Member profile: Dr Nasira Jabeen, University of the Punjab, Pakistan

Name: Dr Nasira Jabeen
Job title: Professor and Director
Institution: University of the Punjab, Pakistan
ACU HR in HE Community member since: 2016

How long have you been working in a HR-related environment?

Since 2001, when realising the importance of HR in organisations, the University of the Punjab established its first ever Human Resources Development Centre (HRDC) to cater to the training and development needs of the faculty members at the University.

What do you enjoy about working in HR and what inspires you in your career?

Working with people, interacting with them, listening to their concerns, and addressing their work-related issues are the aspects of HR I find to be the most engaging. Helping individuals transform towards more positive work behaviours and lead the desired changes in the institution is what inspires me the most.   

What does your role involve?

As Director of the HRDC, I organise faculty development programmes for newly inducted staff, and support continuous professional development of colleagues. Trainings include governance and management structure of the university; key roles, responsibilities and behaviours of teachers; research, community service and market linkages; communication and inter-personal skills; learner-centred teaching methodologies; issues relating to gender, diversity, workplace harassment; and use of digital tools and techniques.

What are your current projects/initiatives?

Firstly, we are working on an international survey on HR Practices in the Public Sector. This survey, developed by Professor Even M Berman, has been used in 14 different countries, including the Asia-Pacific region, and is aimed at improving the performance of institutions through the use of HR practices. By doing this, we hope to bring Pakistani perspectives of HR in the public sector to the forefront.

Secondly, as part of the ACU HR in HE community, we are working on sharing and disseminating the upgraded, reformed, and modern role and practices of HR in higher education institutions, through revisiting the existing practices and policies.

Thirdly, realising the need for an integrated HR system to bring efficiency and effectiveness in institutional performance, higher education institutions in Pakistan are focussing on human resource information and Learning Management Systems (LMS). We are working on stepping up HR through the use of innovative information technologies and automation in education, including LMS, MOOCs, and LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media.    

Describe your HR function and how it is positioned at your university.

The responsibilities of my HR team include teaching, research and human resource development. To perform these roles effectively, we offer a Masters in Human Resource Management (HRM) and MS-HRM Degrees. These programmes are research led and offer a blend of theory and practice. We also organise training and development for faculty, staff and students to leverage their HR potential. To strengthen these roles, we actively look for professional linkages and alliances with professional bodies at national and international level through conferences, seminars, symposiums, memberships, etc.

Other vital functions of HR, such as recruitment and selection, HR planning, job analysis, performance management, health and safety, etc., are performed by the university’s Registrar Office.

What challenges do you face in your day-to-day work and how do you overcome these challenges?

Our major challenge is that we have not stepped up with modern day HRM practices – many institutions in Pakistan are still renaming their personnel departments as Human Resource Departments. Further, while the collaborative role of HR is visible in some organisations, its integrated and strategic role is a distant dream. HR functions are intermingled, less well defined and performed by multiple departments under different portfolios. Due to this, coherence among HR functions is lacking and the alignment of HR functions with organisational mission, vision and goals is missing.

We strive to overcome these challenges by providing professional training, skills and competency development programmes. We also raise awareness of HR issues, policies, rules and regulations, talent management, diversity, change management and leadership development, with an emphasis on automated, comprehensive, integrated, flexible and cost-effective outcomes. These soft interventions are proving quite effective in leading the desired change.

Where have you seen a real improvement in the past year and what’s your top tip for fellow members working in your region or beyond?

Globalisation, diversity and information technology have brought phenomenal changes in HR policies and practices and changed the landscape of our organisations. As time passes, our workplaces are moving away from traditional fixed arrangements to more flexible and virtual worksites. Similarly, with a rising number of women, minorities and diversity in the workplace, organisations need to be more conscious of diversity management policies and practices.

I would recommend that higher education institutions should be technologically updated and make full use of new information technologies, through professional means of learning, and align HR practices accordingly. Organisations also need to be proactive and creative, while preparing a comprehensive diversity management programme promoting tolerance, equity, equality, harmony, and balance.

What big changes have you witnessed and what do you see as the key issues or trends for HR in HE in the future?

Effective talent management, diversity management, employee retention, motivation and up-scaling, as well as the strategic use of HR through sound integration and collaboration, and technology upgrades, seem to be the major changes reshaping present and future trends in the higher education community.

What are your future aspirations for HR in your university?

With HR seen more in its traditional role in Pakistan, there is a need for a massive restructuring, redesign, and reform of HR policies and practices towards a more strategy driven, coordinated and integrated HR department in universities. The existing Registrar Office needs to be transformed into a modern and professionally qualified HR department, with a state of the art automated IT system, in order to truly leverage the potential of faculty, staff, and students at all levels and ensure institutional effectiveness.

What do you value most from your professional networks, like the ACU HR in HE Community?

The professional networks, including the ACU HR in HE Community; Society for Human Development (SHRM); Pakistan Human Capital Forum (PHCF); Human Recourse Development Network (HRDN), HR Legends; and HR Forum, provide a platform for bringing HR professionals, academics, and researchers together to share knowledge, experience and best practices for learning and benchmarking at national, regional and international level. The University of the Punjab actively looks to join such professional networks to enable us to improve and develop people and our institution. 

Dr Nasira Jabeen has been a Steering Committee member for the HR in HE Community since 2016 and was previously a member of the former ACU Human Resource Management Network.

The ACU HR in HE Community is a forum for all university staff working in HR. If you're interested in joining the HR in HE Community, please email [email protected]

The next HR in HE international conference will be hosted by the University of Waterloo in Toronto, Canada, between 23 and 27 September 2018. The theme will be 'Universities of the Future: Global Perspectives for HR' and will also look at the common challenges facing HR professionals in universities around the world, giving different perspectives from across the Commonwealth.