Human Resource Planning

Chapter 5

Learning Objectives

1. Define human resource planning (HRP).

2. Summarize the relationship between HRP and organizational planning.

3. Explain strategy-linked HRP.

4. Identify the steps in the HRP process.

5. Describe the different methods used for forecasting human resource needs.

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Learning Objectives (cont.)

6. Discuss the purpose of a skills inventory.

7. Describe succession planning.

8. Define a human resource information system (HRIS).

9. Differentiate between the Internet and an intranet.

10.Explain what Web 2.0 is.

11.Define the concept “software as a service.”

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Human Resource Planning

Human resource planning (HRP)

└ Process of determining the human resource needs of an organization and ensuring that the organization has the right number of qualified people in the right jobs at the right time

└ “Workforce planning”

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Human Resource Planning

Need for HRP is due to the significant lead time that normally exists between the recognition of the need to fill a job and securing a qualified person to fill that need.

Not always possible to go out and find an appropriate person overnight.

Effective HRP can reduce turnover by keeping employees apprised of their career opportunities within the company.

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How HRP Relates to Organizational Planning

Success of HRP depends on how closely the human resource department can integrate effective people planning with the organization’s business planning process

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How HRP Relates to Organizational Planning

To accomplish this, the planning process should provide:

A clear statement of the organization’s mission

A commitment from staff members to the mission

An explicit statement of assumptions

A plan of action in light of available or acquirable resources, including trained and talented people

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How HRP Relates to Organizational Planning

A common error occurs when human resource planners focus on short-term replacement needs and fail to coordinate their plans with strategic and long-term plans of the organization

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Linking HRP to the Business Strategy

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Table 5.1

Strategy-Linked HRP

Strategy-linked HRP

└ based on a close working relationship between human resource staff and line managers

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Strategy-Linked HRP

Human resource managers serve as consultants to line managers concerning the people-management implications of business objectives and strategies.

Line managers, in turn, have a responsibility to respond to the business implications of human resource objectives and strategies

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Time Frame of HRP

Organizational plans are frequently classified as:

Short-range (zero to two years)

Intermediate range (two to five years)

Long-range (beyond five years)

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HRP – An Evolving Process

Stage 1

└ Companies have no long-term business plans, and do little or no human resource planning

Stage 2

└ Companies have a long-term business plan, but tend to be skeptical of HRP

Stage 3

└ Companies engage in some aspects of human resource planning, but these efforts are not integrated into long-range business plan

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HRP – An Evolving Process

Stage 4

└ Companies do a good deal of human resource planning, and their top managers are enthusiastic about the process

Stage 5

└ Companies treat human resource planning as an important and vital part of their long-term business plan

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Steps in Human Resource Planning Process

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Figure 5.1

Determining Organizational Objectives

Organizational objectives

└ Statements of expected results that are designed to give the organization and its members direction and purpose.

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Determining Organizational Objectives

Cascade approach to setting objectives

└ Objective-setting process designed to involve all levels of management in the organizational planning process.

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Cascade Approach to Setting Objectives

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Figure 5.2

Environmental Factors Affecting Human Resource Needs

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Government influences

General economic conditions

The competition

Changes in the

workforce

Methods of Forecasting Human Resource Needs

Managerial estimates

└ Judgmental method of forecasting that calls on managers to make estimates of future staffing needs

Scenario analysis

└ Using workforce environmental scanning data to develop alternative workforce scenarios

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Methods of Forecasting Human Resource Needs

Delphi technique

└ Uses a panel of experts to make initially independent estimates of future demand.

└ Intermediary then presents each expert’s forecast and assumptions to the other members of the panel.

└ Each expert is then allowed to revise his or her forecast as desired.

└ Process continues until some consensus or composite emerges.

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Methods of Forecasting Human Resource Needs

Benchmarking

└ Thoroughly examining internal practices and procedures and measuring them against the ways other successful organizations operate.

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Statistical Modeling Techniques Used to Forecast Human Resource Needs

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Determining Additional (Net) Human Resource Requirements

Skills inventory

└Consolidated list of biographical and other information on all employees in the organization

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Skills Inventory Categories

Personal data

Skills

Special qualifications

Salary and job history

Company data

Capacity of individual

Special preferences of the individual

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Skills Inventory

Advantages

└ Furnishes a means to quickly and accurately evaluate skills available within organization

└ Helps determine promotion and transfer decisions

└ Aids in planning future employee training and management development programs

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Determining Additional (Net) Human Resource Requirements

Management inventory

└ Specialized, expanded form of skills inventory for an organization’s current management team

└ usually includes a brief assessment of past performance and potential for advancement.

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Adding Human Resources

Contingency workers and outsourcing have the advantage of allowing the organization to easily accommodate swings in demand for human resources

Agencies often provide both testing and training for employees before they are hired

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Reducing Human Resources - Downsizing

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Layoffs

Terminations

Early retirement

Voluntary resignation

Other Approaches for Reducing Human Resource Costs

Reclassification

Transfer

Work sharing

Job sharing

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Other Approaches for Reducing Human Resource Costs

Reclassification

└ demoting an employee, downgrading job responsibilities, or a combination of the two.

Transfer

└ involves moving the employee to another part of the organization.

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Other Approaches for Reducing Human Resource Costs

Work sharing

└ seeks to limit layoffs and terminations through the proportional reduction of hours among employees

Job sharing

└ occurs when two or more part-time individuals perform a job that would normally be held by one full-time person

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Succession Planning

Succession planning

└ Technique that identifies specific people to fill future openings in key positions throughout the organization.

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Succession Planning

1. Define what competencies people must possess to move the organization forward both now and in the foreseeable future.

2. Focus on critical positions

3. Evaluate the current talent pools; distinguish between current performance and future potential

4. Identify individual development needs.

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Human Resource Information System (HRIS)

Human resource information system (HRIS)

└ A database system that contains all relevant human resource information and provides facilities for maintaining and accessing these data.

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Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

Advantages

└ Its potential for producing more accurate and more timely information for operating, controlling, and planning purposes than manual or payroll-based systems can produce

└ Gets rid of paper files usually maintained

└ New software packages are much more user-friendly and, thus, require less training and time to implement

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Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

Disadvantages

└ Its financial cost and labor requirements for implementing system – these problems have greatly diminished as a result of new software

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Applications for HRIS

Clerical

Applicant search expenditures

Risk management

Training management

Training experiences

Financial planning

Turnover analysis

Succession planning

Flexible-benefits administration

Compliance

Attendance reporting and analysis

Accident reporting

Human resource planning

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HR-Related Websites

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Figure 5.5

Intranet and Portal Users

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Figure 5.6

HR and Web 2.0

Web 2.0

└ second generation of Internet use with a focus on user content control, online collaboration, and sharing between users

Web 2.0 technologies can be used to perform background checks and to screen job applicants by looking them up on various social networking sites.

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Software as a Service

Software as a Service

└ Standard business applications that are delivered over the Internet on a pay-as-you- go basis, usually for a monthly subscription fee

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Software as a Service

Benefits

└ No large capital expenditure is required to buy and install equipment

└ There are fewer hassles related to managing the systems

└ Users can be up and running within days, or even hours of signing a contract

Because of these benefits, software as a service has particular appeal to HR applications

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