1. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING; an overview Managing Human Resources 3BComm Week 4 Fiona Sheridan

2. WHAT IS HRP?
“It is the process for ensuring that the human resource requirements of an org are identified and plans are made for satisfying those requirements” (Bulla and Scott, 1994)
Based on the belief that people are an org’s most important strategic asset
Matching resources to business plans in the longer term
Sometimes address shorter term requirements
It addresses human resources in qualitatively and quantitatively:
How many people?
What kind of people?
It looks at broader issues relating to employment and development of e/ees re org effectiveness
Important role in strategic HRM

3. HRP AND BUSINESS PLANNING
HRP should be an integral part of business planning
Quinn Mills (1983) indicates that HRP is ‘a decision making process that combines three important activities’:
Identifying and acquiring the right number of people with the proper skills
Motivating them to achieve high performance
Creating interactive links between business objectives and people planning activities
No clear business strategy – reliance on broad assumptions about the need for people in the future

4. RATIONALE FOR HRP
Although notion of HRP is well established in HRM lit, it’s not a key HR activity
Rothwell (1995) suggests; “apart from isolated examples, there has been little research evidence of increased use or of its success”
Institute for Employment Studies – Reilly (1999) suggested why orgs would choose to engage in HRP:
Planning for substantive reasons – practical effect by optimising the use of resources and making them more flexible – nurturing skills, developing resources, etc
Planning because of the process benefits – understanding the present in order to confront the future – ensuring long term thinking isn’t driven out by short term focus
Planning for org reasons – communicating plans in order to obtain support / linking HR plans to business plans

5. Department of Management
AIMS OF HRP
The aims of HRP in any org will depend on its own context, but can
generally be said to be:
To attract and retain the number of people required with the appropriate skills, expertise and competencies
To anticipate the problems of potential surpluses or deficits of people
To develop a well trained and flexible workforce, thus contributing to the org’s ability to adapt to an uncertain and changing environment
To reduce dependence on external recruitment when key skills are in short supply by formulating retention, as well as employee development strategies
To improve the utilisation of people by introducing more flexible systems of work
4. Changes employee edu level:
Some more highly educated – higher expectations
Others need remedial training 5.
Return of non-traditional workers who need training – examples

6. KEY CONSIDERATIONS IN HRP
Understanding the key role of the labour market
HRP at corporate level
HRP at an operational level
HRP – purpose
How HRP facilitates organisational functioning
HRP – process

7. LABOUR MARKET
An understanding of the key role of the labour market with regard to HR policy
Loose labour market – allowing employers to dip into the market and be relatively assured of finding the calibre of workers required
Uncertainty of labour markets – no long term guaranteed

8. HRP AT OPERATIONAL LEVEL – A CYCLE OF EVENTS
1. Nature and calibre of employees required for effective functioning
Employment relationship
Procedures and practices developed by the company that:
facilitate the retention of those recruited (perf mgt, hrd);
facilitate continuous improvement (e/ee development);
determine the scope of the effort-reward bargain (reward practices);
design an effective system of work (job design), and finally;
manage the employment relationship (e/ee relations)

9. HRP PURPOSE What does HRP involve ? Forecasting, Planning
Survival / quality of staff
Long and short term strategies in HRP
Right quantity of staff with necessary skills and knowledge for effective functioning

10. BENEFITS OF HRP (WALKER, 1988)
Reduction in HR costs
Provides employer with a basis for planning employee development
Overall improvement of business planning process
Provision of equal opportunities for all categories of employees
Markets the importance of strategic HRM at all organisational levels
Provides a tool for evaluating the effect of alternative HR policies

11. LINK BETWEEN HRP AND ORG FUNCTIONS
Strategic planning
Economic and market forecasting
Investment planning

12. HRP AT CORPORATE LEVEL
HRP is a corporate level activity that is dependent on effective business planning.
It relies on future plans and direction of the company and involves major policy decisions.

13. HRP AT OPERATIONAL LEVEL
HRP involves catering for the HR implications of operational business decisions, such as the termination of a product line
Short term action plans ranging from recruitment to dismissal
Encompass training programmes to upgrade skill sets
Recruitment of graduates / trainees
Forecasting salary budgets for the coming quarter

14. HOW HRP FACILITATES ORG FUNCTIONING
Evaluating current human resources
Human resource use
Human resource implications of change
Avoiding major discontinuities in human resource availability
Determining future HR strategies
Anticipating HR related problems
Taking positive action to ensuring adequate human resources

15. HRP PROCESS Central premise is balance
Balance between supply of and demand for human resources
Demand for labour is derived from corporate plans
Labour supply is derived either internally or externally.
Reconciliation of the imbalance between the demand for and the supply of human resources leads to the developments of plans related to the functional activities of HRM.

16. Business and strategic plans Labour turnover analysis
HRP PROCESS
Business and strategic plans
Resourcing strategy
Scenario planning
Labour turnover analysis
Demand / supply
forecasting
Operational
effectiveness
analysis
Work environment
analysis
Human resource plans
Retention
Productivity
Resourcing
Flexibility
Work environment

17. HRP PROCESS
Business strategic plans – defining future activity levels and initiatives demanding new skills
Resourcing strategy – planning to achieve competitive advantage by developing intellectual capital
Scenario planning – assessing where the org is going and its implications for human resource requirements
Demand / supply forecasting – estimating the future demand for people (numbers and skills) and assessing the number of people likely to be available from within and outside the org
Labour turnover analysis – analysing actual labour turnover figures and trends as input to supply forecasts
Work environment analysis – analysing the environment in which people work in terms of the scope it provides for them to use and develop their skills and achieve job satisfaction
Operational effectiveness analysis – analysing productivity, the utilisation of people, and the scope for increasing to respond to new and changing demands

18. BEARDWELL AND HOLDEN (1994)
Planning process therefore identifies four key stages:
Stocktaking
Forecasting
Planning
Implementing

19. STOCKTAKING
Identifying a range of variables that influence organisational operations.
Analysing existing human resources
Providing information on human resource capabilities and potential
Using job analysis
Using skills audit
Developing a skills inventory of current employees
Using performance review

20. FORECASTING
Demand analysis based on past trends and likely future business functioning
Determining where future employees are likely to be obtained (supply analysis)
Planning: speculation on how past experience compares with development of certain hypotheses concerning the future

21. FACILITATING IMPROVED DEMAND FORECASTING
Mayo (1991) suggests examining the following :
changes in requirements for management, geographically in or in ‘new business areas’
new subsets of the company that may be required as the plan progresses and those that will no longer be required
changes in the number of particular types of job
the knowledge, skills, attitudes and experience that will be required of particular types of job
requirements for joint ventures and collaborative management
changes needed in career structures

22. FACILITATING SUPPLY OF LABOUR; SUPPLY INDICES
Wastage (labour turnover)
Absenteeism
Age Analysis
External Supply

23. WASTAGE – LABOUR TURNOVER
How to measure labour market turnover:
Turnover analysis / Turnover index
Stability index
Survival Curve (Hill and Trit, 1955)

24. ABSENTEEISM
Forecasting the stock of human resources requires gathering absenteeism information
IFI (Federation of Irish Employers, 1980) has defined absenteeism as ‘all absence from work other than paid holidays’.
Two variables to consider; ability to attend, motivation to attend.
Information typically gathered from attendance sheets, time cards, medical records, and other personnel files.
Evaluation of absenteeism trends can help identify inconsistencies between HR policies

25. AGE ANALYSIS
An examination of the age distribution of each category of employee
A balanced mix of ages is the ideal situation, where the company can develop and structure its internal labour market around progressive succession planning

26. EXTERNAL SUPPLY Areas to consider: Current levels of unemployment
Changing structure of the workforce and its effects on recruitment and supply
Trend towards atypical forms of employment
Increased participation of women in the workforce
Current levels of education and training that determine the skills mix of the labour market

27. PLANNING
Forecasting complete, is the organisation faced with a labour shortage or a labour surplus
Shortage? Recruitment planning, or retraining, as appropriate.
Surplus ? Planning for redundancy / redeployment / retraining / dismissals / short time working

28. ACTION PLANNING The resourcing plan Internal resourcing
The recruitment plan
Employer of choice plans
Flexibility plan
Use of part time workers
Job sharing
Home working and teleworking
Subcontracting
Flexible hour arrangements
Overtime arrangements
Shift working arrangements
The downsizing plan

29. IMPLEMENTATION
HR plans now complete, implementation of decision occurs, and the cycle is set in motion once again.
Bearing in mind internal and external environments, the HR plans need to be monitored and reviewed regularly in order to amend and adapt to changing environments as required.