Notes of HRM Unit No. 02 (HRP)

 Unit No. 02

Human Resource Planning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human Resource Planning

Meaning

Human= employees/workers

Resource= assets of the organization

Planning= deciding in advance

Right person--------- At right place------------ At the right time

Human Resource Planning is a process that forecasts the workforce required for the future to achieve the objectives of an organization. HRP ensures the right number and kind ( skilled) of people at the right places, at the right time, and doing the right things to achieve organizational objectives.

HRP is a process of acquiring and utilizing human resources in an organization. it is always based on forecasting and predicting the future. it is also manpower planning or workforce planning Personnel planning or employment planning or labor planning or staff planning.

Definition

According to Robbins

 “ The process by which an organization ensures that it has the right number and kind of people at the places, at the right time, capable of effectively and efficiently completing those task the will help the organization achieve its overall objectives.”

 According to Mondy et

Human resource planning is a systematic analysis of HR needs in order to ensure that the correct number of employees with the necessary skills are available when they are required.

Features of Human Resource Planning

The major features of HRP are as:

 

Future-oriented

HRP is a forward-looking function or future-oriented. it tries to assess human resource requirements in advance.

Changing with organizational needs

The HR plan is subject to revision and is tuned to the requirements of an organization from time to time.

Integral Part

It is an integral part of the overall corporate plan. Without a corporate plan, there can be no manpower plan.

Proactive

Internal, as well as external changes impacting the organization, are assessed from time to time so that the HR plan would fit in with strategic business objectives.

Get qualified people at the right time 

The focus of the plan is always on getting the right number of qualified people into the organization at the right time.

Continuous process

HRP is an ongoing or continuous process because the demand for and the supply of human resources undergo frequent changes. It is not static. It is subject to change in accordance with the needs of the organization and changing environment.

Long-term or Short term

HR planning may be long-term or short-term.

Dynamic process

HR planning is a dynamic process that is updated and revised according to the need of the organization.

Prepare people for future

People can be trained, motivated, and developed in advance and this helps in meeting future needs for high-quality employees.

Reduction in labor turnover

Labor turnover can be reduced by proper manpower planning.

Goal oriented

That process helps to supply the right people for the right job.

Objectives of HRP

The main objectives of HRP are as:

Forecast Personnel Requirement

HRP is essential to determine the future manpower needs of an organization. In the absence of such a plan, it would be difficult to have the services of the right kind of people at the right time. If HRP is not done effectively, it can lead to overstaffing or understaffing.

Cope with Changes

HRP is required to cope with changes in market conditions, technology, products, and government regulations in an effective way. HRP should ensure that even during such times of change the organization should not suffer due to the non-availability of qualified people. These changes may often require the services of people with technical knowledge and training.

Use existing Manpower Productively

By keeping an inventory of existing personnel in an organization by skills, level, training, educational qualifications, and work experience; it will be possible to utilize the existing resources more usefully in relation to the job requirements. This also helps in decreasing wage and salary costs in the long run.

Promote Employees in a Systematic manner

HRP provides useful information on the basis of which management decides on the promotion of eligible personnel in the organization. In the absence of a Human resource plan, it may be difficult to ensure regular promotions to competent people on a justifiable basis.

Identifies Forecast Demand

HRP identifies the human resource needs of the organization based on strategic goals (forecasting workforce demand)

Identifies Forecast Supply

HRP helps us to understand the talent that we already have and become familiar with the talent we need (forecasting workforce supply)

Identifies Supply Market

Make sure we are up-to-date on the labor market, e.g. the talent that is available to us now and in the future.

Modifying Human Resource Policies, Procedures, and Practices

HRP helps us to create or modify human resource policies, procedures, and practices to align the demand and supply of human resource talent in the organization.

Provides right people

HRP provides the right people with the right capabilities at right time and at the right place.

Realizing the Organizational goals

The basic aim of HRP is to have an accurate and optimum number of employees at any given point in time. They should have the skills required to accomplish each job to meet the organizational objectives.

Importance of HRP

The importance of Human resource planning can be judged through the following points

To determine future employee needs

An organization wants to know future employee needs that what types of employees are needed.

How many employees are needed for the next month or next year?

To get the answers to the two questions correctly it is essential to do HRP. Without HRP, the organization will not be able to determine employees’ needs for the future.

 

Management of development programs

HRP decides upon the need for management development programs and facilitates to conduct of the same more effectively and efficiently.

To control employee cost

Through HRP, it is possible to know in advance about employee surpluses or shortages, which may occur in the future. Hence, it is possible for the organization to get prepared in advance in order to prevent from occurring surpluses or shortages of employees.

To develop high-talent employees

Generally, there is a scarcity of highly competent/talented employees in the market. The lead time that is required to procure, train, and develop such employees is long. Successful HRP provides an adequate lead time for the procurement, training, and development of such employees.

To formulate and implement a strategic plan

Modern competitive organizations engage in strategic planning which results in a strategy that is the organization's long-term plan. In fact, a strategic plan involves long-term decisions to achieve the organization’s vision, mission, and strategic objectives. HRP provides information inputs for strategic planning efforts. It will show human resource strengths and weaknesses, which will be useful for developing the long-term plan.

Preparing employees for future challenges

Human resource planning leads to systematic employee development and prepares people to face future challenges.

Bridging the gap

HRP plays an important role in bridging the gap between the demand and supply of the workforce in an organization.

 

 

Uncertainty Reduction

This is associated with reducing the impact of uncertainty, which is brought about by unsudden changes in the procedures of human resource management in the organization.

Helps to win government contracts

Thousands of companies and not-for-profit organizations sell products and services to the government. To bid for government contracts, a firm must supply detailed information on its manpower resources. To be competitive, it must plan for and develop appropriate human resources.

Foundation for human resource functions

Human resource planning provides essential information for designing and implementing human resource functions such as recruitment, selection, and personnel movement (transfers, promoting, layoffs, and training and employee development).

Factors affecting the Human Resource Planning

Several factors affected HRP. These factors can be classified into two groups:

1. External factors

2. Internal factors

External factors

Government Policies

Policies of the government like labor policy, industrial relations policy, policy reserving certain jobs for different communities and sons of the soil, etc. affect the HRP.

Level of Economic Development

The level of economic development determines the level of HRP in the country and thereby the supply of human resources in the future in the country.

 

Business Environment

External business environmental factors influence the volume and mix of production and thereby the future demand for human resources.

Level of technology

The level of technology determines the kind of human resources required.

International factors

International factors like the demand for resources and supply of human resources in various countries.

Internal factors

Company policies and strategies

Company policies and strategies relating to expansion, diversification, alliances, etc. determine the human resource demand in terms of quality and quantity.

Job analysis

Fundamentally, a human resource plan is based on job analysis, job description, and job specification to determine the kind of employees required.

Trade Unions

The influence of trade unions regarding the number of working hours per week, recruitment sources, etc. affect the HRP.

Human Resource Planning Process

Organizations need to do human resource planning so they can meet business objectives and gain a competitive advantage over competitors. Human resource planning is the process of forecasting the organization’s demand for and supply of manpower needs in the near future.

HRP process consists on the following steps

1. Determining the objectives of HRP

The foremost step in every process is the determination of the objectives for which the process is carried out. Determines what the organization wants to achieve in the future, how it intends to accomplish this, and how HR efforts will contribute to it. And design the HRP objectives and policies in the direction of the organization's goals such as enhancing operations, increasing company efficiency, expanding market share, and improving customer satisfaction.  So, as to ensure that the right number of people for the right kind of job is selected. The objectives can vary across the several departments in the organization such as the personnel demand may differ in marketing, finance, production, and HR department based on their roles or function.

Example: An organization wants to improve customer satisfaction, and they need a 24/7 call center to do it.

2. Analysis Current Manpower Inventory

Before you go forward with a plan for the future, the next step is to analyze the current manpower supply in the organization through stored information about the employee in terms of their experience, proficiency, skills, etc. required to perform a particular job. The organizational chart can help you.

Also, future vacancies can be estimated, so, as to plan for the manpower from both internal (within the current employees) and external (hiring candidates from outside) sources.

4. Analysing the Manpower Gaps

The manpower gaps can be easily evaluated through forecasting. In case the demand is more than the supply of human resources that means there is a deficit, and thus, new candidates are to be hired. Whereas, if the demand is less than the supply, there arises a surplus in human resources, and hence, the employees have to be removed either in the form of termination, retirement, layoff, transfer, etc.

5. Employment Plan/Action Plan

Once the manpower gaps are evaluated, the action plan is to be formulated accordingly.

In the case of deficit, the firm may go either for recruitment, training, or interdepartmental transfer plans. Whereas in the case of a surplus, voluntary retirement schemes, redeployment, transfer, and layoff could be followed.

6. Training and Development

After the employment plan, the training programs are conducted to equip the new employees as well as the old ones with the requisite skills to be performed on a particular job.

7. Appraisal of Manpower Planning/feedback

Finally, the effectiveness of the manpower planning process is to be evaluated. Here the human resource plan is compared with its actual implementation to ensure the availability of a number of employees for several jobs. At this stage, the firm has to decide on the success of the plan and control the deficiencies, if any.

Thus, human resource planning is a continuous process that begins with the objectives of human resource planning and ends with the appraisal or feedback and control of the planning process.

One of the first Russian industrial-organizational psychologists to introduce job analysis was Morris Viteles. In 1922, he used job analysis in order to select employees for a trolley car company.

Job analysis is an important step in ensuring that the right candidate is selected. Job analysis helps the employer in recruitment and selection, performance management, choosing compensation and benefits, etc. it helps the employees to have a clear picture of what is actually required of them.

 Job

When the total work to be done is divided and grouped into positions is called a Job. Group of positions involving some duties, responsibilities, knowledge, and skills. It is personal.

 

Analysis

Analysis means the careful examination of the different parts or details of something.

Position

Position means a collection of tasks and duties. Position refers to one or more duties performed by one person in an organization. There are at least as many positions as there are workers in the organization. The position is personal.

Duty

Duty means sequences of tasks. What is the task that the worker performed?

Task

Task means work or activities. Activities performed from start to end.

Example: typing a letter, preparing a lecture, or unloading a mail truck.

Responsibility

An obligation to perform certain tasks and duties.

Example: typing a letter, preparing a lecture, or unloading a mail truck.

Job Analysis

Process of collecting information about a job. Anatomy of jobs. It refers to the formal and detailed study of a job. Job analysis is the process of collecting job-related information.

Job analysis is a process of understanding, collecting, and analyzing relevant facts about a job and the characteristics of the person who is likely to perform the job. Placing the right person in the right job.

When Job Analysis is performed

1. When the organization is established.

2. When new jobs are created

3. When jobs are changed significantly as a result of new technologies, methods, procedures, or systems.

 

According to Edwin B. Flippo

A process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job.

It is the detailed and systematic study of jobs to know the nature and characteristics of the people to be employed for each job.

The process of job analysis is based on data analysis.

The data is mostly related to:

Duties

Responsibilities

Operations of a job

Material and equipment required in a job

The systematic process of collecting information on the nature of a job, qualities, and qualifications required for a job, physical and mental.

Example

An organization needs candidates for the marketing department for the salesman.

So, the organization analysis the required talent for the job of a salesman.

Product/Component/Element of Job Analysis

The are two main components of job analysis

1. Job Description

2. Job Specification

Job Description

Job= job is a group of tasks to be performed every day.

Description= to describe the job.

Job description means information related to the job description is a written summary of tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job. It is a written statement mentioning the duties and responsibilities of a specific job. It also mentions the working condition, hazards, stress, and other problems include in a job and the relationship with another job.

According to Edwin b. Flippo

A job description is an organized, factual statement of the duties and responsibilities of a specific job.

The main objective of the job description is to segregate one job from another.

It is required to prepare a job description before a vacancy is advertised because it tells, in brief, the nature and type of job. Job description usually forms the basis of the job specification.

For example, a news photographer’s job requires the jobholder to use a camera to take photographs.

Content

1. Job identification – It may include the job title, alternative titles, department, division, plant, the unit where it exists, the code number of the job, and so on.

2. Job summary – It is a condensed statement of the primary functions of the job. It may also include a short definition which may be useful as additional identification information if the job title is not sufficient for identification of the job.

3. Duties performed – It is a brief description of the functions performed by the employee, that is, what is being done, how it is done, why it is done, and how much percentage of time is to be devoted to each major duty.

4. Machines, tools, and equipment used – The trade names, types, and models of machines, tools, and equipment are also mentioned, for example, working on lathe machines or drilling machines and so on.

5. Working conditions – The conditions in which the jobholder is to work,

6. Relation to other jobs – Whether it is at the horizontal level or otherwise and details about the flow of work and procedures.

7. Organisational relationship – The position or status of the job in the organizational struc­tures; its position in job hierarchy and vertical relationship; the jobs, which are immediately above or below this job; responsibility and accountability to the extent of authority delegated and so on.

8. Hazards involved – Accident risk and health hazards such as nerve strain, eyestrain, physical strain, acid, exposure to weather, and so on.

9. Pay – Method of payment—hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, piece rate—range of pay from minimum to maximum, bonus, and so on required doing the job well.

10. Training and promotion – Whether training or apprenticeship is required; if yes, then of what type and duration, basis and line of promotion.

11. Required qualifications of the worker – Skills, experience, education, mental and physical standards, aptitude, attitude, and so on.

Job Specification or Employee Specification or Man specification

Job Specification means information related to the person to be employed. Job specification is another aspect of job analysis. The minimum skills, education, and experience necessary for an individual to perform a job.

The specification identifies the skills, traits, education, and experience a candidate might need to qualify for that job.

Job specification is defined as a statement about the qualification and characteristics of an employee required to perform the job task in a satisfactory manner. It is derived from job analysis and acts as an important tool for recruitment and selection.

job specification indicates in detail the definite qualities required of the job holder. It may stipulate a specified period of experi­ence in a particular job. It may state physical requirements, such as height, weight, special strength, and others. It may identify the tests to be taken and the required scores. It may specify the general and special educational requirements.

According to Edwin B. Flippo, “A job specification is a statement of minimum acceptable human qualities necessary to perform a job properly.”

 

Content

Following is the important content of the job specification

Education, training, experience, aptitude, etc. required for a particular job.

Educational Qualification: This part covers the desired education of the candidate. Specific terms, such as graduate, and post-graduate can be used here. The stream of education should be mentioned, along with the necessary grades, which are required. Many companies also provide notes in terms of over-qualification like- MBA is not required or graduates should not apply in the job specification.

Experience: Job specification should clearly highlight the required experience in a precise domain to perform the job. It includes details such as experience required in which industry, number of years of experience, position, and domain. For a higher job profile, managerial or team-handling experience is often required by the organization.

Skills & Knowledge:  This section explains the skills such as communication skills, leadership quality, team management, and many more which are necessary for the given job role. The term knowledge includes market knowledge, domain knowledge, and computer language knowledge based on the profile.

Personality traits and characteristics: Here situational-based traits and characteristics are covered. The way the person should handle the complex situation in the organization, and the generic behavior of the candidate are covered in this section. Emotional intelligence has also been given importance in this section of the job specification.

Process of Job Analysis

Where to place the employees in order to best utilize their skills and talent?

How to determine the need for new employees in the organization/

How to eliminate unneeded jobs?

How to set realistic performance measurement standards?

Process of Job Analysis

The steps involved in Job Analysis are:

1. Information Collection

Before starting the job analysis process, the job analyst first identifies the requirements that the organization looking for.  This is the first step of job analysis under which required information on various aspects of jobs is collected. Information is obtained through different methods such as interviews, observations, questionnaires, critical incidents, etc. It is associated with the preparation of plans and programs and the assignment of responsibilities to the concerned person.

2. Review Background Information

This second step, under which the previously collected information is reviewed to design organizational charts, current position descriptions and specifications, procedures, manuals, and process charts.

How to identify the jobs and prepare a plan to fill them?

3. Selection of Representative Position to be analyzed

This is 3^rd step in process of Job Analysis. Analyzing all jobs at a time is a complex and costly affair. So, only a representative sample of jobs is selected for the purpose of detailed analysis. For example, clerical jobs, managerial jobs, division-specific jobs, etc.  Under it, the job analyst investigates to determine which organization managers or employees require job analysis.  He should also determine for what purpose the job must be analyzed.

4. Analysis of the job by collecting Data

Under this step of the job analysis process, a job analyst obtains the data and information related to the selected job. The information is collected on the job activities, required employee behaviors, working conditions, human trials and qualities, abilities to perform the job, and other various dimensions of the job.

 

5. Develop a Job Description

In this step of job analysis, a job description schedule is developed through the information collected in the above step.  This is the written statement, which describes the prominent characteristics of the job along with duties, location, and degree of risk involved in each job.

6. Develop Job Specification

This is the last step in the job analysis process. Under this, a detailed specification statement is prepared to show the minimum requirement of each job. A job specification summarizes the personal qualities, traits, skills, knowledge, and background required to perform specific tasks. It also involves the physical and psychological attributes of the incumbent.

Methods of Job Analysis

1. Observation Method

It is the oldest and most popular method used in Job Analysis. This method is simple and can be in combination with other methods. In this method, the employee doing the job are observed by trained job analysts. They record the relevant points of the job. The notes might include what was done and how it was done.

Direct observation of staff performing their job helps to obtain firsthand knowledge. This method is very useful for routine types of jobs only not suitable for complicated jobs. A video film can also be prepared for observation.

Example: The jobs of draftsman, Mechanic, Spinner or Weaver, etc.

2. Interview Method

In this method, the analyst interviews the jobholder and his/her supervisor to obtain information about the job. During the interview, the analyst must make judgments about the information to be included and its degree of importance.  This method is found suitable particularly for jobs wherein direct observation is not feasible. The interview method is time-consuming and costly.

3. Questionnaire Method

In this method, the employee is given a structured questionnaire to fill in, which is then returned to the supervisor.  The supervisor after making the required and necessary corrections in the information contained in the questionnaire submits the corrected information to the job analyst. The questionnaire provides comprehensive information about the job. The method is time-consuming. The drawback of this method is more incomplete forms and inaccurate information is given by the employees about their job profile can lead to failure of job analysis.

4. Critical Incident Method

A critical means important and an incident means anything, which takes place on the job.  In this method, the employee is asked to write one or more critical incident that has taken place on the job.  The incident will explain the problem, how it is handled, qualities required and difficulty levels, etc. The critical incident method gives an idea about the job and its importance.

5. Diary Method

Under this method, the organization can ask the employees to maintain log records or daily diaries, and job analysis can be done based on information collected from the record. A log record is a book in which employee records/writes the activities performed by him on the job. In this method, the worker does the work himself, and the idea of the skill required, the difficulty level of the job, and the efforts required can be known easily. Precious time is wasted in maintaining the diaries.

6. Technical Conference Method

This is another important method of job analysis. Under this method, the organization uses the services of the experts; supervisors possessing extensive knowledge about a job are used with the help of conferences. In this conference organized by the job analyst, the supervisor provides details. This method yields results if supervisors are effective, competent, experienced, and have a great depth of knowledge of their subordinate’s jobs. The collection of job information through this method is time-consuming and expensive.