What is Human Resource Planning?
Human Resource Planning is a process used by organizations for the management of human resources working with them. This is a technique which helps in maintaining the approximate number of employees in a business organization.
Human resource planning aims at removing the gap between the current human resource capacity of business and their prospected capacity. It aims at full utilization of employees working in the organization to achieve desired goals timely.
Process of Human Resource Planning
Determining Organizational Objectives
Human resource planning process starts with determining the aims and objectives that organizations want to achieve. These objectives to be achieved in future are in terms of production, sales, marketing and various other expansion programmes. Clear knowledge of objectives to be achieved makes the human resources planning process easy. It helps in the estimation of the precise number of manpower needed for the performance of an organization.
Assessing Present Human Resource Capacity
Once the objectives are clearly known, the next step is to analyse the current capacity of employees working in the organization. The information regarding the current employees is assessed in terms of their skills, knowledge, experience and potential from maintained database in the organization.
It gives clear pictures of job positions in organizations and also job vacancies that may arise in future. Estimation of these vacancies helps in planning the sources from which these vacancies can be filled that may be internal or external sources.
Demand And Supply Forecast Of Human Resource
After properly analyzing the stock of manpower, the next step is to forecast the optimum human resource capacity required for the achievement of objectives. The demand for the human resources needed at different positions and roles in future is forecasted. Different sources from where these future demands and current supply are to be met are recognized that may be internal sources and external sources.
Identifying Manpower Gaps
This step involves finding out current manpower supply and future manpower demand gap. It helps in finding out surplus or deficit of human resource in organisation. In case of deficit of human resources, the supply is less than demand and the organisation need to recruit more new employees. In case of surplus, supply is more than the required demand and therefore there is need to reduce the number of employees through retirement, termination, transfer etc.
Formulation Of Human Resource Action Plan
Once the manpower gaps are clearly identified, now the human resource action plan is formulated. Human resource action plan aims at removing the deficit and surplus of manpower in organisation. Accordingly as per situation plan is formulated like in case of deficit planning for hiring new employees is done. Whereas in case of surplus focus on reducing the number of employees through termination, layoff, retirement etc. is done.
Training And Development
It involves training and development programmes for employees. Training and development programmes are meant for both newly hired employees and existing employees. This programme aims to update and improve the skills of all employees according to the various job roles and positions. It helps in meeting the current skills of employees with requisite skills for achievement of objectives.
Evaluation And Monitoring Of Manpower Planning
Final step in Human resource planning is monitoring and evaluation of this whole process. Here the effectiveness of whole human resource planning is checked. It involves the comparison of manpower plans with the actual implementation of these plans. This evaluation helps in ensuring that whether the deficiency and surplus of employees is fulfilled or not. In case of any unfavorable situation, appropriate measures are taken timely to overcome them.
