Solution Manual for Human Resources Management in Canada, Twelfth Canadian Edition Plus MyMa

Solution Manual for Human Resources Management

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-1

CHAPTER 5
HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• DEFINE human resources planning (HRP) and DISCUSS its strategic importance.
• DESCRIBE four quantitative and two qualitative techniques used to forecast human
resources demand.
• DISCUSS briefly the four strategies used to forecast internal human resources supply and
four types of market conditions assessed when forecasting external human resources
supply.
• DESCRIBE the ways in which a surplus of human resources can be handled.
• EXPLAIN how organizations deal with a shortage of human resources.

REQUIRED PROFESSIONAL CAPABILITIES

❖ Maintains an inventory of HR talent for use within the organization

❖ Identifies the organization’s staffing needs
❖ Researches, analyzes, and reports on potential people issues affecting the organization
❖ Forecasts HR supply and demand conditions
❖ Plans for and manages the HR aspects of organizational change

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Human resources planning (HRP) is a process that ensures the organization has the required
number and type of employees to meet its strategic goals. Using quantitative and qualitative
techniques to forecast labour supply and demand is a critical element of the strategic planning
process. Techniques for forecasting future HR demand are trend analysis, ratio analysis, scatter
plots, regression analysis, nominal group technique, and the Delphi technique. Four techniques
for forecasting internal labour supply are skills and management inventories, replacement charts
and summaries, succession planning and Markov analysis. Forecasting external HR supply
requires assessment of general economic conditions, labour market conditions, and
occupational labour conditions. HR planners need to work with various levels of management to
make decisions about how to manage labour surpluses and shortages. A range of internal and
external options are available; organizations must choose solutions that fit organizational
timelines and company culture.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-2

LECTURE OUTLINE

I. THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING

Human Resources Planning (HRP) is the process of reviewing human resources requirements
to ensure that the organization has the required number of employees, with the necessary skills,
to meet its goals. HRP is a proactive process, which both anticipates and influences an
organization's future by systematically forecasting the demand for and supply of employees
under changing conditions, and developing plans and activities to satisfy these needs. Figure
5.1 (p. 120) highlights occupations that are currently facing a labour shortage or will face one by
2015.

Four key steps in the HRP process are: forecasting labour supply, forecasting labour demand,
gap analysis, and solutions analysis (see Fig. 5.2, p. 121). Lack of or inadequate human
resources planning can result in significant costs, lead to labour mismatches across
departments, reduce morale and increase turnover. The greatest concern is failure to
accomplish short-term operational or long-range strategic plans.

1. The Relationship between HRP and Strategic Planning

An HR plan must align with the overall goals of the organization, the organization’s short
and long-term plans, and with the plans of the other functional areas of the business (e.g.
marketing, finance, operations). Strategic decisions to expand, redirect, diverge, divest,
partner, or merge must be accommodated through HR planning.

2. The Importance of Environmental Scanning

Environment scanning is a critical component of proactive HRP and strategic planning

processes. Environment scanning involves an assessment of external factors influencing
the organization’s ability to find and secure talent from the external labour market including
economic conditions (e.g. unemployment rate), competitive trends (e.g. compensation
policies), legislative changes (e.g. minimum wage laws), social concerns (e.g. healthcare,
childcare), technological developments (e.g. automation), and demographic trends. Failure
to scan the environment on an ongoing basis can increase the risk of having a labour
shortage or a labour surplus, whether in terms of number or type of workers.

3. Steps in Human Resources Planning

Four key steps in the HRP process are: forecasting labour supply; forecasting labour
demand; gap analysis; and solutions analysis (see Fig. 5.2, p. 121).

Before embarking on an HR planning exercise, current HR levels must be assessed by

integrating macro level information (organizational structure, business units, career paths)
with micro level information (number of employees at each level, existing skill sets,
demographic and job-related information).

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-3

II. FORECASTING THE AVAILABILITY OF CANDIDATES (SUPPLY)

There are two sources of labour supply, internal (existing employees) and external (unemployed
and those employed elsewhere).

1. Forecasting the Supply of Internal Candidates

Before considering external recruitment management must determine how many candidates
for projected openings will likely come from within the firm using one or more of the following
approaches. Confidentiality is essential when using replacement charts, replacement
summaries, or succession plans.

a. Skills inventories and management inventories – organizational records of

education, experience, skills, qualifications, interests, responsibilities, and prior training

b. Replacement charts and replacement summaries – visual representations and lists

of potential replacements (see Fig. 5.3, p. 125)

c. Succession plans – career development plans for filling vacancies in senior or key
jobs; requires balancing top management needs with potential career aspirations of
available candidates

Teaching Tip: consider using Ethical Dilemma (p. 126) to illustrate the balancing issue and/or
the Entrepreneurs and HR Discussion Box on succession planning in family businesses.

d. Markov analysis – development of a probability matrix based on past employee

movements (see Fig. 5.4, p. 127)

2. Forecasting the Supply of External Candidates

When a sufficient number of current employees are not available or suitably qualified to fill
vacancies the firm must look for external candidates. To project the supply of outside
candidates employers assess general economic conditions, labour market conditions, and
occupational market conditions.

a. General economic conditions – impact of natural fluctuations in economic activity e.g.

interest rates, wage rates, inflation rate, unemployment rate

b. Labour market conditions – demographic characteristics of available workers (e.g.

education levels, age, gender, marital status, and so on).

c. Occupational market conditions – availability of potential candidates in specific

occupations (e.g. engineers, accountants, and so on). Some sectors have significant
shortages, while others are experiencing a labour surplus.

Teaching Tip: Have students bring in recent news stories about occupational market
conditions, such as the surplus of teachers in Ontario and the shortage of skilled trade workers
across Canada.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-4

III. FORECASTING FUTURE HUMAN RESOURCES NEEDS (DEMAND)

A key component of HRP is forecasting the number and type of people needed to meet
organizational objectives beginning with forecasting demand for the company’s products and/or
services. Sales forecasts are translated into production volume forecasts, which determine
staffing levels. Other factors that are considered are projected turnover, quality and nature of
employees, product and market decisions, planned technological and administrative changes,
and the organization’s financial resources. Large organizations with highly trained specialists
tend to use quantitative techniques; however qualitative techniques also have their advantages.

1. Quantitative Approaches

a. Trend analysis – initial estimate based on employment levels over last 3 – 5 years

b. Ratio analysis - uses ratio between casual factor (e.g. sales) and # of employees
required

c. The scatter plot – graphical method of identifying relationships between causal

factors and staffing levels (see Fig. 5.5, p. 132)

d. Regression analysis – statistical technique involving use of a mathematical formula

to determine the relationship between and organization’s employment level
(dependent variable) and some measurable factor of output (independent variable)

2. Qualitative Approaches

Qualitative approaches rely solely on expert judgements which can be used by themselves
or to modify forecasts from quantitative approaches. See pages 132 – 133 for steps involved
in each approach.

a. Nominal group technique – face-to-face meeting of a group of experts who generate,

clarify and engage in both open discussion and private assessment of ideas.

b. Delphi technique – useful for long-range forecasting; often involves outside experts as
well as company employees but ideas are exchanged without face-to-face interaction

3. Gap Analysis: Summarizing Human Resources Requirements

The end result of the forecasting process is an estimate of short-term and long-range HR
requirements. A staffing table is often used to illustrate short-term plans (see Fig. 5.6, p. 134).

IV. PLANNING AND IMPLENTING HR PROGRAMS TO BALANCE SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Once the supply and demand of human resources have been estimated, program planning and
implementation begins. Specific strategies must be formulated to deal with the three possible
labour supply and demand scenarios – equilibrium, surplus, or shortage (see Fig. 5.7, p. 135).

1. Labour Equilibrium – rare, no new action, maintain existing transfer and recruitment plans

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-5

2. Labour Surplus – internal labour supply exceeds human resource demand. Solutions
include one or a combination of: hiring freeze, attrition, early retirement buyout
programs, job sharing, work sharing, reduced work week, layoff, termination or leave
of absence.

a. Easing the pain of labour surplus management

Research has shown that layoffs and downsizing do not always result in improved
financial performance, due in part to survivor syndrome; those who remain
experience a range of re negative emotions which tend to be associated with stress
symptoms and reduced performance. To assist employees who are laid off or
terminated through no fault of their own, organizations provide supplemental
unemployment benefits (SUBs), severance packages, and/or outplacement
assistance. Executives tend to be protected by golden parachute clauses in their
contracts.

Teaching Tip: Consider using the ethical dilemma on page 137 to discuss whether survivors
should be “just happy they still have a job”.

3. Labour Shortage – A labour shortage exists when the internal supply of human resources
cannot meet the organization’s needs.

a. Internal solutions to a labour shortage – besides the initial response of overtime,

transfers and promotions can be used, although these then create new vacancies.

b. External solutions to a labour shortage – recruitment of new hires is a permanent

solution, however, organizations often turn first to temporary employees or outsourcing
of work to a third party organization.

Teaching Tip: Share news stories about organizations where excessive overtime has become
the norm and contrast this with the position of labour unions in regards to overtime.

DISCUSSION BOXES

ENTREPRENEURS AND HR: Succession Planning and Family Businesses (p. 127)

Small businesses are fundamental to economic success and job creation in Canada, creating
far more jobs than large firms. However, multigenerational family-controlled businesses often
struggle with succession planning; only 1/3 of family-owned businesses survive the transition to
the third generation (grandchildren of the founders). Potential reasons include difficulties in: a)
addressing the eventual death of the business owner; b) deciding who will inherit and how
ownership will be determined among children; c) letting go of the business decision-making, and
d) lack of qualified or interested successors. The key to succession planning in this context is to
start the dialogue by discussing various approaches to succession planning and how to
maintain an objective decision-making process.
Teaching Tip: There is usually at least one person in the class, often international students,
whose family has a business. Ask in advance for these people to read and respond to this
discussion, rather than just putting them on the spot.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-6

STRATEGIC HR: Pumping Up People Supply (p. 129)

Burnaby, B.C.–based Sorin Group Canada makes intricate aortic pericardial heart valves that
require highly specialized skills in engineering and production. There is a very small talent pool
of biomedical engineers, quality assurance and production technicians available in Canada.
While they do hire and train Canadian engineers and scientists on medical devices they have to
rely on new immigrants with relevant education and experience from other countries in order to
hire a sufficient number of qualified workers. and provide extensive training, including both
English-language training and subsidies for foreign-trained engineers seeking a Canadian
engineering degree.

Teaching Tip: Have students discuss the reasons why Canadian high school students do not
pursue science careers when evidence clearly shows that this is a domain of plentiful job
opportunities.

ETHICAL DILEMMAS

You were recently asked to identify one employee you manage as a top performer to
align with a new company program offering top performers intensive management skills
training. The employees you identified for this role is unaware of the program. This
morning, she confided in your that she just applied for graduate school and will find out
if she has been accepted five month from now, with the intent to start the program one
month after that. Would you change the identification of who was the top performer in
our team based on this information? Why or why not? (p. 126)

If you let the employee know that you were considering putting forward their name for this
program then they may feel pressure to stay, depending on their relationship with you. They
may also misinterpret this as a guarantee of a future career, which is outside of your authority. If
they pass up graduate studies and are not successful in management training then they may
blame you for giving them false hope. Furthermore, they may deliberately or inadvertently let
other employees know that they were chosen over them and cause a decline in job satisfaction
by those who were not considered.

If you do not tell them about the opportunity then you will never know if they are considering
graduate study because they don’t perceive any advancement opportunities with your
organization i.e. they would love to stay but want a new challenge. You could be penalizing your
organization by letting a top performer get away if the next person in line is not as qualified as
this person.

One solution may be to check with HR and find out if you can tell this employee about the
program, without telling them that they are being considered, and see what their level of interest
would be in being considered for it. It would then be their decision to defer their graduate studies
or pursue graduate studies on a part-time basis while remaining with your organization.

How much time, effort, and money should firms devote to helping ”surviving” employees
deal with downsizing? With mergers and acquisitions? (p. 137)

Based on results of numerous studies, it seems that there are high costs associated with failing
to devote sufficient time, effort, and money to helping surviving employees deal with downsizing

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-7

or mergers and acquisitions. Survivor syndrome involves a range of emotions that can include
feelings of betrayal or violation, guilt, and detachment. Remaining employees, anxious about the
next round of terminations or additional changes, often suffer stress symptoms, including
depression, proneness to errors, and reduced performance. It is thus recommended that
supervisors provide abundant, honest communication; provide assistance to those being
affected; treat those being laid off or terminated, and survivors, with dignity and respect; allow
remaining employees to grieve and deal with repressed feelings and emotions; increase their
accessibility; help survivors recapture their sense of control and self-esteem; use ceremonies,
such as special meetings or small-group sessions, to provide people with a chance to
acknowledge the changes and their reactions to them; and reshape the systems to lessen
dependency-creating processes.

Failing to devote sufficient time, money, and energy to cultural adaptation following a merger or
acquisition can result in a collision of cultures, which has high human costs, as well as a
negative impact on the bottom line.

KEY TERMS

attrition The normal separation of employees from an organization due to resignation,

retirement, or death. (p. 135)

Delphi technique A judgmental forecasting method used to arrive at a group decision, typically
involving outside experts as well as organizational employees. Ideas are exchanged without
face-to-face interaction, and feedback is provided and used to fine-tune independent judgments
until a consensus is reached. (p. 133)

early retirement buyout programs Strategies used to accelerate attrition that involve offering
attractive buyout packages or the opportunity to retire on full pension with an attractive benefits
package. (p. # 135)

environment scanning An assessment of external factors influencing the organization’s ability

to find and secure talent from the external labour market including economic, competitive,
legislative, social, technological, and demographic trends. (p. 122)

hiring freeze A common initial response to an employee surplus. Openings are filled by
reassigning current employees, and no outsiders are hired. (p. 135)

human resources planning (HRP) The process of reviewing human resources requirements to
ensure that the organization has the required number of employees, with the necessary skills, to
meet its goals. (p. 120)

job sharing A strategy that involves dividing duties of a single position between two or more
employees. (p. 136)

layoff The temporary or permanent withdrawal of employment to workers for economic or

business reasons. (p. 136)

leave of absence Allows those who may be interested in taking time away from work for a
variety of reasons (e.g. personal, educational, etc.) to have a set period of time away from their

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-8

position without pay, but with a guarantee that their job will be available upon their return. (p.
136)

management inventories Records summarizing the qualifications, interests, and skills of

management employees, along with the number and types of employees supervised, duties of
such employees, total budget managed, previous managerial duties and responsibilities, and
managerial training received. (p. 124)

Markov analysis A method of forecasting internal labour supply that involves tracking the
pattern of employee movements through various jobs and developing a transitional probability
matrix. (p. 126)

nominal group technique A decision-making technique that involves a group of experts

meeting face to face. Steps include independent idea generation, clarification and open
discussion, and private assessment. (p. 132)

promotion Movement of an employee from one job to another that is higher in pay,
responsibility, or organizational level, usually based on merit, seniority, or a combination of both.
(p. 138)

ratio analysis A forecasting technique for determining future staff needs by using ratios
between some causal factor (such as sales volume) and number of employees needed. (p. 130)

reduced workweek Employees work fewer hours and receive less pay. (p. 136)

regression analysis A statistical technique involving the use of a mathematical formula to

project future demands based on an established relationship between an organization's
employment level (dependent variable) and some measurable factor of output (independent
variable). (p. 132)

replacement charts Visual representations of who will replace whom in the event of a job
opening. Likely internal candidates are listed, along with their age, present performance rating,
and promotability status. (p. 124)

replacement summaries Lists of likely replacements for each position and their relative
strengths and weaknesses, as well as information about current position, performance,
promotability, age, and experience. (p. 125)

scatter plot A graphical method used to help identify the relationship between two variables. (p.
131)

severance package A lump-sum payment, continuation of benefits for a specified period of

time, and other benefits that are provided to employees who are being terminated. (p. 137)

skills inventories Manual or computerized records summarizing employees' education,

experience, interests, skills, and so on., which are used to identify internal candidates eligible for
transfer or promotion. (p. 124)

staffing table A pictorial representation of all jobs within the organization, along with the
number of current incumbents and future employment requirements (monthly or yearly) for
each. (p. 133)

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-9

succession planning The process of ensuring a suitable supply of successors for current and
future senior or key jobs, so that the careers of individuals can be effectively planned and
managed. (p. 133)

supplemental unemployment benefits (SUBS) A top-up of EI benefits to bring income levels

closer to what an employee would receive if on the job. (p. 137)

survivor syndrome A range of negative emotions experienced by employees remaining after a

major restructuring initiative, which can include feelings of betrayal or violation, guilt and
detachment, and result in stress symptoms, including depression, proneness to errors, and
reduced productivity. (p. 137)

termination Permanent separation from the organization for any reason. (p. 136)

transfer Movement of an employee from one job to another that is relatively equal in pay,
responsibility, or organizational level. (p. 138)

trend analysis Study of a firm's past employment levels over a period of years to predict future
needs. (p. 130)

work sharing Employees work three or four days a week and receive EI benefits on their non-
work day(s). (p. 136)

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (p. 140)

1. Describe the costs associated with lack of or inadequate HRP. (p. 121)

Lack of or inadequate human resources planning within an organization can result in:

• Significant costs – both tangible and intangible. For example, unstaffed vacant positions can
lead to costly inefficiencies, particularly when lengthy training is needed for new hires to
reach acceptable performance standards. Requiring employees to work extra hours to
perform the duties of such vacant positions or to compensate for understaffing can lead to
lower productivity, fatigue, stress-related illnesses, and accidents, as well as incurring
overtime premium costs. There are also costs associated with overstaffing. For example, if
large numbers of employees are being laid off, extended notice periods are required in
many jurisdictions, as well as severance pay.

• Situations in which one department is laying off employees, while another is hiring
individuals with similar skills, which can have a devastating impact on morale and
productivity. Ineffective planning hinders the ability of the HR department to develop
effective training, development, and career planning programs.

• Higher than necessary turnover – if employees are not qualified when vacancies arise, and
are therefore denied opportunities for lateral moves or promotions, turnover is the inevitable
result, especially among high performers.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-10

• Difficulties in meeting employment equity goals or inappropriate staffing decisions, such as

hiring or promoting under qualified target group members simply to meet established goals
and timetables. This can result in poor performance or even termination and replacement,
as well as costs that cannot be measured in dollars alone – perpetuation of prejudices
and/or stereotypes, the undermining of employee self-confidence and self-respect
associated with inadequate performance, and backlash from other employees.

• Inability to accomplish short-term operational plans and/or long-range strategic plans.

2. After analyzing the human resources implications of an organization’s strategic plans,

what are the three subsequent processes involved in HRP? (p. 121, see Fig. 5.2)

The 3 processes are:

• forecasting future human resources needs – demand
• forecasting availability of internal and external candidates – supply
• planning and Implementing HR programs to balance supply and demand (gap and solution
analysis)

3. Discuss the pros and cons of five of the approaches to dealing with a labour surplus
from both the organization and employee perspectives. (p. 135 – 137)

Students should cover five of the following:

• Hiring freeze with attrition – the number of employees slowly shrinks but company has no
control over who stays or leaves. Employees have to take on additional work as others
leave.
• Early retirement buyouts – requires a lot of money up front and some people that the
company doesn’t want to leave might want to do so. Employees may see this a chance for a
windfall especially if they are high demand skills.
• Job sharing – keeps good employees in the organization. This may suit employee lifestyle
and give better work life balance
• Work sharing – this enables the company to keep workers. Employees still hove some job
income but also receive EI benefits.
• Reduced workweek – keeps workers and reduces cost but hard to estimate the amount of
workers needed. Employees still have some income.
• Layoff – immediately cuts HR costs. This may be the worst option from the employee
perspective.

4. Differentiate between replacement charts and replacement summaries, and explain in

which situation each is preferred. (p. 124 – 125, Fig. 5.3)

Replacement charts are a visual representation of who will replace whom in the event of a job
opening. Such charts typically indicate age and replacement status of potential internal
candidates. Replacement status consists of two variables: (1) present performance – gleaned
from performance appraisals and (2) promotability – based on information provided by the
employee about future career aspirations, and a subjective assessment by the employee's
immediate supervisors regarding likelihood of future success.

Replacement summaries list likely replacements for each position and their relative strengths
and weaknesses, as well as information about current position, performance, promotability, age,
and experience.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-11

While replacement charts provide an excellent quick reference tool, they contain very little
information. These are best used when the need is to demonstrate whether a sufficient number
of potentially qualified candidates exist for each key position.

Many firms prefer to use replacement summaries for more in-depth discussions because they
contain information that will help decision-makers choose between candidates.

5. Discuss various methods of easing the burden of a layoff or termination. (p. 137)

To ease the financial burden of layoffs some organization offer supplemental unemployment
benefits (SUBs) which are a top-up of EI benefits to bring income levels of temporarily laid-off
workers closer to their regular on-the-job pay.

When employees are being permanently terminated through no fault of their own, organizations
tend to offer severance pay, either because of legal requirements or in order to avoid wrongful
dismissal lawsuits. Severance packages often include continuation of benefits for a specified
period of time.

Two other methods are golden parachute clauses in executive contracts and outplacement
assistance to help displaced workers to find new employment.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS (p. 140)

1. A number of quantitative and qualitative techniques for forecasting human resources

demand were discussed in this chapter. Working in groups, identify which strategies
would be most appropriate for (a) small vs. large sized companies, (b) industries
undergoing rapid change, and (c) businesses/industries in which there are seasonal
variations in HR requirements. (p. 130 – 133)

A suggested approach would be to have students create a matrix (table) with techniques down
the left hand side and the four criteria (small, large, rapid change, seasonal variation).
Considerations include availability of historical data, validity of historical data in terms of
projecting future trends, in-house expertise in different methods, and owner/manager
preferences.

Small firms may not have the data or expertise to take on the more sophisticated quantitative
techniques, but could use trend analysis and possibly scatter plots. In large organizations,
needs forecasting is primarily quantitative in nature. Highly trained professionals in these
organizations would be familiar with ratio and regression analyses in addition to trend analysis
and scatter plots. In contrast, small firms may be more comfortable using the nominal group
technique, drawing on the expertise of employees, managers, and owners.

Industries undergoing rapid change will find the nominal group technique, and/or the Delphi
technique to be particularly helpful in modifying the projections from quantitative techniques
which require input from experts in order to project alternate scenarios.

Trend analysis and the qualitative techniques are well suited to the needs of
businesses/industries in which there are seasonal variations in HR requirements.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-12

2. Suppose it has just been projected that, because of a number of technological

innovations, your firm will need 20 percent fewer clerical employees within the next five
years. There are currently 122 clerical positions in the company, split between three
departments of equal size. Retirements at this level are projected to be roughly 2 percent
per year. Annual voluntary turnover and involuntary turnover for Department A is 2
percent and 5 percent respectively; Department B is 3 percent and 3 percent; and
Department C is 5 percent and 0 percent. Do you project a labour shortage or surplus in
the next three years for clerical positions? What actions would you take in this situation?
(p. 134 – 138)

Step 1: Determine how many positions have to be eliminated within 5 years. 20 percent of 122
positions = approximately 24 positions that have to be eliminated by the end of the five year
period.

Step 2: Determine whether attrition (retirements and turnover) will take care of this surplus
without the need for further action

Clerical attrition through retirement = 122 * 2% * 5 years = approximately 12 positions (half

those needed) will be eliminated via this route if you implement a hiring freeze and do not
replace these workers

Clerical attrition through turnover = approx. 37.5 positions will disappear if you implement a
hiring freeze when t vacancies occur due to voluntary or involuntary turnover. The breakout
by department is as follows.
Department A: 122/3 = approximately 41 employees * 7% turnover rate * 5 years = approx.
15 positions
Department B: 122/3 = approximately 41 employees * 6% turnover rate * 5 years = approx.
12.5 positions
Department C: 122/3 = approximately 41 employees * 5% turnover rate * 5 years = approx.
10 positions

In total almost 50 positions will disappear through attrition if you implement a hiring freeze in
all cases. If you follow this path you will end up with a labour shortage of about 26 positions.

Step 3: Rather than implementing a complete hiring freeze, you will have to be more specific in
terms of which clerical positions (level, nature of work, department’s strategic importance)
should be refilled when attrition occurs and which ones should not be refilled. This is a tough
decision that may not be well understood by employees or by the managers of “losing”
departments. Alternatively you could turn to overtime and/or contract/temporary employees
rather than permanent hires

3. Suppose that you are the HR manager at a firm in which a hiring freeze has just been
declared. The plan is to downsize through attrition. What steps would you take to ensure
that you reap the advantages of this strategy, while minimizing the disadvantages? (p.
135)

The major advantage of attrition is that it does not require separating any employees
involuntarily. Potential drawbacks of this strategy include the following:
• It can be a slow method of reducing numbers.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-13

• The organization may have no control over who stays and who leaves. Thus, valuable high
performers may leave, while less needed or lower-performing employees stay.
• Remaining employees may be overburdened with work or lack necessary skills, resulting in
decreased or inferior performance.
• Stagnation may occur due to the lack of new skills and ideas because no outsiders are
hired.

To reap the advantages of this strategy while ensuring that the organization does not lose high
performers or individuals with highly needed skills, you could provide current employees with
the opportunity for training and development to broaden and enhance their KSAs, based on
needs identified through HR planning. This would allow them to take on more value-added tasks
and shift to more strategic roles as they become available. Engaging remaining employees in
career management discussions may help to make them feel that they have a future with the
organization, so they might be less likely to leave after they receive additional training. However
some employees will take their new KSAs to the job market and search for opportunities outside
of the organization.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES (p. 140 - 141)

1. Develop a realistic, hypothetical staffing table for a department or organization that

you are familiar with.

The partial staffing table included as Figure 5.6 on page 127 should be used as a model for this
assignment. It was based on a staffing table developed for an actual firm. In the absence of for-
profit work experience some students may be able to use student-run organizations or non-profit
community organizations that they have been involved with in the past, as a basis for this
exercise. Alternatively they could contact someone they know in a large organization and see if
they are willing to be interviewed; however, confidentiality concerns may be an issue.

2. Contact the HR manager at a firm in your area and find out whether or not the firm
uses any of the following: (a) skills/management inventories, (b) replacement charts or
summaries and (c) a succession plan. Prepare a brief summary of the information
gathered. Once you have completed these tasks, form a group with several of your
classmates. Share your findings with the group members. Were there similarities across
firms? Did company size seem to make a difference in terms of strategies used for
forecasting the supply of internal candidates? Can you identify any other factors that
seem to play a role in choice of forecasting techniques used?

Skills/management inventories tend to be fairly common. Replacement charts or summaries are

more common in large firms, as are succession plans. Firms with global operations tend to
place increased emphasis on succession plans. Students should collect information on which
methods are used for which type(s) of positions (i.e. what is the lowest level position for which
succession planning is carried out).

3. This assignment requires working within teams of five or six. Half of each team is to
assume the role of management at a firm that is about to undergo major downsizing. The
other half of each team is to assume the roles of employees – some of who will be
affected and others of whom will remain. Each management team is paired with an
employee team, and must prepare and role play a realistic meeting of the two parties.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-14

Managers should work toward minimizing the negative impact on those who will be
affected as well as those who will remain. Individuals in employee roles should envision
what their thoughts and feelings would be (if they have never actually been in this
situation, that is) and to portray them as realistically as possible.

What this exercise should demonstrate is that the managers will try to be rational, whereas
employees may understand the rational arguments but will react emotionally. Employees should
demonstrate both anger at being downsized or survivor syndrome if chosen to stay. Ideally this
exercise should show that friendships and past working relationships are likely to be damaged
in the short-term and possibly in the long-term. Managers should refer to points under “Easing
the pain of labour surplus management” (p. 137).

Bottom line: Downsizing is termination through no fault of your own, but unless everyone is
being terminated at the same time, the process cannot help but make people feel more or less
valued or that they did something wrong.

4. Form teams of three or four people. Your instructor will assign you a position on the
following statements: “All employees in an organization should be aware of their
personal standing with respect to replacement charts and succession planning.”
Formulate your arguments to support your assigned position and then debate the
statement with an opposing team as instructed.

The purpose of this exercise is to help students understand the different interests that
employers and employees have about who is being groomed to move ahead. Allow 5-10
minutes for the students to brainstorm their positions (for or against this statement) and then
have the two sides debate. The debate should raise issues of whether knowing how you are
viewed by the organization would affect your performance, turnover intention or other attitudes
and behaviours. Sometimes ignorance is bliss but on the other hand information is power; you
can make your own choice as to whether you will move on or accept the status quo.

Alternate exercise: this exercise can be done as a large class discussion.

To spur discussion you might want to ask the students how they would feel if they found out that
they were on or off the replacement chart or succession plan and their best friends at work were
in the opposite position.

5. With a partner, research “survivor syndrome” and what specific companies have done
to successful mitigate this response and regain full employee commitment. Prepare a
brief (two to three minutes maximum) oral presentation to share what you have learned.

The purpose of this exercise is to build awareness of the proactive steps that companies may
take to avoid this problem, maintain employee commitment and the importance of strong
credible leadership during tough times. Downsizing is especially common in manufacturing and
information technology and also after a merger or acquisition as organizations try to reap the
benefits by reducing duplication. It should not be difficult to find examples of downsizing but may
be more difficult to find out how companies are dealing with survivor syndrome.

The class presentations can be formal or informal followed by general discussion of the distilled
knowledge shared.

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Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-15

RUNNING CASE: LearnInMotion.com (p. 141)

To Plan or Not to Plan?

1. What is Human Resources Planning and how will it help LearnInMotion’s strategic
plans?

Human resource planning (HRP) is the process of forecasting future human resource
requirements to ensure that the organization will have the required number of employees, with
the necessary skills, to meet its strategic objectives. Figure 5.1 shows how HRP will be critical
to strategic planning and absolutely essential for successful strategy implementation. Without
the right number and type of workers LearninMotion will not be able to achieve its strategic
goals. Because LearninMotion is a small organization, every worker has more of an impact, so
HR planning is critical.

2. Describe the steps in the human resources planning process and discuss the
important elements within each that will benefit LearnInMotion?

Key steps in the HRP process include forecasting demand for labour, analyzing the labour
supply, and planning and implementing HR programs to balance supply and demand (see Fig.
5.2, p. 121).

They need to pay special attention to changes to the external labour force especially
occupational market conditions, as the market for technology workers is known to be
competitive. Given that they are a relatively new company with plans for expansion most of the
techniques for forecasting demand will not be that valid. They may have to bring in some
outside experts into sessions using either the nominal group or Delphi technique as they do not
have the required knowledge in-house. Rather than rush out to hire permanent employees it
may be more prudent to hire temporary workers on contract because demand may be
somewhat variable and having underutilized workers is expensive. However, given the
competition for technology workers contract work may not be that attractive, so they may have
to promote the benefits of “getting in on the ground floor” of an entrepreneurial business and
having more scope than in a large organization.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-16

CASE INCIDENT: How to Downsize Successfully While Using HRP Fundamentals (p. 142)

This case illustrates the complexity of HR planning when products/services are offered through
multiple distribution channels (physical “bricks and mortar” stores and online websites)

1. Using your HR expertise, forecast the demand of labour in the stores and the online
environment over the next three years.

Step 1: Forecast sales in each channel over the next three years and the number of employees
needed by using the ratio of sales/employees for last year.

Year 0 (last Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Net

year) Inc/Decrease
over 3 years
Sales per
store (20%
decline) 1 200 000 960 000 768 000 614 400
# CSRs per
store 20 16 12.8 10.2
Sales/CSR 60 000
3 stores Decrease of
combined 60 CSRs 48 CSRs 39 CSRs 30 CSRs 30 CSRs
Online (30%
increase) 300 000 390 000 507 000 659 100
# employees Increase of 6
remote
5 6.5 8.5 11 workers
Sales per
employee 60 000

Note: as sales and the number of CSRs goes down in the stores, the number of
supervisor and managerial positions will also have to be modified to avoid a surplus in
those positions.

2. Assuming an annual 15 percent turnover level of in-store workers and a 30 percent turnover
level of online-focused employees, determine HR supply estimates over the next three years?

Employees Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Total CSRs in all 60 51 43 37
3 stores
Online 5 3.5 2.5 2

• All numbers approximated to nearest half number.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

Solution Manual for Human Resources Management in Canada, Twelfth Canadian Edition Plus MyMa

Chapter 5 – Human Resources Planning 5-17

3. Do you forecast a labour shortage or surplus? Develop a clear plan to help address the
forecast labour shortage or surplus.

Based on the answers to questions 1 and 2 it is clear that there will be a labour surplus in the
stores and a labour shortage of online workers.

Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Store labour
demand 60 48 39 30
Store labour
supply 60 51 43 37
Store labour
surplus 0 3 4 7

Online labour
demand 5 6.5 8.5 11
Online labour
supply 5 3.5 2.5 2
Online labour
shortage 0 3 6 9

One solution may be to see if some of the existing customer service representatives wish to
transfer and become remote online workers; for some this may save on commuting and other
costs, as well as helping them to balance family and other obligations. Maintaining staffing in
line with the growing online business is critical as customers are quite willing to switch if service
is unsatisfactory. In Year 1 the shortage and surplus are the same. In years 2 and 3 though the
online shortage is more than the in-store surplus, therefore other solutions will have to be
considered. However, not all surplus CSRs will want to transfer to remote work, so a plan has to
be developed for simultaneously dealing with the store surplus. Encouraging early retirement,
job sharing or work sharing may be options to explore or if no one wants to leave then reduced
work weeks and ultimately layoffs will be necessary.

In terms of the online workers, if there do not appear to be any threats to the current pace of
online growth then hiring new permanent online workers is a desirable option, especially
because offering only temporary work may further increase turnover. Another option may be to
offer in-store workers the opportunity to earn overtime by working remotely after their regular
shift or on the weekends/holidays. These people already know the products and services so
require less training.

The franchise owner will also have to decide at what point supervisory and management
positions should be eliminated in order to “share the pain”. Given that these positions are
typically paid more than CSRs, the company cannot afford to keep extra management in place.

Whatever plan students come up with they have to recognize the need to keep both store and
online customers happy which means maintaining employee morale and job satisfaction. At the
same time, dragging out the process reduces profitability and delays implementation of the new
strategy. This can send all the wrong messages to employees.

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