Human Resource Planning

Human resource planning can be defined as the process in which an organization recognizes its current and future human resource needs that will enable it to meet its objectives.

Human resource planning is a very important process since it links the long term and short term plans of the organization with human resource.

Human resource planning is a continuous process as it helps organizations avoid labour shortages and excess labour.

Role of a human resource manager

1. A human resource manager is responsible for hiring workers. They advertise for job vacancies, screen applications, interview candidates and hire the most successful candidates.
2. He or she is also responsible for handling employee inquiries or complaints. If they cannot handle the complaints, they can take them to senior management.
3. A human resource manager also has the responsibility of managing and maintaining employee records.
4. A human resource manager is also responsible for conducting training of new and old employees. This is to enhance work productivity.
5. They also have the responsibility of enrolling employees in benefit programs. This includes educating employees on benefit programs available and advising them to enroll.
6. He or she also has the role of maintaining the work structure to ensure that job requirements and descriptions are regularly updated.

Objectives of human resource planning

1. To make sure that there is enough supply of labour in an organization.
2. Manage and control the human resource that already exists in an organization.
3. To evaluate technology and how it has affected work, the employees in the organization and future human resource needs.
4. To make an estimation of the employee turnover and formulate strategies on how to reduce it.
5. Another objective of human resource planning is to evaluate the costs of human resources to strategize on being cost effective.

Importance of human resource planning

1. Human resource planning helps organizations have a constant supply of labour. This is through timely recruitment.
2. Human resource planning also ensures that there is a balance between the demand and supply of labour in the organization. This is to maintain cost effectiveness through ensuring there is no excess labour supply.
3. Due to the dynamic business environment, human resource planning is useful in helping organizations cope with the dynamic changes in the market.
4. Good human resource planning leads to better use of human resources in an organization. This is by making sure that the human resources contribute maximum benefits to the organization while remaining cost effective.
5. Good human resource planning also helps organizations become competitive on the market. This is through continuous training of employees.
6. Human resource planning also is important in helping employees adjust to change. This is by ensuring that human resources are flexible enough to cope with any organizational changes.
7. Good human resource planning also contributes to the overall success of an organization. This is through increased productivity that results in increased profitability.

Steps in human resource planning

There are six steps in human resource planning. These include;

1. Analyzing the objectives of the organization. This includes evaluating the goals that the organization wants to achieve in the future.
2. Analyzing the current human resources inventory. This involves evaluating the records of the current human resources to identify skills available in the organization.
3. The next step is to carry out a forecast of the demand and supply of manpower in the organization. This involves finding out the required human resources for the firm and the available human resources in the firm.
4. You should them estimate the gaps in human resources. Through the forecast, you can establish if there is a deficit or a surplus. A deficit shows that available manpower is less than required while a surplus shows that available manpower is more than required.
5. The fifth step is to come up with an action plan. If there is a deficit, you should make plans for recruitment and if there is a surplus, you should make plans for retrenchment, retirement or transfer.
6. The last step is monitoring and feedback. This involves implementing the chosen action plan. You should then monitor it to ensure that it is constantly updated in case of deficiencies.

Conclusion

Human resource planning is a process that is very essential to any organization. This is because it will not only help firms increase productivity, but it will also remain cost effective through removal of excess labour supply. Every organization should have a human resource manager who helps with the human resource planning.