Human Resource planning (HRP) is the process that links the human resource needs of an organization to its strategic plan to ensure that staffing is sufficient, qualified, and competent enough to achieve the organization’s objectives, identifying the current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. It is the process through which organizations ensure that their human resource requirements are identified and plans are made for satisfying those requirements. Through Human resource planning, an organization attempts to estimate the demand for labor and evaluate the size, nature and sources of supply which will be required to meet that demand. Human resource planning includes creating an employer brand, retention strategy, absence management strategy, flexibility strategy, talent management strategy, recruitment and selection strategy.
The objective of human resource planning is to ensure the best fit between employees and jobs while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses. The four key steps of the human resources planning process are analyzing present labor supply, forecasting labor demand, balancing projected labor demand with supply and supporting organizational goals. Human Resources Planning has become a vital part of organizational strategy for maintaining a competitive advantage and reducing employee turnover.
Human resource planning aims at fulfilling the objectives of manpower requirement. It helps to mobilize the recruited resources for the productive activities. The human resource planning is and important process aiming to link business strategy and its operation. Many organizations in Uganda conduct Human Resource Planning for various reasons.
The three key elements of the HR planning process are forecasting labour demand, analyzing present labour supply, and balancing projected labour demand and supply. The stages of human resource planning implementation are:
Analyzing the current HR capacity; This involves developing a skills catalog for employees so that you have a clear understanding of what your staff currently holds. This employee catalog should include everything from volunteer activities to certifications, of all degrees not just topics pertaining to their particular position. These catalogs can be assessed to deem whether or not an employee is ready to add more responsibility, or to forecast the employee’s future development plans.
Forecasting HR requirements; This step includes projecting what the HR needs for the future will be based on the strategic goals of the organization. Keep in mind you will need to also accommodate for external challenges that can affect your organization. Some questions to ask during this stage include: which jobs will need to be filled in the upcoming period?, what skill sets will people need?, how many staff will be required to meet the strategic goals of our organization?, is the economy affecting our work and ability to appeal to new employees?, and how is our community evolving or expected to change in the upcoming period?
Gap analysis; During this step you will observe where your organization is currently, and where you want to be in the future. You will identify things such as, the employee count, and the skills evaluation and compare it to what will be needed to achieve your future goal. During this phase you should also review your current HR practices and identify what you are doing that is useful and what you can add, that will help you achieve your goal. Questions to answer in this stage include: what new jobs will we need?, what new skills will we need?, do our present employees have the necessary skills?, are employees currently aligned to their strengths?, and are current HR practices adequate to meet our future goal?
Developing HR strategies; There are various HR strategies that can be followed to meet the company’s goals. These include: restructuring, which includes reducing staff, regrouping tasks to create well-designed jobs, and reorganizing work groups to perform more efficiently; training and development, which includes providing the current staff with training and development opportunities to encompass new roles in the organization; recruitment, which includes recruiting new hires that already have the skills the organization will need in the future; outsourcing, which includes outreaching to external individuals or organizations to complete certain tasks; and collaboration, which includes collaborating with other organizations to learn from how others do things, allow employees to gain skills and knowledge not previously available in their own organization.
In MTN Uganda, one of the biggest companies in the country, the rationale for human resource planning is as follows:
Future manpower needs; Human resource planning ensures that people are available to provide the continued smooth operation of an organization. It means, human resource planning is regarded as a tool to assure the future availability of manpower to carry on the organizational activities. It determines the future needs of manpower in terms of number and kind. For example, MTN Uganda uses human resource planning to ensure that the current and future manpower needs match with the organization’s growth/expansion projections. When the company expands to new markets, human resource planning ensures that it has the required manpower to support the expansion.
Coping with change; Human resource planning is important to cope with the change associated with the external environmental factors. It helps assess the current human resources through human resources inventory and adapts it to changing technological, political, socio-cultural, and economic forces. For example, in today’s era of cyber security concerns, MTN Uganda uses human resources planning to recruit and retain those employees who can help strengthen its systems security.
Recruitment of talented personnel; Another purpose of human resource planning is to guide the organization in the recruitment and selection of the most capable personnel to fill job vacancies. It determines human resource needs, assesses the available human resources inventory level and finally recruit the personnel needed to perform the job. For example, MTN Uganda uses human resources planning to ensure that it recruits only the personnel that it needs, as a way of ensuring that its skills demand matches with the supply.
Development of human resources; Human resource planning identifies the skill requirements for various levels of jobs. Organizations design and implement various training and development campaigns to impart the required skill and ability in employees to perform the task efficiently and effectively. For example, in MTN Uganda, human resource planning is used to assess the skills gap in the organization, and training is conducted to fill those skills gaps.
Proper utilization of human resources; Human resource planning helps to ensure that the organization acquires and utilizes the manpower effectively to achieve objectives. In MTN Uganda for example, Human resource planning is used as a tool in assessing and recruiting skilled human resource. It focuses on the optimum utilization of human resource to minimize the overall cost of production.
Reduction of uncertainty; This is associated with reducing the impact of uncertainty which are brought by unplanned or sudden changes in processes and procedures of human resource management in the organization. For example, in MTN Uganda, in case there is a sudden need for programmers, human resources planning will help in guiding the organization on how to target their recruitment process towards acquiring people with that same skills set.
Design an HRP template for that organization in the following areas
- a) Training
| Item | Activities | Time-frame | Budget | Responsible person | Comments |
| Training | Diagnosis of causes of performance deficiencies is done
Trainers are informed about the broader needs in advance Trainers design course inputs closer to the specific needs of the participants |
3 weeks | 1,000,000 | Human Resources/ delegated authority | Perception gaps are reduced between employees and their supervisors
|
- b) HR Development
| Item | Activities | Time-frame | Budget | Responsible person | Comments |
| HR development | Developing people’s competencies at three levels:
Individual level activities: Awareness among employees about their roles and what is expected of them, and developing their abilities to improve their skills and attitudes accordingly.
Group level activities: developing committees or task groups and increasing their effectiveness through developing collaborative inter-group relationships.
Organizational level activities: developing employees’ competencies for self-renewing mechanisms and ability to adjust to change in its environment and to be proactive. |
6 weeks | 2.500.000 | Human Resources | All staff are appraised of what their roles and responsibilities are |
- c) Recruitment
| Item | Activities | Time-frame | Budget | Responsible person | Comments |
| Recruitment | Identification of need
Evaluation of the: · Level required performing these tasks · Supervisory or lead responsibility · Budget responsibility · Work hours
Position description Identify the following: · General Information · Position Purpose · Essential Functions · Minimum Requirements · Preferred Qualifications
Recruitment plan · Mapping the strategy for attracting and hiring the best qualified candidate
Search committee · Appointing a search committee, its size and composition · Clear out all potential conflicts of interest in relation to the applicants under consideration · Ensure that all members of the committee are thoroughly familiar with the job description
Advertise the position · Engage sourcing and outreach activities should be engaged · Advertise using social media and networking channels · Continuous monitoring of recruitment activity and recruitment plan
Review Applicants and Develop Short List · Review all applicants’ qualifications · Develop the short list · Submit the short list for approval · Once approved, contact the applicants for interviews
Conduct interviews · Learn more about the applicants · Conduct thorough interviews and evaluate skills and abilities. · Review the applicant’s application or resume and any issues that need follow-up on. · The interviewee is informed of the next step
Select Hire · The committee meets to discuss the interviewees · Choose the best candidate based on qualifications · Conduct a reference check in the selected candidate
Finalize Recruitment · The offer is made to the selected finalist · Notify the HR Coordinator of the finalist’s name, salary and start date · Once an offer has been accepted, the offer letter be sent |
5 weeks | 5.300.000 | Human Resources / Delegated authority | Hiring is conducted according to the company’s need
The recruits meet the needs of the company
Prospective recruits are properly vetted to ensure their authenticity |
- d) Retirement
| Item | Activities | Time-frame | Budget | Responsible person | Comments |
| Retirement | · The company will design an appropriate retirement scheme, set benefits, and how these benefits will be appropriated
· A retirement benefits fund will be set aside to cater for the benefits of the retiring employees · Employees who are of 60 years old will be encouraged to retire |
Annually | 10.000.000 | Human Resources/
Delegated authority |
Most aging employees lack the energy and hunger to achieve more.
|
- e) Promotion
| Item | Activities | Time-frame | Budget | Responsible person | Comments |
| Promotion | · Hiring new senior staff to fill the managerial and supervisory openings in the company
· Promoting the long serving employees who have the skills and qualifications to serve in senior positions · Circulation of an internal memo to announce the senior management openings, and inviting experienced staff to apply for the existing new vacancies · Conducting interviews and promoting successful candidates to their managerial posts |
Semi-annually/whenever need arises | 20.000.000 | Human Resources | There are many people with experience and managerial capacity that can be elevated to senior positions as need arises |
References
- Dessler, Griffiths, Lloyd, Williams, © 1999, Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall.
- Green, S. 1988. `Understanding corporate culture and its relation to strategy, International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 18, no. 2, 6-28. (Online Proquest)
- Legge, K. 1989. `Human resource management: a critical analysis in New Perspectives on Human Resource Management. J. Storey, (ed.). London: Routledge.
- Mckinnon, I, Murphy, C 2006, Human Resource Management-Study Guide, Central Queensland Universtiy, edn. 2053, Queensland.
- Miles RE, Snow CC. 1984. Designing strategic human resources systems. Org. Dyn. 16:36-52 (Online Proquest)
- Rynes SL, Barber AK. 1990. Applicant attraction strategies: an organizational perspective. Academy of Management Review, 15:286-310 (Online Proquest).