Human Resource Planning and Alignment

 Success

in business is dependent on:

Reacting quickly to opportunities Rapid access to accurate information

Human

resource planning (HR planning):

How organizations assess the future supply of, and demand for, human resources Provides mechanisms to eliminate gaps that may exist between supply and demand Requires readjustment as labor market conditions change

Organisational Growth Cycle and Planning Type and Strategy of Organisation Environmental Uncertainties

HRP
Time Horizons Outsourcing

Type and Quality of Forecasting Information

Nature of Jobs being Filled

The four phases or stages of HR planning:

Situation analysis or environmental scanning Forecasting demand Analysis of the supply Development of action plans

 This

phase of the process involves estimating:

How many employees will be needed What kinds of employees will be needed

 Techniques

to help reduce the uncertainty inherent in HR planning:

Expert estimates Trend projections Statistical modeling Unit-demand forecasting

Key

to effective planning is accurately and freely sharing information

 One

or more experts provide the organization with demand estimates based on:
Experience Guesses Intuition Subjective assessments of available economic and labor force indicators

This is the least mathematically sophisticated approach

The Delphi technique elicits expert estimates from a number of individuals in an iterative manner
Developed by the Rand Corporation Estimates are revised by each individual based on knowledge of the other individuals estimates

With the nominal group technique (NGT), individual estimates are followed by group brainstorming
The goal is to generate a group decision that is preferred over any individual decision

 This

top-down technique:

Develops a forecast based on a past relationship between a factor related to employment and employment itself Example: Sales levels are related to employment needs

 This

top-down approach uses the most sophisticated forecasting and modeling techniques
Trend projections relate a single factor, such as sales, to employment Environmental factors could be gross national product or discretionary income Or, the organization may be mathematically modeled so that simulations can be run

 Markov

chain analysis involves:

Developing a matrix to show the probability of an employees moving from one position to another or leaving the organization The process begins with an analysis of staffing levels from one period to another

 Regression

analysis is a mathematical

procedure:

It predicts the dependent variable on the basis of factors (independent variables)

With

simple linear regression, one dependent and one independent variable are studied

With multiple regression, more than one independent variable is studied

 This

is a bottom-up approach

Unit managers analyze current and future needs person-by-person and job-by-job Headquarters totals the unit forecasts The sum is the corporate employment forecast

Both a skills inventory and a management inventory:

Identify the skills, abilities, experiences, and training employees currently have Are useful for career planning, management development, and related activities

In its simplest form, a skills inventory is a list of:

Names Characteristics Skills

 Skills

inventories vary greatly in their sophistication

Some are as simple as a file drawer of index cards Others involve expensive and complex computer databases

 The

only data available to the organization for later use is what was designed into the system
Name Present location Date of employment Professional qualifications Licenses and patents Supervisory evaluations Employee number Date of birth Job classification Publications Hobbies Salary range

Skills, knowledge, education Foreign language skill

Often omitted, but increasingly important, are:

Employees stated career goals Geographical preferences Intended retirement date

The main categories within a skills inventory:

Data summarizing the employees past Data summarizing present skills Data that focus on the future

Today, many skills inventories are more complex

 Should

data be stored in a manual system

or on a computer?
How much does the computer system cost? How frequently the data will be used? A computer allows comparative analysis over time

Skills

inventories are useful only if management uses the data to make significant decisions

Before accessing the data, managers must be trained to avoid abuse of the system

 After

the supply of and demand for workers has been analyzed, the two forecasts must be compared

Whenever there is a gap between the two estimates, a course of action must be chosen

 If

the supply of workers is less than the demand:

It can be filled with present employees who are willing to work overtime

If

there is a shortage of skilled employees:

Train and/or promote present employees Recruit less-skilled employees Recall employees who were previously laid off

 Organizations

are using more:

Part-time workers Subcontractors Independent professionals

This is in response to:

Intense global competition Rapid technological change Fears caused by recent workforce reductions

 Possible

solutions to an employee surplus:

Attrition Early retirements- VRS Demotions Layoffs Terminations. Hiring freeze retraining

Employees

who are considered surplus are seldom responsible for the conditions leading to the surplus

Adventure Stores Ltd is a Specialty store that imports, manufactures and retails adventure equipment and sports wear in Mumbai. The market is expected to dip sharply in winter, as compared to summer when the holiday season is in full swing. This will result in an excess of about 15 salespersons between October and February. If laid off, these employees would be costly to replace. Each employee receives a month of training (including 1 week in Singapore) regarding the sports equipment and specialized high performance garments. Adventure Stores Ltd has a competitor, Better Buys, who will snap up anyone they lay off and hence the laidoff employees will not be available in March when the demand picks up. Adventure Stores has put together a task force of managers from all areas of the company to suggest solutions to this anticipated staffing dilemma. What ideas can you think of to ensure that the services of skilled employees are available when they are needed year after year. Be creative!