CH7: Human resource planning and job analysis

Staffing the organization requires attention to both the number (quantity) and the type (quality)
of people brought into, moved within, and retained by the organization.

Staffing Quantity

The organization as a whole, as well as each of its units, forecasts workforce quantity
requirements and then compares these forecasted with workforce availabilities to determine
the staffing level position.

Staffing level positions

Fully staffed: Head count requirement = workforce available
Under Staffed: Head count requirement > workforce available
Over Staffed: Head count requirement < workforce available

The Basic Elements of Human Resource Planning

(1) Forecast Labor Requirements

(2) Forecast Labor Availabilities
(3) Conduct Environmental Scans
(4) Determine Gaps
(5) Develop Action Plans
Reasons for human resource planning
• Ability to put human resources to strategic use
• Necessary adjustment can be made as soon as problems are identified (increased
flexibility)
• More effective use of available human resources (reduce cost)
• Opportunity to develop high-level personnel to take up positions of those who leave
• Scientific insight into the interaction between business strategy and human resource
• Legal compliance
• Quality of employee work life

HR Forecasting Time Horizons

1. Current forecast: Up to 1 year
2. Short-run forecast: From 1 to 2 years
3. Medium-run forecast: From 2 to 5 years
4. Long-run forecast: For 5 or more years

The longer the timeframe, the more difficult it is to anticipate the different factors that will
affect the planning process

Environmental Factors Affecting HR Forecasting

• Economic situation
• Labour markets and unions
• Government laws and regulations
• Industry and product lifecycles
• Technological changes
• Competitor labour usage
• Global market for skilled labour
• Demographic changes
• Social changes

Skills Inventory: An individualized personnel record held on each employee except those
currently in management or professional positions
1. Personal information
2. Education, training, skill competencies
3. Work history (previous jobs held in the organization)
4. Performance ratings
5. Career information (e.g., future jobs desired & recommended by supervisors)
6. Hobbies and interests (e.g., willingness to relocate
Management Inventory: An individualized personnel record for managerial, professional, or
technical personnel that includes all elements in the skills inventory with the addition of
information on specialized duties, responsibilities, and accountabilities
1. A history of management or professional jobs held
2. A record of management or professional training courses and dates
3. Key accountabilities for the current job (e.g., budget controlled, outcomes responsibility,
number of subordinates
4. Assessment centre and appraisal data
5. Professional and industry association memberships

Human Resources Supply and Demand

 Human resources supply: The source of workers to meet demand requirements, obtained
either internally (current members of the organization’s workforce) or from external
agencies
 Human resources demand: The organization’s projected requirement for human resources

Two Approaches to HR Demand

Quantitative Qualitative
Trend analysis Scenario planning
Ratio analysis Delphi technique
Time series models Nominal group technique
Big Data HR budgets/staffing tables
Regression analysis Scenario planning
Trend analysis Delphi technique

Ascertain HR Supply
 Internal supply: Current members of the organizational workforce who can be retrained,
promoted, transferred, to fill anticipated future HR requirements
 External supply: Potential employees who are currently undergoing training, working for
competitors, are members of unions or professional associations, or are in a transitional
stage, between jobs, or unemployed

Determine Net HR Requirements

 External supply requirements = replacement + change supply components

 Change supply = hiring to increase (or decrease) the overall staffing level
 Replacement supply = hiring to replace all normal losses
 External supply = current workforce size x (replacement % per year + change % per year)
Calculate External HR Supply
External supply = current workforce size x (replacement % per year + change % per year)
If, current workforce = 1000
If, replacement/loss = 11%
If, future growth rate = 7%
EX:
External supply = current workforce size x (replacement % per year + change % per year)
External supply = 1000 (0.11 + 0.07) = 180
Note: When there is reduction of the workforce, the change % per year will be subtracted from
the replacement % per year
External supply = 1000 (0.11 - 0.07) = 40

HR Shortage
 HR shortage: Occurs when demand for HR exceeds the current personnel resources
available in the organization’s workforce (HR internal supply)
 recruitment campaign (required number and qualifications)
 upgrading qualifications of those selected and appointed
 retaining those that are appointed
Demand > Supply

HR Surplus
 HR surplus: Occurs when the internal workforce supply exceeds the organization’s
requirement or demand for personnel
Supply > Demand

Institute HR Programs: HR Shortage and HR Surplus

 Job sharing: Occurs when two or more employees perform the duties of one full-time
position, each sharing the work activities on a part-time basis (allows for retaining the
employee and returning them to full time status once conditions change
 Worksharing: Federal government program that aims to help organizations mitigate
temporary layoffs through redistribution of work, earnings, & leisure (work reduced 20-60%
paid for by Employment Insurance)
 Attrition: The process of reducing an HR surplus by allowing the size of the workforce to
decline naturally because of the normal pattern of losses associated with retirements,
deaths, voluntary turnover, and so on
 Hiring freeze: A prohibition on all external recruiting activities

Job Requirements Job Analysis: Overview

• Definition
• Process of studying jobs to gather, analyze, synthesize, and report information
about job requirements
• Two major forms
• Job requirements
• Specific KSAOs for the job
 • Competency based
• General KSAOs for all applicants
• Has different degrees of relevance to staffing activities
• Support activity for staffing activities
• Provides foundation for successful staffing systems

Steps in job analysis

1. Who should do the job analysis?
Outside consultant
In-house specialist
Supervisors & job incumbents
2. Fit of job into the total organization
organization and process charts
3. How will the results be used
e.g., validation of a selection test – work activities, performance evaluation-
behaviors leading to successful performance
4. Select jobs to by analyzed (all jobs-too expensive, representative sample, when new
jobs introduced or jobs are changed)
5. Collect data
6. Prepare job description and job specifications

J o b A n a ly s is

J o b E v a lu a t io n J o b D e s c r i p t io n J o b S p e c i f i c a t io n s

w C o m p e n s a tio n
w S e le c tio n
w C r i t e ri o n D e v e lo p m e n t w P la c e m e n t
w P e r fo r m a n c e A p p r a is a l
w J o b D e s ig n /R e d e s ig n
w T r a i n in g

Uses of job analysis

 Job analysis can be used to prepare job descriptions. A complete job description contains a
job summary, the job duties and responsibilities, and an indication of working conditions.
 Job analysis is used to write job specifications. The job specification describes the individual
traits and characteristics required to do the job well.
 Job analysis makes it possible to organize and integrate the total workforce based on duties
and responsibilities.
 The staffing programme of an organization rests on the information supplied by the job
analysis.
 The analyst can use the information gathered through job analysis for training and
development purposes (e.g. the training needs of employees, the content of training
courses, and relevant training methods).
 Job analysis supplies the basic data needed to do a job evaluation. Job evaluation is a
systematic process to determine the value of a job relative to all other jobs in an
organization.
 Job analysis is used to determine the criteria and requirements for performance appraisal of
a job holder.
 Job analysis can be used in career development. The movement of individuals into and out
of positions, jobs and occupations is a common procedure in organizations.
 Working conditions and safety can be improved based on the results of a job analysis. The
safety of a job depends on a proper layout, standards, equipment and other physical
conditions.

Knowledge of the Job

1. Job analysis of key components
• Activities
• Tasks
• Products
• Services
• Processes
2. KSAs required to do the job
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Abilities
3. Job Description
• Job duties
• KSAs
• Working conditions

Use a variety of tools

 Interviews
• Structured interviews of incumbents and/or supervisors
• Expensive and time-consuming, answers can be biased (e.g., overstating
difficulty or importance of tasks)
 Observation
• Best for manual, standardized, short job-cycle activities (e.g., assembly-
line worker, insurance claim filing clerk; not good for jobs involving
intangible factors like lawyer or a research scientist)
 Questionnaires (available on the Internet)
• Saves time and money – all employees and supervisors can be surveyed
 • Motivational issues, best if combined with interviews
 Critical Incidents approach
• Employees and supervisors report critical work behaviors and their effects
on reaching their job objectives
o Advantages:
o Focus on actual job behavior
o Provides specific examples of how job must be done
o Employees identify with rating
o Disadvantages:
o Collecting critical incidents can be very time consuming
o Quantification is difficult
o Average worker behavior?
 Job incumbent diary
• Daily recordings of job duties, their frequency, and when they were carried out
• Excellent tool when job is difficult to observe (e.g., scientist, senior executive)
• Daily entries require discipline

Job Analysis Follow-Up

 All incumbents should
• Review information
• Provide feedback
• Rate tasks and KSAs in terms of
 Frequency
 Criticality

Job specifications
Based on job description
o Qualifications, experiences, personal traits needed to perform the job effectively
– necessary for recruitment and selection (next chapter)
• Job analyst judges what competencies are important
o Saves time but tends to be more subjective
• A group of specialists who know the job determine the competencies in behavioral terms
o Requires more time but is less subjective
• Psychometric tests are used to determine job specifications
o Current employees are given psychometric tests
o Tests that discriminate between successful and unsuccessful employees are
identified and used to develop job specifications