HR/Manpower Planning - Week 15

Importance of HR Planning For Organisations:

It is vital for an organisation to have HR plans because Human Resource Planning assists the organisation to recruit, retain and optimise the number of staff needed to meet the objectives of the business and to keep up with the changes in the external environment. This involves carrying out a skills analysis, of the existing workforce, carrying out manpower forcasting and taking the necessary action to make sure that there will always be enough staff to carry out the jobs necessary to help the business meet its aims. This can also include training and retraining plans for staff. Lack of HR planning or poor HR planning can result in financial loss for the organisation because employees maybe asked to work unnecessary overtime to fulfil orders because there is not enough staff recruited to cope with the demands of the business. Poor HR planning can result in vacancies not being filled quickly enough or people not having the right skills to carry out their roles. Inadequate HR plans can result in large numbers of people leaving through retirement and if the neccesary plans are not in place to recruit and retain existing staff this can have a negative impact on the business also.

Using Alec Rodger's seven point person specification below is a person specification for a University Lecturer:

Physical Make-up - Professional confident person with excellent communication skills both verbal and written.

Attainments - Education degree, teaching and motivation skills and experience in the teaching industry.

Intelligence - Ability to adapt to changing processes and procedures. Analytical with ability to be creative and to be able to improvise.

Special Aptitudes - Good IT and presentation skills required.

Interest - Ability to intellectually and practically interact with students and members of staff.

Disposition - Self reliant, mature and a sense of humour together with compassion necessary.

Circumstances - Ability to work extra from time to time to assist with staff shortages.

Waitrose opening new store in High Wycombe:

If Waitrose were to consider opening a new store in High Wycombe they would need to consider the following key labour questions:

1) How many staff would they need to employ in the store? This can be then broken down into individual function within the store i.e. people to work on the tills, supervisors and managers etc.

2) The unemployment situation in the area? This can be used to decide what rates of pay could be paid to staff because an unemployed person would be happy to work for the minimum wage in comparison to someone who is just looking for another job, who would not be happy to work for the bare minimum.

3) The training requirements of employees? This can be used to determine whether someone needs to be trained on the tills or in customer service as a supervisor.

4) What qualifications or experience is neccessary for each job? This is important because it will allow Waitrose to recruit the right people for the job, as Waitrose have a good reputation for customer service.

5) The demographics of the area? This will indicate the age group and the level of income in High Wycombe, helping Waitrose to see what age group their new staff would be from.

Conclusion

It is important for businesses to have Human Resource Planning in place because this allows them to forecast, plan, use resources carefully and retain staff by looking at internal and external labour markets. HR Planning enables the business to control, and deal with problems which leads to better results because people are a vital resource for businesses and are the key factors for the successful performance.

Reference List:

Alec Rodger: Seven Point Plan [online]. Available from: http://www.bola.biz/recruitment/rodger.html [Accessed 20 April 2010].

Human Resource Planning [online]. Available from: http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/hrm/chap7/ch7-links3.htm [Accessed 20 April 2010].

The Times 100 Human Resource Planning [online]. Available from: http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--human-resources-planning--417.php [Accessed 20 April 2010].

Mullins, L.J (2007). Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice hall.