The level of skills in contributing to the development of Human Dissertation

The level of skills in contributing to the development of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice in public sector in the Kingd - Dissertation Example Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest countries of Middle East earning mainly from the export of petroleum products (Ramady, 2010). Despite being rich in natural resources the country is facing a paradox of high wealth and a human resource base that is challenged in terms of skills. Saudi Arabia is facing significant shortage of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labor (Ramady, 2010). Part of the reason is the influence of religious and cultural values resulting in an educational system that focuses less on a structured vocational or professional training who can meet the demands of the thriving economy (Oxford Business Group, 2008). Moreover, female population constitutes a minor portion of the total workforce due to which the country has to rely on the foreign/overseas employees to fill the demand & supply gap of the workforce (Oxford Business Group, 2008). According to a study by Al-Masnad in 1999, about sixty percent of the population of Saudi Arabia is under the age of eighteen. T he youth is living under social stereotypes due to which they refuse to accept technical and manual jobs and prefer working in managerial positions. As a result, the country is depending on expatriates and third country nationals especially in the fields of engineering and information technology. Apart from this, there is a weak connection between the Saudi educational system output and the requirement of the industry. The system of education is inadequate for the training and development of the future employees in technical and managerial skills needed for the development of human resource management. The country is producing more graduates in the fields of religious studies and humanities (Achoui, 2009). According to a report by World Economic Forum in 2007, the major obstacle in the development of human resources in Arab countries is the uneducated local workforce. Human Resource Management (HRM) is an emerging field in Saudi Arabia (Ali, 2008). Therefore, it is important to see that impact of employee skills of the HR practices of public sector so that companies can gain a clear image of the contribution of their employees in the achievement of their organizational goals. Clearly, the level of skills of the Saudi people affect and are affected by the practice of human resource management in the Kingdom. This is because it is apparent that every HRM system must work hand-in-hand with the people in the area within which it is to operate. Thus, the state of the Saudi human resource base will definitely have an effect on the human resource management system. On the other hand, the human resource management system will attempt to modify the human resource base through events like appraisal, promotion and motivation. Thus the push and pull factors shape and define the human resource system of the country. The purpose of this research proposal is to find out the influence of the changes in the level of skills the public sector of Saudi Arabia on the development o f HRM practices and policies. The importance of this research is that it is an unprecedented exercise that seeks to build the foundation for for future research and development of human resource management in Saudi Arabia. LITERATURE REVIEW: Fitzsimons (1999) stated that education and training are fundamental elements of the concept of human capital which determines the economy of a given nation. In terms of