The Importance of Human Resource Planning
The Importance of Human Resource Planning
The Human Resource Department of a business has responsibility for many aspects, including Recruitment & Selection, Training and Wage Bargaining, however within all organisations one of the most important tasks performed, which encompasses all of the above issues, is that of Human Resource Planning, also known as Workforce Planning or Manpower Planning. All three titles refer to the process by which a business seeks to ensure that it has 'the right people, in the right numbers, with the right skills now and in the future'.
It has been argued that Human Resource Planning is broader in its strategic perspective than the operational emphasis of Workforce or Manpower Planning, rather like the comparison drawn between a Human Resource Department and a Personnel Department, however for the purposes of this article we shall not differentiate.
Human Resource Planning is vital to the success of businesses in today's rapidly changing business environment, here are just a few of the reasons why no business can ignore the need to strategically plan their use of what is the most important and valuable resource of any business, namely its staff.
The Changing Nature of Jobs
Jobs are becoming increasingly complex, particularly those which are technologically orientated, to replace a vacant position within an organisation takes time as it is vital to ensure that an individual has the correct combination of skills, experience and competency to fill the post.
Employment Protection
Due to recent legislation, it has become increasingly more difficult for businesses to shed their staff, whilst groups representing employees, such as trade unions, argue this is rightly so, the fact remains that the sometimes necessary task of reducing staff levels is becoming more expensive, ...
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The Changing Nature of Jobs
Jobs are becoming increasingly complex, particularly those which are technologically orientated, to replace a vacant position within an organisation takes time as it is vital to ensure that an individual has the correct combination of skills, experience and competency to fill the post.
Employment Protection
Due to recent legislation, it has become increasingly more difficult for businesses to shed their staff, whilst groups representing employees, such as trade unions, argue this is rightly so, the fact remains that the sometimes necessary task of reducing staff levels is becoming more expensive, time consuming, and increasingly complex in terms of administration.
Technological Advances
The increasing dependency of businesses on technology to gain competitive advantage over competitors, and the subsequent need to keep pace with technological advances have resulted in increasing emphasis being placed on organisations ensuring that their staffs skill base is constantly re-assessed and developed, through training and recruitment to keep pace with the use of technology.
The Economy
Businesses can not control their environment however much they would wish to, instead they must react / adapt to changes within the environment, and this is particularly true in relation to the economy. In periods of recession, many businesses are forced to reduce staffing levels, whilst in boom periods of high growth businesses may seek to expand the size of their workforce to cater for increasing levels of demand for their goods / services. Whilst the UK economy has seen steady overall growth, there has for some time been a cycle of boom and slump within the economy, which has forced businesses to redefine their staffing needs.
The Process of Human Resource Planning
As indicated in the previous section, to succeed all organisations are required to think strategically, planning for the optimal use of human resources now and in the future within any business is essential and involves the three disciplines of Analysis, Forecasting and Evaluation
Three disciplines of Human Resource Planning
Analysis of current staff within the organisation not just in terms of numbers, but also as we shall see in terms of factors including skills, experience, age, gender, staff-turnover
Forecasting of the human resource requirements of the organisation in the future, again not just in terms of numbers but in terms of critical skills required, and
Evaluation of appropriate plans of action to ensure that Supply of manpower will match the forecast Demand.
All businesses, no matter what sector they operate in, no matter their size, will go through this process, be it in the mind of the sole trader, or the human resource manuals / procedures of a large multinational corporation. In this article we shall consider the common stages within what we shall refer to as Human Resource Planning.
Although organisations will differ in their approach to Human Resource Planning, fig 1, represents the common stages found within the process.
Selection, Implementation and Monitoring
An organisation would more likely than not employ a range of the above options to reduce a potential Surplus / Shortage, and the extent to which each would be used will depend on both internal and external factors including the nature of the business itself, the financial resources available, and the current economic environment. The final Planning document may provide targets, in terms of numbers of staff to be recruited, training to be delivered, retention to be achieved, productivity levels, and future reductions in absenteeism. Monitoring of actual performance against these planned targets during the implementation of the Plan is essential to provide control over the process, and bring line management and personnel specialists together to either ensure achievement of said targets or revision of plans of subsequently required.
