Present govt taking high stride in the promotion of education future
Interview with Dr. Khusro Iqbal — HR expert
PAGE: Kindly tell me something about yourself and your career:
Dr. Khusro Iqbal: To address this concern instead of a direct reply I will prefer to reproduce the following words through which I was introduced, being the distinguished guest, on the launching ceremony of the advocacy paper “Return on investment or an investment without return? a cost benefit-ratio analysis of in-company training” which was arranged by the German Society for International Cooperation famous as GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit-GmbH) at the Marriott Hotel Islamabad on the 03rd May 2019. It goes as follows:
“Dr. Khusro Iqbal is an established highly motivated professional with excellent leadership skills; a performance-driven individual who can create immeasurable success on a team and turn complex problems into solutions; accomplished HR leader with a track record of success.”
This introduction was based on my 20 years’ career span during which I have successfully contributed in the strategic business partnering, organizational and employee development, talent management, internal communications across functional lines and implementation of human resources information systems. I also got an opportunity to work in 3 continents, namely; Asia; Africa and Australia. I have broad but successful experience in both local and international good HR practices. I naturally possess distinctive ability to lead and balance strategic business initiatives with employee advocacy. I got opportunity to show demonstrated leadership and analytical skills with a strong sense of customer service and creative flair, at various levels, in service and manufacturing industries.
PAGE: How would you comment on the training programs for the employees in the corporate sector?
Dr. Khusro Iqbal: Very beneficial indeed. It is because the training is the process of enhancing the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees for doing a particular job. Training process molds the thinking of employees and leads to quality performance of employees. It is continuous and never ending in nature. Training is always crucial for organizational development and success. It is fruitful for both employers and employees of an organization. An employee will become more efficient and productive if she/he is trained well.
PAGE: What benefits do the employees get by attending one or two days’ training workshops?
Dr. Khusro Iqbal: The advantages of attending one or two days’ training workshops include but are not limited to the following benefits:
Improved morale of employees, less supervision, fewer accidents, chances of career growth, increased productivity etc.
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PAGE: How could the communication skills be enhanced through training programs?Â
Dr. Khusro Iqbal: Communication skills are an essential component of a productive workplace, allowing employees to work together cohesively and professionally. Business owners can do well to hire employees with solid communication skills; however, there are also ways to improve communications skills in the workplace to boost existing employee productivity. Improving employee communication skills through training programs and behavior modeling can give any company a competitive edge.
The communication skills being enhanced through training programs will certainly help employees to develop powerful communication skills and strategies to be used in all communication formats, increasing the effectiveness of their interpersonal and organizational communications, building collaborative relationships that emphasize trust and respect, in communicating effectively using simple and concise language, enhancing listening to anticipate and avoid misunderstandings; by fostering cross-cultural understanding at workplace, eliminating communication roadblocks and focus on nonverbal cues etc.
PAGE: What must be done to catch up with the latest trends in the world and outperform the competitors?
Dr. Khusro Iqbal: Set clear growth and profitability goals. Know your customers’ needs and wants better than your competitors. Analyze their product strategy. Analyze their content strategy. Analyze their SEO strategy. When you do all your research, put it together into your business plan and actions. Exploit weaknesses and target gaps that others have missed, but don’t get imbibed into copying your competitors’ strategies and playing catch-ups.
PAGE: Your expectations from the incumbent government for the promotion of the education sector:
Dr. Khusro Iqbal: Education is the sector which gives the Highest ROI for a country. The current education surveys paint a dismal picture of the manner in which we are preparing our future citizens. However with every new government there comes new hope and therefore we hope that the new PTI government will look at reforms in education which will power the country into the 21st century. It is necessary that all the pledges made by PTI during their election campaign for the promotion of the education sector are fulfilled, otherwise, people would be disappointed.
The PTI government should adopt effective education policy and increase budget for education sector by taking concrete steps. The newly elected PTI government should work for strengthening the national educational institutions and the system by introducing basic reforms and through creating competition; better Public Private Participation (PPP); encouragement to education startups etc. It is indeed true that during its tenure, the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) has performed relatively well in the education sector. Educational Planning and Management’s (EPM) Pakistan Education Statistics (PES) 2014-15 report stated that KPK was outperforming all other provinces in education. Credit also goes to the PTI for giving education priority as a political issue, as this is the only way the country’s major parties can be forced to prioritize the funding of schools and improving access to education.