HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

HR Planning
Human resource planning is a process of identifying and then matching the human resource requirements and availability in order to determine the future HR needs & activities of the organization on the basis of the overall organizational objective.
Making sure individuals with the right skills are where they need to be at the right time to meet current and future needs

Factors affecting HR planning

Strategy of the organization. Culture of the organization. Competitive environment. Current organizational situation. Quantity and skill levels of human resources required.

Essentials/Features of HR Planning Determining personnel needs Having manpower inventory Adjusting Demand & Supply of personnel in advance Creating proper Work environment to ensure job satisfaction.

Need for effective HR Planning

Replacement of persons Labour Turnover Expansion plans Technological changes Assessing manpower needs of organisation

Human resource planning process-Steps

Setting organizational objectives and strategies. Assessment of external environment. Preparation of in-house skill and competency inventory. HR forecastingNeed assessment. HR forecastingEstimation of availability. Developing HR plans and programmes.

Step-1: Considering organizational objectives and strategies The organizational strategy along with the mission and vision statement clearly expresses the future intent of the organization. HR plans are generally guided by the overall organizational objectives and strategies.

Step-2: Assessment of external environment

Step-2: Assessment of external environment (contd.)

Organizations undertake environmental scanning to identify the changes in the external environment. Purpose of environmental scanning is to examine the business environment, to seize the opportunities and tackle the threats.

Step-3: Preparation of in-house skills and competency inventory

A compilation of skills, competencies and qualifications of the entire workforce is described as a skill inventory. Skill inventory can be prepared through: Skills audit (assessing the current skill levels of a firm). It involves assessing the performance of the employees from the task perspective. Core competency analysis (assessing the extraordinary abilities of the firm). These abilities may be its advanced technology, well-reputed management, problem-solving ability and employees.

Step-4&5: HR forecasting (Need assessment & Availability) Forecasts involve estimating the future requirements of the organization in terms of the nature and the number of people available & required.

Step-6: Developing HR plans and programmes

The estimated HR needs are matched with the estimated HR availability to identify the skill shortage or surplus. Based on the results, appropriate HR plans are developed. The outcome of such comparisons would be either the recruitment of more employees or a reduction of the existing workforce.

Who Conducts HR Planning

Larger companies use HR department and technology to track labour force Smaller companies look to managers and supervisors

Barriers to HR planning
Insufficient realisation of the importance of HR plans. Surplus in the Indian labour market. Union resistance. Costbenefit misconceptions. Absence of coordination. Future uncertainty.

Factors affecting HR Planning

External factors
Government policies Level of economic development including future supply of HRs Business environment Information Technology Level of technology Natural factors International factors

Contd.
Internal factors
Strategies of the company HR policy of the company Formal & informal groups Job analysis Time horizons Type & quality of information Companys production operations policy Trade unions