Effective HR Planning
Human Resource (HR) planning forms a vital component of any company. Just as planning is significant in people’s everyday lives, it also forms a vital aspect of a business organization. To a greater extent, the success of a business organization lies to the commitment, creativity and skill of its workers (Smith, Boroski & Davis 2012, p. 81). An organization that overlooks HR planning is less likely to survive over the long run. Also, proper human resource planning helps an organization to effectively deal with several issues (Kanter 2013, p. 11). The aim of this essay is to thoroughly discuss the importance of HR planning for the successful completion of complex, large-scale projects, particularly where there are political considerations. The factors associated with effective HR planning are discussed. These factors include effective Strategic HR planning; HR planning and project management; and the Resource-Based View of the company.
According to Armstrong (2009, p. 23), strategic human resource management (SHRM) encompasses the practices and concepts that guide and align HR management philosophy, practice, and strategic planning with the organization’s long-term and strategic goals, with a particular focus on the organization’s human resources. HR planning (HRP) is understood as the continuous, ongoing process of systematic planning to attain the optimal utilization of the most important asset of an organization; that is, its employees (Gillespie, Leininger & Kahalas 2012, p. 653). The goal of HRP is basically to ensure the best fit between the human resources and jobs whilst avoiding surpluses or shortages of manpower (Madhok, Li & Priem 2010, p. 92). Through effective HR planning, an organization can be competitive and strategic in the global marketplace when facing human resource management issues like diversity, skills shortages, high employee turnover, tight labour market and ageing population.
Effective Strategic HR planning directly links HRM to the strategic plan of the company. Basing on the strategic plan of the company, an effective strategic HR plan can be developed that would allow the human resource manager to make HRM decisions at the present to support the company’s direction of the future (Welch & Welch 2012, p. 599). In addition, an effective Strategic HR planning is vital from a budgetary viewpoint as it allows the HR manager to factor various costs associated with the human capital, for instance costs of employee training and recruitment, into the operating budget of the company (Kramar 2014, p. 1071).
Effective Strategic HR planning predicts the company’s future HRM needs after analysing the firm’s existing workforce, the external labour market, as well as the future HR environment the firm would in fact be operating in (Kanter 2013, p. 12). During the strategic HR planning, the HR professionals ask themselves the following questions: where are we headed? How would we create human resource strategies to reach there successfully, given the situation? Lastly, what skill sets are needed? (Kanter 2013, p. 13).
HR Planning and Project Management
The process of Strategic HR planning consists of 4 steps. Firstly, the HR manager assesses the organization’s present human resource capacity basing upon the strategic plan of the organization. The HR manager identifies the abilities, skills and knowledge of the existing employees. Secondly, the HR manager forecasts human resource requirements basing upon the organization’s goals. Realistic forecasting of HR entails estimating the supply and demand. Some of the questions to ask are: how many employees will the company require in order to attain its strategic goals? What jobs would be filled? What skills would employees need? (Holbeche 2009, p. 43) When the HR manager forecasts the demands for human resources, he or she should also evaluate the challenges that he/she would face in attaining the organization’s staffing needs. Some of these challenges include high turnover of staff members, shortages of skills, population that is ageing, tight labour market, and diversity.
Thirdly, the HR manager conducts gap analysis, in which he/she determines the gap between where the company is at the moment and where it wants to be in future. The HR manager identifies the number of employees as well as abilities and skills the company would need in the future compared to its present situation. Also, the HR manager looks at all the HR management practices of the company in order to identify new HRM practices that are required or those that may be improved to support the ability of the company to move forward (Kramar 2014, p. 1072). Fourthly, the HR manager develops human resource strategies for supporting organizational strategies. These strategies include outsourcing, collaboration, training and development, recruitment, in addition to restructuring strategies (Holbeche 2009, p. 65). This would surely allow the organization to be both strategic and competitive within the international market when facing various human resource management issues like high turnover of staff members, shortages of skills, population that is ageing, tight labour market, and diversity.
It is generally not enough to have excellent staffs on a project team. These staffs should make sense with what they are actually bringing to the table and what they could contribute towards the project’s overall goal. For this reason, a project HR plan for managing the human resource aspect of any project has to be developed and fed into the overall project management plan (Sahoo 2016, p. 63).
Table 1: HR planning is integral in project management (Kanter 2013, p. 14)
HR planning in project management entails identifying and documenting project responsibilities, reporting relationships, roles, and required skills needed for project success. The aim of this project HR planning is essentially to create the staffing management plan that comprises several points including the following: when and how members of the project team would be needed; identification of training needs; identification of team-building strategies; criteria that would be used to release them from the project; safety issues; compliance considerations; plans for rewards and recognitions; as well as impact of the staffing management plan on the entire company (Kanter 2013, p. 13). An essential requirement for creating the project HR plan is an exhaustive and in-depth description of the activities required by the project as well as the necessary skill sets for completing those project activities. The project HR plan takes into consideration the competition for, or availability of, limited/scarce human resources given that other departments or projects in the organization might be competing for resources with the same skill sets or competencies (Sahoo 2016, p. 65).
HR planning is impacted by external factors and even by internal factors in the company. As such, flexibility and forecasting are crucial for effective human resource planning and adapting as needed. Political factors greatly affect HR plans (Kaufman & Miller 2011, p. 528). There is an integral link between HR planning and large-scale political considerations in the provision of public services. When an organization, particularly a government-owned organization, is involved in the provision of public services, its operations are closely monitored by the government. If poor performance on the part of the organization is noticed that arose as a result of poor human resource planning, then it is likely to attract condemnation and disapproval from relevant political leaders in the government. A case in point is the Queensland Rail disruptions that took place in the year 2016.
Queensland Rail is a government-owned railway operator, which is responsible for operating long-distance and suburban passenger services. In October 2016, the company cancelled more than one-hundred trains in the city of Brisbane as the company did not have an adequate number of train drivers who had received training on operating the company’s new Redcliffe Peninsula line that launched in early October of 2016 (ABC News 2016). Ms. Helen Gluer, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Queensland Rail at the time, noted that the company had underestimated training and staffing requirements for the new rail service. This means that Queensland Rail had not carried out sufficient HR planning before it launched the new rail service. The disruption of rail transport services in Queensland greatly infuriated the state’s political leaders including the Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk who did not exclude dismissals at the company (ABC News 2016). Thus this case highlights the importance of proper HR planning for organizations that provide public services.
RBV is a model that underscores the resources of the company as the main determinants of competitive advantage and performance (Lockett & Wild 2014, p. 375). RBV gives emphasis to the crucial role of employees, that is, the human capital of the organization, in attaining organizational outcomes. RBV of the firm has influenced the field of SHRM in several ways. The RBV of the firm recognizes the human resource department in an organization as an integral strategic player in creating sustainable competitive advantage. RBV also recognizes employees, or the human capital of an organization, as crucial assets in creating sustainable competitive advantage and maintaining it (Madhok, Li & Priem 2010, p. 92).
RBV is of great importance in guiding effective HR planning. It has been shown many times that investing in the continuous improvement of the company’s capabilities is integral to lasting success. The organization’s staffs are certainly the greatest asset of the company, and any plans of moving the business forward should begin with the people (Kellermanns et al. 2016, p. 31). Developing the employees is an investment for the company’s future and this investment has to be specified in the human resource plan for the company. Continuous investment in the human capital is critical as it enables the company to thrive in the marketplace over the longer term. It also facilitates the company’s economic improvement (Kellermanns et al. 2016, p. 32). Many business organizations invest in training and education of their people in order to improve business operations that would in turn reduce wasted resources from unskillful people and increase the overall efficiency of employees. Skilled employees are able to carry out their duties faster and more efficiently in comparison to employees who are unskilled.
Before they invest in their people, organizations first specify that investment in the human resources plan. HR managers usually analyze the benefits of the investments against the total cost the company would incur by improving the output of employees through training and education. The HR plan for investing in workers details the benefits of the training and development to the company. The HR plan also specifies which staff members need to receive training (Madhok, Li & Priem 2010, p. 93). Investing in employees through training and education is important in improving labour, which in turn helps an organization to create a competitive advantage, for instance when the people are trained on producing novel services and/or products that are currently not offered by other companies in the marketplace. Managers and business owners who have unique technical skills can offer training to their staffs to duplicate processes in an efficient and effective manner (Kellermanns et al. 2016, p. 32).
Other than improving the skills of employees, investing in human capital of the organizational also increases employee job satisfaction and they would become more committed to the company; improves retention rate since such people are less likely to look for work in other companies; and increases employee engagement. Engaged staff members are by and large more loyal to, and more productive for, the organization. It also increases customer engagement given that when a customer interacts with employees who are satisfied and engaged, the customer has a higher likelihood of having a positive experience (Brahma & Chakraborty 2011, p. 8). Equally important, investing in people improves the company’s return on investment, improves organizational communication by improving both the quality and quantity of information that passes down and up the organization (Söderlund & Bredin 2010, p. 252). Continuous investment in the human capital would allow employees to gain new skills and expertise that are rare and valuable. Consequently, the organization would be able to create sustainable competitive advantage over the longer-run.
Conclusion:
In sum, effective Strategic HR planning directly connects HRM to the strategic plan of the company. Basing upon the firm’s strategic plan, an effective strategic HR plan may be formulated that would allow the human resource manager to make HRM decisions at the moment to support the company’s direction of the future. HR planning in project management entails identifying and documenting project responsibilities, reporting relationships, roles, and required skills that are needed for project success. The disruption of public rail services by Queensland Rail brings to light the importance of good HR planning for firms that offer public services. Using the RBV of the firm to guide effective HR planning would enable the organization to continuously invest in their workers, who will in turn acquire unique skills and expertise that are rare and valuable, allowing the firm to create sustainable competitive advantage over the longer-run.
References:
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ABC News, 2016, Queensland Rail disruptions: Annastacia Palaszczuk ‘furious’ over 100 cancelled trains in Brisbane. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-23/annastacia-palaszczuk-furious-over-queensland-raildisruptions/7957862
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