mental functions which play important roles in organisational success and in nation building.
Although the elements of labour and human capital are included in human resource concept, the latter is more comprehensive and stands on a higher level in the hierarchy of the human side of the enterprise. Human resource, therefore, refers to a combination of such elements as human energy, talents and efforts as well as other human qualities such as leadership, initiative, creativity, imagination, motivation, commitment and loyalty which act as a complete package for making, running and developing an enterprise as well as a nation. Recently, a new dimension has been added to the human resource concept. This is emotional-intelligence (EI). El is a composite ability to manage human relations and handle emotions intelligently.
Human resource development (HRD): A human being has one stomach to feed and several other needs to fulfil, but he has two hands to work with, two feet to stand on and walk, and a brain to think and solve problems. When all these organs are healthy, strong and skilful, he can solve all his problems, and can live a happy and prosperous life. When he can achieve this, he becomes a "human resource". Otherwise, he becomes a source of his own problems as well as a problem for others. When the majority people of a country become resourceful, the country becomes developed and prosperous, because the people can stand on their own feet, work with their own hands, think better with their heads, and can solve their problems.
Human resource development is usually talked about in connection with employees' skills development in business and industrial organisations through education and training for better performance. But in this paper, the issue has been dealt with on a greater perspective in the national context. Human resource development has been defined here as a global development of human beings through the provisions of food and nutrition, health and sanitation, housing, education and training, employment, population policies, and human rights and responsibilities for the purposes of capacity building and enhancing problem-solving capabilities.
How to develop human resources?-There are many factors which are related to human development, but the following are most important. These are: (1) food and nutrition, (2) health and sanitation, (3) housing, (4) education and training, and (5) employment. If any one of these factors is lacking, human development will suffer. In addition to these five factors, a sound population policy and provisions for human rights and responsibilities are also required for a happy and prosperous society of human beings. These factors and their relationships to human resource development have been discussed below.
Food and Nutrition: Life begins with the fertilisation of ova by sperms in the womb of the mother. Food and nutrition are required from that moment until death. Adequate supply of food and nutrition is essential for the healthy growth of a child. Although the family has the primary responsibility to provide food to its members, the state has the responsibility to give food security to its citizens. Although Bangladesh is an agricultural country, there is a chronic shortage of food in the country. In 2007 we faced a serious food crisis situation when food prices reached an all time high record which was beyond the reach of the lower income people. The following factors are responsible for the poor conditions of agriculture in Bangladesh:
(i) Agricultural land is gradually shrinking. The total arable land in 1970 was 10 million hectares. It was reduced to 8.20 million hectares by 2005 and to 8.0 million hectares by 2008. This means that in 38 years we lost 2.0 million hectares of arable land, that is, more than 52 thousand hectares per year.
(ii) Inputs for agricultural products such as, fertiliser, seeds, pesticides, supply of electricity for irrigation, etc. are not easily available and on time.
(iii) Scientific and mechanised farming is not followed in Bangladesh.
(iv) Unfavourable and hostile weather, inadequate storage facilities and transportation problems are responsible for damage to crops and food grains.
(v) Most of the farmers (about 90 per cent) are illiterate and ignorant about modem scientific farming, preservation and marketing of their products. Although the farmers are supplying our main food, we know of and care for them very little.
However, we have the capability to produce sufficient food in the country if we make proper plan and take appropriate measures. General Moeen U. Ahmed, Bangladesh Army Chief, in a recently published article offered some thought-provoking ideas and suggestions for achieving food security in the country. Side by side with achieving food security, we must also be sure that people are capable of giving adequate quantity of food and nutrition for the healthy growth and development of the children.
Health and Sanitation: A resourceful person must be physically and psychologically healthy and strong. Health care services must be available to every person. At present better health care services are available to the rich people only. Private hospital and clinic services are very costly which the lower income and poor people cannot afford. Public hospital services are inadequate and of poor quality. As a result, about 70 per cent of the people are deprived of quality healthcare services. Sanitary conditions in the country are in a bad shape. Even in cities there are many people who urinate and defecate under the open sky.
In the rural areas, the picture is further bleak. Sanitary habits of the people are far from satisfactory. In order to build a healthy nation, healthcare services and sanitary conditions must be improved and made available at an affordable cost to all sections of the people. Sanitary habits of the people must also be changed.
Housing: People need shelter and accommodation to protect themselves from cold, heat and rain. A healthy and beautiful home is necessary for healthy people. Even in the cities, we find many sub-standard and very low standard houses from where we cannot expect to grow and develop healthy children. Similar picture is found in the rural areas. A national housing policy should be adopted to build not only impressive buildings for the rich people but also low cost houses for the lower middle class as well as for the poor people.
Professor Raushan Ali, a PhD from London, is former Chairman, Department of Psychology, University of Dhaka. He is also Vice-Chairman, Delta Life Insurance Company and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (UK)
If we do factor-analysis of the problems that we are facing in Bangladesh now, we are likely to reduce them into two. These two factors are: (1) human resource development (HRD)-related problems, and (2) human resource management (HRM)-related problems. If we can solve these two problems, other problems will be solved easily. This paper, however, deals with HRD-related problems only. But before we take up these problems, we shall first deal with some conceptual issues like labour, human capital, and human resource.
First comes labour, the most basic factor. The role of human beings in the development process of a country has been recognised since the early days of human civilisation. Ever since human beings left hunting and started agriculture, the systematic need for human effort was felt. But its demand largely grew when the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe in the eighteenth century when factories started to grow in and around the cities. This human effort was termed "labour", one of the four factors of production according to the traditional economic theory. The term labour has been defined as human physical energy and efforts that are put to produce goods and services.
Human Capital: Labour became "human capital" with the mobility of labour from one organisation to another and across the nations. This term has come more to use with the introduction of free market economy and globalisation of business and enterprises. Developed countries are encouraging immigration or guest workers as human capital. Human capital refers to human abilities (talent, knowledge and skill), efforts and time that are applied by organisations to produce goods and services.
Human Resource: The modern concept of human resource has a long history of development. It started as a reaction to the scientific management movement by Frederick Taylor in the early 1900's. By 1920 to 1930 psychologists and organisational behaviour specialists started human relations movement in workplaces which viewed workers not only as labours but also as human beings with their psychological processes. This movement grew in strength throughout the middle of the 20th century and beyond placing emphasis on leadership and other higher mental functions which play important roles in organisational success and in nation building.
Although the elements of labour and human capital are included in human resource concept, the latter is more comprehensive and stands on a higher level in the hierarchy of the human side of the enterprise. Human resource, therefore, refers to a combination of such elements as human energy, talents and efforts as well as other human qualities such as leadership, initiative, creativity, imagination, motivation, commitment and loyalty which act as a complete package for making, running and developing an enterprise as well as a nation. Recently, a new dimension has been added to the human resource concept. This is emotional-intelligence (EI). El is a composite ability to manage human relations and handle emotions intelligently.
Human resource development (HRD): A human being has one stomach to feed and several other needs to fulfil, but he has two hands to work with, two feet to stand on and walk, and a brain to think and solve problems. When all these organs are healthy, strong and skilful, he can solve all his problems, and can live a happy and prosperous life. When he can achieve this, he becomes a "human resource". Otherwise, he becomes a source of his own problems as well as a problem for others. When the majority people of a country become resourceful, the country becomes developed and prosperous, because the people can stand on their own feet, work with their own hands, think better with their heads, and can solve their problems.
Human resource development is usually talked about in connection with employees' skills development in business and industrial organisations through education and training for better performance. But in this paper, the issue has been dealt with on a greater perspective in the national context. Human resource development has been defined here as a global development of human beings through the provisions of food and nutrition, health and sanitation, housing, education and training, employment, population policies, and human rights and responsibilities for the purposes of capacity building and enhancing problem-solving capabilities.
How to develop human resources?-There are many factors which are related to human development, but the following are most important. These are: (1) food and nutrition, (2) health and sanitation, (3) housing, (4) education and training, and (5) employment. If any one of these factors is lacking, human development will suffer. In addition to these five factors, a sound population policy and provisions for human rights and responsibilities are also required for a happy and prosperous society of human beings. These factors and their relationships to human resource development have been discussed below.
Food and Nutrition: Life begins with the fertilisation of ova by sperms in the womb of the mother. Food and nutrition are required from that moment until death. Adequate supply of food and nutrition is essential for the healthy growth of a child. Although the family has the primary responsibility to provide food to its members, the state has the responsibility to give food security to its citizens. Although Bangladesh is an agricultural country, there is a chronic shortage of food in the country. In 2007 we faced a serious food crisis situation when food prices reached an all time high record which was beyond the reach of the lower income people. The following factors are responsible for the poor conditions of agriculture in Bangladesh:
(i) Agricultural land is gradually shrinking. The total arable land in 1970 was 10 million hectares. It was reduced to 8.20 million hectares by 2005 and to 8.0 million hectares by 2008. This means that in 38 years we lost 2.0 million hectares of arable land, that is, more than 52 thousand hectares per year.
(ii) Inputs for agricultural products such as, fertiliser, seeds, pesticides, supply of electricity for irrigation, etc. are not easily available and on time.
(iii) Scientific and mechanised farming is not followed in Bangladesh.
(iv) Unfavourable and hostile weather, inadequate storage facilities and transportation problems are responsible for damage to crops and food grains.
(v) Most of the farmers (about 90 per cent) are illiterate and ignorant about modem scientific farming, preservation and marketing of their products. Although the farmers are supplying our main food, we know of and care for them very little.
However, we have the capability to produce sufficient food in the country if we make proper plan and take appropriate measures. General Moeen U. Ahmed, Bangladesh Army Chief, in a recently published article offered some thought-provoking ideas and suggestions for achieving food security in the country. Side by side with achieving food security, we must also be sure that people are capable of giving adequate quantity of food and nutrition for the healthy growth and development of the children.
Health and Sanitation: A resourceful person must be physically and psychologically healthy and strong. Health care services must be available to every person. At present better health care services are available to the rich people only. Private hospital and clinic services are very costly which the lower income and poor people cannot afford. Public hospital services are inadequate and of poor quality. As a result, about 70 per cent of the people are deprived of quality healthcare services. Sanitary conditions in the country are in a bad shape. Even in cities there are many people who urinate and defecate under the open sky.
In the rural areas, the picture is further bleak. Sanitary habits of the people are far from satisfactory. In order to build a healthy nation, healthcare services and sanitary conditions must be improved and made available at an affordable cost to all sections of the people. Sanitary habits of the people must also be changed.
Housing: People need shelter and accommodation to protect themselves from cold, heat and rain. A healthy and beautiful home is necessary for healthy people. Even in the cities, we find many sub-standard and very low standard houses from where we cannot expect to grow and develop healthy children. Similar picture is found in the rural areas. A national housing policy should be adopted to build not only impressive buildings for the rich people but also low cost houses for the lower middle class as well as for the poor people.
Professor Raushan Ali, a PhD from London, is former Chairman, Department of Psychology, University of Dhaka. He is also Vice-Chairman, Delta Life Insurance Company and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (UK)