Human Resource Planning Process 

Human Resource Planning Process effectively involves forecasting personnel needs, assessing personnel supply, and matching demand-supply factors through personnel-related programs. The HR planning process is influenced by overall organizational objectives and the environment of business.

Human Resource Planning Process 

Figure 2.2: The HRP Process

Environmental Scanning:

It refers to the systematic monitoring of the external forces influencing the organization. The following forces are essential for pertinent HRP.

•      Economic factors, including general and regional conditions.

•      Technological changes
•      Demographic changes including age, composition, literacy,

Political and legislative issues, including laws and administrative rulings

•      Social concerns, including child care, educational facilities, and priorities.

By scanning the environment for changes that will affect an organization, managers can anticipate their impact and make adjustments early.

Organizational Objectives and Policies: The HR plan is usually derived from the organizational objectives. Specific requirements in terms of the number and characteristics of employees should be derived from organizational objectives

Once the organizational objectives are specified, communicated, and understood by all concerned, the HR department must specify its objective regarding HR utilization in the organization.

HR Demand Forecast:

Demand forecasting is the process of estimating the future quantity and quality of people required to meet the future needs of the organization. Annual budget and long-term corporate plan when translated into activity form the basis for HR forecast.

For eg: in the case of a manufacturing company, the sales budget will form the basis for the production plan giving the number and type of products to be produced in each period. This will form the basis upon which the organization will decide the number of hours to be worked by each skilled category of workers. Once the number of hours required is the available organization can determine the quality and quantity of personnel required for the task.

Demand forecasting is influenced by both internal factors and external factors: external factors include competition, economic climate, laws and regulatory bodies, changes in technology, and social factors whereas internal factors are budget constraints, production level, new products and services, organizational structure and employee separations.

Demand forecasting is essential because it helps the organization to

1. Quantify the jobs, necessary for producing a given number of goods,
2. To determine the nature of staff mix required in the future,
3. To assess appropriate levels in different parts of the organization to avoid unnecessary costs to the organization,
4. To prevent shortages of personnel where and when they are needed by the organization. 
5. To monitor compliances with legal requirements about the reservation of jobs.

Techniques like managerial judgment, ratio-trend analysis, regression analysis, work-study techniques, Delphi techniques are some of the major methods used by the organization for demand forecasting.

HR Supply Forecast:

The supply forecast determines whether the HR department will be able to procure the required number of workers. Supply forecast measures the number of people likely to be available from within and outside an organization, after making allowance for absenteeism, internal movements and promotions, wastage and changes in hours, and other conditions of work.

A supply forecast is required because it is needed as it 1. Helps to quantify the number of people and positions expected to be available in the future to help the organization realize its plans and meet its objectives 2. Helps to clarify the staff mixes that will arise in the future 3. It assesses existing staffing in different parts of the organization. 4.  It will enable the organization to prevent a shortage of people where and when they are most needed. 5. It also helps to monitor future compliance with legal requirements of job reservations.

Supply analysis covers the existing human resources, internal sources of supply, and external sources of supply.

HR Programming:

 Once an organization’s personnel demand and supply are forecasted the demand and supply need to be balanced so that the vacancies can be filled by the right employees at the right time.

HR Plan Implementation:

HR implementation requires converting an HR plan into action. A series of actions are initiated as a part of HR plan implementation. Programs such as recruitment, selection, and placement, training and development, retraining and redeployment, retention plan, succession plan, etc when clubbed together form the implementation part of the HR plan.

Control and Evaluation:

Control and evaluation represent the final phase of the HRP process. All HR plans include budgets, targets, and standards. The achievement of the organization will be evaluated and monitored against the plan. During this final phase organization will be evaluated on the number of people employed against the established (both those who are in the post and those who are in pipeline) and on the number recruited against the recruitment targets.  Evaluation is also done concerning employment costs against the budget and wastage accrued so that corrective action can be taken in the future.