Human Resource Planning - Essay Example

? Human Resource Planning Question A HRM strategy is an overall organizational plan that leads to the application of particular human resource management functional areas. Several organizations divide their strategies in four key areas like people, culture, human resource system and organization. This part of the essay will discuss about the base of HRM strategy and the processes that are involved in HRM strategy development process. (A) Several leading organizations generally focus on the HRM strategies after the development of business and corporate unit strategies. Human resource management strategies usually involve adopting several organizational objectives and goals. After this adaptation, the organizations try to translate the objectives and goals into an integrated, complementary and consistent set of policies and programs for employee management process (Mello, 2011). However, it does not imply that the strategic human resource management is kneejerk in nature. Although human resource management strategy is basically derived from business or corporate unit strategies, this human resource management strategy generally developed in a proactive manner. Under the human resource management strategies, several HR staffs try to design and develop suitable HR systems in order to meet the expected workplace condition that can enhance several organizational operations. Senior HR professionals are considered as the important member of the top management team. These HR professionals should significantly involve in the business or corporate unit strategic planning. It will help the top management of the organization to integrate key HRM concerns with overall organizational planning. On the other hand, several HR executives in the organization should inform the top management of the organization about the skills and competencies of organizational workforce. This will help them to measure the impact of developed strategic plans. (B) There are several components and processes associated with the HRM strategy development. Human resource planning is the first and most important component of HRM strategy. This human resource planning considers translating corporate strategic initiatives into an effective workable plan. Effective HR planning allows the human resource function to significantly contribute to the effectiveness of an organization by arranging a foundation for the proactive management (Mello, 2011). Most importantly, human resource planning helps to facilitate several key processes within an organization. Effective human resource planning enhances the leadership activities through significant planning. Effective leadership process helps to reduce the threat of the disruption of daily organizational operations. On the other hand, effective human resource planning basically facilitates several strategic planning through the examination of the availability of skilled employees and skill sets. Moreover, it facilitates the realization of trends and shifts in the labor market by the examination of employee capabilities and job requirements. Employee development is the key process that is associated with human resource planning. Effective human resource planning enhances employee development through the determination of skills and competencies of those employees. Appropriate budget planning and suitable resource allocation can be enhanced through effective human resource planning. Last but not the least; it can be stated that employee shortages and surplus can be facilitated through this human resource planning. Question 2 It is clear from above discussion that human resource planning is the major component of human resource strategy. The organizations generally develop their human resource strategies after developing and understanding corporate and business unit strategies. Once the business objectives and goals are understood, an effective understanding of workforce, planning for assumed surplus and shortages in specific skill sets and occupation will be needed. Several important demographic characteristics, information and data along with key internal workforce trends are considered as the deciding factors during the execution of a comprehensive workforce analysis. This information is available in the departmental workforce plans but it may require effective reviewing and updating process. Internal Environment Scan Internal Scan is fundamentally focused on the identification of the factors within several departments that can affect the HR capacity in order to meet the departmental objectives and goals. Each and every department will be able to identify and realize the internal challenges and opportunities. In this case, it will be highly important for the organization to develop on individual strengths and to reduce the risks and challenges. Internal scan of the developed human resource strategies helps the organizations to rectify several workplace conflicts (Mello, 2011). Changes in collective agreements, legislation and anticipated changes in the budgets and funding are the consequences of internal scan of strategy development and implementation. Leadership style, management practices, organizational restructuring, employee engagement, internal policies, corporate culture, health and safety standard and other internal aspects are thoroughly analyzed which can affect the environment of the workforce. Therefore, it is important for the organization to make necessary changes in the strategies based on current internal challenges and issues. External Environment Scan It is important for the organizations to analyze several external workforce aspects to maintain an effective and healthy workforce balance. The external scan generally focuses on the identification of several external factors that can affect the capacity of a workforce. An external strategic scan needs to consider the potential opportunities which can be beneficial to the department (Mello, 2011). The organization should develop and change strategies according to the external environmental demands and trends. Effective analysis and environment scan can help the department to identify and understand the potential risks and challenges in the external environment. It will help the organizations’ management to identify specific change strategies in order to manage those risks. The organization should conduct a market survey or research to understand the current workforce trend within the industry. It will help the organization to retain effective and skilled employees in the competitive market place (Mello, 2011). Moreover, the management of the organization needs to understand the demand and supply of employees in specific occupations. Shortage and surplus of future employee can affect the productivity of the organization. Global business market is highly competitive due to presence of several leading organizations. They are constantly implementing several unique strategies to achieve competitive edge. Current and projected economic situation, migration pattern, technological advancement, employment practices of several organizations and monitoring candidate pool need to be considered as the critical external environment factors that can affect the business objectives. Question 3 The human capital planning process model of Corning consists of four stages. Step 1 is the determination of the type of talent that is required to conduct the critical business initiatives. Step 2 is the determination of the number of employees that are required to undertake critical business initiatives. Step 3 determines the identification and prioritization of talent gaps. It determines the best approach in order to close the gap. Last and 4th step helps to identify the actions that are required to align the right talent with the business operations. Traditional business approaches of Corning are deeply challenged in the year 2001during the telecommunications kaput (Mello, 2011). The telecommunication business of Corning grew dramatically in 1990s. The human resource leadership team tried to develop four transformation objectives, such as develop a better relationship between business strategy and HR function strategy, support industrial growth globally, managing broad cost targets and delivering scalable solutions. Collaboratively, annual operating plan processes and human capital planning helped to develop a significant global HR function by establishing a shared realization across the business unit HR groups and CEOs. Critical factors of an effective annual operating plan process include several mechanisms for achieving inputs, several corporate strategic inputs from top level senior management, business specific inputs and function-specific direction. Corning developed this human capital planning process to overcome several HRM and workplace conflicts in order to attain significant growth in business. Determination of the types of talents is important to execute critical business initiatives. Managers and leaders of the organization generally look for talented applicant in order to undertake the business initiatives significantly (Mello, 2011). Determining appropriate number of required employees is quite important. Employee shortage or employee surplus for future project can affect the business performance of the organization. Lack of appropriate number of employees can reduce the productivity of firm. On the other hand, employee surplus can result unnecessary salary distribution. It can increase the operating cost of the organization. Talent gap is one of the major consequences of inadequate implementation of strategies. However, it is important for the leaders and managers to understand the corporate and business function of the organization. Effective function strategy needs to be developed by the organization before the establishment of human resource management strategies. The organizations should determine best approaches to close this talent group. This can be reduced through effective recruiting, selection, training, and performance appraisal and compensation process. All these stages need to be considered effectively to close the talent gap. In addition the organization should try to identify the specific actions to line up talent of individuals with the business operation. Lack of integration process can create harm in both ways. It can reduce the productivity of the organization. On the other hand, it can develop the risk of talent gap that can create several workplace conflicts. Moreover, employee engagement in the strategic decision making process can reduce the risk of workplace conflict. It will motivate the employees to work confidently. These strategies will help an organization to achieve organizational and business objectives. Reference Mello, A. J. (2011). Strategic Human Resource management. 3rd ed. South-Western: Cengage Learning. Read More