2. Importance of workforce planning in achieving BGS’s aims
- As it is previously mentioned, Workforce planning is the process of assessing a company's current and future labor needs. Therefore, this assessment must consider not just overall employee numbers but also the skills that will be required within the business. Workforce planning also involves managing any training and recruitment process to ensure the organization has the right staff in place and the goals of British Gas are to deliver long-term profitability, operate with the right people to deliver its overall business plan and to ensure efficient management of people in the business. Their main aim is to be number one in the UK energy market and maintain the competitive position.
The workforce planning is conducted while having in mind the importance of the workforce to the company. The process involves an evaluation of the quantity of workforce needed by the company to meet future customer demand. Then, a job analysis is carried out, it refers to the 'process of collecting, analyzing and setting out information about the content of the job that the new recruit are expected to do. The information collected will be the basis for the job description which will be prepared to set out essential information about the company and the duties involved such as, job title, location, salary and duties. Then a person specification is prepared to outline the human attributes seen as necessary to do the job such as a skilled engineer or relevant experience they have or qualification. The above process sets out the profile of the people needed for the job and after that the human resource department designs the application form which will be sent out for recruitment process. The recruitment refers to the process of attracting suitable people to apply for the job. Once the applications have been received, the company move on to a selection process, where the people will be tested, monitored and questioned. This process is effective as it takes into account all the aspect of the outlines the qualities required, giving the company the opportunity to attract only suitable people and employs the most prospective ones and finally, it is cost effective and straightforward.
Workforce planning in helping British Gas achieving also helps recruiting potential engineers to strengthen the workforce. Getting the right people in the right place is the feature of workforce planning and as for the British Gas company their main tool for success is labor. Because labor forces operate the company, retain customers and gain new ones and achieve profitability level. The engineers act as a middle-man between the company and customers and they will customer loyalty and attract new ones by acting politely and working skillfully.
3. The effectiveness of application, recruitment and selection processes.
- In any business, the recruitment and selection of employees is vital process, since the labor is one of the four basic factors of production. Hiring the most appropriate people will help the business can function effectively. Even if the process is time-consuming and expensive, it is necessary because it will obtain the quantity and quality of employees required to fulfill the objectives of the organization.
For British Gas Company, the benefits of application, recruitment and selection process is the same as above. First, application will help to attract a vast number of applicants' suitable for the vacant post. As application forms are design containing information about the vacant post, it will attract the most prospective people. This will reduce the cost of recruitment because this will provide details of the people and time saving. For the applicants, application is a time saving option. They just need to fill in all required information and submit it via post. The benefit of recruitment and selection process for British Gas Company results in the appointment of the most suitable people to fill in the vacant post. Recruitment is advantageous because it analyzes all aspect of the vacant post and provides a person specification. This is beneficial that it will help the company to narrow down on the number of applications received, easing the process of recruitment. The selection is the last stage in the process where the most suitable people are chosen, are tested on various grounds. At this stage it helps the company to make the final decision of who is the best for the job, based on the data received through the various test provided to those. The benefit to the applicants from the recruitment and selection process is the fact that the process helps them to understand what quality and ability they will have to acquire or deliver to meet the requirement of the vacant post. From this process, they can decide of going forward for the job or step out. Recruitment and selection process is beneficial to both the company and the applicant in their own respective way. The process should be well planned and carried out effectively so as to benefit from it.
4. Recruitment is the most important function within BGS
- Recruitment is a process of sourcing and screening people for a job at an organization. While generalist managers or administrators can undertake some components of the recruitment process, organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies. External recruitment is the process of attracting employees from outside the organization whereas internal recruitment is where internal labor is used for filling vacancies.
The recruitment function is an important function for British Gas, as their key element for their business activity is labor force. It is essential for British Gas to use effective recruitment practices so as to attract a large numbers of potential people for the vacant post, so that the company is able to choose their suitable people from a large number of applicants. Or else, limited number of applicant from which to choose can have an impact on performance at a later stage of the employment contract. A successful and efficient workforce will results in customer satisfaction which is very critical for the company's progress in this kind of competitive market, UK energy market. Moreover, with customer satisfaction British Gas can gain customer loyalty and attract more customers. Also, this would lead to an increase in revenue, an improve brand name and gain competitive advantage.
Moreover, recruitment process helps British Gas to maintain the company's strategy of implementing a diversified workforce. The need to recruit a diverse engineering workforce is seen as critical by the company. It plans recruitment to ensure it has a socially inclusive workforce. It is important as it will enable the British Gas Company to reflect the diversity of its customer base. This is a good step forward as employees from different nationalities and backgrounds can help to establish a good relation between the company and customers who are from different backgrounds, as they will be able to communicate with these customers who do not have English as their first language. Therefore Recruitment process is a part of workforce planning process that is the most important in workforce planning.