Human Resource Planning

and Decision making in

Organizations
Session 2
 What Is Human Resource Planning?

The process of forecasting the supply and demand for

human resources within an organization and developing
action plans for aligning the two.
Figure 3.1 The Human Resource Planning
Process
 Human Resource Planning Process
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Strategic Planning

Human Resource Planning

Forecastin Comparing Forecasting

g Human Requirements Human Resource
Availability
Resource and Availability
Requireme
nts
Demand = Surplus of Shortage of
Supply Workers Workers

No Action Restricted Hiring, Recruitment

Reduced Hours,
Early Retirement, Selection
Layoff, Downsizing
 Methods of Human Resource Planning
• Human resource planning is a dynamic process which will
evolve over time depending on the organizational strategy.
• To plan for future uncertainties HR managers need to use
both qualitative (Scenario Planning, Critical Incidence
Technique, Delphi Method and Nominal Group Technique)
and quantitative techniques (Time study, Work Sampling,
Ratio Analysis, Markov Chain Analysis, and Regression
Analysis).
Why Look Ahead and Forecast?
To deal with changes
• External Environmental Situations
• Expansion
• Competition
• Globalisation
• Technological
• Political
• Social
• Economical
• Ecological
• Legal
Purpose of HR Planning
• Recruitment Gaps
• Training and Development
• Staff Costings
• Redundancy
• Collective Bargaining
• Accommodation
Linking Organizational Strategy To HR Planning

STRATEGIC DIRECTION HR LINKAGE

mission determining organization’s

business

objectives and goals setting goals and objectives

strategy determining how to attain goals

and objectives

determining what jobs need to be

structure
done and by whom

matching skills, knowledge, and

people abilities to required jobs
 Requisites For Successful HRP

• HRP must be recognized as an integral part of corporate planning

• Support of top management is essential
• There should be some centralization with respect to HRP responsibilities in
order to have co-ordination between different levels of management.
• Organization records must be complete, up to date and readily available.
• Techniques used for HR planning should be those best suited to the data
available and degree of accuracy required.
• Data collection, analysis, techniques of planning and the plan themselves need to
be constantly revised and improved in the light of experience.
 Barriers To HRP
• HR practitioners are perceived as experts in handling personnel matters, but
are not experts in managing business.
• HR information often is incompatible with other information used in strategy
formulation.
• Conflict may exist between short term and long term HR needs.
• There is conflict between quantitative and qualitative approaches to HRP.
• Non-involvement of operating managers renders HRP ineffective. HRP is not
strictly an HR department function.
 Succession Planning
• Through performance appraisal system companies generally
identify who are the key performers.
• Coaching and Mentoring play a vital role in developing the
successors.
• Special assignments are given to managers so that they can
quickly pick up key responsibilities.
• Identification of successor is made part of the key result area
(KRA) of some of the managers.
 What Job Analysis Does?
• Job Analysis
– Provides fundamental input to the HR manager such as
knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) which are the
fundamental requirements necessary to perform a job.
• Job Families
– Are groups of jobs with similar task and KSA requirements.
 The Job Analysis Process
• Job Analyst
– Is the individual who performs job analysis in an organization.
• Subject Matter Experts (SMEs):
– Are individuals presumed to be highly knowledgeable about a
job and who provides data for job analysis.
– May be an existing job incumbent, supervisor, or other
knowledgeable employee.
Figure 3.4 Job Analysis and Other Human Resource
Functions
Specific Job Analysis Techniques

Narrative Job Functional Job

Analysis Analysis

Fleishman Job Analysis Job Analysis Position Analysis

System Techniques Questionnaire

Task Analysis Management Position

Inventory Description Questionnaire

Critical Incidents
Approach
Job Analysis Techniques
• Narrative Job Analysis
– Has one or more SMEs prepare a written narrative or text
description of the job.
• The Fleishman Job-Analysis System
– Defines abilities as enduring attributes of individuals that account
for differences in performance.
– Relies on a taxonomy of abilities that presumably represents all of
the dimensions relevant to work.
 Job Analysis Techniques (cont’d)
• Task Analysis Inventory
– Is a family of job analysis methods, each with unique
characteristics; each focuses on analyzing all the tasks performed in
the focal job.
• Functional Job Analysis
– Attempts to provide a single job analysis instrument that can be
used with a wide variety of jobs.
Job Analysis Techniques (cont’d)
• Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
– Consists of 194 items reflecting work behavior, working
conditions, or job characteristics that
are assumed to be generalizable across jobs.
• Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPDQ)
– Contains 197 items that analyze how managerial jobs are done in
terms of 13 components considered essential to all managerial
jobs.
• Critical Incidents Approach
– Focuses on critical behaviors that distinguish between effective
and ineffective performers.
What Does a Job Description Do?

Lists the tasks, duties, and responsibilities for a

particular job. It specifies the major job elements,
provides examples of job tasks, and provides some
indication of their relative importance in the effective
conduct of the job.
What Does a Job Specification Do?

Focuses on the individual who will perform the

job and indicates the knowledge, abilities, skills,
and other characteristics that an individual must
have to be able to perform the job.
Figure 3.6 Example Job Description and Job
Specification
 Job Redesign

Job Redesign

Job Job Job

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