1.4 Workforce Planning and HR Activities

Workforce planning is important because it influences almost all other HR activities, including job analysis, recruitment and selection, training and development, and career management. We will now discuss the relationship between workforce planning and each of these functions.

Job Analysis: In order to be engaged in workforce planning, HR professionals must understand job descriptions and specifications within the firm, and then adapt workforce planning processes that are aligned with those descriptions and specifications. A job analysis is what produces a job description and a job specification.

Recruitment and Selection: Effective workforce planning helps determine the staffing needs of the organization.  In conjunction with job analysis, workforce planning indicates how many and what types of people the organization needs to recruit.  Recruitment influences the pool of available job applicants, which in turn, influences the needs for selection and placement.  Thus, workforce planning can be viewed as a major input into an organization's staffing function.

Training and Development: Workforce planning helps the organization forecast shortages in the labor force and also areas where obsolescence may occur.  This helps the organization train its employees and ensure that they possess the latest skills.

Career Management: Effective workforce planning supports career management programs within the organization and helps retain valued employees. Furthermore, effective workforce planning reduces employee turnover and absenteeism.

Forecasting

In forecasting the organization's human resource needs (demand), most HR professionals start by asking the following questions of internal managers:

• What are our key business goals and objectives for the next two years?

• What are our greatest organizational strengths?

• Who are our competitors’ organizational strengths? How do we compare?

• What are the top three priorities we must execute to reach our goals in the next six to 12 months?

• What are the three to five core capabilities we must have to win in our markets?

• What are the required knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) needed to execute the strategy?

• What types of skills and positions will be required? No longer needed?

• What skills should we develop internally versus acquire externally (outsourcing, leased workers, hire)?

• What actions need to be taken to align resources with priorities?

• What are the most critical workforce issues we currently face?

• What recognition/rewards are needed to encourage and sustain desired employee behavior?

Workforce planning is based on the organization's human resource needs. In other words, workforce planning is based on the organization's human resource supply and demand.  Although these estimates are critical for organizational success, many small and medium sized organizations avoid formally estimating future human resource needs.