Ans. Definitions According to K. F. Turkman manpower planning can be defined as an attempt to match the supply of people with the jobs available in an organization. Statistical techniques have been used to ascertain the supply of people with the jobs available. Bruce Coleman has defined manpower planning as the process of determining manpower requirements and the means for meeting those requirements in order to carry out the integrated plan of the organization.
Five stages in Manpower Planning- Evaluate Present Manpower Inventory It is very important to evaluate the present manpower status before making a forecast for future manpower planning. To evaluate the present manpower status a department level analysis and a job-role analysis is conducted to arrive at the required manpower versus the available manpower. This is accumulated across the organization at different levels and departments. The final report is then consolidated and the required manpower versus the available manpower is stated in terms of the quantitative analysis. Another analysis on the qualitative side similarly shows the competencies required versus competencies available for each of the job roles. This provides the present manpower inventory. There may be excess or deficit or in extremely few cases just the right number quantitatively. The report on the qualitative front may rarely have a 100% match between required competencies versus available competencies.
Manpower Forecasting Manpower planning is done based on the manpower forecasts. The common manpower forecasting techniques are: (i) Expert Forecasts: This includes formal expert surveys, informal decisions and the Delphi technique. (ii) Trend Analysis: Manpower needs can be seen through the past practice of the firm or organization keeping the principle year as a basis and a central tendency of measure (iii) Work Load Evaluation: This depends on the nature of the work load in a branch, department, or a division in a firm or organization. (iv) Work Force Evaluation: As production and the time duration are to be kept in mind, allotments have to be made for getting the total manpower requirements.
Develop a Manpower Sourcing Plan or Retrenchment Plan Once the current inventory is compared with the future manpower forecasts then the manpower sourcing or retrenchment plan is drawn. The sourcing plan includes recruitment, selection, placement, hiring temporary staff and outsourcing. The retrenchment plan involves sending show-cause notices to bottom performers called bottom scraping, asking people to leave the organization by providing the requisite severance allowance, allowing employees to go on a sabbatical and finally out-placing employees in other organizations to reduce the manpower. It is harder to retrench manpower. The need for retrenchment could also be minimized by very objectively approving any additional manpower.
Manpower Allocation & Retention Manpower allocation helps in managing the impact of deficits and excess in manpower supply through promotions, transfers and job-rotations. Enhancing manpower utilization requires managing the dynamics of leadership and motivation. Manpower retention would mean taking necessary steps to ensure that the organization provides a conducive-atmosphere to the employees to perform and keep each employee engaged.
Building Requisite Competencies Once the future manpower forecasts are compared to the current inventory, there may be some gaps in competencies amongst the available internal resources for them to qualify for the future manpower forecasts. In such cases organizations may choose to develop resources through training programs. A training calendar is designed to ensure that the competencies of existing staff are enhanced to meet the future manpower forecasts. Additional training programs may be designed when organizations are diversifying or expanding. Training programs may be designed to train existing resources on the latest improvements and advancements in technology or the related business subject. Training is provided to improve the knowledge, skill and capability of the employee.
Obstacles in Manpower Planning The major obstacles in manpower planning are as follows: Non Optimal Utilization of Manpower The biggest obstacle for manpower planning is the fact that organizations cannot optimally use their manpower once manpower planning begins. During manpower planning, the number of resources required for a job is decided based on the total work load, the processes to be followed and the criticality of the job. Once the analysis is done, it is decided that one person can only handle a certain portion of the workload and hence for any additional workload, additional resources need to be hired proportionately. Absenteeism Every organization has witnessed an increase in absenteeism. This has lead to errors creeping in the manpower planning exercise. If the plan stated that 4 employees are required to manage the total workload, increased degree of absenteeism leads to the partial failure of the manpower planning exercise. Lack of Employable Labor People are not employable. The slow pace of acquiring business required competencies by people at large also result in low employee productivity. All manpower planning is done by keeping a certain productivity level as the benchmark. And low productivity has negative implications for manpower planning.
Q.2. What are the key HR elements practiced by HR managers in decision making? Explain any five of them
Ans. Key Human Resource Elements-
I) Planning and Evaluating Employees Organizations need to articulate the vision, mission, goals and objectives. These goals need to cascade down to every employee in the organization based on the job role. Performance targets are achieved through strategic initiatives, operational excellence and adherence to core values of the organization. Organizations implement interventions of employee development to achieve higher standards of performance. Employee performance is evaluated against documented goals to decide action steps in terms of rewards, training and development.
II) Job Design Some organizations have categorized jobs into 3 categories:
The individual contributor job roles do not require too much in terms of team working skills. However the people developer job roles and business operator job roles require extensive team working skills. Based on the job role category, hiring of candidates is decided. Individual contributors need to be excellent in their domain area. They are expected to manage their role independently most of the times. In people developer job roles and business operator job roles, interpersonal skills, communication skills, ability to build rapport and working in teams is a critical requirement. These skills are required over and above the domain area competencies.
III) Job Analysis Job analysis is a procedure to collect information or data about the job duties, responsibilities, required skills, and work environment or atmosphere of a particular kind of job. In short, job analysis refers to various methodologies for analyzing the requirements of a job. Job analysis leads to job specification and job description which helps in getting the right candidate for the right job.
IV) Individual and Team Development Organizations have to identify the needs for employees skill development, competency development, and educational needs. Organizations also identify the growth needs and aspirations of employees. This is done at the individual level and at the team level. Interventions are planned to enhance the skill, competencies of employees. Other initiatives encourage employees to undertake further education along with work. This enables the employees to gain relevant competencies so as to be able to contribute to their organization far more effectively. Managers and HR is the critical link to ensure employee aspirations and growth needs are met.
V) Career Planning and Career Path Organizations should aim to help employees recognize their strengths and weakness and to apply these strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes and abilities to their future work. If an organization shows the career path to each and every employee and enables employees with potential then these employees climb up the corporate ladder fast. Career planning brings clarity and allows for employees to get promoted or earn more. Managers need to ensure once a stipulated time period of service is completed by the employee, then the employee must be shown his career path based on his/her potential without wasting an extra day. The employee should be made to feel special and valued. His/her growth should be of interest to the organization as well.
Q.3. Define Resourcing Strategy. Explain the components of Resourcing Strategy.
Ans. Resourcing strategy looks at establishing methods or processes which enables the organization to link resourcing to their strategic goals. In other words it is a tool which refines or makes resourcing more purposeful. Resourcing encompasses all the processes connected from identification of resource labor pools to inducting and retaining right people in the system. It also emphasizes on welfare and development of existing employees to benefit the organization.
Components of Resourcing Strategy The important components of resourcing strategy are:
Recruitment and Selection
Research Research is primarily done to understand the best options available to an organization to carry out resourcing operations or part of it. It considers the options those are currently employed by the organization and its likes. It looks at first analyzing what is the quality of human resource and associated processes required for carrying out the job. This involves the study of the profile of human resource required, their sources, locations where they are readily available or from where they can be procured, other external/outsourcing options, etc. Planning Planning is the most important component in resourcing. It is part of the process where findings of research are used to arrive at strategic decision on resourcing. Research findings suggested few opportunities and the challenges associated in exercising those options. One of the challenges in employing candidates from smaller cities was quality of communication. Detailed study suggested that the interaction was objective and repetitive in nature and employees can be trained on the same. A few candidates from a smaller city were trained and tested and the results were satisfactory. Recruitment and Selection Recruitment and selection is equally vital as organizations may have the best planning tools but they will be of little help if the organization does not have the right people to execute them. Lets say there is a candidate from a service industry where client interaction is of prior importance and employees are expected to display courtesy and empathy. This candidate may be a total misfit in an accounting firm where compliance and accuracy supersedes all other essentials. Performance Management Performance Management includes activities to ensure that organizational goals are consistently met in an effective and efficient manner. It drives the employees to perform better and meet or exceed standards of performance. Every time the performance exceeds expectations, an incentive or bonus is offered. In order to ensure that exectations are met consistently, employees increment in salary is also given. This drives productivity and quality, resulting in lower requirement of manpower. This also requires lesser infrastructure, administrative costs and training cost. Thus performance management is a key component of resourcing strategy. Employee Retention Employee retention drives programs that engage employees and retains them. Successful organizations understand that an effective employee retention plan will help them sustain their leadership and growth in the marketplace. 1. Good organizations make employee retention a core aspect of their talent management strategy and organizational development process. 2. Those that fail to make employee retention a priority are at risk of losing their top talented people to the competition.
Q.4. Define Career Planning Process .Describe the various factors involved in Career Planning Process
Ans. Career Planning Process Career planning for individuals has gained significance due to phenomenal growth of knowledge in new areas, better educational and training facilities and huge number of jobs that have got created due to a burgeoning world population and the onset of consumerism and globalization. Similarly organizational level career planning gained significance due to new developments in technology, demand for products and services, birth of global organizations of immense scale with presence in 10-50 countries. Career planning is a structured exercise undertaken to identify ones objectives, marketable skills, strengths, and weaknesses, etc., as a part of one's career management. Career planning applies the ideas of strategic planning and marketing to take charge of one's professional future. These steps will focus on career choice and the process one goes through in selecting an occupation. This may happen once in an individuals lifetime, but it is more likely to happen many times as we first define and then redefine ourselves and our goals and objectives. I) Self-Knowledge The first and foremost step in career planning is to know and evaluate yourself. You need to introspect yourself while deciding about a particular career option. You must examine and evaluate your interests, abilities, aptitudes, desired lifestyle, and personality traits and then consider the relationship between the career you have chosen and yourself. II) Explore Opportunities in Market Having completed the first step of self-assessment, the individual will explore the opportunities in the market in general, in the industry in specific or based on his/her areas of specialization or interest. This will enable him/her to obtain knowledge of employment opportunities in demand today and in the future. III) Goal Setting In career planning the most important step is to set goals according to the academic qualifications, work experience, relevant experience, priorities and expectations from life. Specific goals and objectives must be formulated. The entire career management and career planning procedure is based on the formation of well defined goals and objectives whether general or specific in nature. The time horizon for the accomplishment of the chosen goals and objectives whether short term, medium term or long term will have a major influence on their formulation. IV) Decide Strategy After formulating goals, the individual develops a strategy to achieve these goals. The strategy should be choosing the areas that you should focus on and are likely to exponentially increase your chances of reaching your goal. Anything that increases your chances does not necessarily qualify to be called strategic. It could be more tactical in nature. V) Implement Strategy Then he/she implements the strategic plan and experiments and sees which steps move him in the direction of achieving his career goals. The implementation is to be done with full rigor. The implementation of the strategy is the key for getting success. VI) Review Progress against Goals At a planned frequency, the review of the process needs to be done by seeking feedback about the effectiveness of the strategy and review of the goals from those involved with the individual. Then repeat the process till you achieve your goals. Also during the review process, please make a note of the changes in PESTLE i.e., political, social, economical, technological, legal and environmental scenario.
Q.5. As an HR, you are asked to focus on the Talent Development Process in your organization .How would you define Talent Development? Explain the necessity of Talent Development from an HR perspective. Explain the model for achieving excellence in Talent Development
Ans. The process involving the systematic identification, attraction, development, engagement and deployment of employees who are of significant value to an organization is defined as talent development. Talent development is an important part of HR. The process involves changing an organization, its employees and its stakeholders. This process is accomplished using planned and unplanned learning, in order to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage for the organization.
Necessity of Talent Development Talent development is necessary in any organization because of the following: integrated learning management, performance management, and compensation management systems to drive business results. manages succession plans, minimizes business disruptions, and also takes care to reduce the risk of non-compliance and litigation. lent development is necessary to achieve extra ordinary goals. Extraordinary goals require extraordinary talent. the key issue for different organizations. So finding the proper talent and creating opportunities for its development would be reasons enough for a talent to stay in the organization. organization. The cost of replacing a valued employee is enormous. Organizations need to promote diversity and design strategies to retain people, reward high performance and provide opportunities for development. quirement to succeed in the future. They do understand that it's critical to strengthen their talent pool through succession planning, professional development, job rotation and workforce planning. Hence, for that they need to identify the right talent and groom it the right way.
Model for Achieving Excellence in Talent Development In order to achieve excellence in talent development, companies should focus on the following factors: Structure Functional profiles, competency models, and describing paths for growth are the things companies should implement. Other than these a yearly performance management cycle with some achievable targets should be set and incentive structures, career- and succession planning are some things which form an integral part of the talent management system. Selective Development Most of the successful organizations carry on a close examination of which are the talent programs and interventions that will be necessary to realize the company strategy. Process The total infrastructure for talent development should be such that it is a part of the day-to-day leadership culture. Coaching and training skills are to be developed by the managers who have an experience to execute talent management effectively.
Q.6. Write short notes on the following: a)Recruitment b)Succession Planning
Ans. (A). Recruitment William F Glueck Recruitment is a set of activities and organization uses it to attract potential job candidates possessing appropriate characteristics to help the organization reach its objectives. Byars & Rue Recruitment Involves seeking & attracting a pool of people from which qualified candidates for job vacancies can be chosen. Recruitment of applicants is a function that comes before selection. It helps to create a list of prospective employees for the organization so that the management can choose the right person for the right job at the right time from this list. The main goal or objective of the recruitment is to help in the selection process. Recruitment can be defined as: A process of finding and getting capable applicants or employees or manpower for employment. This process begins when new people or employees are sought or found. It ends when applicants matching the job description submit their resume and application. The result is a list of applications from which new employees are selected or chosen. Recruitment Objectives The objectives of recruitment are: support the organization such that it is able to get, maintain and improve the best talent and skills. with planning & job evaluation activities. petent employees who can achieve organizational goals & objectives. right job from this list. jobs in the organization. the placement of the right candidate at the right place at the right time.
(B). Succession Planning One of the types of career planning is succession planning. Succession planning is a technique for identifying and developing internal employees with the potential to fill important organizational positions. Succession planning ensures the availability of experienced, skilled and competent employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available. Succession planning increases the progress of qualified employees from individual contributors to managers and leaders. Thus: It prepares present employees to undertake key roles It develops talent and long-term growth of employees It improves workforce capacities and performance of employee It improves employee commitment and thus enables retention of employees It ensures its support to employees throughout their employment term It meets the career development requirements of existing employees It understands the increasing difficulty of recruiting employees externally It focuses on leadership continuity and improved knowledge sharing It provides more efficiency in monitoring and tracking of employee proficiency levels and skill gaps. Succession planning is an essential part of an organization's ability to reduce risks, ensure smooth business continuity, create a proven leadership model, and improve employee morale. There are four stages to developing an effective succession plan: Identifying roles for succession; Developing a clear understanding of the capabilities required to undertake those roles; Identifying employees who could potentially fill and perform highly in such roles; and Preparing employees to be ready for advancement into each identified role, without the implementation of a succession plan, there can be significant negative impacts on an organization including; Loss of expertise and business knowledge, loss of business continuity, damaged client relationships, time and effort to recruit and train and replacement of employees