Human Resource Planning: Importance and Process

Human resource planning (HRP) helps the management to anticipate shortages or surpluses of human resources in future and correct these imbalances before they become unmanageable and expensive. Through the HRP tool, management strives to have the right number and the right kind of people at the right places, at the right time for the maximum benefit of both employees and organisations.

Importance of Human Resource Planning:

• The reservoir of talent in the organisation for all times.
• To prepare people for the future by training and motivational techniques.
• It helps in adjusting personnel with the expanding or contracting scales of operations.
• To cut costs by maintaining an appropriate manpower budget for each division and reduces overall cost.
• It helps in succession planning by preparing promising candidates in advance for senior positions.

Process of Human Resource Planning:

It is a process of matching the future and current needs of the organisation. Manpower planning is a continuous process that tries to match the manpower needs with sudden changes in working of organisations such as a hike in production volume, unexpected high rate of labour turnover, new technology adoption etc.

Steps in process of HRP are as follows:

Determining the Objectives of Manpower Planning: Whether to train existing employees, employ new people or reduce current manpower.

Analysing Current Manpower Inventory: On the basis of department, function, job level of skills required or qualifications in order to ensure that a reservoir of talent is available when vacancies occur.

Demand Forecasting: To judge the manpower required in the future, say two to three years.

Job requirements: It helps in determining the number and kinds of jobs and qualifications needed to fill these jobs. It facilitates the division of work into different jobs.

Employment Plans: On the basis of demand forecasted and job requirements an employment plan is made to arrange for recruitment, selection and training so that personnel needs of various departments of the organisation are met.

Training and Development Programme: Executive development programmes have to be devised for the development of managerial personnel. The talents of the employees are not fully productive without a training course.

Appraisal of Manpower Planning: The catalogue of manpower inventory should be updated periodically to check the effectiveness of manpower planning. It should remove any kind of surplus or deficiencies of skill required in an organisation.