3.

0 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

3.1 Meaning Human Resource Planning:

 Human resource is the most important asset of an organization.
 Bulla and Scott (1994) defined HRP as the process for ensuring
that the human resource requirements of an organization are
identified and plans are made for satisfying those requirements.
 Workforce planning is defined by Reilly (2003) as a process in
which an organization attempts to estimate the demand for
labour and evaluate the size, nature and sources of supply which
will be required to meet the demand.
 Human resources planning is an important managerial function for
it ensures the employment of right type of people, in the right
number, at the right time and place, who are trained and
motivated to do the right kind of work at the right time, there is
generally a shortage of suitable persons.
 The enterprise will estimate its manpower requirements and then
find out the sources from which the needs will be met. If
required manpower is not available then the work will suffer.
 Developing countries are suffering from the shortage of trained
managers. Job opportunities are available in these countries but
properly trained personnel are not available. These countries try
to import trained skill from other countries.

 Dale S. Beach has defined it as “a process of determining and

assuring that the organization will have an adequate number of
qualified persons available at the proper times, performing jobs

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 which meet the needs of the enterprise and which provide
satisfaction for the individuals involved.”
 In the words of Leon C. Megginson, human resource planning is “an
integration approach to performing the planning aspects of the
personnel function in order to have a sufficient supply of
adequately developed and motivated people to perform the duties
and tasks required to meet organizational objectives and satisfy
the individual’s needs and goals of organizational members.”
 On the analysis of above definitions, human resource planning may
be viewed as foreseeing the human resource requirements of an
organization and the future supply of human resources and making
necessary adjustments between these two and organization plans,
and foreseeing the possibility of developing the supply of human
resources in order to match it with requirements by introducing
necessary changes in the functions of human resource
management.
 Here, human resource means skill, knowledge, values, ability,
commitment, motivation etc., in addition to the number of
employees. Though accomplishment of organizational objectives
and goals is the primary concern of the human resource planning,
concern for the aspirations of the people and their well-being has
equal importance in it. In fact, the human resources planning must
result in humanisation of work environment.

3.2 Features of Human Resource Planning:

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i. Well Defined Objectives:
Enterprise’s objectives and goals in its strategic planning and operating
planning may form the objectives of human resource planning. Human
resource needs are planned on the basis of company’s goals. Besides,
human resource planning has its own objectives like developing human
resources, updating technical expertise, career planning of individual
executives and people, ensuring better commitment of people and so
on.

ii. Determining Human Resource Needs/Assessing current human

Resource:
Human resource plan must incorporate the human resource needs of
the enterprise. The thinking will have to be done in advance so that the
persons are available at a time when they are required. For this
purpose, an enterprise will have to undertake recruiting, selecting and
training process also.

iii. Keeping Manpower Inventory:

It includes the inventory of present manpower in the organization. The

executive should know the persons who will be available to him for
undertaking higher responsibilities in the near future.

iv. Adjusting Demand and Supply:

Manpower needs have to be planned well in advance as suitable persons
are available in future. If sufficient persons will not be available in
future then efforts should be made to start recruitment process well
in advance. The demand and supply of personnel should be planned in
advance.

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v. Creating Proper Work Environment:
Besides estimating and employing personnel, human resource planning
also ensures that proper working conditions are created. Employees
should like to work in the organisation and they should get proper job
satisfaction.

3.4 Importance of HRP

The human resource is the primary resource of organization. For the

proper HRM, HRP is the first factor which determines the HRM
system of any organization needs HRP to meet its future human
resource requirements. The importance of HRP can be defined in
following grounds:

i) Future Personnel Needs: HRP plays the vital role in determining the
future need of human resource in an organization. It minimizes the
future risks and uncertainties, shortage and excess staff problems.
HRP maintains balance between demand and supply of human resource
in the dynamic environment. It fulfills the organization need for right
type of people in right numbers at right time.

ii) Environmental Adaptation: HRP enables an organization to adopt

with changes in competitive forces, market, technology, product and
government regulation. Such changes directly affect to the HRM
factor, such as job content, skills and organizational environment.

iii) Essential for Human Resource function: HRP provides essential

information for designing and implementing human resource function
such as recruitment, selection, training and development and personnel
movement. It provides better means for managing human resource in
the organization.

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iv) Utilization of Human Resource: HRP ensures that the organization
acquires and retains the quality and quantity of human resources it
requires. It helps to utilize the HR of organization effectively and
efficiently.
v) HR development: HRP provides the better lead time for training
and development program. this often lead to greater employee
satisfaction, lower turnover and higher quality of work. It also helps to
adopt with environmental dynamics through training and development.

vi) Investment in HR: Organizations make investment in their human

resource either through training and development. The cost can be
controlled to achieve efficiency through planning.

3.5 Human resource Strategy:

Strategic human resource management can be defined as the linking of

HRM with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business
performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation
and flexibility. HR and top management gathered in one table to craft
the company’s business strategy. Strategy provides the framework for
specific HR activities such as recruitment and training. Strategy helps
organization to achieve the organizational objectives in competitive
environment. HR strategies are the course of action to help the
company in achieving its strategic aims. In short the HR strategies
ultimately provides the direction for HR activities for its proper
development and management. HR strategies are the foundation to HRP
as well as HRP is directed to the HR strategy.

3.6 Relationship between HRP and Strategic planning:

Strategic planning can be defined as the process of identifying

organization objectives and the action needed to achieve those

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objectives. It directs the whole organization and give motion to
organization. Whereas HRP is the process by which an organization
achieve its overall strategic objectives. This means that HRP can not
be separated from organizational objectives. It must be linked to the
organization’s overall strategic planning. The strategic planning are
made always in consideration of that the organization has appropriate
personal are available to complete the action. Thus to ensure that
appropriate personal are available to meet the requirement set during
strategic planning. Human resource managers engage in HRP. So HRP
operates within the strategic planning process and interlinked.

3.7 HRP Process

The HRP process consist of following five step given below:

a) Assessing current HR:

The first step of HRP is to assess the current status of the
organization’s human resource. This is an internal analysis that includes
the inventory of employees and skill already available within the
organization and job analysis. Thus the assessment of HR includes the
following steps:

i) HR Inventory:
HR inventory is the common method to assess the current
status of the organization’s human resource. It prepares report on the
basis of forms completed by employee and then checked by supervisor.
Such report includes the list of employee, education, training, prior
experience, current position, performance rating, salary rating and
specialized skills etc. It helps HRP for determining the skill, training
and development program and number of people should be hired on
future. This inventory can also provide crucial information for
identifying current or future threat to the organization ability to

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perform. The assessment of current HR situation is based on following
two techniques.

ii) HR information (HRIS):

The most effective device to provide the current state of
HR in the organization is HRIS. A HRIS is the method by which
organization collects, maintains, analysis and report information on
people on job. HRIS is typically designed to quickly fulfill the HRM
informational needs of the organization. HRIS include the mgmt of
basic records, benefits administration and planning, skills inventories,
training and development data, performance appraisal andjob evaluation
information. It facilitates both planning and identifying person for
current transfer or promotion.

iii) Succession Planning:

Succession planning is the process of identifying future
managerial staffing needs and making plans for the development of
managers to meet those needs. It focus on the development of
competitive employee and takes the long term view of the
organization’s human resource needs. Succession planning fetch the
information from HR inventory specially expand the information of
current performance, promotability, development needs and take plans
for long term growth potential. It is directly directed to the HRP to
helps for future needs of HRM.

iv). Job Analysis:

Job analysis is the process of identifying the job and skills,
abilities, and responsibilities that are required for an individual to
accomplish the task or job. It provides the information on the task
should be complete and the qualification needed to accomplish
the job. Job analysis outcomes are job description, job specification
and job evaluation.

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b) Analyzing the Organizational plans:
The organizational plan and strategies directs the
whole activity of the organization. It also determines the future HR
needs. Specially based on its estimate of total revenue the organization
can attempt to establish the number and mix of human resource
needed to reach this revenue. Therefore various components in
organization’s plan such as production plan, marketing plan, sales plan,
plan for expansion etc. determines the activity of HRM, needed to
achieve those objectives.

c). Forecasting HR Demand:

Once information about the current status of human
resource is analyzed and HR objectives are determined, future HR
needs are forecasted. Job analysis and forecast about the HR mix
facilitate demand forecasting. This step analyze the HR needs for
future in terms of skill, value, capabilities with number of HR
ultimately based on the organization’s plan and strategies.

d). Supply forecasting:

This step analyzed the source of HR supply needed
for future to ensure the availability at right time at right place. It
analyzed the HR inventory and determined the addition and reduction
in HR. Specially there are two sources of HR supply first is internal and
second is external supply. Internal supply which can be ensure from
promotion, transfer and demotion and external supply which is done
with new recruitment of employee.

e) Matching Demand and supply of HR:

This step ensure the balance between HR demand and
supply. It results that the balance, shortage and overstaffing. If the
organization is in the stage of shortage, then demand is increased and
if overstaffing is predicted then the HR should be transferred or can
be cut the no. of employee ( If anyone wants to quit). In this step the

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HR manager should play the vital role in analyzing and balancing the HR
demand and supply as well as the right action plan should be taken for
it.