Human Resource Planning.

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Mr Thaer                 Human Resource Coursework

Human Resource Planning

Organisations such as Boots undertake human resource planning to determine a course of action, which helps them to function more efficiently by having the right labour, in the right place, at the right time and cost. Human resource planning was known as manpower planning. It has been defined as:

The activity of management which is aimed at coordinating the requirements for and the availability of different types of employees

Boots need to forecast their manpower needs, both in terms of the number of employees needed and the types of skills and qualities required. It is also important to monitor and assess the productivity of the existing and available workforce and recognise the impact of technological change on the way in which jobs are carried out.

Boots human resource planning team also needs to be able to identify and analyse the factors influencing and shaping the labour markets from which the organisation recruits staff to satisfy its manpower needs. Human resource specialists have to work within these labour markets to acquire sufficient resources to meet the productive needs of Boots.

Influences On Human Resource Planning

Recruitment and Selection

One of the most important jobs for the human resources manager in Boots is recruiting and selecting new employees. Without the right employees the business will be unable to operate efficiently or serve its customers properly or make any profits. With the proper recruitment and selection techniques, Boots can make as sure as possible that they can achieve these objectives.

Boots may need to recruit for several of reasons. The growth of Boots can generate additional demand and therefore create a need for extra labour. External influences such as technological developments can change job roles within the organisation, creating a need to recruit new people with specific skills. Alternatively, vacancies can be created through resignation, retirement and dismissal.

The Recruitment Process

Job analysis

Job description

Person specification

Finding suitable candidates

Choosing the best person

Taking references

Making appointments

Training and Development

An important part of manpower planning is the continual review, identification and update of training and development. Factors such as the introduction of new technology or new working methods can create training needs that have to be met if Boots is to remain competitive. In recent years there has been growing employer awareness that training can play a significant role in developing a flexible and multi-skilled workforce.

Boots organise training and development programmes for several of reason:

  • To motivate employees and increase job satisfaction, thereby reducing absenteeism and labour turnover
  • Reduce wastage and accident rates by creating a consistent performance across the work force
  • Develop the skills of existing employees to cope with labour shortages
  • To establish the most effective and efficient working methods in order to maximise productivity and remain competitive
  • Reduce employee’s resistance to change, perhaps deriving from the introduction of new equipment and the application of new technology.

Performance Management

Boots needs to manage the performance of its employees effectively if it is to remain competitive. This means that there must be effective management control exercised at both individual and organisational level.

A range of processes and techniques need to be in place, which allow individual employees to know how well they are doing, and for managers to be able to monitor how well their subordinates are performing.

Performance monitoring provides information, which is of value for identifying future training or promotion opportunities, and areas where insufficient skills or knowledge could be deemed a threat to an employee’s efficiency.

Managers exercise control at an individual and organisational level through:

  • Planning by setting objectives and targets
  • Establishing performance standards
  • Monitoring actual performance
  • Comparing performance against targets
  • Rectifying mistakes and taking action.

The Performance Management Process

 

Labour Turnover

The labour turn over ratio is used to measure the total number of employees leaving an organisation in a given period of time, usually a year. It is calculated in percentage terms using the formula

                        Number of employees leaving over specific period    x 100

Labour turnover =                 Average number of people employed

It is important that labour turnover is continuously measured by Boots to warn of potential problems so that management can take appropriate action. Replacing employees disrupts efficiency and creates recruitment and training costs. For a business to meet the objectives of its manpower plan, it is important that it minimises labour turnover.

A high labour turnover is bound to affect the quality and level of output as well as incurring manpower costs associated with the recruitment and training of labour.

Labour Stability Index

The labour turnover ratio is a rather general measure. A more subtle indicator is the labour stability index, which is calculated using the formula:

                      Number employed with more than 12 months service   x 100

Labour stability =          Total number of staff employed one year ago

This index denotes stability because it emphasises those employees that stay rather than leave.

Age Structure

The information on the age structure of the workforce – analysed by different categories of employees – is useful for several reasons. It will highlight a potential staff shortage problem that might be caused by a large number of employees all reaching retirement age during a relatively short period of time in the near future. It might show that a particular age group dominates certain positions within the company, frustrating the promotional aspirations of other employees

A detailed analysis if the age structure of the workforce of Boots, when linked to skill audits, can also be of considerable value when deciding upon the allocation of training opportunities. For example, boots short-term objective might be to train all employees to use a new form of computer technology by the end of the year. When deciding who should receive training, Boots needs to know which employees already possess the required skills and which employees are nearing retirement age, as training people who are shortly to leave the company would not be cost effective.

I am going to be covering the areas that surround Boots in Brent they are:

  • Alperton
  • Barham
  • Sudbury
  • Sudbury Court
  • Preston
  • Tokynton
  • Wembley Central (where Boots is based)

This data shows the percentage of people’s age in each ward. As you can see looking at the data Wembley central employ 66.2% of working people being the third highest ward. Therefore in this area where Boots is located there would be a lot of workers working there.

The data also shows the percentage of pensioners, in Wembley central the percentage of pensioners is low. This means businesses in Wembley central do not employ old people as there isn’t many old people in this area as there are in Preston where majority of pensioners live.

Boots would look at recruiting people that who are young, as they want young and active staffs. They would employ young people so they can gradually train them as they go along. By doing this Boots can offer a better service to there customers.



This data shows the unemployment rates in Brent and the estimated rate for black groups. Unemployment rates for Black and Asian groups were higher than for White groups. White unemployment rates were 10.9% whereas black unemployment rates were 16.5%. While there are no up-to-date unemployment figures by ethnic group, there is no reason to suppose that the differential between white and other ethnic groups has lessened significantly. Based on this assumption, the data above, estimates black unemployment rates in January 1996 compared with the rate for the whole population.

This has been estimated by calculating the differential rate in unemployment between the black and other ethnic groups and all groups, then applying the difference to the January 1996 unemployment figures. For example black and other ethnic groups unemployment rates were 22.7% higher in 1991 in Alperton ward than for the white population. This percentage difference is then applied to the current rate. The resulting figure is intended to give a broad estimate of the likely unemployment rate for the black and other ethnic groups. 

The data shows that the lowest unemployment rate is in Preston ward and the highest rate is in Stonebridge. In Wembley central where Boots is based it looks like an average of unemployment members. This means that in this area there aren’t many unemployed people as the area is very busy due to businesses operating in the area and competition with other businesses occurring. As a result of this businesses will need to recruit more people. For example if Boots were to employ more staff the business will be doing more work, the more work they do the more customers they get.


These data shows the percentage of pupils in education in each ward. It also shows the percentage of people that are already qualified in Brent. As you can see that Sudbury Court have the number 1 rank in Brent whereas Wembley Central have the rankings of 15.

Those wards which have high proportions of the population qualified to a level above GCE "A" level are those wards which have the highest proportions of people in professional and managerial occupations. This tells us that Sudbury Court has the most workers with qualification.


This data shows the average weekly earnings (from 1984-1994) for male and females in Brent and Greater London. We can see from the data that from 1984 the males weekly earnings have increased as the years have gone on. The female’s earnings have also increased as the years have gone by, but not the same amount as the males. Some females argue that they are getting unfair pay, as their earnings do not match the males when they are working the same hours and the same jobs as them. If females feel neglected in the workforce they seek the equal opportunities for advice.

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We can see by looking at this graph that the level of males earnings in 1994 in Brent have increase, so has females earnings. However female’s earnings are not as much as males earning.


Recruitment And Selection

The first stage of recruitment is to conduct a detailed analysis of the job, which may involve questioning the current jobholder or observing the jobholder at work. The information gathered is carefully recorded and analysed. Further information might be obtained through discussions with ...

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