The focus of this essay is to discuss the general planning cycle in human

resource planning with the use of a diagram. Human resources planning is

the continuous process of systematic planning ahead to achieve optimum
use of an organization's most valuable asset; employees (George,
2002). Human resources planning ensure the best fit between employees
and jobs while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses (Bothwell, 1988).
A more comprehensive analysis is given below.

The general planning cycle in human resources planning comprise of the

following steps: Analysing organisational objectives; Assess current human
resources capacity; forecast future human resources requirements; identify
human resources gaps; integrate the plan with the overall organisational
strategy and monitor, control and provide feedback (Lift, 2000). This is
illustrated on the diagram below.

Analysing
organisational
objectives

Monitor, control
Assess
and provide
current HR
feedback
capacity

Integrate the
Forecast plan with the
future HR overall
requirements business
strategy
Identify HR
gaps

The general cycle of human resources planning: Adapted from Lift (2000)
To begin, the first step in the general cycle of human resources planning is
analysing organisational objectives. The objective to be achieved in future in
various fields such as production, marketing, finance, expansion and sales
gives the idea about the work to be done in the organization (Anthony,
1993). The objectives of human resources plan must be derived from
organizational objectives like specific requirements of numbers and
characteristics of employees (Armstrong, 1988). Human resources planning
need to sub-serve the overall organisational objectives to ensure availability
and utilization of human resources (Jaffery, 2003). Specific policies need to
be formulated to address the following decision: internal hiring or external
hiring; training and development plans; union constraints; job enrichment
issues; rightsizing organization; automation needs and continuous
availability of adaptive and flexible workforce (Rothwell, 1988). The process
of analyzing organisational objectives is important in human resources
planning and the organisation as a whole. It ensures alignment of human
resources function with the business strategy.

In addition, the second process in the general cycle of human resources is

assessing current human resources capacity. The organisation needs to look
at the current human resources state. This will involve analysing the HR
strength of your organization across factors including employee numbers,
skills, qualifications, experience, age, contracts, performance ratings, titles,
and compensations (Schaler, 1981). Inventory of present human resources:
from the updated human resource information storage system, the current
number of employees, their capacity, performance and potential can be
analysed (Werther, 1993). To fill the various job requirements, the internal
sources (employees from within the organization) and external sources
(candidates from various placement agencies) can be estimated (Reilly,
1999). The process of assessing current human resources capacity helps to
identify the employees who have an interest in being trained in a particular
aspect of the organisation. Evaluating current human resources capabilities
will enable the organisation to understand the employees it have and how
they contribute to fulfilling organisational goals and objectives.
Furthermore, the third step in the general human resources cycle is
forecasting future human resources requirements. Once the organisation
has a full inventory of the resources it already have at its disposal, it’s time
to begin forecasting future needs (Armstrong, 2008). The following questions
needs to be answered; will the company need to grow its human resources
in number?; will it need to stick to its current staff but improve their
productivity through efficiency or new skills training? Are there potential
employees available in the marketplace? (Bulla, 1994). It is important to
assess both company’s demand for qualified employees and the supply of
those employees either within the organization or outside of it. Demand
forecasting is the detailed process of determining future human resources
needs in terms of quantity, the number of employees needed and quality,
the caliber of talent required to meet the company's current and future
needs (Quin, 1983). Supply forecasting determines the current resources
available to meet the demands (Bowey, 1974). With previous skills inventory,
the organisation will know which employees in the organization are available
to meet the current demand and the also need to look outside of the
organization for potential hires that can meet the needs not fulfilled by
employees already present in the organization (Werther, 1993). There is need
to develop a plan to link the organization’s demand for quality staff with the
supply available in the market (George, 2002). The benefits of forecasting
human resources needs are that it helps the organisation to predict hiring
and resource needs and it maps and reduces attrition rates.

Moreover, the fourth step in the general cycle of human resources planning
is to identify human resources gaps. Comparison of human resource
demand and human resource supply will provide with the surplus or deficit
of human resource (Armstrong, 1988). Deficit represents the number of
people to be employed, whereas surplus represents termination (Rothwell,
1988). Extensive use of proper training and development programme can be
done to upgrade the skills of employees. An effective human resource plan
walks the fine line between supply and demand (Lift, 2000). By assessing
the current human resources capacity and projecting future requirements,
the organisation will have a clear picture of any gaps that exist (Bulla,
1994).

In addition, the fifth role of the general cycle of human resources planning is
to integrate the plan with the overall business. After the organisation have
assessed the current human resources capacity, projected future HR
demands and identified the gaps, the final step is to integrate the human
resources plan with the organizational strategy (Jaffery, 2003). On a
practical level, the organisation needs a dedicated budget for human
resources recruiting, training or redundancies, and management buy-in
across the business (Armstrong, 2002). The organisation needs cooperation
and the necessary finances in order to implement the plan and a
collaborative approach from all departments to put it into practice (Rothwell,
1988). Accordingly, the plan may be finalized either for new recruitment,
training, interdepartmental transfer in case of deficit of termination, or
voluntary retirement schemes and redeployment in case of surplus (Werther,
1993).

To add more, the sixth and last step in the general cycle in the human
resources planning is to monitor, control and provide feedback. It mainly
involves implementation of the human resource action plan. Human
resources are allocated according to the requirements, and inventories are
updated over a period (George, 2002). The plan is monitored strictly to
identify the deficiencies and remove it (Lift, 2000). Comparison between the
human resource plan and its actual implementation is done to ensure the
appropriate action and the availability of the required number of employees
for various jobs (Jaffery, 2003). Once the human resource management
process plan has been in place for a set amount of time, there is need to
evaluate whether the plan has helped the company to achieve its goals in
factors like production, profit, employee retention, and employee satisfaction
(Anthony, 1993). If everything is running smoothly, the organisation can
continue with the plan, but if there are roadblocks along the way, it can
always change up different aspects to better suit the needs (Bowey, 1974).
In conclusion the general cycle in the human resources planning comprise
of the following steps: Analysing organisational objectives; Assess current
human resources capacity; forecast future human resources requirements;
identify human resources gaps; integrate the plan with the overall
organisational strategy and monitor, control and provide feedback.
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