ASSIGNMENT

Q1. What is Human Resource Planning (HRP)?

Human resource planning (HRP) is the continuous process of systematic planning ahead to
achieve optimum use of an organization's most valuable asset—quality employees. Human
resources planning ensure the best fit between employees and jobs while avoiding
manpower shortages or surpluses. Human resources are the most important assets of any
organisation. The success or failure, growth and development of the organisation depend on
human resources. The organisation must therefore acquire knowledgeable, skilful, trained,
talented and potential human resources to attain and accomplish the organisational
objectives. A great care needs to be taken in their acquisition. The human resource planning
provides necessary direction in this regard to the human resource management in the light of
overall organisational objectives. The organisational objectives determine the required
number, type and kind of human resources and for their acquisition the process of human
resource planning begins. The human resource planning bridges the gap between the
organisational plans and human resource management. It is a conscious determination of
direction and composition of human resources of the organisation. The Human resource
planning provides the necessary groundwork and set the stage ready for manpower
procurement to fill up various positions in the organisation.

HRP is the process of determining manpower requirements and the means of meeting those
requirements to carry out the integrated plan of the organization. Thus HRP translates the
organization’s objectives and plans into the number of people needed to meet those
activities.

Q2. Discuss the types of HR Planning (HRP).

Macro-level HRP: HRP takes place at both the macro and micro levels. At the macro level,
HRP focuses on aligning human resources administration with the organization’s mission and
overall strategic plan. Often called HR strategic planning or organizational design and
development, macro HRP examines employee management policies and procedures and
their effect on human resources management. Objectives may affect employee recruitment,
performance evaluation, compensation and benefits, employment law compliance, labour
relations and workplace safety.

Micro-level HRP: Macro-level HRP drives micro-level HRP, which develops and implements
the tactics needed to help the organization achieve its strategic objectives. Micro HRP tactics
ensure that the business has the appropriate number of employees with the appropriate mix
of knowledge, skills and abilities in the proper areas or departments

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Q3. Describe in detail the objectives of HRP.

The objectives of human resource planning are as follows:

1. To forecast the future needs of human resources.

2. To ensure fuller and effective utilisation of existing human resources.

3. To ensure that necessary manpower is available as and when required.

4. To relate human resource planning with the organisational planning.

5. To estimate the surplus or shortage of human resource in the organisation at any given
time.

6. To get information about the manner in which the existing personnel are deployed, the
kind of skills needed for various jobs, and manpower requirements over a specified period of
time in relation to the organisational goals.

7. To anticipate the impact of technology on jobs and human resources.

8. To determine the levels of recruitment and training.

9. To estimate the cost of labour force and its housing requirements.

10. To provide a basis for management development programme.

11. To meet the needs of expansion and diversification programmes.

12. To increase the labour productivity and thereby reduce the labour costs.

Q4. What factors impact HRP?

The two factors widely affecting HRP is: External Factors, Internal Factors

External Factors include:

1) Economic Factors: Economic factors include all those economic forces which affect the HR
function. Highly relevant economic factors are suppliers, customers, competitors, and
globalisation.

2) Government Policies: To be specific, HR planning, recruitment and selection, placement,

training, remuneration, employee relations and terminations are governed by the
constitutional provisions. The HRM cannot manage the personnel unilaterally because it has
to abide by the rules and regulations imposed by the Government from time to time. HR
managers have to be aware about the legislations enacted by the governments at the centre
and the states.
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3) Technological Factors: In the present competitive world, technological developments can
dramatically influence an organisation’s environment. Technological advancements can create
new competitive advantages that are more powerful than the existing ones. New technologies,
generally, compel people to learn a new set of skills altogether or to upgrade their existing
skills and knowledge. Moreover, there will be growing demand for workers with more
sophisticated training and skills especially in sectors like telecommunications, biotechnology
etc. New technological advancements also lead to downsizing of workers. Increased
automation reduces the number of employees in the organisations. The pressure to remain
cost effective also forces the firms to cut down the manpower. Mergers and acquisitions, also
lead to downsizing of employees. In many emerging industries, the positions that have been
filled up with workers possessing superior technical skills and knowledge, have tilted the power
base from management to technical workers. Managers today have to have some
understanding of the technical aspects of their subordinates’ work. To manage the knowledge
workers is a major area of concern for the HR managers. Technological changes lead to
collaborative team work where managers, technicians, and analysts work together on projects.
Team based incentive plans make it necessary for all classes of employees to work in close co-
ordination with each other. Along with upgrading the jobs, technology has its impact on human
relations also. Technology lays down the requirements for much of the human interactions in
organisations. Since interaction affects sentiments, technology indirectly determines what
individuals in groups will feel and think about one another and about their work situation. The
impact of technology on the HR function is quite profound. In the days ahead, the risk and
hazardous jobs as well as repetitive jobs would be handed over to the robots. As organisations
become fully computerised and automated, the demand for people with multi skills will grow.
However, technology will lead to alienation of workers, since job opportunities will shrink
along with opportunities for socialisation on the job. Factory work for skilled and unskilled
workers will become scarce as organisations will start using lighter, faster, stronger and more
intelligent robots in the years ahead.

Internal Factors include:

1) Company Policies: Policies are the guide maps in the organisation. Policies tell people what
they may or may not do. These direct the manner in which the objectives of the organisation
are to be achieved. Objectives show the destination but the route towards that destination is
shown by policies.

2) Time Horizons: Yet another major factor affecting personnel planning is the time horizon. A
plan cannot be for too long on a time horizon as the operating environment itself may undergo
charges. On one hand, there are short-term plans spanning six months to one year. On the
other hand, there are long-term plans -which spread over three to twenty years. The exact
time span, however, depends on the degree of uncertainty prevailing in an organization’s
environment. Plans for companies operating in an unstable environment, computers for
example, must be for a short period. Plans for others where environment is fairly stable, for
example a university plan, may be long-term. In general, the greater the uncertainty, the
shorter the plan’s time horizon and vice versa.

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 3) Type and Quality of Information: The information used to forecast personnel needs
originates from a multitude of sources. A major issue in personnel planning is the type of
information which should be used in making forecasts. Closely related to the type of
information is the quality of data used. The quality and accuracy of information depend upon
the clarity with which the organizational decision makers have defined their strategy,
organizational structure, budgets, production schedules and so forth. In addition, the HR
department must maintain well-developed job-analysis information and HR information
systems (HRIS) that provide accurate and timely data. Generally speaking, organizations
operating in stable environments are in a better position to obtain comprehensive, timely and
accurate information because of longer planning horizons, clearer definition of strategy and
objectives, and fewer disruptions.

4) Trade Unions: Influence of trade unions regarding the number of working hours per week,
recruitment source etc. affect HRP.

5) HR Systems: The survival, development and performance of an organisation depends

heavily upon the quality of its personnel. In view of the importance of HR, organisations today
are creating HRD departments, introducing participative management and quality circles,
providing free flow of upward communication and enhancing the status of the employees.
These changes are not the end but a humble beginning to the status of the HR function in the
years ahead

Q5. Talk about the techniques employed in HR forecasting.

Some important methods of forecasting the demand for manpower are as follows:

1) Bottom-up forecasting: A forecasting method in which each successive level of the

organization, starting with the lowest, forecasts its employee requirements in order to,
ultimately, provide an aggregate forecast of employment needs.

2) Top-Down Forecasting: Top-down forecasting is a method of estimating a company’s future

performance by starting with high-level market data and working “down” to revenue. This
approach starts with the big picture and then narrows in on a specific company.

3) Delphi Technique: A process in which the forecasts and judgments of a selected group of
experts are solicited and summarized in an attempt to determine the future HR demand.

4) Nominal Group Technique: Nominal group technique (NGT) is defined as a structured

method for group brainstorming that encourages contributions from everyone and facilitates
quick agreement on the relative importance of issues, problems, or solutions.

5) Productivity and Staffing Ratios: Ratio analysis is the process of determining the future
demand for human resources by calculating the ratio between a particular business variable
and the number of employees a company needs. It especially helps you forecast those
growth-driven personnel needs.

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6) Trend Analysis: Trend analysis links historic employment patterns to future labour demand.
Managers plot trends that affected employee numbers, such as the company's performance or
developments in the industry sector, across a given period. They use this data to identify continuing
trends that will influence the number of employees required in the future.

7) Regression Analysis: Regression analysis is a statistical technique that predicts the level of one
variable (the “dependent” variable) based on the level of another variable (the “independent”
variable). In a compensation setting, for example, that might be the relationship of executive pay to
company size or company revenue.

8) Mathematical Models: A mathematical model usually describes a system by a set of variables and a
set of equations that establish relationships between the variables.

9) Workload Analysis: A tool used to predict and plan future work and skill requirements based on
historical performance to set the baseline for specific job.

10) Group Brainstorming: Brainstorming can be used in any of the five phases of the DMAIC (Define
Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) process, but it is most often used in the Analyze and Improve
phases

11) Sales Force Estimate: It predicts future sales by analyzing the opinions of sales people as a group.
Salespeople continually interact with customers, and from this interaction they usually develop a knack
for predicting future sales.