Human Resource Planning is not an isolated paper exercise but an integral management function. It formally links organisational strategy with human resource practices. HR Planning is necessary to counteract pulls and pressures of globalisation and optimise the efficiency of the HR in an organisation.
HR Planning takes place at several levels :
1) Strategic Manpower Planning: Aggregated workforce Planning.
2) Tactical Planning: It addresses career planning and development needs of personnel in the organisation. Career planning of homogeneous groups of employees to maximise individual and organisational capacities and end the peculiarities and specific career needs of professions within the organisation.
3) Operational Planning System: Posting and deployment planning of individuals.
MANPOWER PLANNING:
Manpower is defined as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities and aptitudes of an organisation's work force.
It is a process by which an organisation forecasts the quantity and requisite qualifications of persons required by the organisation at some future point and ensures that right number and kind are employed at the right time to ensure unimpeded functioning of the organisation.
It is also a technique of correcting imbalances (problem of excess supply or shortage of manpower) between manpower demand and supply in an organisation at an organisational(micro) as well as country wide economic(macro) level.
The two aspects of Manpower Planning are:
1) Quantitative - Formulation of recruitment plans to avoid unexpected shortages, etc.
2) Qualitative - Identification of training needs to avoid skill shortages.
REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE MANPOWER PLANNING AT ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL:
1. Adequate planning and consensual personnel policy to eliminate haphazard expansion of personnel so that there is a logical forecasting of manpower needs at least ten years in advance.
2. Personnel policy must be developed at the headquarters or comparable level and better if academic guidance is sought from academic and research institutions.
3. Staffing section must be under the charge of a duly qualified and trained personnel officer who with his/her experience and academic soundness of the specialisation can guide it in the definite direction.
4. Manpower planning should involve proper mix of different categories of workers that is determined by the policy and the socio-economic status of the country.
5. Proper and accurate implementation of the personnel department policy should be facilitated by giving more responsibility to unit chiefs at head offices and in the field levels.
6. Effective evaluating system of individual and staff quantitative as well as qualitative performance.
7. Personnel department must bring in regular researches into various aspects of personnel administration in collaboration with training institutions and universities to identify future requirements and trends(futuristic approach).
8. Training programmes should be need based, task oriented and use practical simulations where trainees work and supply their skills.
9. Role clarity of officers to avoid clashes and overlapping which would only delay policy determination and implementation.
10. Manpower planning is a continuous, networked cyclical process requiring constant review and adjustments to be fruitful.
PROCESS OF MANPOWER PLANNING:
1. Clarity between Manpower plan and objectives of the organisation.
2. Assessment of the Manpower situation in the organisation so that a proper plan is laid out.
3. Projection of Manpower Requirements - Present moment and long term plans of manpower demand and supply in an organisation.
4. Classification and interpretation of information so that a clear cut policy and implementation is chalked out.
5. Developing work standards and performance norms so that each employee is clear about the minimum level of work to be put in as well as the quality of work. Also the employee should be aware of the promotion and appraisal standards so that they may work in a channelized manner and not feel frustrated.
6. Anticipating Manpower problems and resolving them.
7. Supply of Personnel.
8. A well rounded budget to carry out the same.
9. Continuing Research studies.
ASPECTS OF MANPOWER PLANNING:
1. Organisational Planning and Development.
2. Career Development.
3. Terms of Employment.
4. Employee welfare.
5. Personnel records
6. Morale and Motivation
7. Management-Staff relations
8 Personnel Research and Review
9. Effective Communication.
10.Motivation of employees through Decentralisation, Delegation and Job Enlargement.
\One can very well understand the advantages that Manpower Planning possesses for an organisation and the country. Now let us look at its shortcomings.
SHORTCOMINGS OF MANPOWER PLANNING:
1. It stresses more on quantification techniques than education requirements which is less useful to developing countries.
2. Training is need based and more organisation prone rather than the individual. Labour market analysis should be employed as an integral part of Manpower planning to keep up with the changing external and internal environment that helps assess relative priorities for training investments can lead to a training strategy more conducive to long term sustained development.
3. Pay differentiation in public and private sector should be analysed and remedied for an effective manpower planning as the shortage and unplanned exit of staff is a major outcome of this not being done.
4. There should be a greater focus on the educational profile of the workers than their occupational results so that there is a direct impact on the educational institutions of the country and would lead to their betterment as well thus leading to a greater social engineering and development as well as on the organisational level, general training which enhances the overall competencies of the trainee might be more cost effective and safer in the long run.
MANPOWER PLANNING IN THE CIVIL SERVICE:
Bureaucratic right-sizing is imperative in today's times and that calls for a sound Manpower Planning at the civil services level and a complete overhauling.
Let's take at a few recommendations to carry out the same effectively:
1. The number of ministries should be kept low to contain administrative costs and for political considerations if new ministers are warranted then they should be appointed under Ministers with a major portfolio within an existing Ministry.
2. One administrative structure should be maintained to keep all closely related activities in the context of a government's priorities to retain the validity and integrity of a ministry to help the officials in it carry out their responsibilities effectively and be held accountable.
3. Administrative reforms recommendations should be taken with seriousness to ensure effective service delivery without any leakage or spillage and wastage of natural resources and funds.
4. Skewed staff - line employee ratio should be balanced out immediately and effectively. This can be done by an effective system of Panchayats helping in combining functions of several field departments in a single individual whose work can be supervised by higher functionaries of the Panchayati Raj system.
5. Surplus staff should be eradicates, redeployed and a liberal system of exit should be offered to surplus staff. For the time being recruitment should be limited only to functional posts while vacancies at the secretariat and clerical levels should not be filled.
6. Reduction in number of general holidays as recommended by the 5th Pay Commission should be implemented as it will help in better utilisation of existing staff. Lateral level into civil service on a contractual level should be encouraged to increase mobility and fill shortages at any point. Officers must be encouraged to join voluntary organisations of repute as well as educational and research institutions during mid-career thus help in widening the knowledge base of officers concerned.
7. Instability of tenure of civil servants has lead to a reduction in their autonomy, independence and authority and prone to political influence and coercion as well as an unfruitful and unproductive tenure marked with confusion and frustration. So there should be a mandatory fixed tenure period for all to see the true utilisation of their knowledge, skills and capacities that would lead to the true growth of the country.
HR Planning takes place at several levels :
1) Strategic Manpower Planning: Aggregated workforce Planning.
2) Tactical Planning: It addresses career planning and development needs of personnel in the organisation. Career planning of homogeneous groups of employees to maximise individual and organisational capacities and end the peculiarities and specific career needs of professions within the organisation.
3) Operational Planning System: Posting and deployment planning of individuals.
MANPOWER PLANNING:
Manpower is defined as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities and aptitudes of an organisation's work force.
It is a process by which an organisation forecasts the quantity and requisite qualifications of persons required by the organisation at some future point and ensures that right number and kind are employed at the right time to ensure unimpeded functioning of the organisation.
It is also a technique of correcting imbalances (problem of excess supply or shortage of manpower) between manpower demand and supply in an organisation at an organisational(micro) as well as country wide economic(macro) level.
The two aspects of Manpower Planning are:
1) Quantitative - Formulation of recruitment plans to avoid unexpected shortages, etc.
2) Qualitative - Identification of training needs to avoid skill shortages.
REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE MANPOWER PLANNING AT ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL:
1. Adequate planning and consensual personnel policy to eliminate haphazard expansion of personnel so that there is a logical forecasting of manpower needs at least ten years in advance.
2. Personnel policy must be developed at the headquarters or comparable level and better if academic guidance is sought from academic and research institutions.
3. Staffing section must be under the charge of a duly qualified and trained personnel officer who with his/her experience and academic soundness of the specialisation can guide it in the definite direction.
4. Manpower planning should involve proper mix of different categories of workers that is determined by the policy and the socio-economic status of the country.
5. Proper and accurate implementation of the personnel department policy should be facilitated by giving more responsibility to unit chiefs at head offices and in the field levels.
6. Effective evaluating system of individual and staff quantitative as well as qualitative performance.
7. Personnel department must bring in regular researches into various aspects of personnel administration in collaboration with training institutions and universities to identify future requirements and trends(futuristic approach).
8. Training programmes should be need based, task oriented and use practical simulations where trainees work and supply their skills.
9. Role clarity of officers to avoid clashes and overlapping which would only delay policy determination and implementation.
10. Manpower planning is a continuous, networked cyclical process requiring constant review and adjustments to be fruitful.
PROCESS OF MANPOWER PLANNING:
1. Clarity between Manpower plan and objectives of the organisation.
2. Assessment of the Manpower situation in the organisation so that a proper plan is laid out.
3. Projection of Manpower Requirements - Present moment and long term plans of manpower demand and supply in an organisation.
4. Classification and interpretation of information so that a clear cut policy and implementation is chalked out.
5. Developing work standards and performance norms so that each employee is clear about the minimum level of work to be put in as well as the quality of work. Also the employee should be aware of the promotion and appraisal standards so that they may work in a channelized manner and not feel frustrated.
6. Anticipating Manpower problems and resolving them.
7. Supply of Personnel.
8. A well rounded budget to carry out the same.
9. Continuing Research studies.
ASPECTS OF MANPOWER PLANNING:
1. Organisational Planning and Development.
2. Career Development.
3. Terms of Employment.
4. Employee welfare.
5. Personnel records
6. Morale and Motivation
7. Management-Staff relations
8 Personnel Research and Review
9. Effective Communication.
10.Motivation of employees through Decentralisation, Delegation and Job Enlargement.
\One can very well understand the advantages that Manpower Planning possesses for an organisation and the country. Now let us look at its shortcomings.
SHORTCOMINGS OF MANPOWER PLANNING:
1. It stresses more on quantification techniques than education requirements which is less useful to developing countries.
2. Training is need based and more organisation prone rather than the individual. Labour market analysis should be employed as an integral part of Manpower planning to keep up with the changing external and internal environment that helps assess relative priorities for training investments can lead to a training strategy more conducive to long term sustained development.
3. Pay differentiation in public and private sector should be analysed and remedied for an effective manpower planning as the shortage and unplanned exit of staff is a major outcome of this not being done.
4. There should be a greater focus on the educational profile of the workers than their occupational results so that there is a direct impact on the educational institutions of the country and would lead to their betterment as well thus leading to a greater social engineering and development as well as on the organisational level, general training which enhances the overall competencies of the trainee might be more cost effective and safer in the long run.
MANPOWER PLANNING IN THE CIVIL SERVICE:
Bureaucratic right-sizing is imperative in today's times and that calls for a sound Manpower Planning at the civil services level and a complete overhauling.
Let's take at a few recommendations to carry out the same effectively:
1. The number of ministries should be kept low to contain administrative costs and for political considerations if new ministers are warranted then they should be appointed under Ministers with a major portfolio within an existing Ministry.
2. One administrative structure should be maintained to keep all closely related activities in the context of a government's priorities to retain the validity and integrity of a ministry to help the officials in it carry out their responsibilities effectively and be held accountable.
3. Administrative reforms recommendations should be taken with seriousness to ensure effective service delivery without any leakage or spillage and wastage of natural resources and funds.
4. Skewed staff - line employee ratio should be balanced out immediately and effectively. This can be done by an effective system of Panchayats helping in combining functions of several field departments in a single individual whose work can be supervised by higher functionaries of the Panchayati Raj system.
5. Surplus staff should be eradicates, redeployed and a liberal system of exit should be offered to surplus staff. For the time being recruitment should be limited only to functional posts while vacancies at the secretariat and clerical levels should not be filled.
6. Reduction in number of general holidays as recommended by the 5th Pay Commission should be implemented as it will help in better utilisation of existing staff. Lateral level into civil service on a contractual level should be encouraged to increase mobility and fill shortages at any point. Officers must be encouraged to join voluntary organisations of repute as well as educational and research institutions during mid-career thus help in widening the knowledge base of officers concerned.
7. Instability of tenure of civil servants has lead to a reduction in their autonomy, independence and authority and prone to political influence and coercion as well as an unfruitful and unproductive tenure marked with confusion and frustration. So there should be a mandatory fixed tenure period for all to see the true utilisation of their knowledge, skills and capacities that would lead to the true growth of the country.
nice post! I really like and appreciate your work, thank you for sharing such a useful information about human resource development and management, keep updating the information, hear i prefer some more information about jobs for your career hr jobs in hyderabad .
ReplyDelete