Importance of HR plans
It is vital for organisations to have HR plans because if they do not plan for the future they will have less opportunity to survive the competition ahead. Human resource planning refers to the planning of human resource functions, or in other words, planning how human resource management will be executed. ''The goal of human resource management is to help an organisation to meet strategic goals by attracting, and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively'' [Miller, 1989].
These goals may includes: recruiting, selecting, hiring, orienting, training and retraining, motivating, coaching, mentoring, counselling, recognising achievements, empowering, communicating, evaluating, planning for and managing terminations, downsizing, attrition, job rotation and cross-functional training, promoting, laying off/dismissing, anticipating redundancies, early retirement, succession planning . HR planning refers to the development of plans in these areas or in similar areas.
Edgar H. Schein, a social psychologist, conducted detailed research on this topic and published his findings. Schein pointed out that certain changing dynamics in the workplace increase the importance of effective human resources planning, [ , 2010] . Organisations have become more complex in structure and technologies and are operating in more complex economic and diverse cultural environments. Therefore managers cannot safely make decisions alone. They do not have enough information within their self to be the integrator and decision maker. Instead, they manage the decision-making process.
The HR department in the company I have previously worked for was important to me as an employee as they took into consideration the needs of the employees as well as the organisational needs. They took into account that different employees had their own needs and aspirations, therefore the HR department made plans which involved finding out about the needs and aspirations of individual employees, for example through the appraisal process and then creating the opportunities within the organisation e.g. through offering job enlargement to those interested and capable. They also created opportunities for employees who wanted to gain a qualification and work at the same time, they did this through taking up educational opportunities for employees to improve themselves and gain retail/sales NVQ's. HR plans therefore relate to every aspect of the way in which the organisation interacts with its people, e.g. by providing training and development opportunities, appraisal to find out about individual needs, training and development needs analysis, etc [Times, 2010].
In most of the jobs that I have worked HR helped in planning for physical facilities/ working conditions, such as a canteen, childcare, holidays etc. It provided scope for advancement and development for employees through training/ development, from learning how to use a new computer system to retail NVQ's, which helped offset uncertainty and change. It helped to satisfy the individual needs of the employees for promotions transfers, salary enhancement, better benefits etc, for example when I moved house I wanted a transfer to a closer branch which they dealt with.
* How many staff they have/need?
* How are they distributed?
* What is the age profile?
* How many will leave in each of the next five years?
* How many will be required in one, five, ten years?
Manpower planning is important for any organisation because if they get it wrong it will be time consuming and cost the company a lot of money. For example if someone leaves, the HR department needs to decide if a new employee is required to fill the position or if other existing employees are able to take on the extra tasks. Not only does this save the organisation time and money it may also help motivate staff as they may be taking on more or different responsibilities. It is vital that the organisation plans ahead and predicts how many staff will leave or retire so they can employ and train new staff in time to meet the demand. If they do not plan ahead they may have a staff shortage and may not be able to keep up with the demand which again any organisation cannot afford to do so as the hard part is to get the demand. The organisation is also likely to have a budget for how much they can spend on employing/training staff, so again have to plan ahead and make decisions in order to use the money provided in the most beneficial way to the company.
Matching people and jobs is also important, it is unlikely that requirements of an individual job are perfectly matched with the skills and abilities of the people available; however it is the HR department’s job to find the best possible match. Wrongly placed workers will be unhappy and bored, or anxious about being out of their depth. There are three ways in which an organisation can employ staff in order to make sure this problem does not occur
* Select the best qualified person for the job which is finding the 'right person' approach.
* Change job characteristics to fit the abilities of the people employed- the culture-fit' model
* Train people to perform more effectively, which is a flexible person approach
These method can be combined for example where I previously worked the best qualified for the managerial position got the job, she was then trained to perform more effectively and learn new things, which is a common approach in many organisations.
HR's plans are beneficial to the whole organisation including line managers as it supports them in dealing with the people consequences of implementing the decisions. Without HR plans line managers wouldn't know what the right decisions to make are and will also have the ability to be bias. For example if there is a job available the line manager may just employ someone they know rather than look at the job role and specification provided by HR to make sure they are really employing someone that can do the job properly. Human resources practices are effectively performed by line management with the human resources department providing the tools and guidance needed for the line managers to be successful.
If there are no HR plans there could be a negative effect on the whole organisation. Below are some of the negative effects the company may face:
De motivated employees.
High turnover- company needs to cater to employees needs otherwise they will leave which can be costly/ time-consuming.
Organisation will eventually get a bad image.
Bad or wasteful use of resources.
Company won’t have skilled/quality labour for this they need to employ the right people by planning ahead what the role requires.
Company is not likely to achieve goals if staff don’t get what they want and are de- motivated therefore cannot be competitive as an organisation
Staff will have no sense of direction and therefore will not be able to do their job properly
Staff will not be rewarded accordingly therefore feel that the organisation is unfair to them.
HR planning goes beyond finding out how many staff is needed and what job role they are required to do, it is about the softer areas of employee attitudes, behaviour and commitment. These aspects are critical to HR development, performance assessment and managing change.
Without HR planning any company would suffer as they will not have the right staff at the right time. Even if they do they will not be able to keep them motivated or interested in the job as there will be no incentives such as training/ development, promoting etc. Staff are a company’s biggest asset in terms of achieving profit for the organisation therefore they are the people that should be taken care of. The quality of an organisation’s employees directly influences its ability to gain and sustain competitive advantage, if their staff are not happy the company will not remain competitive. HR plans ensure staff are treated the way they wish to be, so without HR departments organisations would have all the wrong staff that cannot do the job properly and provide customers with the products/services that the customers require. As a result the organisation would fail regardless of all the other departments such as marketing, sales, accounts etc running properly.
Personal specification for university lecturer using Rodger’s seven point person specification Rodger offered a set of headings for systematic construction of person specifications. Employers can measure by asking: does the candidate satisfy essential criteria or disqualify criteria if they lack the attributes required. Then when they gather information on candidates and compare them against essential and desirable criteria, by doing this they can find out if one candidate present a better profile than another.
1. Physical make-up health, physique, appearance, bearing, speech (exclude discriminatory features such as accent)
2. Attainments education, training, experience, achievements
3. Intelligence Cognitive ability, learning capacity, analytical ability, ability to synthesise
4. Special aptitudes e.g. construction, equipment, dexterity, mathematical, IT ability etc
5. Interests intellectual, practical, active, social
6. Disposition maturity, self-reliance, compassion, humour
7. Circumstances geographical mobility (excluding discriminatory factors such as age, children, marital status etc - unless specifically relevant to job)
Qualities/skills Essential Desirable
Physical make-up Excellent spoken and written communication skills Mature entrants.
Attainments Extensive knowledge of subject, keep up to date with new ideas and developments.
first class degree and a postgraduate qualification related to the subject.
5 or more years previous teaching experience
Intelligence Confidence to lecture to large groups as well as individuals.
Ability to plan own courses and lectures and devise own teaching materials.
Special attitudes Be up to date with all IT programmes Have the ability to confidently use any equipment including computers.
Interests Have a fun caring, talkative personality
Disposition Helping people who have problems with their social or personal well-being
capable of motivating students
Have an extrovert energy towards others
Circumstances Must live within 20 miles of university campus Have licence and car ownership
The employer will consider each point in the light of minimum requirements for the job. They would then draw up a chart or checklist to use in the selection activities. This process will allow them to choose the best possible candidate for the job.
If Waitrose was opening a new store in High Wycombe they would need to ask some of the following labour questions:
- Is there local staff available?
- What skills are required/ available?
- What will be the cost of labour? Is this amount available for labour?
-What are the rules on working conditions/ minimum pay?
-What the rules on taxation, contributions and deductions are?
References
Reilly P, (1996) Human Resource Planning: an Introduction. Institute for Employment Studies
Armstrong, M (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 10th ed. London: Kogan Page.
Cherrington, David J. (1995). The Management of Human Resources. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Little, J. The importance of employees. Available from http://www.hrireland.ie/pdf/ [Accessed 26 april 2010].
Miller, M (1989). Strategic management. [S.L.], Dekker, [N.K.]
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