Q1 - Module 4: Human Resources Planning

Question 1

Human resources planning

Answer 1

Process to ensure that an organization has people available (employed) who have the right competencies and that these people are being effectively utilized in the right capacities in order for the company to achieve its desired objective

Question 2

4 steps to creating an HR plan

Answer 2

1. Forecast demand for labour (eg: in 3 months, what will the organization need in the workforce?)
2. Determine supply of labour - both internal and external (eg: the forecast of labour supply in 3 months)
3. Identify the gap between demand and supply
4. Develop action plans to eliminate the gap (oversupply / shortage)

Question 3

What a company can do when they have an oversupply of labour

Answer 3

Attrition - don’t replace those that exit (could be due to resignation, termination, retirement)
Leave of absence without pay
Job sharing (splitting hours to multiple employees)
Reduced hours

Question 4

What companies should do when they have a shortage of labour

Answer 4

Full-time/part-time hiring
Independent contractors
Use of overtime
Retention strategies

Question 5

4 techniques for forecasting demand of labour

Answer 5

Trend analysis
Management forecasts
Staff tables
Regression analysis

Question 6

Trend analysis (forecasting demand of labour)

Answer 6

Using past numerical data to look for patterns in order to predict future demand for employees

Question 7

Management forecasts (forecasting demand of labour)

Answer 7

Asking managers for their predictions regarding the future demand for employees

Question 8

Staffing tables (forecasting demand of labour)

Answer 8

Graphs displaying the jobs in an organization and showing the numbers of people currently in these jobs. Anticipated demand may be shown as well

Question 9

Regression analysis (forecasting demand of labour)

Answer 9

Let’s say we want to know how many employees we would require if we reach 200 units of production. We have employees # and production unit # for the past 5 years, about 20 sets of data. We input it in the system, and this is the equation that we get: Employees = 27.3 + (1.3) X production

Question 10

Techniques for forecasting the supply of labour

Answer 10

Markov analysis
Skills inventory
Management forecast
External supply

Question 11

Markov analysis (forecasting supply of labour)

Answer 11

Description of how employees typically move into, within, and out of the organization
eg: promotions, demotions, lateral transfers, exits, etc

Question 12

Skills inventory (forecasting supply of labour)

Answer 12

Info on current employees. Key words on employee’s skills get added to the system to have a view of what talent you have in the company

Question 13

External supply (forecasting the supply of labour)

Answer 13

Labour market trends, people entering and exiting the market (demographics: age, immigration, birth rate, etc.)