Book of managing Human resources

Snell and Bohlander

Chapter 2 – strategy and human resource planning

The three key elements of the human resources planning model are:

1. Forecasting Demand for Human Resources

2. Evaluating or analyzing Supply of Employees
3. Finding a balance between projected Demand and Supply

The final element of the human resources planning model is

to determine how you are going to balance the demand you
have for employees with the supply of employees available. If
you have a shortage of employees, this will determine what
type of recruiting efforts your business will participate in to
attract the employees it needs to fill needs within the
company. It also requires you to balance your full-time and
part-time needs. If you have a surplus of employees, this
requires you to consider employee layoffs, retirements and
situations where employees may need to be demoted or
moved into a lateral position rather than receiving a
promotion.
 In strategic planning, firms analyze the competitive environment
in order to adapt to or influence the nature of competition.
There are five forces: porter five forces
1. Customers
2. Rival Firms
3. New Entrants
4. Substitutes
5. Suppliers

The four criteria highlight the importance of people to met competitive advantages are:
1. Employees shall be valuable: efficiency and effectiveness,
2. Employees shall be rare: knowledge, skills and ability
3. Employees is difficult to imitate: capabilities,
4. Employees shall be well organized: agility, teamworking.
 Ideally, forecasting should include the use of both
quantitative and qualitative approaches. Numbers
without context—including the context supplied by
skilled HR professionals who understand the
business and can analyze and interpret the data—
are less useful. “The most important software is
the one running between your ears,” explains one
HR director about the qualitative nature of
strategic human resources planning.

corporate strategy as domain selection,

business strategy is viewed in terms of domain
navigation, so, firms shall be look at both aspects
where At the business level, the strategies are
more about developing and sustaining competitive
advantage for the products offered by the
enterprise. It is concerned with positioning the
business against competitors, in the marketplace.
Conversely, at the corporate level, the strategy is
all about formulating strategies to maximizing
 profitability and exploring new business
opportunities.

BASIS FOR
BUSINESS STRATEGY CORPORATE STRATEGY
COMPARISON
Meaning Business Strategy is the strategy Corporate Strategy is stated in the mission
framed by the business managers to statement, which explains the business type and
strengthen the overall performance of ultimate goal of the firm.
the enterprise.
Created by Middle level management Top level management
Nature Executive and Governing Decisive and Legislative
Relates to Selection of plan to fulfill the objectives Business selection in which the company should
of organization. compete.
Deals with Particular business unit or division Entire business organization
Term Short term strategy Long term strategy
Focus Competing successfully in the Maximizing profitability and business growth.
marketplace.
Approach Introverted Extroverted
Major strategies Cost Leadership, Focus and Expansion, Stability and Retrenchment.
Differentiation

Through HR planning, firms strive to take proper balance between demand and supply consideration into the basic steps:
1-Corporate strategy in the mission statement will define the strategy such as the expansion, profitability and the like.
2-Business strategy define the strategy to compete in market and product such as cost leadership or differentiation.
3-Forecasting demand based on trend of business activities
4-Determining supply forecasting of the candidate with required qualification to fill positions
 5-Make a balance between demand and supply labor, if you have shortage of demand, go to step 4

Organizational capability is representing the capacity of company to

act and change with the firm’s strategy to achieve the sustainable
competitive advantage which distinguish an organization from its
competitors, one of the most important capability is the intellectual
asset , accordingly HR managers shall enhance such assets by
training ,employees concern, talent acquisition and marketing the
branding
 1-How are gratterpalm’s new HR activities driving business
growth for the company?
The changes implemented by HR made for a better work life
for Gratterpalm’s employees. This resulted in the highest
satisfaction score among Gratterpalm’s employees to date and
cut employee turnover in half. A happier employee translates
to more productive employees which allow a business to grow.

2-Why are basic HR functions sometimes difficult for small firms

to execute? how can they improve their capacity to
successfully implement HR programs?
HR functions are sometimes difficult for small firms to execute
because more often than not
small companies do not have a full-time HR manager. The HR
responsibilities are often left
to someone in the company with limited knowledge of the
complicated requirements.
3-Why does it take time to see results of HR activities?
As HR activities reflect the firm’s HR strategic tool for growth of small
business, it shall take longer time to accommodate new culture
,values for work/life of employees.
1-Why do you think its important for capital one to calculate the
“disengagement” factor of its employees when it comes to
workforce planning?
The of disengagement is very difficult to estimate in which
engagement defined positive attitude and behavior of workforce
towards the firm ’goals and objectives , so capital one is went to the
qualitative method by which planners of capital one surveys the
rational and emotional engagement which affect the current and
future productivity , recruiting ,training and turnover costs
2-What merits do you see to breaking down the planning process by
business units through multiple layers of leaders? do you see any
drawbacks of doing so?
The merit of breaking down the planning process or “decentralizing
“by business units through multiple tiers of leaders that know the
business need and can project their business growth and
Productivity change.
In my opinion, the drawbacks of decentralization of planning
process that might take longer time.