HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING (HRP)

Mondy & Martocchio, (2016) define HRP as the systematic process of matching the internal and
external supply of people with job openings anticipated in the organization over a specific
period of time.
According to Armstrong, (2014), HRP /Workforce planning is a core process of human resource
management that is shaped by the organizational strategy and ensures the right number of people with
the right skills, in the right place at the right time to deliver short- and long-term organizational
objectives

Human resource planning (HRP) can therefore be defined as the process of systematically reviewing
human resource requirements to ensure that the required number of employees, with the required
skills, is available when they are needed.
Objectives of HR Planning
The major objectives of Human Resource Planning in an organization are to :
I. ensure optimum use of human resources currently employed;
II. avoid imbalances in the distribution and allocation of human resources;
III. assess or forecast future skill requirements of the organization’s overall objectives;
IV. provide control measure to ensure availability of necessary resources when required;
V. control the cost aspect of human resources;
VI. formulate transfer and promotion policies.
VII. To attract and retain the number of people required with appropriate skills,
expertise and competences;
VIII. To anticipate problems of potential surpluses or deficits of people
IX. To develop a well-trained and flexible workforce, thus contributing to the organization’s
ability to adapt to an uncertain and changing environment;
X. To reduce dependence on external recruitment when key skills are in short supply
by formulating retention and development strategies;
XI. To improve the utilization of people by introducing more flexible systems of
work.

HR PLANNING PROCESS

The following are the major steps involved in Human Resource Planning.
1. ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIC PLANS AND OBJECTIVES
Human Resource planning is a part of overall plan of a business organization. Plans relating to
technology, production, marketing, finance, expansion and diversification give an idea about
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the volume of future work activity. Each plan can further be analyzed into sub-plans and
detailed programmes. Business plans help to define the future activity levels and initiatives
demanding new skills. Human resources planning provides inputs for strategic plan of the
organization. It answers questions like does the organization have required talent available to
pursue its objectives. In this manner Human resources planning is directly linked with strategic
planning of the organization.

2. SCENARIO PLANNING
Scenario planning is simply an assessment of the environmental changes that are likely to affect
the organization so that a prediction can be made of the possible situations that may have to be
dealt with in the future. The scenario may list a range of predictions so that different responses
can be considered. It involves a systematic environmental scanning, possibly using the PESTLE
approach (an assessment of the political, economic, social, legal, technological and economic factors
that might affect the organization and their implication on the organization’s labour markets

3. DEMAND FORECASTING
Demand Forecasting in human resource is the process of estimating the future human resource
requirement of the right quality and right number. Potential human resource requirement
should be estimated keeping in view the organization’s plans over a given period of time.

Techniques for Forecasting Human Resources

There are several techniques used for forecasting , examples of these are:
a) Managerial Judgment Work
This technique is very simple. In this, managers sit together, discuss and arrive at a figure which
would be the future demand for labor. Assessments of this kind are provided from two main
sources: the estimates submitted by individual line managers and the estimates produced by
senior management, advised by the HR department. Since these forecasts rely entirely on
personal judgements, they have an obvious potential weakness of subjectivity.
b) Trend Analysis Method –
means studying the variations in the firm’s employment levels over the last few years. Also
consider the number of employees in the firm at the end of each of the last few years or may
be in each sub group e.g sales.production,administration e.t.c.
c) Computerized Forecast-
The determination of future staff needs by projecting a firm’s sales, volume of production, and
personnel required to maintain this required volume of output, using computers and software
packages.
d) Work Study Technique-

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Under this method, estimated total production and activities for a specific future period are
predicted. This information is translated into number of man-hours required to produce per
units taking into consideration the capability of the workforce. Past-experience of the
management can help in translating the work-loads into number of man-hours required.
Planned output: Standard output per hour x standard hours per person
e) Statistical methods-
Regression Analysis and econometric models are examples. Econometric models, past statistical
data are studied on the assumption that relationships between a number of variables will
continue in the future. Regression analysis identifies the movement of two or more inter-
related series. It is used to measure the changes in a variable as a result of changes in other
variables.
4. FORECAST HUMAN RESOURCE SUPPLY
Supply forecasting measures the number of people likely to be available from within and
outside the organization, having allowed for absenteeism, internal movements and promotions,
labour wastage and changes in hours and other conditions of work. The Human resource
planner must consider both the external supply (employees available for hire in the
organization’s geographic workforce) and the internal supply (the organization’s current
employees) of personnel.
5. ACTION PLANNING
Once the gaps have been identified, plans have to be made. This activity facilitates
identification of shortage of manpower both in terms of skill and number. This is an important
task for manpower planners. If they find, that the demand for manpower will increase in the
future, then, decisions to hire must be made. The plans sometimes have to be short term and
flexible because of the difficulty of making firm predictions about workforce requirements in times of
rapid change.
The following plans can result from the analysis:
o Recruitment plan to show how many and what type of people is required and when they
are needed;
o Redeployment plan to help chart out the future movement in terms of training and
transfers.
o Redundancy plan will indicate who is redundant, when and where; the plans for
retraining, where this is possible; and plans for golden handshake, retrenchment, lay-off,
etc.
o Training plan to chart out if a training is required. If yes, when and to which level; whether
it will be done in-house, done in phases or included as part of a formal induction program.
This includes the cost and benefit analysis of all the options available.

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 o Productivity plan: Will indicate reasons for employee productivity or reducing employees’
costs through work simplification studies, mechanization, productivity bargaining,
incentives and profit- sharing schemes, job redesign, etc.
o Flexibility Plans-Alternative work schedules (flexitime, a 4-day, 40-hour week, part time
work, overtime, shortened workweeks) can increase the flexibility of the organization to
meet temporary shifts in personnel needs. Overtime can help the company avoid hiring
additional employees, shortened workweeks part time work, outsourcing and other work
schedules can help the company avoid recruitments.
o Retention plan: Will indicate reasons for employee turnover and show strategies to avoid
wastage through compensation policies, changes in work requirements and improvement
in working conditions.
6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The success of the entire exercise is dependent upon frequent reviews so that none of the
factors are left out and changes are constantly taken care of. It is necessary to monitor progress
carefully, evaluate the effects and, as required, amend the action plan.

Barriers to HRP:
Planners face significant barriers while formulating an HRP.
The major ones are the following:
1. People question the importance of making HR practices future oriented and the role
assigned to HR practitioners in formulation of organizational strategies. Their argument
is simple-there are people when needed. Offer attractive package of benefits to them to
quit when you find them in surplus.
2. HR practitioners are perceived as experts in handling personnel matter, but are not
experts in managing business. The personnel plan conceived and formulated by the HR
practitioners when enmeshed with organizational plan, might make the overall strategic
plan itself defective.
3. HR information often is incompatible with the information used in strategy formulation.
Strategic planning efforts have long been oriented towards financial forecasting often to
the exclusion of other types of information.
4. Conflicting may exist between short-term and long-term HR needs. For example, there
arises a conflict between the pressure to get work done on time and long-term needs,
such as preparing people for assuming greater responsibilities. Many managers are of
the belief that HR needs can be met immediately because skills are available on the
market as long as wages and salaries are competitive. These managers fail to recognize
that by resorting to hiring or promoting depending on short-term needs alone, long-
term issues are neglected.

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 5. There is conflict between quantitative and qualitative approach to HRP. Some people
view HRP as a number game designed to track the flow of people across the
departments. These people use a strictly quantitative approach to planning. Others take
a qualitative approach and focus on individual employee concerns such as promotabilty
and career development. Best results would accrue if there is a balance between the
quantitative and qualitative approaches.
6. Non-involvement of operating managers renders HRP ineffective. HRP is not strictly an
Hr department function. Successful planning needs a coordinated effort on the part of
operating managers and HR personnel.

Benefits of HRP

HR Planning, thus, help the organization in many ways as follows:

i. Helping HR managers to anticipate the workforce requirements rather than getting
surprised by the change of events
ii. Prevent the business from falling into the trap of shifting workforce market, a common
concern among all industries and sectors
iii. Work proactively as the expansion in the workforce market is not always in conjunction
with the workforce requirement of the organization in terms of professional
experience, talent needs, skills, etc.
iv. Organizations in growth phase may face the challenge of meeting the need for critical
set of skills, competencies and talent to meet their strategic objectives so they can
stand well-prepared to meet the HR needs
v. Considering the organizational goals, HR Planning allows the identification, selection and
development of required talent or competency within the organization

JOB ANALYSIS
Job
A job consists of a group of tasks performed by an employee. It is a collection of similar or
identical tasks, duties and responsibilities which as a whole are assigned to a number of
employees in an organization.
Task
It is a major element of work intended to achieve a specific result. A task is created whenever
human effort is exerted for a specific purpose. The purpose may be physical such as pulling,
pushing,

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Job Analysis Defined
Job analysis refers to the procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job
and the kind of person who should be hired for it (Dessler, 2005). According to Braton and Gold
(2003), job analysis can be defined as the systematic process of collecting and evaluating
information about the tasks, responsibilities and the context of a specific job.

AIM OF JOB ANALYSIS

The aim of job analysis is to produce information about a role for use in various human
resource functions. Job analysis or role analysis as it is sometimes referred, then, results in a
document that pulls together information about the tasks, skills and abilities represented in the
current range of work performed in the organization. The products of job analysis are job
descriptions and job specifications.
Purposes of Job Analysis
Job analysis information is very essential as it forms the basis of most of the human resource
functions. The uses of the information include:
i. To assist in the preparation of job descriptions and specifications or to revise the
existing ones.
ii. Training and Development –it helps in highlight areas of difficulty and provides
information for establishing efficient training programmes to meet the needs of
employees.
iii. Recruitment, selection and placement – a description of the job to be filled, coupled
with a specification of the qualities and education of the person who can perform the
job satisfactorily ensures that you have right person for the job and for effective staff
utilization.
iv. Wage and Salary Administration –information included here includes the skills,
experience, working conditions, difficulties and general responsibilities of position,
material or equipment used and the number of employees under the control of a job
holder. This enables administration of equitable remuneration.
v. Safety and Health – for this purpose, the job description should specify hazardous
conditions and unhealthy environmental factors, such as heat, noise, dust to enable
preventive measures to be taken to minimize and avoid the possibility of human injury.
vi. Organization and Manpower Planning and Job Inspection – when establishing or
changing an organization structure, job analysis can assist in determination of the
number and kinds of positions and the specifications of the type of persons needed to
fill these posts. It also provides information on areas of responsibility, the relationships
between jobs and the span of control.

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 vii. Performance Appraisal – Job analysis data can be adopted to help establish standards
of performance for every job to form the basis of a systematic appraisal and
development scheme.
viii. Job Evaluation – Job analysis provides a description of the essential features of a job so
that is it clear in which respects each job resembles other jobs and in which respects it is
different. This is essential for grading and remunerative purpose using job classifications
and ranking methods.
ix. Management Accountability and Control – up to date, clear job descriptions are
essential for managers and their staff to know what is expected of them in terms of
their objectives and activities. This can promote self- control as well as corporate
control in pursuing effective performance.
x. Labour relations – this is essential where pay forms the basis of the dispute. Thus, based
on the job description the worthiness of the job can be ascertained.
xi. Developing job families – this is done through analysis of jobs, for example, Finance;
Audit can be put together in one department. It is also through the use of the families
that one can know the worthiness of transfers and promotions.
xii. Counseling – job analysis information assists in knowing the problems, hazards,
challenges faced in each job thus providing the basis for counseling.

Procedure/Process used in Job Analysis

There are six steps in conducting a job analysis:
i. Deciding how to use the information- this is what determines the data to be collected
and how to collect it. The data to be collected determines the method to use.

ii. Reviewing of the relevant background information which includes organization charts
that show the organization wide division of work and how each job relates to other jobs
and where it fits in the overall organization. It also shows the title each position holds
and who reports to who in the organization. Process charts-provides detail of the work
flow that is the inputs to and outputs from the job you are analyzing.
iii. Select representative positions. This means that since there are many jobs that can be
analyzed, one has to choose a sample to analyze.
iv. This is the actual analysis of the job. This involves collecting data on job activities, the
required employee behaviour, working conditions, human traits and abilities needed to
perform the job. Data collection techniques include:
a) Interviewing employees or supervisors,
b) observation of the employee at work,
c) administering questionnaires to concerned persons and

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 d) asking employees to keep a record log of what they do.

v. Verification of the job analysis information with the employee performing the job and
with the immediate supervisor. This is to confirm that the information given is actually
correct and complete. This also has the function of helping the employee to gain
acceptance of the job analysis data and conclusions by giving them a chance to review
and modify your description of the job activities.
vi. Developing of a job description and job specification. The job description should
include all the activities and responsibilities, important features of the job which include
working conditions and safety hazards. The job specification should include the personal
qualities, traits, skills and background for getting the job done.

Job Description

Job description includes basic job-related data that is useful to advertise a specific job and
attract a pool of talent. It includes information such as job title, job location, reporting to and of
employees, job summary, nature and objectives of a job, tasks and duties to be performed,
working conditions, machines, tools and equipments to be used by a prospective worker and
hazards involved in it.

Job Specification

Also known as employee specifications, a job specification is a written statement of educational

qualifications, specific qualities, level of experience, physical, emotional, technical and
communication skills required to perform a job, responsibilities involved in a job and other
unusual sensory demands. It also includes general health, mental health, intelligence, aptitude,
memory, judgment, leadership skills, emotional ability, adaptability, flexibility, values and
ethics, manners and creativity, etc.

Job description and job specification are two integral parts of job analysis. They define a job
fully and guide both employer and employee on how to go about the whole process of
recruitment and selection. Both data sets are extremely relevant for creating a right fit between
job and talent, evaluate performance and analyze training needs and measuring the worth of a
particular job.

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