Human resource planning is deemed necessary for all organizations for one or the other of the following reasons:
1.To carry on its work, each organization needs personnel with the necessary qualifications, skills, knowledge, work experience and aptitude for work.These are provided through effective manpower planning.
2.Since a large number of persons have to be replaced who have grown old, or who retire, die or become incapacitated because of physical or mental ailments, there is a constant need for replacing such personnel. Otherwise, the work would suffer.
3.Human resource planning is essential because of frequent labour turnover which is unavoidable and even beneficial because it arises from factors which are socially and economically sound such as voluntary quits, discharges, marriage, promotions; or factors such as seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in business which cause a constant ebb and flow in the work force in many organizations.
4.In order to meet the needs of expansion programmes which become necessary because of increase in the demand, for goods and services by a growing population, a rising standard of living which calls for larger quantities of the same goods and services as also for new goods: the competitive position of a firm which brings it more business Arising from improvements effected in the slump period; and the rate of growth of the organization, human resource planning is unavoidable.
5.The nature of the present work force in relation to its changing needs also necessitates the recruitment of new labour. To meet the challenge of a new and changing technology and new techniques of production, existing employees need to be trained or new blood injected in an organization.
Manpower planning is also needed in order to identify areas of surplus personnel or areas in which therenis a shortage of personnel. If there is a surplus, it can be redeployed; and if there is shortage, it may be mad good.
Objectives of Human Resource Planning
The major objectives of manpower planning in an
organization are to
1.Ensure optimum use of human resources currently employed;
2.Avoid unbalances in the distribution and allocation of manpower;
3.Assess or forecast future skill requirements of the organization’s overall objectives;
4.Provide control measure to ensure availability of necessary resources when required;
5.Control the cost aspect of human resources;
6.Formulate transfer and succession policy.
Significance of Manpower Planning
The significance of systematic and comprehensive manpower planning – has been recognized by all organizations. Earlier, the management of small organizations had the common belief that they could always obtain the personnel it required whenever it needed. However, in present corporate environment, formal manpower planning is essential for all big organizations which must meet and manage changes in technical know-how, products, markets and internal organization, and which utilize lot of personnel talent.
Some of the major points of significance of manpower planning in an organization are discussed below:
1.Manpower planning is vital because it helps in determining the personnel needs of the organization;
2.It enable the organization to cope with changes incompetitive forces; markets, technology, product, etc.all of which often generate changes in job contents,skill demands, number and type of personnel.It is an essential component of strategic planning.
3.It helps in selection and development of employees as
4.it ensures that adequate number of persons are selected well in advance and developed for anticipated openings. This also ensures a smooth working of the organization.
5.It enables the organization to procure personnel with necessary qualifications, skill, knowledge, work experience and aptitude for work.
6.It helps in finalizing managerial succession plan as a part of the replacement process by providing enough opportunity for identifying and developing managers to move up the corporate leader.
7.Suitable manpower planning helps to ascertain and identify the areas of critical shortages of skilled employees and enable management to avoid breakdown in production process or under utilization of plant capacity, by taking timely corrective action.
