Everything you need to know about the need for human resource planning. Human resource planning or manpower planning is the process of identifying current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals.
HRP is the process by which the management determines how the organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position.
Through planning, management strives to have the right number and the right kinds of people, at the right places, at the right time, doing things which result in both organization and the individual receiving maximum long-run benefit.
Human resource planning serves as a link between human resource management and the overall strategic plan of an organization.
The need for human resource planning arises from the operational needs of an organization and its importance lies in maintaining a sufficient supply of employees, in the right place and time, and at the right cost.
Only through detailed observation and planning of many variables both internal to the organization and external in the wider political, socio-economic environment, management can ensure a reconciliation of labour supply and demand such that difficult unexpected situations are avoided.
The importance and need of human resource planning are as follows:-
1. Determining Recruitment Needs 2. Determining Training Needs 3. Effective Utilization of Human Resources 4. Management Development 5. Balancing the Cost between the Utilization of Plant and Workforce
6. Industrial Relations 7. Replacement of Persons 8. Expansion Plans 9. Labour Turnover 10. Adjustment with Changing Situation and 11. Controlling the Process.
Need and Importance for Human Resource Planning – In Management and Organisations
Need for Human Resource Planning – In Crucial Areas of Management
The purposes of human resource planning in the crucial areas of management are as follows:
1. Determining Recruitment Needs – Human resource planning is needed for determining the recruitment needs so as to avoid the problems of unexpected shortages, wastage, blockages in the promotion flow and needless redundancies.
2. Determining Training Needs – This is fundamentally important to plan training programmes, for which it is necessary to assess not only quantity but also quality in terms of the skills required by the organisation. This can be easily done through human resource planning.
3. Management Development – A succession of trained and experienced managers is essential for the effectiveness of the organisation, and this depends on accurate information about present and future requirements in all management posts, this information is provided by human resource planning.
4. Balancing the Cost between the Utilization of Plant and Workforce – This involves the comparison of the costs of material and human resources in different combinations and choosing the optimum. The information required for the cost of human resource is provided through human resource planning.
5. Industrial Relations – The business plan makes assumptions about the productivity of the human resources which affect the industrial relations. These assumptions about the productivity of human resources are made through the information provided by human resource planning.
6. Replacement of Persons – There is always a need to prepare persons for taking up new positions in case of contingencies. This is due to the reason that a large number of persons are to be replaced in the organisation because of retirement, old age, death, etc.
7. Expansion Plans – Human resource planning is essential for filling the new situations which are created in the organisation due to the execution of the plans of expansion and diversification.
8. Labour Turnover – In every organisation, there is problem of labour turnover but the degree may vary from firm to firm. There will be need to recruit the new persons for the vacant posts, which is done through human resource planning.
Need for Human Resource Planning – For Achieving Various HR Goals
The word ‘resource’ refers to the productive power of natural goods. Human resource is, therefore, the productive power in human beings. The rapidly accelerating pace of industrial development and its impact of growing pressure for change on the organization has made ‘Human Resources Development – HRD ‘or’ people-oriented approach’ the need of the hour for today’s organizations.
Several success stories have reinforced the conviction that it is the people who make the difference between success and failure. With this idea in mind one can easily understand the importance of human resource planning.
The efficient utilization of organizational resources – human, capital and technological, does not happen without the continual estimation of future requirements and the development of systematic strategies designed towards goal accomplishment. Manpower planning is a critical managerial function because it provides management with information on resource flows which is used to calculate, along with other things, the recruitment needs and succession and development plans.
Hence, the importance of manpower planning in reducing shocks in the form of unexpected labour shortages, inefficient and costly surpluses, and needless redundancies, and disturbances within the employment patterns of large organisations is quite evident.
In order to maintain numerically stable employment over time, management requires data on when, where, and how many employees need to be recruited and this is where manpower planning comes in handy.
The task of manpower planning is a difficult and time consuming process involving a considerable amount of research and knowledge of current events which may shape and affect the availability of internal resources and the current stocks of human resources available for recruitment in the local and national labour market.
The need for human resource planning arises from the operational needs of an organization and its importance lies in maintaining a sufficient supply of employees, in the right place and time, and at the right cost.
Only through detailed observation and planning of many variables both internal to the organization and external in the wider political, socio-economic environment, management can ensure a reconciliation of labour supply and demand such that difficult unexpected situations are avoided.
Human resource planning is carried in order to achieve:
i. Recruitment plans to avoid unexpected shortages etc.,
ii. The identification of training needs to avoid skill shortages,
iii. Management development in order to avoid bottleneck of trained but disgruntled management who see no future positions in the hierarchy but also to avoid managerial shortages, which often requires careful planning,
iv. Industrial relations plans often seeking to change the quantity and quality of employees will require careful IR planning if an organization is to avoid industrial unrest.
v. More effective and efficient use of human resources for increased productivity,
vi. More satisfied and better developed employees who participate in planning their own careers, hence, leading to greater employee satisfaction and productivity and lowering of absenteeism, turnover and accidents.
vii. More effective equal employment opportunity planning as a result of necessity for maintaining complete records about the flow and utilization of minority applicants and workers for the use of government reports.
Human resource planning or manpower planning offers a reconciliation of both the individual’s employment and career needs and the operational needs of the organization. According to BRAMHAM (1990) the professional manpower planner should aim to develop with his colleagues co-ordinated personnel policies for the organization which enables it to meet its economic objectives while fulfilling its social responsibilities.
The role of manpower planning within the context of personnel management is that of offering organizations some means by which competing demands, ambitions and values may be reconciled. Good manpower planning involves the recognition of the aspirations for increased responsibility and promotion by individual employees and the desire by employers to keep costs under control and the organization profitable.
Manpower planning also plays an important role in recognizing differing needs, values and ambitions within the employment relationship and in reconciling these ‘conflicts’.
Human resource planning attempts more radically to address the potential and developmental needs of employees in order to foster quality, commitment and productivity in the workforce. The focus of HRP should be on constant change in products, production techniques, sales and quality in order to meet the rapidly changing demands of the ‘customer’ and to keep him happy.
Through strategic and careful human resource planning the individual and the organization can be integrated in such a way that there remains no distinction between the two. The needs and ambitions of the individual are bound with those of the organization. The goals of the organization become the goals of the individual which is primarily to constantly change and adapt and satisfy the needs of the customer.
Need for Human Resource Planning – On Various Occasions
Human resource planning or manpower planning is the process of identifying current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. It is the process by which the management determines how the organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position.
Through planning, management strives to have the right number and the right kinds of people, at the right places, at the right time, doing things which result in both organization and the individual receiving maximum long-run benefit. Human resource planning serves as a link between human resource management and the overall strategic plan of an organization.
Needs of human resource planning are very important to understand, since its necessity found on various occasions.
1. For efficient execution of work, each organisation needs personnel with adequate knowledge, skills and aptitude for work.
2. In the long course of time in an organisation so many people become old, or retire, also may become incapacitated to perform their duties due to physical and such other reasons of health and also may expire too. Such gaps of manpower to be covered as and when arises by proper man-power planning.
3. Human resource planning is required frequently due to labour turnover, like voluntary quits, discharges, marriages, promotion, transfer, etc., create constant variations in the work force in an organisation.
4. When an organisation expands its business activities at different places, it necessitates additional man power to meet the emerging needs of such situations.
5. In case of change in technological field, the existing work group is organisation may not be suitable to handle the situation. For such time skilled personnel are required to work and the unskilled workers can be given training locally or else where such facilities are available. On such occasions back up arrangements have to be provided by the management to the organisation to continue the work system.
6. Facilitates control – Planning expresses goals and targets in numerical data and as such, it supplies the standard for subsequent work performance. A good planning system fixes the ‘starting’ and ‘finishing’ tunes for each operation so as to control actions of different employees. As control is to confirm the plans, there can be no real control without planning.
Need for Human Resource Planning – With Reasons
Human resource planning is deemed necessary for all organisations for one or the other of the following reasons:
(i) To carry on its work, each organisation needs personnel with the necessary qualifications, skills, knowledge, work experience and aptitude for work. These are provided through effective manpower planning.
(ii) Since a large number of persons have to be replaced who have grown old, or who retire, die or become incapacitated because of physical or mental ailments, there is a constant need for replacing such personnel. Otherwise, the work would suffer.
(iii) Human resource planning is essential because of frequent labour turnover which is unavoidable and even beneficial because it arises from factors which are socially and economically sound such as voluntary quits, discharges, marriage, promotions; or factors such as seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in business which cause a constant ebb and flow in the workforce in many organisations.
(iv) In order to meet the needs of expansion programmes human resource planning is unavoidable. It becomes necessary due to increase in the demand for goods and services with growing population, a rising standard of living — larger quantities of the same goods and services are required.
(v) The nature of the present workforce in relation to its changing needs also necessitates the recruitment of new labour. To meet the challenge of a new and changing technology and new techniques of production, existing employees need to be trained or new blood injected in an organisation.
(vi) Manpower planning is also needed in order to identify areas of surplus personnel or areas in which there is a shortage of personnel. If there is a surplus, it can be redeployed; and if there is shortage, it may be made good.
The objective of human resource planning is to maintain and improve the organisation’s ability to achieve its goal by developing strategies that will result in optimum contribution of human resources.
For this purpose, Stainer recommended the following nine strategies for the manpower planners:
(a) They should collect, maintain and interpret relevant information regarding human resources;
(b) They should report periodically manpower objectives, requirements and existing employment and allied features of manpower;
(c) They should develop procedures and techniques to determine the requirements of different types of manpower over a period of time from the standpoint of organisation’s goals;
(d) They should develop measures of manpower utilisation as component of forecasts of manpower requirements along with independent validation;
(e) They should employ suitable techniques leading to effective allocation of work with a view to improving manpower utilisation;
(f) They should conduct research to determine factors hampering the contribution of the individuals and groups to the organisation with a view to modifying or removing these handicaps;
(g) They should develop and employ methods of economic assessment of human resources reflecting its features as income-generator and cost and accordingly improving the quality of decisions affecting the manpower;
(h) They should evaluate the procurement, promotion and retention of the effective human resources; and
(i) They should analyse the dynamic process of recruitment, promotion and loss to the organisation and control these processes with a view to maximising individual and group performance without involving high cost.
Human resource planning is the responsibility of both the line and the staff manager. The line manager is responsible for estimating manpower requirements. For this purpose, he provides the necessary information on the basis of the estimates of the operating levels. The staff manager provides the supplementary information in the form of records and estimates.
The staff manager is expected to:
(i) Report about manpower utilisation in the present and the past;
(ii) Provide help and advice managers on the assessment of manpower utilisation and to develop sources of information and techniques for purposes of comparison;
(iii) Administer the procedure of forecasting or objective setting;
(iv) Present the overall forecasts of departmental managers; and
(v) To advise line managers on forecasting techniques.
Need for Human Resource Planning – Why HRP is Attracting Attention in Recent Years?
The pace at which changes are occurring in the 21st century has made the business environment of organisations more complex and dynamic as compared to what it used to be a decade or two earlier. Some people have even questioned whether it is possible for organisations to develop future business plans when so many unexpected changes are happening in the present age of discontinuous change!
No matter what some people may say, planning remains critical, though more challenging and demanding better expertise than in the past. Since all the changes in the business environment have implications for HRM, HRP assumes added significance.
HRP plays a crucial role in the future success or failure of an organization. It is a sub-system in the total organizational planning.
HRP is attracting the attention of the management in recent years due to following reasons:
1. Limit the size of the organization and avoid surplus personnel.
2. Frequent employee’s turnover which is unavoidable activity.
3. The change of the speed of technology and new techniques of production.
4. Irregular age distribution of employees of the organization.
5. The expansion programmes or growth of the organization.
6. The lead time for obtaining the required personnel in the organization.
7. The control labour cost as well as the total budget of the organisation.
8. The initiating systematic and scientific recruitment process in the organization.
Need of Human Resource Planning – Estimation of Manpower Requirement, Effective Utilization of Human Resources, Improving Skill and Ability and a Few Others
Human resource planning is an important function of human resource management. It helps in estimating the future manpower requirement of the organisation.
The importance and need of human resource planning are as follows:
1. Estimation of manpower requirement – HRP helps the management of the organization in meeting the future demand of human resource in the organization with the supply of the appropriate people in appropriate numbers at the appropriate time and place.
2. Effective utilization of human resources – HRP ensures optimum utilization of human resources by balancing the demand and supply of work force. It avoids imbalances in distribution and allocation of human resources.
3. Improving skill and ability – HRP provides scope for advancement and development to existing workforce through training and development. This improves employee’s personal skill and ability and also benefits the organisation in meeting the future needs of highly skilled employees of the organisation. It creates a pool of skilled talented personnel.
4. Ensuring supply of required work force – HRP assures continuous and uninterrupted supply of required work force in right time and at the right job.
5. Reducing labour cost – HRP helps in reducing the labour cost through optimum utilization of human resources. A proper planning helps to identify the unused resource that can be put to best use. Developing the existing man power through training and development programme to fulfill future needs reduces labour cost related to new appointment.
6. Adjustment with changing situation – HRP helps the organisation to cope with the changing internal and external environmental situation. Changes in organisation structure, business expansion and diversification plans, changes in technology, government regulations, retirement, layoff, attrition have an impact on the job requirement which in turn impacts human resource requirement. An effective planning helps to cope with changing circumstances.
7. Controlling the process – Human resource planning identifies the strength and weaknesses of its employees, their achievements and their contribution towards the organisational goals. The effectiveness of the personnel policies that are in operation are also analysed and corrective measures are taken to improve the same.
Need of Human Resource Planning
Human resource planning (manpower planning) gives a detailed human resource plan. If the available supply of human resource is less than the demand of human resource, then more persons need to be recruited in the organisation and vice versa. Human resource plan details about the number and kind of persons required.
Human resource planning is the process by which an organisation achieves its desired manpower.
Human resource planning is required for following purposes:
1. To carry out the organisational activities, right number of right kind of people are required at right place and at right time which are made available by effective human resource planning.
2. Human resource planning is required to replace those who leave the organisation due to prolonged illness, death, retirement, etc. If they are not replaced, jobs will suffer.
3. Whenever a business plans for expansion or diversification, human resource planning is required. It becomes inevitable to recruit more persons because size of organisation and demand for goods & services increases after expansion or diversification.
4. To adopt a new technology in organisation, existing employees are provided training and new blood is injected in organisation i.e., new employees are recruited.
5. Business environment is dynamic and needs of business keep changing. To meet the changing needs of business, new appointments are to be made.
6. Human resource planning is continuously required so that organisation can maintain pace with factors such as seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in business, voluntary quits and marriages etc.
7. Human resource planning is required to identify the areas where personnel are in surplus and the areas in which there is shortage.
8. Human resource planning is needed to link the human resources with organisational structure/design.
9. Human resource planning is required to ensure high productivity of labour.
Need for Human Resource Planning – Top 10 Facts Assessing the Need for HRP
The need of HRP would be assessed through the following facts:
(1) Though there is an unemployment problem but still there is acute shortage of skilled, trained, qualified, capable, intellectual employees therefore HRP is essential.
(2) For growing or expanding business require a large number of personnel, so proper HRP is required.
(3) For effective recruitment and selection policy, future need of personnel may be predicted by manpower planning only.
(4) Due to the new, growing challenges in science and technology, moreover challenges of globalization, liberalization, privatization and computerization, the business, organisation requires new breed of manpower to meet all these challenges.
(5) In todays competitive world, the organisation has to reduce the labour cost by effective use of manpower, this can be done by manpower planning.
(6) To increase labour efficiency and productivity, HRP is necessary
(7) HRP is essential for smooth supply of workforce according to the demand of the organisation and to maintain the level of productivity.
(8) The government policy regarding employment does not permit any employer to throw their employees from the organisation once they are recruited. Therefore it is necessary to recruit and select the employees according to needs shown in manpower planning. That is why a well planning of manpower is required.
(9) An effective manpower planning can only help the organisation make its employee development programmes effective.
(10) A sound and effective manpower planning may help the management in developing the good employer employee relationship.
Need for Human Resource Planning – Significance of Manpower Planning
Human Resource may be defined as the quantitative and qualitative measurement of workforce required in an organisation. Whereas planning may be defined as determining the workforce requirements to achieve the objectives of the organisation.
In other words, human resource planning may be defined as a process by which the management ensures the right number of people and the right kind of people at the right place at the right time doing the right things for which they are best suited for the achievement of organisational objectives.
It is the process of developing and determining objectives, policies and procedures of procurement of manpower.
In the words of Dale S. Beach, “Manpower planning is a process of determining and ensuring that the organisation will have an adequate number of qualified personnel.”
The need and significance of manpower planning are as follows:
1. Right Kind of Personnel – Manpower (human resource) planning help in procuring personnel with the qualification, skills, knowledge, work experience and aptitude for work.
2. Smooth Operation – It helps in personnel selection and development as it ensures that adequate persons are selected well in advance so that they may be developed for anticipated openings. This would ensure smooth operations of the organisation.
3. Full Utilisation of Plant – Shortage or surplus of manpower in various departments will be revealed by manpower planning. Corrective steps can be taken in time.
4. It reduces labour costs by avoiding surplus of manpower. Overstaffing can be known quickly and steps taken accordingly.
5. It facilitates growth and diversification of business. Suitable employees are made available to handle new jobs. Adequate arrangements can be made to ensure the availability of technical personnel.
6. It leads to a greater awareness of the importance of sound manpower management throughout the organisation.
7. It serves as tool to evaluate the effect of alternative manpower actions and policies.
Need for Human Resource Planning – Why is Human Resource Planning Essential for Every Organisation?
HRP can be comprehended as the process of developing and determining objectives, policies, and programs to procure, develop, utilize, and retain human resource for achieving the goals and objectives of an organization. Many renowned authors have defined HRP in different ways.
Vetter has defined human resource planning as, “the process by which management determines how an organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position.”
According to Decenzo and Robbins, “Human resource planning is the process by which an organization ensures that it has the right number and kind of people, at the right place, at the right time, capable of effectively and efficiently completing those tasks that will help the organization achieve its overall objectives.”
HRP is essential for every organisation because:
1. It helps in detailing the number and kind of personnel required for carrying out the operations or rendering services or conducting business in an organisation.
2. It spells out the qualifications, skills, expertise, knowledge, experience, physical abilities, occupation groups and so on of personnel required in an organisation.
3. It gives adequate lead time for recruitment, selection, training and development of personnel because it anticipates the need for various types of skill requirement and levels of personnel, well in advance.
4. It can be effective in reducing the cost of production as through it, the labour can be effectively controlled and utilised.
5. There is a constant need for replacing people who retire, die, resign or get physically incapable of reporting for duty, or are promoted or dismissed.
6. It is essential for meeting the fresh demands of personnel caused due to business growth or expansion of the organisation.
7. There may be a need for appointing new hands from external sources or for imparting vigorous training in the case of drastic technological changes. Such problems can be tackled through HRP.
8. It also helps in detecting the surplus or shortage of skills and knowledge and suggesting solutions to such problems.
9. It is essential to make training and development programmes more effective.
10. Through HR inventory, the organisation can get information for the internal succession of key personnel in the case of sudden turnover of such personnel.
11. It helps an individual employee to improve his/her education, knowledge, skills and concepts and utilise his/her capabilities and potential in the best possible manner.
It is the responsibility of the HR department to prepare an HR plan in consultation with the heads of all major departments and the top management. However, as in the case of other types of plans, though the overall responsibility of the HRP rests on the shoulders of the top management, it is the HR department which owns the responsibility to prepare the HR plan in consultation with various departmental heads and top management.
The HR department is responsible to prepare short-term, medium-term and long-term HR plans, keeping in view the HR needs of the organisation over a period of time. It is the responsibility of the HR department to get the objectives set by the top management, to collect and analyse data relating to HRP, to provide necessary research and development and to keep effective control over the execution of HRP.