HR management assignment on: Workforce planning

Identify and explain at least five important aspects of workforce planning. Make sure you explain how they contribute to the overall process of workforce planning and the success of an organization. Reference needs to be made to real life examples of the chosen areas of workforce planning.

Your response should be approximately 3500 words and be closely connected to the content in this unit of study and the definition provided by Minnesota Management and Budget. You will need to demonstrate that you understand and know how to apply the knowledge you have acquired from this unit. You will also need to provide evidence that you have completed your own research in relation to this project.

The five important aspects of workforce planning have been discussed in this report. They are as follows:

Þ    Forecasting & Assessment:Forecasting & Assessment refers to one of the crucial aspects of workforce planning. It helps the enterprise to forecast the demand & supply for the future needs. One of the basic outcomes which might be seen within this aspect of workforce planning is to identify the potential problems or issues which might arise within the organization. The entire analysis will be based upon t data which has been collected within the analyzing phase.

Forecasting refers to the process of assessing the past trends as well as evaluates the present situations & future events. Forecasting would be referred to as a process of planning as well as identifying expectations when the goals or objectives are being planned or established. Forecasting has been regarded as one of the crucial elements for the workforce towards retirement.Within the forecasting as well as assessment phase the use of the gap analysis shall be done. This will help in order to measure the gap as well as use the various strategies in order to manage the future. This aspect will involve the identification of the developments which might result from the supply analysis. The business elements will have different types of issues which will identify the needs of the enterprise. The main aim of such strategies is to optimize the position within the enterprise. There are mainly 4 steps within the forecasting phase. The four different steps are as under:

Þ    Identify the assumptions in workforce

Þ    Validating assumptions

Þ    Gap Analysis

Þ    Scenario Building

There are mainly three questions which need to address the forecasting process. They are as under:Þ    Where are now? (workforce analysis)

Þ    Where the business does wants to be? (utilize the various assumptions in order to estimate the future demand)

Þ    How will it reach there or measure the gaps between the demands? (demand v/s supply)

 The first step within workforce assumptions is to collect the appropriate data from the different sources while analyzing the same. It shall be ensured that, all the assumptions shall describe the potential impact over the business by inheriting risk as well as occurrence n the elements of culture.

The second step within the workforce assumptions would be to utilize the focus groups by fostering different types of questionnaires or interviews given by the leaders within the enterprise. Proper feedback would be provided which will ensure that the gathered information or the assumptions are quite valid & are based upon the data available.

The last step within the workforce assumptions is to utilize the various types of assumptions within the scenario building. Scenarios are the way with which various alternatives for the future which would be based upon the combinations of facts, figures, trends & assumptions. These will help to meet the forecasted goals, objectives, mission & vision for the enterprise.Scenarios are generally a descriptive statement presenting a particular picture of the future that includes comments on the probability of certain events occurring. Moreover, scenarios are usually accompanied by qualitative or quantitative information.   Hopefully after you have suggested some scenarios it will help you better understand all of your options.

The final phase within forecasting refers to perform the Gap Analysis. Gap Analysis refers to an analysis which would help to narrow down the where the organization presently and where it wants to be. The current workforce & the future workforce along with its demands shall be analyzed. This will help the organization to identify the gaps in terms of skills, knowledge, etc. It must be taken into consideration that, demand is purely based upon the preferred scenario & the competencies which would help in the fulfillment of the demand requirements. The Gap Analysis will indicate the different types of skills gap, surplus, recruitment issues as well as retention issues in order to meet the demand for the same. This exercise shall be continued until initiatives or strategies would be dealt to meet the requirements of the organizational needs. In order to perform gap analysis the following questions shall be addressed.

Þ    What are the potential sources for the new staff that will be required?

Þ    What attrition and recruitment can be expected in the years?

Þ    Implications of succession planning?

Þ    Competitive Sourcing solutions?

Þ    Will & how training or re-training will be of help?

Þ    Impact of budget decisions on any mission critical occupations?

Þ    Will the attrition make it easier to achieve workforce objectives?

Þ    Are new hires going to be required, and if so are they going to replace current employees or go into newly established positions?

Þ    What kind of positions will need to be filed?

Þ    Any redeployment concerns or issues with current staff?

 Þ    Succession Planning:Succession planning would be referred to as one of the critical components of strategic planning within workforce planning. Succession would be referred to as a process of analyzing as well as identifying the need for the availability of the human resources in order to meet the organizational goals, mission, objectives, etc.

The succession analysis shall be prepared which would help to forecast the supply of people which would be required to fill in the various positions. The succession plans shall be such which would help to identify the personnel changes in order to select the candidates & keep an attack of attrition. The external supply of the candidates will also be influenced by the various factors such as development of the technology,

A succession analysis should be prepared that forecasts the supply of people for certain positions. Succession plans should be used to identify potential personnel changes, to select back-up candidates, and to keep track of attrition. The external supply of candidates is also influenced by a variety of factors, including developments in technology, the actions of competing employers, geographic location and government regulations.

Workforce succession planning will make major attempts to match the available supply of labor with the forecasted demand in light of the strategic plan of the organization. A gap analysis is the process of comparing the workforce demand forecast with the workforce supply projection. The expected result is the identification of gaps and surpluses in staffing levels and competencies needed to carry out future functional requirements of the organization. A gap occurs when the projected supply is less than the forecasted demand. It indicates a future shortage of needed employees. Strategies such as recruitment, training and succession planning will need to be developed and implemented. A surplus is when the projected supply is greater than forecasted demand. This indicates future excess in some categories of employees that may also require action to be taken. The surplus data may represent occupations or skill sets that will no longer be needed in the future or at least not to the same degree. Retraining, transfers or separation incentives may need to be implemented to address surplus situations.In order to implement the workforce succession planning (WFSP), it is very important for human resource management (HRM) to expand their scope as well as go beyond the traditional tasks of HRM functions. This will help the managers & employees to enter into partnerships. Working together with the employees as well as the managers will provide better understanding regarding the HRM issues. HRM staff will become more informed regarding the needs of the employees & the different departments.

. Working together provides managers and employees with a better understanding of HRM issues. Likewise, HRM staff becomes more informed about the needs of the employees and departments.

Þ    Recruitment:

“Employee recruitment & retention of the same have been referred to as the main challenge for the employers today”. Employers need to spend as well as implement various types of techniques which would help in order to compete within the marketplace.

Nevertheless, organizations have the option of attracting and choosing their talented people for its recruitment process from two different sources: internal and external. Internal sources are already available to an organization such as internal promotions (through internal job-postings, transfers of employees and re-employment of ex-employees. When employees are recruited outside the company, it is called as external source of recruitment (Arthur 1998). The main ways of recruiting externally are job advertisements, job centres (governmental), recruitment agencies (head hunter) and personal recommendations. Both sources have their advantages and disadvantages. The following comparison should make clear what they are:

         Recruiting Internally                            Recruiting Externally

                Advantages                                                         Advantages

               Disadvantages                                                     Disadvantages

Processes:The recruitment process refers to the process of attracting, screening, selecting and providing an organization with a pool of skilled people. It is a set of activities and processes used to legally obtain a sufficient number of qualified people at the right place and time (Richardson & UNPAN, 2009). As a general rule successful recruitment begins with a creation of recruitment policies followed by an analysis of current and future needs and requirements of the organization. Then a job description with abilities, experience, responsibilities and required skills may be prepared.

Þ    Retention:Based upon on Drake International it has been seen that, organizations believe in the context that “Employee Retention means to reduce recruitment & increase in the rate of retention”. International organizations shall aim to achieve vertical integration between their recruitment, selection and retention strategies and also the culture and business strategies (Armstrong 2006). Retention begins with effective recruitment strategies and good selection of candidates. Employee retention, especially of the most desirable employees, is a key challenge. As if that were not enough, good HR system needs to supplement the organizational goals in order to be successful in the international arena. Vertical integration is a good strategy for increasing employees’ retention since it is creating a relationship with the employee. The top down approach gives HR managers the opportunity to look after the staff, to train and motivate them with aligning the activities to organizational goals with the main focus on developing skills required to perform the job.

One of the international examples to illustrate the employee retention & organizational goals has been discussed in this part of the report. The chosen example is “Starbucks”. In order to attract as well as retain the employees at Starbucks the following strategies have been followed. They are as under:

Þ    Training

Training is representing the key for vertical integration. Starbucks, for example, invests more in people training than in advertising and promotion. Employees therefore belong to the best trained and motivated workers. To compare with many other retails companies Starbucks also trains all employees including part time employees with special training programmes such as coffee making skills and diversity training (Starbucks Case Study ECBM, 2010).

Þ    Rewards

Again Starbucks is known for paying above average wages. Also the company’s benefits programme is one of the most attractive programmes in the retails industry. They are also offering benefits also for part time employees, which is outstanding. It also covers a work-life balance programme, health insurance coverage, stock options as well as other benefits. Overall, Starbucks employees feel valued and important. Sharing the fruits of success with all employees leads to a high level of motivation and commitment, resulting in a high performance culture, which is directly linked to the financial success of the organization (Starbucks Case Study ECBM, 2010).

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