Week 4 - HR Planning

Question 1

HRP at 4 levels

Answer 1

informal - reactionary
basic - proactive and reactionary 1-2 yrs planning
advanced - tie between strategy and HR planning 3-5 years in advance
sophisticated - hr is integral to the strategic process with planning for 5+ years

Question 2

What do you do for workforce planning process? (5)

Answer 2

Forcast demand for resources

Assess supply of resources

Develop hr objectives

Design and implement workforce systems to balance and supply

Establish conduct evaluation

Question 3

Projection forcasts from experts (3)

Answer 3

Informal and Instant decisions
- expert forecasts of future HR needs

Nominal group
- a group of managers make forecasts, ideas ranked + discussed

Delphi technique
- surveys of groups o experts, summaries are shared back and they are surveyed again until opinions converge

Question 4

Projection forecasts from trends (3)

Answer 4

Extrapolation
- continue/extending past rates of change into the future

Indexation
-matching employee growth with an index

Statistical Analysis
-more sophisticated statistical analyses allow for changes in the underlying causes of demand

Question 5

Other forecasting methods

Answer 5

Budget and planning analysis
New venture analysis - compare with other companies
Simulation and predictive models

Question 6

What are some hr tools used to estimate internal supply?

Answer 6

Internally

1. employees’s skill. checking the supply of skills (do we have skills), skill inventories -audit
2. management skill. checking the management inventories (assesing the skills of managers and leaders) audit
3. replacement charts/summaries (just in case people leave, who can step up to the plate), audits
4. *Transition matrices and Markov analysis

Question 7

How to manage HR oversupply?

Answer 7

Headcount reduction
- layoffs
- leave without pay
- incentives for voluntary
separation
- termination

Attrition
- hiring freeze
- early and phased retirement offers

Alternative Work Arrangements
- job sharing
- using part-time employees

Question 8

How would you manage HR shortage?

Answer 8

• hire new employees
• hire externally (third parties)
• develop employees internally, make them acquire new skills, more opportunity
• Different work arrangements (overtime, flexible schedules, time and location, flex policies)

Question 9

What is the final step of the workforce planning process, and what happens?

Answer 9

It is to evaluate workforce planning activities against organizational goals.

Were the vacancies filled? Did we reach the target internal and external recruits achieved?
Improvement should be measure year over year

Question 10

What do human resource information systems do?

Answer 10

Record, store, analyze and retrieve data

size and budget
information that needs to be captured
volume of information transmitted
Firm’s objectives
technical and reporting capabilities

Question 11

Benefits of HRIS

Answer 11

Increased efficiency
Enhanced service delivery
Increased effectiveness - better decisions made
Increased contribution to organizational sustainability - talent management
Increased visibility - enhanced hr competencies

Question 12

What are some hr tools to determine external supply?

Answer 12

Labour market analysis
- to evaluate future availability

Community attitudes
- what affects the nature of the labour market

Demographic trends
-ESDC and Stats can publish labour force projections
-COPS (Canadian Occupational Projection System)