HRP is the process of identifying an organization's current and future human resource requirements, developing and implementing plans to meet these requirements and monitoring their overall effectiveness (Beardwell 2004) however, in contrast the CIPD (2010) suggest workforce planning is the core process of human resource management that is shaped by the organizational strategy and ensures the right number of people with right skills, in the right place at the right time to deliver short and long organizational objectives. Planning for HR needs can take a number of different approaches. Rothwell (1995) distinguished between hard human resources planning which to serves as an indicator of a likely match or mismatch of the supply and demand for the right number of people with the appropriate skills. In contrast to soft human resource planning which alerts the organization to the implications of business strategy for people development, culture and attitudes.
The CIPD ( 2010 ) made a similar distinction between hard and soft workforce planning. Hard workforce planning is about numbers, in the past this often revolved around using past trends to predict the future, matching supply and demand for labour with the result that plans were often out of date before the ink was dry but now there is more emphasis on the management information that can help understand cause and effect of certain phenomena. The CIPD suggests soft workplace planning focuses on general issues relating to the supply of and demand for people and how they are deployed.
Due to a failure in many organizations to produce an accurate forecast and therefore prepare meaningful plans they may fail. Workforce planning today covers a wider range of activities such as succession planning, smart working, flexible working and talent planning. When information on supply of people is being obtained, it then leads to preparation of recruitment, retention management succession and talent management plans. It is very important because it encourages employers to develop clear and obvious links between their business and HR plans to merge the two more effectively. Research conducted by the Institute for Employment Studies (Reilly 1999) established that there were three main reasons why organizations engaged in workforce planning.
Planning for substantive reasons, that is to have a practical effect by optimising the use of resources and those making them more flexible, acquiring and nurturing skills that take time to develop, identify potential problems and minimizing the chance of making bad decision. It is important when making decisions effectively, to recruit individual and make right selections, of staff. If staff are not effectively selected it can proved to be expensive.
BENEFITS OF HRP
Planning for organization reasons, which involve communicating plans so as to obtain support/ adherence to them, linking HR plans to business plan so as to influence them i.e. to achieve the result requires is an essential part of any business. According to Armstrong, the main difficulties faced by those involved in quantitative (hard) workforce planning are the impact of change and trying to predict the future. It can be very hard to forecast the demand for supply of people with any accuracy. The concept that the strategic capacity of a firm rely on its sources capability in the shape of people (their view) provides the rationale for strategic resourcing.
(Taylor S 2009) The objective is to ensure that a firm achieve competitive advantages by recruiting retaining and developing more effective people than their competitors. The firm attracts such people by being their employer of choice by providing a better opportunities and rewards than their competitors and also by developing a positive psychological contract which can increase their engagement and commitment and a mutual trust. Furthermore, the firm positioned its people in a way that maximize the value they supply and develops their talent and skills.
Bringing talented people into a firm is like an investment which yields in by the end of day. What is talent? Talent is what people have when they possess the skills, abilities and aptitudes that enables them to perform effectively in their roles. They make a big difference to the firm and make important contribution to the firm which gives the firm a competitive advantage. The firm is not only producing good result by doing all this especially treating them right but also want them to stay with the firm longer which proves their loyalty.
QUESTION NUMBER 2
SELECTION PROCEDURES OF CHASE BOROUGH COUNCIL (ROLE- PLAY)
Recruitment is the process of finding and engaging the people the organization needs. Selection is that part of the recruitment process concerned with deciding which applicant or candidates should be appointed to jobs. According to (Armstrong2014) these are the likely stages of recruitment and selection a business might follow:
- Defining requirement.
- Attracting candidates.
- Sifting application.
- Interviewing.
- Testing.
- Assessing candidates.
- Obtaining references.
- Checking applications.
- Offering employment.
- Follow up.
Recruiting and making the right selection produces good result to the firm while not making the right recruitment and selection is provided to be expensive. The consequences of not recruiting effectively and making poor selection decision can cost the company time and money and may incur penalty charges on any delay in fulfilling particular contract. Also time and money wasted on the particular candidates may have a better candidates got away and working for their competitors.
Chase Borough Council identify the number and categories of people required may be set out in formal workforce plan from which are derived detailed recruitment plans. Requirement are set out in a form of role profile and person specification which provides the information required to post vacancies either on the firm's websites or internet, through agencies or advertisement and asses applicant by interview and selection test. In class, we were given a job description of CHASE BOROUGH COUNCIL which gives the description of the job, the key purpose of the job, the key responsibilities, grade/ condition of service. Which defines the overall purpose of the role of the job the profile is extended to include the information on terms and condition (hours of work and days of work). The recruitment role profile provides the basis for a person specification.