However this is not an easy task. One of the problems I face as a human resource planner is shortage of skills. There is a shortage of skills in the interior design industry especially when it comes to Information Technology (IT) skills. An interior designer today, needs the relevant up-to-date IT skills like working with AutoCAD, Microstation programs, however it is not easy to come across one. Nevertheless, I can solve this problem by training my own staff with the relevant skills for their duties, that is the designers with up-to-date designing and computer skills like AutoCAD, the photographers with digital photography skills.
Another challenge in human resource planning is Labour turnover. First of all, what is labour turnover? Labour turnover occurs when employees leave an organisation and need to be replaced by new recruits. A certain degree of labour turnover maybe desirable because it may create opportunities to introduce wider experience and new ideas to the organization as well as career development opportunities for existing workers. For example if one of my designers quits, and in the meantime, before I find a suitable replacement, I rearrange the duties in the workgroup, find a temporary replacement from the staff and reorganize the schedule. However with time I realize things are working out well, no damage has been caused by the designer’s absence and the company can even go on without a new recruit. On the other hand, high levels of labour turnover are costly and affect the efficiency, productivity, profitability and morale in the company. For example one of my designer’s quitting may lead to a disruption of the flow of work, as the duties have to be rearranged. This will also lead to the need of working overtime, which incurs extra costs, lost productivity during period the position is vacant, recruitment costs to fill the vacancy, and diminished productivity while new recruit adapts to the job. There are various causes of labour turnover, some of them might be organisational problems, resignations, dismissal, health problems, working conditions. In order to reduce the problems of Labour turnover in my company, I started carrying out exit interviews and attitude surveys. Exit interviews help in highlighting problem areas within the company and in identifying any characteristics which may be common to early leavers. Leavers are asked why they are leaving and what they think is good and bad about the firm, for example: the job itself, supervision and management, pay and other terms and conditions of work, training and career prospects with the organisation, working conditions and amenities equal opportunities and so on. This way we can recognize the common characteristics and deal with them in order to reduce labour turnover. For example if a number of leavers are complaining of lack of career prospects, the management will concentrate on this matter and find a solution like adapting a succession plan. If a number of employees in the company were quitting due to care obligations to their elderly relatives and children. In order to solve this problem and to prevent further loss of our employees, we adapted more flexible conditions; for example some employees in the marketing and sales department resorted to teleworking. Teleworking involves working at a distance from a usual place of work, often passing work between locations through the Internet. Work may be sent from one office building to another, from a worker's home to a central location, from a telecottage, or from a mobile location such as a salesman's car. However some employees were not up to it because of the fear that their positions will become redundant.
As the human resource planner, I also have to try to keep the sickness and accidents as low as possible by the use of effective health and safety policies and good occupational health services. Some steps have been taken by the management in my company specifically to control sickness absence and these include:
• the supervisor has a talk with the worker on his or her return from sick leave, to see if any help is needed
•a policy of ‘sick visiting’ by the personnel manager or company doctor to examine those who are often sick
• there is a proper policy on the provision of certificates to cover sick absence
• workers are told if their level of sick absence is putting their job at risk.
In order to reduce accidents at work, better safety methods have been adapted, for example we have replaced the lifting jobs with machinery that are operated by the employers and are much more safer.
Succession planning is also an important aspect of my job as the human resource planner. Succession planning must be used to ensure that the company has a steady supply of new managers. Not only the subordinates fall sick or have accidents, this can also happen to an executive member, and without a succession plan might result into problems and confusion in the company. When disaster strikes, such as a plane crash, an earthquake or violence in the workplace, there is little time for the board of directors to meet and select new top executives or establish a new chain of command. Such decisions must be determined before the need arises so that the company can be skilfully guided through the critical periods following extreme circumstances. The goal is to allow the company to transition as smoothly as possible, using successors developed from within, rather than having to resort to outside management help. Succession planning also helps reduce labour turnover as employees are encouraged by the prospect of rising to top positions in the company.