Strategic Employee Planning

 

 Strategic Employee Planning

  Strategic workforce planning is an HR approach that consists of designing, implementing, and controlling policies and practices aimed at reducing in advance the gaps between the needs and the resources of the company, both quantitatively (in terms of staff) and qualitatively (in terms of skills) (Berrada, 2020). Workforce planning will often be triggered by a specific event and/or change in the structure of the organization. This takes place through a merger, acquisition, or a transformational change project. However, the emphasis put on comprehensive workforce planning will be important to the organization at any point in time (Radhika, 2020).

 

 Figure 1: Some Factors contributing to the need for workforce planning (Charted Institute of Personnel and Development, 2018).

 Workforce planning process

The benefits of conducting workforce planning are many and varied. Essentially it helps organisations to ‘get the right people in the right job at the right time’. It allows for more effective and efficient use of workers and for organisations to prepare for restructuring, reducing, or expanding their workforces In addition to the practical benefits, the process of workforce planning aids organisations by providing overarching objectives which integrate the various units and allow employees space and time to think about common goals for the future (Sinclair, 2004).

Figure 2: Steps in Workforce Planning process (Charted Institute of Personnel and Development, 2018).

 

 According to Ghimire (2020), there are 03 Approaches to Human resource planning.

 1. Top down approach (Quantitative approach)

It is a hard approach to HRP as it considers a quantitative aspect of HR planning. It is handled by management. It is traditional in nature. The main objective is to identify human resource shortages and surpluses and manage them. This approach considers:

• HR information system and HR inventory.
• Demand forecasting technique by the use of statistical and mathematical techniques.
• Work-study technique.

2. Bottom-up approach (Qualitative approach)

It is a soft approach to HRP as it considers a qualitative aspect of HR planning. It is employee-driven. It is traditional in nature. The main objective is to match organizational needs with employees' needs. There is the provision of employee training and development. This approach considers;

•   Employees’ safety and welfare.
•   Motivational techniques to increase productivity.
•   Employee training and development.
•  Work flexibility.
•  Career planning and development of employees.
•  Compensation and incentive schemes.
•  Organizational justice.
•  Special right to focus groups such as minorities, women, and disadvantaged persons.

 3. Mixed approach

• The cooperate objectives and strategies of an organization are the basis of the formulation of human resource planning.
• The human resource  manager provides suggestions, guidance, and information to the top-level manager.
•  Both quantitative and qualitative approaches to human resource planning are considered.
• Both line managers and HR managers’ involvement in the formulation of HR planning contribute to high productivity for the organization.
•  It is a participative approach to HRP as it combines both quantitative and qualitative approaches to human resource planning Top managers and human resource managers jointly participate in the formulation of human resource planning This approach considers.

 Mixed methods promise access to the best of both quantitative and qualitative “worlds” by allowing the researcher  to compensate for weaknesses in one method via the other, and to draw on the complementary strengths of quantitative and qualitative approaches. For example, quantitative designs facilitate the modeling of complex relationships between variables and allow findings to be more readily generalized beyond the study at the expense of depth of analysis (Bainbridge, 2014)

The increased availability of economic and business data on the internet makes forecasting much easier and cheaper for even small firms. Access to enterprise-wide software packages now allows managers to easily collect data for forecasts and prepare viable workforce plans. Some of these programs already contain analytics (warning alerts) and metrics components that help HR and managers track trends and make more educated workforce decisions (Sinclair, 2004).

  

References

 Bainbridge, H. T. J.  & Lee I. (2014), Mixed methods in HRM research ,accessed 26 April 2022 < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259334903_Mixed_methods_in_HRM_research >.

 Berrada, M. (2020), Strategic Workforce Planning, accessed 26 April 2022, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347513721 >.

Charted Institute of Personnel and Development (2018), Workforce Planning Practice, digital image, CIPD accessed 22 April 2022, < https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/workforce-planning-guide_tcm18-42735.pdf >.

 Ghimire, B. (2020), Human Resource Planning, accessed 26 April 2022, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341119383>.

 Kapur, R. (2020), Workforce Planning as a Way of Leading to Development of Human Resources, accessed 25 April 2022, < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339068191_Workforce_Planning_as_a_Way_of_Leading_to_Development_of_Human_Resources >.

 Sinclair, A. (2004), Workforce Planning: a literature review, IES research network, accessed 23 April 2022, < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358045019_STRATEGIC_EMPLOYEE_PLANNING_AND_SALES_VOLUME_OF_NNPC_AFFILIATE_OF_OIL_AND_GAS_RETAIL_OUTLETS_IN_ANAMBRA_STATE >.

 The many merits of Workforce Planning with Wendy Hirsh & Olly Britnell & Ally Weeks (2019), podcast Work Force Planning, CIPD, 02 July, accessed 23 April 2022, < https://www.cipd.co.uk/podcasts/workforce-planning >.