Human Resources Planning

All businesses need to plan to make sure they have the right number of employees with the right skill to meet the anticipated plans of the organisation. Once the firm has the right staff the firm needs to train and develop them in order for the organisation to meet their objectives. Overall the firm needs to know the following things whilst planning their human resources:

• The labor market in the area they operate in.
• What type of workforce the company will need in order for them to reach their overall corporate objectives.
• What the long-term aims are of the company.

The diagram above looks at the human resources planning process. The firm must deal with demand side issues of labour and what is the expected demand for labour from the firm. They must also deal with supply side issues. Is there enough supply of staff, internally or externally to meet the expected demand of staff from the company. Let’s quickly look at supply side issues.

 

Supply side – internal supply of labour.

The organisation needs to examine if they have enough staff to meet the demand of labour. Is training available within the firm to meet future labour needs? What percentage of workers are about to retire and are they going to be replaced? Do terms and conditions of services currently keep staff motivated?

When examining internal labour needs, these issues do need to be taken into account.

 

External Supply of Labour

If the supply of labour is not available internally, then the firm may need to recruit new staff. Are the staff then available within the local market? Do they have the required skill? If they are not available within the local market, how do we find them? Advertise in the next town? Or even overseas?

 

Human resources planning is a important part of running a business. If a business wishes to expand and do well, it must take into account current and future needs of its labour workforce.