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Bsbhrm 513 Manage workforce planning

Diploma of leadership and management (Victoria University)

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BSBHRM513 Manage workforce planning

Assessment 1

1. Explain how the level of competition between companies may affect the supply of
workers in your industry.

Factors that can shift the demand curve for labor include: a change in the quantity
demanded of the product that the labor produces; a change in the production
process that uses more or less labor; and a change in government policy that affects
the quantity of labor that firms wish to hire at a given wage. Demand can also
increase or decrease (shift) in response to: workers’ level of education and training,
technology, the number of companies, and availability and price of other inputs.

2. Explain how the levels of unemployment may affect the supply of workers in your
industry.
If we use wage inflation, or the rate of change in wages, as a proxy for inflation in
the economy, when unemployment is high, the number of people looking for work
significantly exceeds the number of jobs available. In other words, the supply of
labor is greater than the demand for it.

With so many workers available, there's little need for employers to "bid" for the
services of employees by paying them higher wages. In times of high
unemployment, wages typically remain stagnant, and wage inflation (or rising
wages) is non-existent.

In times of low unemployment, the demand for labor (by employers) exceeds the
supply. In such a tight labor market, employers typically need to pay higher wages to
attract employees, ultimately leading to rising wage inflation.

3. Identify five employee rights from the Australian Fair Work Act and explain how
you would ensure that the staff regularly review government policy on labour
demand and supply.

The Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) provides protections of certain rights, including:

 workplace rights
 the right to engage in industrial activities
 the right to be free from unlawful discrimination
 the right to be free from undue influence or pressure in negotiating individual
arrangements.
These rights are protected from certain unlawful actions, including ( but not limited
to):
 adverse action

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 coercion
 misrepresentations
 undue influence or pressure in relation to:
 individual flexibility arrangements under modern awards and enterprise
agreements
 guarantees of annual earnings
 deductions from wages.

4. identify three(3) functions of the Australian Fair Work ombudsman and Fair Work
Commission.

Main role for Australian Fair Work ombudsman is to:

 Promote harmonious, productive and cooperative workplace relations

 Ensure compliance with Australian workplace laws
 Monitor certain 457 and 482 subclass visa arrangements.

The Fair Work Commission is Australia’s national worlplace relations tribunal, Its role
is to assist employees and employers to maintain fair and productive workplaces.
The Commission is an independent body that operates under te Fair Work Act 2009.

Some of its role include:

 setting minimum wages

 creating and changing modern awards
 approving enterprise agreements, and
 acting as the independent umpire in disputes, including unfair dismissal claims.

5. Describe three(3) labour force analysis and forecasting techniques.

Qualitative Forecasting Techniques

Replacement planning, allocation planning and nominal group techniques often work
in combination. Replacement planning is a charting technique that lists each
business role according to department, notes whether the role is currently filled and
if so, provides relevant information about the employee holding the position.
Allocation planning looks to see if staffing needs can be met by reallocating current
employees or if the business needs to access the external labor force. Nominal group
is a team-oriented forecasting technique that provides the forecasting framework.
For example, after conducting replacement and allocation planning, a team that
includes the business owner and department managers can then hold a discussion

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about staffing requirements for the next reporting period and make forecasting
decisions together.

Quantitative Forecasting Techniques

Trend and ratio analyses are two of the most commonly used quantitative
forecasting techniques. Trend analysis is a more suitable technique for an existing
business, because it uses historical staffing and sales data to make forecasting
predictions. Ratio analysis is a forecasting technique that new businesses or those
having less than five years of historical staffing data often use. Ratio analysis uses
sales or service projections to forecast future staffing needs. A business could
determine, for example, it needs two sales associates for every 30 customers and
base forecasting predictions on these numbers.

Small-Business Forecasting Considerations

Large businesses most often conduct HR forecasting annually. This time frame can be
difficult for small businesses that either measure growth using a shorter time period
or do not have enough historical data to rely on to make long-range forecasting
decisions. Adjusting the time frame so forecasting covers a three- or six-month
period can help small businesses with special needs make more accurate HR
forecasts. In addition, large-business HR forecasting techniques often use proprietary
software packages and subscribe to national or international databases for making
“numbers-oriented” quantitative forecasting assessments. Small-business owners
can use the same techniques but at a reduced cost using manual calculations or
spreadsheet software and by getting data from regional or local government offices.

6. Identify five(5) stakeholders who should be informed of workplace planning

Objectives and rationale.

1. Employees directly affected by changes to the workforce

2. Line managers and supervisors directly affected by changes to the workforce
3. Shareholders
4. Employee representative bodies
5. Contractors and suppliers affected by changes to the workforce.

6. Specify five(5) ways of communicating with stakeholders.

1. How to provide feedback
2. Timeline for the implementation
3. Legal rights and obligation
4. The aim and objectives of workforce initiatives, plans or changes
5. How initiative are linked to organizational goals and objectives.

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7. Describe three(3) measures to increase the chances of stakeholders agreeing to

and endorsing workplace planning objectives.

1. clearly communicating how these initiatives align with organisations goals 

2. justifying the costs 
3. showing that initiatives can be implemented with minimal disruption

9. Define what a contingency plan is and provide at least one reason for developing a
contingency plan.

Contingency planning is the process of identifying the ‘next best’ situation. What if
something were to go wrong? What if things don’t go according to plan? What is the
‘next best’ situation?

unexpected staffing shortages due to accidents, illnesses, industrial action

10. Define what succession planning is and provide at least one reason for
developing a succession planning system.

Succession planning is the process of planning for the smooth continuation and
success of an organisation if key employees or leaders leave. It allows for key
employee’s positions to be filled should the employee go on extended leave.
Succession planning involves the identification and preparation of suitable
replacements from within the organisation, through mentoring, training or job
rotation. It focuses on developing high-potential employees. In order to be effective,
succession planning must be an open process that doesn’t alienate employees.

11. Identify three sources of information for Australian businesses to identify labour
supply trends.

 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census and Labour force data

 Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
 Department of Education, Science and Technology

Assessment 2

1. Review and analyse organizational data relating to staff turnover and

demographics. You should identify the levels of turnover rate and issues about
workforce diversity.

Turnover FY 2017-2018(29%)

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Senior manager - 100% male staff

Branch manager - 100% male staff
Line manager - 16.6% male staff
Sales force and customer services - 87.5% female staff
Mechanic - 9% female staff

2. Review organizational strategies and describe what objectives you would establish
about modification or retention of the workforce.

The company’s strategy is to focus solely on retail sales and service and exit the
rentals market. The objective is to ensure it has the right people with the right skills
at the right time to achieve the objective.

3. Review the workforce plan and summaries the main reasons for exiting
employees. What is the main workforce change?

1. Lack of opportunity
2. Better opportunities elsewhere
3. Retirement
4. Other opportunities
5. Unhealthy work culture
6. Lack of recognition

4. Describe 3 possible factors that may affect workforce supply for Mercury’s sales
and mechanics positions.

1. Lack of opportunity
2. Lack of recognition
3. Unhealthy work culture

5. What experience, qualifications, gender, number of staff other factors would

Mercury require for labour needs to ensure a skilled and diverse workforce? Where
could you find this information?

It can be found on table 7 and 8 for the number of mechanics and sales/ customer
service personnel required. Besides, the business has red-flagged sourcing skilled
mechanics with advanced IT and technical skills as a potential risk area foe the
business.

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6. Consider a list of actions for the purpose of addressing unsuitable staff turnover.
Choose one action that best supports agreed objectives. Explain your reason and
create an action plan to implement the action.
Every time an employee leaves an organisation and is replaced, there is the cost of
attracting, recruiting, training, and retaining a new employee.

The action is to providing more learning and development opportunities.

7. Describe two (2) objectives/benefits for Mercury about each area below:

A. Retaining required skilled labour

1. Reduce an organisations’s need to recruit additional employees.
2. Retain employees with the skills, knowledge, capabilities and experience they
need to meet their current and future needs.

B. Having workforce diversity

1. Increased innovation: a diverse workforce means a broad range of ideas,
experience and perspectives
2. Improved customer service: a workforce that reflects the diversity in the
community that the organisation is supporting equity and diversity.

C. Having cross-cultural management

1. Increased adaptability: workers from diverse background will bring individual
talents with them , which will allow the organisation to be flexible and adaptable to
fluctuating markets and customer demands.
2. Broader service range: a diverse collection of languages and cultural
understanding allows the organisation to provide service globally.

8. Summaries the information from Table 3 including areas of over or under supply.

From year 2013 until 2017, there are total of 123 staff being employed and 32
vacancies.

9. Mercury will no longer recruit employees for their rental department. Explain
what potential effects this labour demand change could have on labour supply
trends.
A weakening in the growth of labour demand. 
Decline in the growth of labour supply (aging population).
Slower growth of wages.

10. Describe three(3) strategies to source skilled labour.

1. Internal recruitment
2. Online recruitment
3. Recruitment agencies

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11. When you are solving workforce issues within Mercury, complete the forms
below to develop contingency plans to cope with extreme situations.

Possible situation 1
Unexpected staffing shortages due to accidents

Contingency plan
Maintaining a pool of casual, temporary and/or contract workers ti supplement, or
replace your permanent workforce for short periods.

Possible situation 2
Unexpected rise in customer demand

Contingency plan
Using labour hire organizations who specialize in finding short term employees with
specific skills

Assessment Task 3

Develop a revised workforce plan to meet Mercury’s organisational goals and to

monitor workforce trends. You will need to explain the points below: 
1. Examples of internal and external changes which may prompt you to adjust your
workforce plans 

Workforce plans should be reviewed constantly. They need to be evaluated against

changes in the makeup of the internal workforce and external conditions. A key area
to review is employee turnover. Why are people leaving the organisation? This
changes over time. As your workforce changes, as external conditions change, as
organisational culture and norms change, so do the reasons for leaving. Workforce
plans need to be adjusted in line with this.

2. What the workforce changes are in Mercury 

There are currently not enough quality managers and most of the internal retention
attempts failed.

3. What updated workforce objectives and strategies Mercury would need to deal
with internal and external changes that could affect organisation goals 
A succession management program is going to be established for Senior Manager
and Branch manager roles. An external consultant was engaged to assist with the
initial development, implementation and evaluation.

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Also a global recruitment trend, which means the best matches for the jobs within
the company may not necessarily be people living locally. The values of the diversity
that non-native or non local employees can bring to the organization.

4. Strategies to assist in meeting the organisation's workforce diversity goals

1. Providing coaching and support to workers who were previously disadvantaged in

the workforce.Cross-cultural mentoring and working relationships.
2. Fair and equitable recruitment practices. For example Anti-discrimination and
EEO policies.
3. Incorporate diversity awareness in induction training.
4. Offering flexible working conditions to attract minority groups. For example
parental policies.
5. Providing quality, accessible and affordable child care options. For example
improved accessibility for those who are mobility impaired, prayer rooms.

5. Labour supply trends factors that may affect workforce supply

Globalisation and the rapid advancement of technology are changing the way
organisations can access and utilise labour. Organisations can form virtual teams
with workers based at various demographic locations. Solutions for supply of
workforce may come from accessing and attracting skills workers from other
countries.

6. Demand for labour that will impact on labour supply trends。

Organisations need to monitor the labour market trends and anticipate how they will
impact on their industry. Effective planning for future needs will allow the
organisation to ensure they maintain their workforce. As the labour supply declines,
organisations may need to review their job design and create more flexible roles that
are job share; or part-time; to secure skilled aged workers

7. What you would recommend in response to global recruitment trend

Today’s hiring trends are killing the transactional recruiter. To stay alive
professionally, you have to embrace them. Let artificial intelligence do your tedious
tasks so you can focus on building relationships. Use new tools in your interview
process so you can find top talent faster. Keep your eye on the data so you can make
smarter decisions. Bake diversity into your culture so you can fuel growth. Now that
you’re armed with fresh knowledge about the forces shaping your work, use it to
stay ahead of the game and give your organization a competitive talent advantage.

8. Other examples of global workforce trends 

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In 2008 the world experienced a significant and abrupt economic downturn, in what
is now known as the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The impact of the GFC on some
economies was extraordinary (Greece for example is undertaking very significant
‘austerity measures’ in order to repay very large loans to their European Union
associates). Australia, whilst not untouched by the crisis, has weathered it better
than most. Notwithstanding this, some organisations have collapsed (ABC Learning),
others have survived. Employment types have shifted dramatically from permanent
full time staff to a heavier reliance on contractors and consultants to reduce
overheads and improve flexibility. The GFC impacted on many retirement plans with
older workers needing to remain in the workforce to shore up superannuation losses
on the share market.

9. Your response to potential government policy changes related to

competency, visa requirements or any other incidents in the future.

We need to be aware that there are changes continually occurring. Most

organisations have a specific time period whereby they review their workforce needs
in relation to this area. There is a focus on allowing entry into Australia of target
skilled immigrants rather than individuals who may compete against the domestic
workforce for jobs.

10. How you would evaluate effectiveness of change processes against agreed
objectives.

Reviewing and updating workforce plans regularly is part of the continuous

improvement process. This continuous process is imperative to the successful
operation of an organisation. It is often based on the Kaizan or PDCA cycle and is
integral to quality and quality control.

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