HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING AND ITS CONSTRAINTS

A Project submitted in fulfilment of the course HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT, 1ST SEMESTER during the Academic Year 2018-2019

SUBMITTED BY:
Rishabh Sinha
Roll No. - 2034
B.B.A LL.B

SUBMITTED TO:
Ms. Kirti
FACULTY OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

SEPTEMBER, 2018
CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAYAYA NAGAR,
MEETHAPUR, PATNA-800001
 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.B.A. LL.B (Hons.) Project Report entitled “
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING AND IT’S CONSTRAINTS” submitted at Chanakya
National Law University; Patna is an authentic record of my work carried out under the
supervision of Ms. Kirti. I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any other degree or
diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.

(Signature of the Candidate)

RISHABH SINHA
Chanakya National Law University, Patna

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“IF YOU WANT TO WALK FAST GO ALONE

IF YOU WANT TO WALK FAR GO TOGETHER”
A project is a joint endeavour which is to be accomplished with utmost compassion, diligence
and with support of all. Gratitude is a noble response of one’s soul to kindness or help
generously rendered by another and its acknowledgement is the duty and joyance. I am
overwhelmed in all humbleness and gratefulness to acknowledge from the bottom of my
heart to all those who have helped me to put these ideas, well above the level of simplicity
and into something concrete effectively and moreover on time.
This project would not have been completed without combined effort of my revered Human
Resource Management teacher Ms. Kirti whose support and guidance was the driving force to
successfully complete this project. I express my heartfelt gratitude to him. Thanks are also
due to my parents, family, siblings, my dear friends and all those who helped me in this
project in any way. Last but not the least; I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our
Human Resource Management teacher for providing us with such a golden opportunity to
showcase our talents. This project played an important role in making me understand more
about the benefits as well as limitations of human resource planning. It was truly an
endeavour which enabled me to embark on a journey which redefined my intelligentsia,
induced my mind to discover the intricacies involved in the competency of the people
involved in the Human Resource Planning. Moreover, thanks to all those who helped me in
any way be it words, presence,
Encouragement or blessings...

- Rishabh Sinha
- 1st Semester
- B.BA LL.B

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………….i

Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………….ii

Table of Contents…………………………………………………………....……………….iii

Aims and Objectives……………………………………………………………………….…iv

Hypothses..................................................................................................................................iv

Research Methodology......................................................................................................…...iv

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………....1

2. Human Resource Planning..........................................................................…....2-8

3. Types of Human Resource Planning........................................................................9-12

4. Benefits of Human Resource Planning...................................................……....13-15

5. Limitations of Human Resource Planning.......................................................…...16-17

Bibliography……………………………...………………………….....………........………18

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 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Aims and Objectives of this project are:

1. To study about human resource planning.
2. To study about the limitations of human resource planning.

HYPOTHESES

The researcher considers the following hypothesis:

There are more pros than cons in Human Resource Planning.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

For this study, doctrinal research method was utilised. Various articles, e-articles, reports and
books from library were used extensively in framing all the data and figures in appropriate
form, essential for this study.
The method used in writing this research is primarily analytical.

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 INTRODUCTION

Human resource planning, or HRP, is the ongoing, continuous process of systematic planning
to achieve optimum use of an organization's most valuable asset. The first step of human
resource planning is to identify the company's strengths and weaknesses in the current labor
pool. HR forecasts demand based on the strategic goals of the company. HR managers may
examine market trends, industry analyses and technological improvements to try to come up
with ways to meet the company's goals.
Forecasting possible retirements is also one major facet that needs to be considered when
businesses assess future staffing levels. Factors such as absenteeism labor turnover, seasonal
trends in demand, competitive pressures, technological changes and a host of other factors
may turn the rest of manpower plans as fashionable, decorative pieces. Lack of accuracy is a
major limitation in human resource planning. projecting manpower needs over a period of
time is a complex one. It’s not possible to track the current and future trends correctly and
convert the same into meaningful action guidelines. Some major limitations in human
resource planning include absence of support, uncertainity of future, absence of surplus
manpower,etc.

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 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

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

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  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

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 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.

Manpower planning is reputed to have first been introduced in 1676, when Samuel Pepys
first became concerned with the provision of careers for officers in the Royal Navy. Perhaps
the Chinese had the problem of manpower planning as was evident from a Seventh Century
B.C. Chinese adage (Kuan Chung Tzu): “If you wish to plan for a year sow seeds If you wish
to plan for ten years plant trees If you wish to plan for a life-time develop men.”

1. Human resource planning is a process of determining and assuming that the

organization will have an adequate number of qualified persons, available at the
proper times, performing jobs which meet the needs of enterprise and which provide
satisfaction for the individuals involved.
2. The success of any organization depends largely on the quality and quantity of its
human resources. Since, there is always a scarcity of suitable persons, the organization
needs to plan for the same. To find out the right man for the right job and develop him into an
effective team member is an important task of every manager. Only human resources have
the capability of producing the output that is greater than the input, so its proper management
is very necessary. Manpower planning is the process of determining manpower requirements
and the means for meeting those requirements in order to carry out the integrated plan of the
organization.

NEED OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING:

1. Assessing human Resource Needs – HR planning is required to determine whether there

is any shortage or surplus of the employees in an organization as both the conditions can
affect the work adversely. HR planning ensures the employment of proper workforce in an
organization.

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2. Coping with the changes within as well as outside the organization – It enables an
organization to cope up with the changes in market, technologies, products, government
regulations etc.
3. Replacement of Persons – HRP is essential because of the frequent labour turnover due to
voluntary quits, deaths, retirements, promotions, marriages etc, which are unavoidable.
4. During Expansion – In order to meet the needs of expansion program HRP is needed.
5. Scarcity of capable human resources – Despite of abundance of human resources and
growing unemployment its very tough to recruit skillful, qualified and capable workforce.
Hence the need of HRP arises.
6. Increasing investments in human resources – Human resources are the valuable assets
of an organization so an organization makes investment on them through training or job
assignments. To invest in an employee needs a thorough planning.
7. To make the programs of employees development – HRP helps in determining abilities
of the future recruited employees and helps in estimating the need to train them. So effective
programs may be prepared on that basis for the development of employees.
8. Reduction in cost of production – Helps in recruitment of the best workers and hence
reduces the rate of labour turnover. It also minimizes the wastage of the enterprise and hence
helps the management in maximum exploitation of the resources of enterprise.

FORMS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING:

There can be two forms of Human Resource Planning-

I. Short Term Human Resource Planning: Short-term planning means to prepare the plans
for staffing needs in the near future and is concerned with all jobs and persons. It looks after
fulfilling future vacancies. It mainly involves with being aware of what positions need to be
filled and who among the existing workforce is available to fill those positions.

II. Long Term human Resource Planning: Long-term human resource planning relates
with planning of human resources for more than two years as it is one of the most important
tasks faced by companies that want to survive for a long time period. It is concerned with
matching the complete list of employees to total job requirements.

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HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS:

1. Analyzing organizational Plans: The first step in Human Resource Planning is to analyze
the objectives and strategic plans of the company. Plans concerned with the technology,
production, marketing, finance, expansion and diversification give an idea related to the
future work activities.

2. HR Demand Forecast: Demand forecasting is the process of estimating the number and
type of personnel required in future. The number of people needed in future depends on the
production and sales of an enterprise. But this demand keeps on varying due to change in
production technology, process, make or buy decisions, behavior patterns, control systems
etc. and demand forecasting helps in making projections for new positions to be created and
vacancies arising in current manpower. There are several good reasons to conduct demand
forecasting.4 Forecasting techniques differ for different organization. They may be simple or
may be sophisticated. Organizations generally follow more than one technique.
The different techniques are as:

Managerial Judgement: Managerial Judgement technique is the most typical method of

forecasting generally used in small scale organizations. It involves two types of approaches
i.e. 'bottom-up' approach and 'topdown' approach. Perhaps the best way of managerial
judgement method is to use both the approaches 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' together.

Work Study Method: Work study method also known as work load analysis is suitable here
it is possible to apply work measurement to calculate how long operations should take and
the amount of labour required. Under this method total production and activities for a specific
period are estimated and this estimation is translated into number of manhours required to
produce per units (after taking the capability of workforce into consideration).

Ratio-Trend Analysis: This is the quickest forecasting technique in which manpower

resources are estimated on the basis of production level and number of workers available.
The technique involves studying past ratios between, say, the number of direct and indirect
workers in an organization and forecasting future ratios after making allowances for changes
in the organization or its methods. The forecasts are then used to determine direct labour

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requirements and the forecast ratios of indirect and direct labour is further used to calculate
the number of indirect workers needed.

Flow models: Flow models are very frequently associated with forecasting personnel needs.
The simplest one is called the Markov model. In this technique, the forecasters will:

1. Determine the time that should be covered. Shorter lengths of time are generally more
accurate than longer ones. However, the time horizon depends on the length of the HR plan
which, in turn, is determined by the strategic plan of the organization.

2. Establish categories, also called states, to which employees can be assigned. These
categories must not overlap and must take into account every possible category to which an
individual can be assigned. The number of states can neither be too large nor too small.

3. Count annual movements (also called ‘flows’) among states for several time periods. These
states are defined as absorbing (gains or losses to the company) or non-absorbing (change in
position levels or employment status). Losses include death or disability, absences,
resignations and retirements. Gains include hiring, rehiring, transfer and movement by
position level.

4. Estimate the probability of transitions from one state to another based on past trends.
Demand is a function of replacing those who make a transition.

Regression Analysis: This technique is similar to Ratio-trend Analysis as is based on the

relationship between sales volume and employees size. It can be used to assess the
relationship between one or more independent and the dependent variable. It determines the
relationship between Y variables such as number of employees and X variables such as work
done by actually measuring the relationship that existed in the past. Multiple regression
analysis involves two or more independent variables and is more advanced but most accurate
forecasting technique when used correctly.

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Delphi Technique: Delphi Technique named after the ancient Greek Oracle at the city of
Delphi, is an important technique used for estimating demand of human resources. It takes
into consideration human resource requirements given by a group of experts instead of
traditional group meetings. The administrator recruits around five to twenty suitable experts
and poll them for their forecasts and reasons to forecast. The experts then collects the
manpower needs, summarises the various responses and prepares a report. The process is
repeated until all experts agree on estimated personnel needs.

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 TYPES OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

To achieve organizational goals, human resource planning must use employee recruiting,
development and retention. It must also analyze the current workforce and consider how it
aligns with future employment needs. Attracting, training and retaining quality employees
allows human resources to use different types of planning to meet future workforce
requirements.

Workforce Forecasting

To satisfy the organization's strategic objectives, human resources needs to consider what
kind of workforce will be needed in the future. Workforce forecasting is a major component
of human resource planning, and involves analyzing its current workforce and comparing it to
future requirements to discover what gaps and surpluses exist. Workforce planning is an
outcome of a tight partnership between human resource management and the finance
organization and it is related to the systematic identification and analysis of what an
organization is going to need in terms of the size, type, experience, knowledge, and skills of
its workforce to achieve its objectives. It is a process used to generate business intelligence to
inform the organization of the current, transition and future impact of the external and
internal environment on the organization; as well as a key input into the budgeting process.

Strategic workforce planning: usually covers a three to five year forecast period, aligned to
business needs and outcomes. It focuses on identifying the workforce implications, current,
transition and future of business strategic objects and includes scenario planning.

Operational workforce planning: usually covers the next 12–18 months and should align with
the timeframe of the business planning cycle. It is the process and systems applied to
gathering, analyzing and reporting on workforce planning strategy.

Recruiting

Achieving strategic objectives through the human resource element involves attracting and
recruiting quality employees. Benefits, compensation, organizational structure and employee
growth or advancement are key elements for finding and hiring good employees. Planning the

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recruiting process with these elements in mind will assist with future employee selection.
Recruitment (hiring) refers to the overall process of attracting, shortlisting, selecting and
appointing suitable candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an
organization.[1] Recruitment can also refer to processes involved in choosing individuals for
unpaid roles. Managers, human resource generalists and recruitment specialists may be
tasked with carrying out recruitment, but in some cases public-sector employment agencies,
commercial recruitment agencies, or specialist search consultancies are used to undertake
parts of the process. Internet-based technologies to support all aspects of recruitment have
become widespread.

PROCESS

Job analysis

In situations where multiple new jobs are created and recruited for the first time or vacancies
are there or the nature in such documents as job descriptions and job specifications. Often, a
company already has job descriptions for existing positions. Where already drawn up, these
documents may require review and updating to reflect current requirements. Prior to the
recruitment stage, a person specification should be finalized.

Sourcing

Sourcing is the use of one or more strategies to attract or identify candidates to fill job
vacancies. It may involve internal and/or external recruitment advertising, using appropriate
media, such as job portals,local or national newspapers, social media (such
as LinkedIn or RiteSite), business media, specialist recruitment media, professional
publications, window advertisements, job centers, or in a variety of ways via the internet.

Alternatively, employers may use recruitment consultancies or agencies to find otherwise

scarce candidates—who, in many cases, may be content in the current positions and are not
actively looking to move. This initial research for candidates—also called name generation—
produces contact information for potential candidates, whom the recruiter can then discreetly
contact and screen.

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Screening and selection

Various psychological tests can assess a variety of KSAOs, including literacy. Assessments
are also available to measure physical ability. Recruiters and agencies may use applicant
tracking systems to filter candidates, along with software tools for psychometric testing and
performance-based assessment. In many countries, employers are legally mandated to ensure
their screening and selection processes meet equal opportunity and ethical standards.

Employers are likely to recognize the value of candidates who encompass soft skills such as
interpersonal or team leadership. Many companies, including multinational organizations and
those that recruit from a range of nationalities, are also often concerned about whether
candidate fits the prevailing company culture. Companies and recruitment agencies are now
turning to video screening as a way to notice these skills without the need to invite the
candidates in physical.Screening as a practice for hiring has undergone continual change over
the years and often organizations are using video to maintain the aforementioned standards
they set for themselves and the industry.

Disabled candidates

The word disability carries few positive connotations for most employers. Research has
shown that employer biases tend to improve through first-hand experience and exposure with
proper supports for the employee[8] and the employer making the hiring decisions. As for
most companies, money and job stability are two of the contributing factors to the
productivity of a disabled employee, which in return equates to the growth and success of a
business. Hiring disabled workers produce more advantages than disadvantages.[9] There is
no difference in the daily production of a disabled worker.[10] Given their situation, they are
more likely to adapt to their environmental surroundings and acquaint themselves with
equipment, enabling them to solve problems and overcome adversity as with other
employees. The U.S. IRS grants companies Disabled Access Creditwhen they meet eligibility
criteria.[11]

Development

Development, or training, is a type of human resource planning that focuses on how it can
improve the current and future workforce. Training and development programs improve both
specific work-related skills and more general skills like customer service or sales training.

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Training and retraining programs can also focus on reducing current and future liability
issues related to workplace safety.

Retaining

Planning for the retention of employees can be an arduous task, as it is difficult to prevent
employees from looking at other employment opportunities. Human resources can help to
reduce this likelihood by planning retention programs that focus on employee recognition,
rewards, advancement or growth, a work-life balance and employee benefits.

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 BENEFITS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

The objective of Human Resource Planning is to make the organization reach the desired
manpower position from the current manpower position, by forecasting the demand for and
supply of human resources in the near future.

There are several benefits of Human resource planning that led its scope to expand across the
different business organizations.

Benefits of Human Resource Planning

1. The human resource planning helps in forecasting the future needs of the manpower and not
only this, but it also helps in anticipating the vacancies arising in the near future.
2. It is cost effective, i.e. the enterprise can anticipate the shortage and surplus of manpower and
can control the imbalance, that may become unmanageable or expensive.
3. Better planning for the employee development. Through human resource planning, the skills
of the existing employees can be improved by giving them timely training and development
opportunities.
4. Training programs become more effective since the manpower gaps, arising out of shortage
or surplus, can be determined through the manpower planning and the training can be
imparted accordingly.
5. It helps to make the strategic decisions related to the hiring and training of the manpower, in
the case of shortage and layoff, termination or replacement of the manpower, in a case of
surplus.
6. Through Human Resource planning, the idle arising out of vacancy can be reduced and thus
the overall performance of the business remains unaffected.

Thus, through human resource planning the firms can effectively manage the manpower
requirements (both current and future) and also helps in reducing the lead time spent on
searching the prospective candidate for the vacant position.

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Different than front-line positions such as sales, human resource (HR) positions are typically
responsible for strategic planning and employee development. HR planning includes
recruiting plans, employee training programs, and organizational development. There are
many benefits to having strong HR planning tools in place. Human resource departments are
usually responsible for recruiting new employees when positions are created or vacant.
Recruiting and selecting employees is a time-consuming process that involves advertising for
the open position, managing the application process, interviewing prospective candidates, and
making job offers. Effective HR planning helps the company to prepare ahead of time for
these vacancies rather than acting in a reactionary manner when an employee resigns
unexpectedly. Another benefit of having a recruiting plan in place is that the recruiters know
where to target their job search to find the best candidates.

Successful recruiters plan ahead and know what skill sets (hard and soft) are essential for the
right candidates, and they know how to interview effectively. Companies that include HR
planning are prepared for future open positions that result from business growth and
expansion. Another benefit of HR planning is having career-development procedures, which
consist of identifying future company leaders and helping them grow. This means that when
an executive or manager leaves or retires, there is already someone ready to promote into the
position. Retention is an important factor in successful companies because it means that
promotions come from within the organization and current employees are motivated to work
harder to get ahead. Career development also looks at cross-training opportunities and has
career-path plans in place. Successful HR planning includes training models and procedures.
This training includes new-hire training to teach new employees about the company culture,
internal databases, software, and the skill sets necessary for specific positions. The benefit of
this type of training is that all employees are taught the same thing in the same manner, which
creates consistency and accuracy in daily work. Other training models include information
about new company initiatives, new product roll outs, and career progression classes. For
example, if an employee has been successful in his current role, training may include
coaching or management classes that will help him prepare for a future promotion. Effective
HR planning incorporates aspects of employee management, such as performance reviews
and disciplinary procedures. Companies benefit from having these systems in place because
they help managers do their jobs and prevent potential lawsuits. Standardized performance
reviews help managers look for key items when reviewing and ranking subordinates and

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ensure that everyone is reviewed on the same scale. Standardized disciplinary procedures
ensure that the rules are followed and they clearly identify their consequences when they are
broken. Manpower or human resources as a factor of production differs from other factors of
production. As it is subject to its free will, the productivity of labour can be improved if the
workers are kept satisfied. In other words, just as satisfied workers can be productive,
dissatisfied workers can be destructive.

Talented and skilled labour has become a scarce resource especially in developing countries.
Therefore, for the long run survival of the firm, it is essential to recruit the best labour force
through proper manpower planning. With the change in technology, the job and job
requirements are also changing. Therefore, it is necessary to forecast and meet the changing
manpower, which can withstand the challenges of the technological revolution. This can be
done only through effective manpower planning. Highly skilled personnel are in short supply
and it is very cos.tly to hire, train, and maintain them.

A company has to incur heavy costs in processing the applications, conducting written tests,
interviews etc., and in the process of providing adequate training facilities.

In consideration of these costs, it is essential to plan carefully in relation to the manpower so

as to reduce the recruitment and training cost. Today, it is very difficult to maintain the
qualified personnel in an organisation as they will be moving from one job to another in
search of better prospects. In a free society, human beings enjoy unrestricted mobility from
one part of the country to the other. Therefore, in order to reduce the loss of experienced and
skilled labour, every organisation must have a sound system of manpower planning.

In these days of rapid industrial development, every company goes for expansion of its
activities. As a result of the increasing company size, the demand for human resources also
increases. This necessitates proper manpower planning so as to ensure the continued supply
of the required manpower for the firms’ activities. Today it is being increasingly felt by the
practising managers and psychologists that men in an organisation must be treated like the
most significant assets.

The productivity of a company can be improved only through manpower planning,

recognizing the significance of the human factor in business.

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 LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

The Human Resource Planning is concerned with maintaining and recruiting the human
resources with the requisite quantity and the quality, to fulfill the demand and supply arising
in the near future.

In spite of its benefit of keeping the organization’s manpower position balanced, there are a
few limitations of Human Resource Planning, which are discussed below.

Limitations of Human Resource Planning

1. The future is uncertain. There are several external factors viz. Technological, political,
cultural, etc. that affects the employment opportunities. Therefore, the management can
consider the human resource planning as a guiding factor and can not rely completely on it.
2. With the surplus manpower, the companies try to remove this imbalance using termination,
layoff, removal of the existing employees. This could create a sense of insecurity among
them, and that would result in the loss of their faith in the company.
3. The human resource planning is time-consuming since it collects the complete information
regarding the personnel requirements of each department and then finds the suitable sources
to satisfy the needs.
4. The human resource planning is an expensive process. All the activities carried out from the
time the manpower need arises till the final placement of employees, consumes lot of time
and is very expensive.

Thus, the firm must carry out the human resource planning cautiously since it is accorded
with several limitations that can adversely affect the overall functioning of the firm.

Human resource planning involves forecasting the demand for and supply of human
resources. Projecting manpower needs over a period of time is risky. It is not possible to track
the current and future trends correctly and convert the same into meaningful action
guidelines.

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Longer the time horizon, greater is the possibility of inaccuracy. Inaccuracy increases when
departmental forecasts are merely aggregated without critical review.Factors such as
absenteeism, labour turnover, seasonal trends in demand, competitive pressures,
technological changes and a host of other factors may turn the rest of manpower plans into
fashionable, decorative pieces.

Technological changes and market fluctuations are uncertainties, which serve as constraints
to human resource planning. It is risky to depend upon general estimates of manpower in the
face of rapid changes in environment. Planning is generally undertaken to improve overall
efficiency. In the name of cost cutting, this may ultimately help management weed out
unwanted labour at various levels. The few efficient ones that survive such frequent
onslaughts complain about increased workload. Support from management is equally
missing. They are unwilling to commit funds for building an appropriate human resource
information system. The time and effort involved – with no tangible, immediate gains – often
force them to look the ‘other way’. Successful human resource planning flourishes slowly
and gradually. In some cases, sophisticated technologies are forcefully introduced just
because competitors have adopted them.

These may not yield fruits unless matched with the needs and environment of the particular
enterprise. In some companies, human resource planning is used as a numbers game. There is
too much focus on the quantitative aspect to ensure the flow of people in and out of the
organisation. Such an exclusive focus overtakes the more important dimension, i.e., the
quality of human resources.

HR planning, in the final analysis, may suffer due to an excessive focus on the quantitative
aspects.The quality side of the coin (consisting of employee motivation, morale, career
prospects, training avenues etc.) may be discounted thoroughly.

Employees and trade unions feel that due to widespread unemployment, people will be
available for jobs as and when required. Moreover they feel that human resource planning
increases their workload and regulates them through productivity bargaining. Employers may
also resist human resource planning feeling that it increases the cost of manpower. Managers
and human resource specialists do not fully understand human planning process and lack a
strong sense of purpose. Manpower planning is a time-consuming and expensive exercise. A
good deal of time and cost are involved in data collection and forecasting.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

The researcher has consulted following sources to complete the rough proposal:

SECONDARY SOURCES:

1) WEBSITES:

a) www.businessjargons.com
b) www.hrmpractice.com
c) www.yourbusiness.com

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