Staffing exam 2

Question 1

Workforce Planning

Answer 1

Process of predicting an organization’s future employment needs and the availability of current employees and external hires to meet those employment needs and execute the organization’s business strategy.

Question 2

Workforce Planning Process 1.

Answer 2

Identify the business strategy (influences the type of # of employees needed)

Question 3

Workforce Planning Process 2.

Answer 3

Articulate the firm’s talent philosophy and strategic staffing decisions

Question 4

Workforce Planning Process 3.

Answer 4

Conduct a workforce analysis.

Question 5

Workforce Planning Process 4.

Answer 5

Develop and implement action plans

Question 6

Workforce Planning Process 5.

Answer 6

Monitor, evaluate, and revise the forecasts and action plans.

Question 7

Forecasting

Answer 7

Forecasting is not an exact science, and it is rare for a forecast to be exactly right.
(trying to predict future rises and declines in margins)

Question 8

Forecasting Business Activity

Key business activity factors and quality sources of relevant forecasting information for those factors, such as:

Answer 8

Seasonal (e.g., UPS, November to January)

Interest rate (higher interest rates discourage spending; lower interest rates typically dictates higher labor demand)

Currency exchange (strengthening dollar usually leads to less international demand and lower labor demand due to the relative increase in price for international consumers)

Competitors (competition can dilute/reduce demand)

Industry and economic (GDP; e.g., National Restaurant Assoc.)

Others (e.g., unemployment rate; disposable income)

Question 9

Stable organizations

Answer 9

5-10 year forecasts

Question 10

Less stable, in unpredictable environments

Answer 10

6-12 months

Question 11

A firm can also forecast its labor demand based on the

Answer 11

goals it generates internally

Question 12

Ratio Analysis

Answer 12

Assumes that there is a relatively fixed ratio between the number of employees needed and certain business metrics.

Question 13

Possible Ratios

Answer 13

Production to employees
Revenue per employee
Managers to employees

Question 14

Who is available? What can they do? Can we get them?

To answer these questions, we need to look at our internal and external labor market:

Answer 14

Internal: Consists of the firm’s current employees.

External: Consists of people who do not currently work for a firm.

Question 15

To forecast internal talent resources for a position

Answer 15

subtract # of employees the firm anticipates losing via promotions, demotions, transfers, retirements, and resignations from the number of employees in the position at the beginning of the forecasting period.
then add any anticipated talent gains

Question 16

future labor supply

Answer 16

Current talent pool – losses + gains

Question 17

Organizations monitor the external labor market in two ways.

Answer 17

The first is through their own observations and experiences

The second way is by monitoring labor market statistics generated by others

Question 18

Action plans

Answer 18

proactively address an anticipated surplus or shortage of employees.

Question 19

Basic Types of Action Plans

Answer 19

Temporary talent shortage
Persistent talent shortage
Temporary employee surplus
Persistent employee surplus