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Unit II

Human Resource Planning (HRP) is the process of forecasting


the future human resource requirements of the organization
and determining as to how the existing human resource
capacity of the organization can be utilized to fulfill these
requirements. It, thus, focuses on the basic economic concept of
demand and supply in context to the human resource capacity of the
organization.

It is the HRP process which helps the management of the organization


in meeting the future demand of human resource in the organization
with the supply of the appropriate people in appropriate numbers at
the appropriate time and place. Further, it is only after proper analysis
of the HR requirements can the process of recruitment and selection be
initiated by the management. Also, HRP is essential in successfully
achieving the strategies and objectives of organization. In fact, with
the element of strategies and long term objectives of the organization
being widely associated with human resource planning these days, HR
Planning has now became Strategic HR Planning.

Though, HR Planning may sound quite simple a process of managing


the numbers in terms of human resource requirement of the
organization, yet, the actual activity may involve the HR manager to
face many roadblocks owing to the effect of the current workforce in
the organization, pressure to meet the business objectives and
prevailing workforce market condition. HR Planning, thus, help the
organization in many ways as follows:
HR managers are in a stage of anticipating the workforce
requirements rather than getting surprised by the change of
events

Prevent the business from falling into the trap of shifting


workforce market, a common concern among all industries and
sectors

Work proactively as the expansion in the workforce market is not


always in conjunction with the workforce requirement of the
organization in terms of professional experience, talent needs,
skills, etc.

Organizations in growth phase may face the challenge of meeting


the need for critical set of skills, competencies and talent to meet
their strategic objectives so they can stand well-prepared to meet
the HR needs

Considering the organizational goals, HR Planning allows the


identification, selection and development of required talent or
competency within the organization.

It is, therefore, suitable on the part of the organization to opt for HR


Planning to prevent any unnecessary hurdles in its workforce needs. An
HR Consulting Firm can provide the organization with a comprehensive
HR assessment and planning to meet its future requirements in the
most cost-effective and timely manner.

An HR Planning process simply involves the following four


broad steps:
Current HR Supply: Assessment of the current human resource
availability in the organization is the foremost step in HR
Planning. It includes a comprehensive study of the human
resource strength of the organization in terms of numbers, skills,
talents, competencies, qualifications, experience, age, tenures,
performance ratings, designations, grades, compensations,
benefits, etc. At this stage, the consultants may conduct
extensive interviews with the managers to understand the critical
HR issues they face and workforce capabilities they consider
basic or crucial for various business processes.

Future HR Demand: Analysis of the future workforce


requirements of the business is the second step in HR Planning.
All the known HR variables like attrition, lay-offs, foreseeable
vacancies, retirements, promotions, pre-set transfers, etc. are
taken into consideration while determining future HR demand.
Further, certain unknown workforce variables like competitive
factors, resignations, abrupt transfers or dismissals are also
included in the scope of analysis.

Demand Forecast: Next step is to match the current supply


with the future demand of HR, and create a demand forecast.
Here, it is also essential to understand the business strategy and
objectives in the long run so that the workforce demand forecast
is such that it is aligned to the organizational goals.

HR Sourcing Strategy and Implementation: After reviewing


the gaps in the HR supply and demand, the HR Consulting Firm
develops plans to meet these gaps as per the demand forecast
created by them. This may include conducting communication
programs with employees, relocation, talent acquisition,
recruitment and outsourcing, talent management, training and
coaching, and revision of policies. The plans are, then,
implemented taking into confidence the mangers so as to make
the process of execution smooth and efficient. Here, it is
important to note that all the regulatory and legal compliances
are being followed by the consultants to prevent any untoward
situation coming from the employees.

Hence, a properly conducted process of HR Planning by an HR


Consulting Firm helps the organization in meeting its goals and
objectives in timely manner with the right HR strength in action.
The Changing Role of the HR Function

Of all the support functions, the HRM (Human Resource


Management) function is a critical component of any
organization. Apart from finance, which serves as the lifeblood of the
organizational support functions, the HRM function more than any
other support function, has the task of ensuring that the organizational
policies and procedures are implemented and any grievances of the
employees are taken care of. For instance, it is common for the HRM
function in many organizations to combine hiring, training, providing
assistance during appraisals, mentoring employees, and deciding on
pay structures and grades. This means that the HRM function has its
task cut out wherein it has to take care of the people side of the
organizational processes. Considering the fact that the ascent of the
services sector (IT, Financial Services, BPO) has meant that people are
the key assets for organizations, the importance of the HRM function
has grown by leaps and bounds thanks to the preponderance of the
services sector. This has given impetus to many aspiring HR
professionals to try and make a career for themselves in the HR field
thanks to the burgeoning demand for HR professionals.
Steps in Human Resource Planning (explained with diagram)

Steps in Human Resource Planning

Human resource planning is a process through which the right


candidate for the right job is ensured. For conducting any process, the
foremost essential task is to develop the organizational objective to be
achieved through conducting the said process.

Six steps in human resource planning are

1. Analysing Organizational Objectives:

The objective to be achieved in future in various fields such as


production, marketing, finance, expansion and sales gives the idea
about the work to be done in the organization.
2. Inventory of Present Human Resources:

From the updated human resource information storage system, the


current number of employees, their capacity, performance and
potential can be analysed. To fill the various job requirements, the
internal sources (i.e., employees from within the organization) and
external sources (i.e., candidates from various placement agencies)
can be estimated.

3. Forecasting Demand and Supply of Human Resource:

The human resources required at different positions according to their


job profile are to be estimated. The available internal and external
sources to fulfill those requirements are also measured. There should
be proper matching of job description and job specification of one
particular work, and the profile of the person should be suitable to it.

4. Estimating Manpower Gaps:

Comparison of human resource demand and human resource supply


will provide with the surplus or deficit of human resource. Deficit
represents the number of people to be employed, whereas surplus
represents termination. Extensive use of proper training and
development programme can be done to upgrade the skills of
employees.

5. Formulating the Human Resource Action Plan:


The human resource plan depends on whether there is deficit or
surplus in the organization. Accordingly, the plan may be finalized
either for new recruitment, training, interdepartmental transfer in case
of deficit of termination, or voluntary retirement schemes and
redeployment in case of surplus.

6. Monitoring, Control and Feedback:

It mainly involves implementation of the human resource action plan.


Human resources are allocated according to the requirements, and
inventories are updated over a period. The plan is monitored strictly to
identify the deficiencies and remove it. Comparison between the
human resource plan and its actual implementation is done to ensure
the appropriate action and the availability of the required number of
employees for various jobs.
Recruitment: Meaning, Definition and Factors Affecting Recruitment

Meaning and definition:

Recruitment is the generating of applications or applicants for specific


positions to be filled up in the organisation. In other words, it is a
process of searching for and obtaining applicants for jobs so that the
right people in right number can be selected. Go through the following
definitions of recruitment. These will help you understand the meaning
of recruitment in a better manner.

According to Dale Yoder, Recruitment is a process to discover the


sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the staffing
schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that man-
power in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an
efficient working force.

In the words of Werther and Davis, Recruitment is the process of


finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process
begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications
are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which new
employees are selected.

Flippo has defined recruitment as a process of searching for


prospective employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply
for jobs in an organisation.

According to Bergmann and Taylor Recruitment is the process of


locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants.
Recruitment can now easily be defined as the process of searching for
and securing applicants for the various job positions which arise from
time to time in the organisation.

Factors affecting recruitment:

There are a number of factors that affect recruitment.

These are broadly classified into two categories:

1. Internal Factors

2. External Factors

These are discussed one by one.

1. Internal Factors:

The internal factors also called endogenous factors are the factors
within the organisation that affect recruiting personnel in the
organisation. Some of these are mentioned here.

a. Size of the Organisation:

The size of an organisation affects the recruitment process. Experience


suggests that larger organisations find recruitment less problematic
than organisations with smaller in size.

b. Recruiting Policy:
The recruiting policy of the organisation i.e., recruiting from internal
sources (from own employees) and from external sources (from outside
the organisation) also affects recruitment process. Generally, recruiting
through internal sourcing is preferred, because own employees know
the organisation and they can well fit into the organisations culture.

c. Image of Organisation:

Image of organisation is another internal factor having its influence on


the recruitment process of the organisation. Good image of the
organisation earned by a number of overt and covert actions by
management helps attract potential and competent candidates.
Managerial actions like good public relations, rendering public services
like building roads, public parks, hospitals and schools help earn image
or goodwill for the organisation. That is why blue chip companies
attract large number of applications.

d. Image of Job:

Just as image of organisation affects recruitment so does the image of


a job also. Better remuneration and working conditions are considered
the characteristics of good image of a job. Besides, promotion and
career development policies of organisation also attract potential
candidates.

2. External Factors:

Like internal factors, there are some factors external to organisation


which has their influence on recruitment process.

Some of these are given below:


a. Demographic Factors:

As demographic factors are intimately related to human beings, i.e.,


employees, these have profound influence on recruitment process.
Demographic factors include sex, age, literacy, economic status etc.

b. Labour Market:

Labour market conditions i.e., supply and demand of labour is of


particular importance in affecting recruitment process. For example, if
the demand for a specific skill is high relative to its supply, recruiting
employees will involve more efforts. On the contrary, if supply is more
than demand for a particular skill, recruitment will be relatively easier.

c. Unemployment Situation:

The rate unemployment is yet another external factor having its


influence on the recruitment process. When the unemployment rate in
a given area is high, the recruitment process tends to be simpler. The
reason is not difficult to seek. The number of applicants is expectedly
very high which makes easier to attract the best qualified applicants.
The reverse is also true. With a low rate of unemployment, recruiting
process tends to become difficult.

d. Labour Laws:

There are several labour laws and regulations passed by the Central
and State Governments that govern different types of employment.
These cover working conditions, compensation, retirement benefits,
and safety and health of employees in industrial undertakings.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, for example,
prohibits employment of children in certain employments. Similarly,
several other acts such as Employment Exchange (Compulsory Noti-
fication of Vacancies) Act, 1959, the Apprentices Act, 1961; die Factory
Act, 1948 and the Mines Act, 1952 deal with recruitment.
The Seven Steps of Recruitment Process

Step 1 Setup

Assess past/ current recruiting strategy

Design custom recruitment process

Establish advisory relationship with HM

Step 2 Source

Building sourcing strategy

Data mining

Search engine optimization of all postings

Targeted social media & event based networking

Step 3 Screen

Phone-screen candidates

Behavioral screening

Test and assess

Assessment tool recommendation

Selling the job opportunity

Building a robust referral network

Step 4 Schedule

Schedule interviews

Confirm interviews
Extensive candidate interview preparation

Step 5 Feedback

Gather manager feedback

Gather candidate feedback

Maximize # of YES candidates

HM interview skills analysis & optimization

Step 6 Offer

In depth candidate pre-closure

Market research and offer analysis

Negotiate and extend offers

Step 7 Onboard

Conduct background/reference/drug checks

Provide new start orientation

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