X+2.1+Human+Resources+Planning

= 2.1 Human Resource PLANNING =

Wikipedia defines HRP as "//a process that identifies current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve it goals//."

Its more than just knowing the details of a firm //current// employment needs (what skills?, experience?, qualifications? - how many people? of what ages? etc). That in itself is useful, but its not really 'planning' - HRP is about knowing what a firm will need in the future.

Consider a car firm for __**example**__. Now if the car firm knows that in June 2010 they sold 1000 cars and needed 100 people with X skills to do so, they might reasonably think that in June 2011 they will sell another 1000 cars and need 100 people with X skills again. The reality is seldom that simple - various factors complicate the issue. A period of growth and high employment might mean they end up with orders for 1050 cars. Technology advances might mean the skills required are now Y, and not X. Et cetra.

//Why can't we wait until June 2012, see how many orders we have and get the right people with the right skills then?// Part of the answer lies in 'lead time', if we only start the recruitment process in June 2012 then we won't actually be fully staffed until the end of the month (recruiting does take time), then we need to possibly do some training, start production - and its late July 2012 before the car is ready to be sold. By then our customer has either gone to our rivals, or bought a bicycle!

A firm needs to know in eg April 2012 who and what it needs in eg June 2012, so that it can start recruiting, training ahead of time and be ready with production in time to meet the need of Junes customers in June. This is not easy - and requires PLANNING.

__KEY WORDS__: HUMAN RESOURCE POOL DEMOGRAPHS (Net Birth Rate, Net Migration Rate, Retirement Age, Workforce Flexibility, Unemployment Levels, Labour Mobility, Role Of Women, Aging Population etc) SOCIAL FACTORS - (Competition, Cost Of Living, Transport Networks, etc) PLANNING FACTORS - (Historical Data, Workload, Capital Intensity, Derived Demand) STAFF TURNOVER RECRUITMENT PROCESS (10 STAGE) JOB ADVERT (CONSIDER : T.R.A.P.S. MODEL) JOB DESCRIPTION PERSON SPECIFICATION APPLICATION FORM CURRICULUM VITAE (AKA RESUME) COVERING LETTER SHORT LIST INTERVIEW APTITUDE TESTS REFERENCES INTERNAL v EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT APPRAISALS TRAINING (OFF-THE-JOB v ON-THE-JOB) INDUCTION DISMISSAL REDUNDANCY EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS CHANGING WORKING PRACTICES (Homeworking, Teleworking, Portfolio Working, Part-time, Job Share, Flexitime) HANDY'S SHAMROCK ORGANISATION PERSONNEL EFFECTIVENESS (Labour Turnover, Absenteeism, Productivity, Wastage)