IMPORTANCE OF Human ResourceS PLANNING
IN ORGANIZATIONS
IN ORGANIZATIONS
InTroduction
Planning is very important to our everyday activities.
Several definitions have been given by different writers what planning is all
about and its importance to achieving our objectives. It is amazing that this
important part of HR is mostly ignored in HR in most organizations because
those at the top do not know the value of HR planning. Organizations that do
not plan for the future have less opportunities to survive the competition
ahead. This article will discuss the importance of HR planning; the six steps
of HR planning that is : Forecasting; inventory, audit, HR Resource Plan;
Actioning of Plan; Monitoring and Control.
Definition of HR Planning
Quoting Mondy et (1996) they define it as a systematic
analysis of HR needs in order to ensure
that correct number of employees with the necessary skills are available when
they are required.
When we prepare our planning programme, Practitioners
should bear in mind that their staff members have their objective they need to
achieve. This is the reason why employees seek employment. Neglecting these
needs would result in poor motivation that may lead to unnecessary poor
performance and even Industrial actions.
Importance of Planning
Planning is not as easy as one might think because it
requires a concerted effort to come out with a programme that would easy your
work. Commencing is complicated, but once you start and finish it you have a smile because everything moves smoothly.
Planning is a process that have to be commenced form
somewhere and completed for a purpose. It involves gathering information that
would enable managers and supervisors make sound decisions. The information
obtained is also utilized to make better actions for achieving the objectives of the Organization. There are many
factors that you have to look into when deciding for an HR Planning programme.
HR Planning involves gathering of information, making
objectives, and making decisions to enable the organization achieve its
objectives. Surprisingly, this aspect of HR is one of the most neglected in the
HR field. When HR Planning is applied properly in the field of HR Management,
it would assist to address the following questions:
1.
How many staff does the Organization have?
2.
What type of employees as far as skills and
abilities does the Company have?
3.
How should the Organization best utilize the
available resources?
4.
How can the Company keep its employees?
HR planning makes the organization move and succeed in the 21st Century that we are in. Human Resources Practitioners who prepare the
HR Planning programme would assist the Organization to manage its staff strategically. The programme assist
to direct the actions of HR department.
The programme does not assist the
Organization only, but it will also facilitate the career planning of the employees
and assist them to achieve the objectives as well. This augment motivation and
the Organization would become a good place to work. HR Planning forms an important part of
Management information system.
HR have an enormous task keeping pace with the all the
changes and ensuring that the right people are available to the Organization at
the right time. It is changes to the composition of the workforce that force
managers to pay attention to HR planning. The changes in composition of
workforce not only influence the appointment of staff, but also the methods of
selection, training, compensation and motivation. It becomes very critical when
Organizations merge, plants are relocated, and activities are scaled down due
to financial problems.
Inadequacy of HR Planning
Poor HR Planning and lack of it in the Organization may
result in huge costs and financial looses. It may result in staff posts taking
long to be filled. This augment costs and hampers effective work performance
because employees are requested to work unnecessary overtime and may not put
more effort due to fatigue. If given more work this may stretch them beyond
their limit and may cause unnecessary disruptions to the production of the
Organization. Employees are put on a disadvantage because their live programmes
are disrupted and they are not given the chance to plan for their career
development.
The most important reason why HR Planning should be
managed and implemented is the costs involved. Because costs forms an important
part of the Organizations budget, workforce Planning enable the Organization to
provide HR provision costs. When there is staff shortage, the organization
should not just appoint discriminately, because of the costs implications of
the other options, such as training and transferring of staff, have to be
considered.
Steps in HR Planning
Forecasting
HR Planning requires that we gather data on the
Organizational goals objectives. One should understand where the Organization
wants to go and how it wants to get to that point. The needs of the employees
are derived from the corporate objectives of the Organization. They stern from
shorter and medium term objectives and their conversion into action budgets
(eg) establishing a new branch in New Dehli by January 2006 and staff it with a
Branch Manager (6,000 USD, Secretary 1,550 USD, and two clerical staff 800 USD
per month. Therefore, the HR Plan should have a mechanism to express planned
Company strategies into planned results and budgets so that these can be
converted in terms of numbers and skills required.
Inventory
After knowing what human resources are required in the
Organization, the next step is to take
stock of the current employees in the Organization. The HR inventory should not
only relate to data concerning numbers, ages, and locations, but also an
analysis of individuals and skills. Skills inventory provides valid information
on professional and technical skills and
other qualifications provided in the firm. It reveals what skills are
immediately available when compared to the forecasted HR requirements.
Audit
We do not live in a static World and our HR resources can
transform dramatically. HR inventory calls for collection of data, the HR audit
requires systematic examination and analysis of this data. The Audit looks at
what had occured in the past and at present in terms of labor turn over, age
and sex groupings, training costs and absence. Based on this information,
one can then be able to predict what
will happen to HR in the future in the
Organization.
HR Resource Plan
Here we look at career Planning and HR plans. People are
the greatest asserts in any Organization. The Organization is at liberty to
develop its staff at full pace in the way ideally suited to their individual
capacities. The main reason is that the Organization’s objectives should be
aligned as near as possible, or matched, in order to give optimum scope for the
developing potential of its employees. Therefore, career planning may also be
referred to as HR Planning or succession planning.
The questions that should concern us are:
a)
Are we making use of the available talent we
have in the Organization, and have we an enough provision for the future?
b)
Are employees satisfied with our care of their
growth in terms of advancing their career?
Assignment of individuals to planned future posts enable
the administration to ensure that these individuals may be suitably prepared in
advance.
Actioning of Plan
There are three fundamentals necessary for this first
step.
1) Know
where you are going.
2) There
must be acceptance and backing from top management for the planning.
3) There
must be knowledge of the available resources (i.e) financial, physical and
human (Management and technical).
Once in action, the HR Plans become Corporate plans.
Having been made and concurred with top management, the plans become a part of
the company’s long-range plan. Failure to achieve the HR Plans due to cost, or
lack of knowledge, may be a serious constraints on the long-range plan. Below
is an illustration of how HR Plan is linked to corporate Plan.
The link between HR Plan and Strategic Management
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT -> HR PLANNING à STRATEGIC PLAN
Organizational goals
Values Organizational
goals
Strong and weak parts
Mission Strong
&weak points
Opportunities and threats Goals and Priorities Opportunities &
threats
Sources of Competitive
advantage
Resource Allocations Source of
Competitive advantage
Identify People related matters Define HR
strategies, Implement Hr
Processes
Goals & plans Policy &
Practices
HUMAN RESOURCES
PLANNING
Bohlander et as (2001)
Monitoring
and Control.
This is the last
stage of HR planning in the Organization. Once the programme has been accepted
and implementation launched, it has to be controlled. HR department has to
make a follow up to see what is happening in terms of the available
resources. The idea is to make sure that
we make use of all the available talents that are at our disposal failure of
which we continue to struggle to get to the top.
Do you have an HR Plan in action?
Let us all check where we are working and see whether
there is really a Human Resource Plan. If its not available, let use try to
develop one and you would see how you will make a difference. It is quite true
that HR plan is the basis of Human Resources Management. If we do not know how
to develop it, then we are not doing an services to our Organizations and our
impact will not be felt in the management pool.
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