Linking organizational strategy to Human

Resource planning:
Human resource planning ultimately translates the
organization’s overall goals the number and types of workers needed to meet those
goals. Without clear cut planning, and a direct linkage to the organization’s
strategic direction, estimation of an organization’s human resource needs are
reduced to mere guesswork. This means that human resource planning cannot exist
in isolation. It must be linked to the organization’s overall strategy. The steps
involved in linking are as follows:
1. Assessing current human resource:
Assessing current human resources
begins by developing a profile of organizations current employees. This is an
internal analysis that includes information about the workers and the skills they
currently possess. From a planning viewpoint, this input is valuable in
determining what skills are currently available in the organization. The profile
of the human resource inventory serves as a guide for supporting new
organizational pursuits or in altering the organization’s strategic direction. This
report also has value in other HRM activities, such as selection individuals
for training and development, promotion, and transfers.
2. Determining the Demand for labor:
Once an assessment of the
organization’s current human resources situation has been made and the
future direction of the organizations has been considered, a projection of
future human resource needs can be developed.
3. Estimating the future supply of labor: Estimating changes in internal
supply requires the HR to look at those factors that can either increase or
decrease its employee base. An increase in the supply of any units’ human
resources can come from a combination of four sources, new hires,
contingent workers, transfers in, or individuals returning from leaves.
Decreases in the internal supply can come about through retirements,
dismissals, transfers out of the unit, layoffs, voluntary quits, sabbaticals,
prolonged illnesses or deaths. HRM manager should consider these increases
and decreases to estimate the future supply of labor.
4. 4. Estimated Changes in future supply: there are some factors outside the
organization that influence the supply of available workers. We should
review these changes outside the organization to estimate changes in the
future supply.

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 5. Matching the demand and supply of labor: The objective of human
resource planning is to bring together the forecasts of future demand for
workers and the supply for human resources, both current and future. The
result of this effort is to. Pinpoint shortages both in number and in kind, to
highlight areas where over staffing may exist.

Step 1:

Decide how you’ll use the information since this will determine the data you
collect them. Some data collection techniques – like interviewing the employee
and asking what the job entails – are good for writing job descriptions and
selecting employees for the job. Other techniques like the position analysis
questionnaire we describe later do not provide qualitative information for job
descriptions. Instead they provide numerical ratings for each job; these can be
used to compare jobs for compensation purposes.

Organizations Chart: A chart that shows the organization wide distribution of

work, with titles of each position and interconnecting lines that show who reports
to and communicates to whom.

Step 2

Review relevant background information such as organization charts, process

charts, and job descriptions. Organization charts show the organization wide
division of work, how the job in question rates to other job and where the job
fits in the overall organization. The chart should show the title of each position
and, by means of interconnecting lines, who reports to whom and with whom
the job incumbent communicates.

Process Chart for Analyzing a Job’s Workflow:

Information from plant manager >> Components input from suppliers

Job under study ‘Quality Control Clerk’.

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Information output to plant manager regarding component quality >> Product
quality output to plant manager

A process chart provides a more detailed picture of the work flow. In its simplest
form a process chart shows the flow of inputs to ad outputs from the job you’re
analyzing. (the quality control clerk is expected to review components from
suppliers, check components going to the plant managers and give information
regarding component’s quality to these managers) Finally, the existing job
description, if here is one usually provides a starting point for building the
revised job description.

Step 3

Select representative positions. There may be too many similar jobs to analyze
them all. For example, it is usually unnecessary to analyze the jobs of 200
assembly workers when a sample of 10 jobs will do.

Step 4

Actually analyze the job – by collecting data on job activities, required employee
behaviors, working conditions and human traits and abilities needed to perform
the job. For this step, use one or more of the job analysis methods explained
later.

Step 5

Verify the job analysis information with the worker performing the job and with
his or her immediate supervisor. This will help confirm that the information is
factually correct and complete. This review data and conclusions, by giving that
person a chance to review and modify your description of the job activities.

Step 6

Develop a job description and job specification. These are two tangible product
of the job analysis. The job description (to repeat) is a written statement that
describes the activities and responsibilities of the job, as well as its important
features, such as working conditions and safety hazards. The job specifications
summarize the personal qualities, traits, skills and background required for

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getting the job done. It may be in a separate document or in the same
document as the job description.

In some firms, job analysis is still a time consuming process. It might take
several days to interview 5 or 6 sample employees and their managers, and to
try to explain to them, the process and the reason for the analysis. Increasingly,
however, the same process might take just three or four hours. The steps might
include: (1) Greet participants and conduct very brief introductions; (2) briefly
explain the job analysis and the participants’ roles in this process (3) spend
about 15 minutes determining the scope of the job you’re about to analyze, by
getting agreement on the job’s basic summary; (4) identify the job’s broad
functional or duty areas, such as administrative and supervisory (5) identify tasks
within each duty area, using a flip chart or collaboration software and finally (6)
print the task list and get the group to sign off on it

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