BY: JUJU MANUBAG-EMPUERTO
CEBU CITY, April 28 (PIA) --- About 1,500 public and private human resource (HR) and organizational development (OD) experts from the Philippines and all over South East Asia gathered recently in Cebu for the Second HR Symposium.
The event was a joint undertaking of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Australian Government though the Philippines Australia Human Resource and Organisational Development facility (PAHRODF).
With the theme "Gearing Towards ASEAN Integration though Strategic HR," this year's symposium highlighted the vital role of strategic human resource in the coming economic integration of ASEAN member states, including the Philippines.
The symposium also served as a venue for human resource and organizational development practitioners from the government and private sector to exchange strategic HR applications, solutions, and best practices that will help the country move toward ASEAN integration by 2015.
CSC Chairman Francisco Duque said that economic advancement relies on human resources.
"Unless people have equal access to education, training and capacity building, the country may be deprived of a large pool of creative thinkers and entrepreneurs. The Commission’s task as the central human resource development is to ensure that the government’s human resource is to achieve the development and societal goals of the country," he said.
Duque added that human resource development and capacity building is one of the areas of cooperation that have been identified in the ASEAN integration in 2015.
This means investing in human resource development to have the right structures, business processes, systems, people, and competencies to support the ASEAN integration.
The Australian Government has been a committed partner of the Philippine Government in building human resource management and development.
The PAHRODF is the Australian Government’s flagship program on HR and OD and it has been helping its partner government agencies improve their processes, structures, skills set and behaviour to enable change and continuous improvement
Australian Deputy Head of Mission David Button along with Counsellor for Development Cooperation Geoff King also attended the HR Symposium. (rmn/JSME/PIA-Cebu/CSC-7).