Workforce Planning Flashcards
what does workforce planning mean?
the process of calculating the number of employees a business needs in the short term and the long term including the number of workers and their skills and matching employees to the business’s requirements
give 4 steps of the process of workforce planning and expand on them
1 - corporate objectives set HR needs
the firm should look at the overall aims for the firm which will set priorities for HR planning
2 - analyse existing workforce
this involves calculating the number of employees that work in a particular job and gathering information on employee’s age, qualifications, length of service and performance
this allows a business to understand their workforce better
the firm should also conduct a skills audit to help match the existing skills with those needed
3 - assess future needs (demand for labour)
once business has gained understanding of their current workforce, the next stage is to forecast the type and number of employees that they may require in the future
changes that take place inside and outside the business will likely have an impact on a business’s demand for employees
4 - identify gaps in workforce
this may be a skills gap or a gap in employee numbers required
this gap may be met through recruitment, promotion or training
give 4 factors affecting workforce planning and expand them
business objectives - certain objectives like increasing output/opening new branches will invariably require more employees
labour market changes - labour market trends have implications for the recruitment and retention of staff
demographic and social change - demographic change such as the ageing population in the UK is affecting both the demand for products and services required by this age group as well as the workforce supply
technological change - it is leading to large change in ways of working and the skills needed in the workforce since many manual tasks can now be carried out by robotic technology, reducing the demand for certain types of labour
give 5 benefits and importance of human resource planning
1 - an effective workforce plan helps a business achieve its corporate objectives by ensuring the business has a workforce of the right size with the right skills in the right place
2 - analysing the current workforce and forecasting future requirements allows a business to identify skills gaps which can then be addressed avoiding future problems
3 - workforce planning encourages managers to prepare and plan for changes rather than simply reacting to them
careful preparation and planning can mean that a business can ensure they have enough employees to meet the demand but it also ensures that resources are not wasted on employing more staff needed
4 - businesses going through significant change are better able to handle the workforce implications
5 - improved communication - staff feel that they are closer to the decision-making process and are working for a business that takes HR planning seriously
what are 7 costs of human resource planning?
1 - a workforce plan must be supported by sufficient financial resources for it to be effective
2 - every decision from a workforce plan has cost implications eg training, redundancies, recruitment
3 - workforce plan must be consistent with corporate objectives
4 - findings of the workforce plan will not always be welcomed by employees eg redundancies
5 - workforce planning is based on forecasts and estimates so may be unreliable
6 - external factors may mean the plan has to be changed
7 - workforce planning could be seen as more important in labour-intensive businesses than capital-intensive businesses
explain the importance of eliminating surprises
HR should limit the stressful ‘trauma’ related to being surprised eg new orders
explain the importance of soothing out business cycles
you can smooth out business cycles by developing processes that ramp up and down your talent inventory and work effectively during both good and lean times
can lead to no delays
the right skills
and employee development
explain the importance of identifying problems early
HR should develop a system of alerts to warn managers of minor problems that they can rectify with little effort before they turn into major problems
explain the importance of preventing problems
having to replace employees is expensive and painful
lower turnover rates
low labour costs
no redundancies
explain the importance of taking advantage of opportunities
given sufficient lead time, you can gather resources and the talent necessary to take advantage of positive opportunities
when constantly dealing with workforce issues you tend to miss seeing the opportunities and there is seldom enough energy left to respond to them
overall what are the benefits of workforce planning if done well?
increase productivity, cut labour costs, dramatically cut time-to-market because you’ll have the right number of people with the right skills in the right places at the right time
why does workforce planning work?
forces everyone to begin looking towards the future and prevents surprises
requires managers to plan ahead and consider all eventualities
