People are both the target and the main actors in the development process. Health, education and jobs are the key ingredients for the creation of human capital, an indisputable engine of development and growth. Globalization plays an increasingly important role in shaping labor market trends with regard to participation, wages, employment and unemployment. Human capital corresponds to any stock of knowledge or characteristics the worker has (either innate or acquired) that contributes to his or her productivity. Thus, Human capital is the stock of competencies, knowledge, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to produce economic value. The five sources of human capital, namely:
‘ Innate ability
‘ Schooling
‘ School quality and non-schooling investments
‘ Training
‘ Pre-labor market influences
Human resource development (HRD) policies concern the quality of the labor force and the regulation of the labor market. Quality in turn is a function of basic and higher education, training programs and the overall health of the population. The quality and adaptability of the labor force is a key driver in creating a favorable environment for both domestic and foreign enterprises to grow through new investment and to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Their relative roles and the overall importance of HRD depend on individual country circumstances, particularly the economic structure. Building human resource policy is clearly a complex challenge requiring actions at three levels:
Firstly, the government which has an important role to play in ensuring that policies and institutions succeed in linking skills to productivity, employment, and development. For this effort three main objectives are important, namely:
‘ Equalizing supply to current demand for skills
‘ Assisting workers and enterprises adjust to change
‘ Predicting and transmitting skills needed in the future in order to sustain a dynamic growth process
For any government this is a policy coordination challenge involving labor, education and other ministries, social partners, training providers, and employment services to work together to anticipate occupation and skill needs and target training towards meeting them. Secondly, enterprises have role in providing workplace-based learning and training programs that developing enterprise specific competencies. Thirdly, individuals also have a responsibility for their own development through further education, training and lifelong learning opportunities.
Focusing on the development of a skilled workforce and the expansion of human capabilities through high-quality systems of education, training and lifelong learning is important for helping workers to find good jobs and enterprises to find the skilled workers they look for. Financial support should also be made available to enhance access of poor workers to training and skills upgrading. In this way, society can achieve the twin goals of economic success and social progress. There are several indicators that governments’ human resource policy can be measured but we can juxtapose them differently as a result of individual economic circumstances and structures.
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