In the present times businessmen use two methods for planning of human resources and forecasting. The first method is related to short term planning and the other to long term planning. Short term planning and long term planning is differentiated on the basis of their objectives. The objective of short term planning is to satisfy immediate needs. That is why short term planning is also called ‘stop gap arrangement’. In this planning, factors like the aim of the enterprise, new markets, competition are not paid much attention to. Its main objective is filling of places left vacantby worker’s resignation, death or seeking leave. In long term human resource planning forecasts the future requirements of the organization in reference to external and internal circumstances. It aim is to remove all uncertainties from the future requirements of the organization. For long term forecasts complex accounting and mathematical techniques are used. Now-a-days Operational research and computer techniques are used in a big way.
(A) Short term Human Resource Planning
There are two aims of short term human resource planning –
1.Matching present employees to their present job.
2.Filling current vacancies as best as we can with thenavailable human resources.
(1) Matching Present Employees to Their
Present Jobs:
This situation arises when the qualification of the present employees is either less or more than the required qualification. In both these conditions how short term human resource planning is done is mentioned below –
(i) When the employees are under – qualified for the jobs- In this situation, to give qualification to the employees as per the requirements of the jobs any one of the following steps can be taken –
(a) Change the job – it refers to interfering with the
organizational structure. There can be three types of interferences – (i) take away some tasks from the employees and involve them in the tasks of some other post. (ii) change the amount of decentralization so that unqualified persons take relatively lesser decisions and (iii) make arrangements for unqualified employees so that both together can do the job well. Planning through changing the job should be done only when the change does not largely affect the other tasks.
(b) Change the incumbent – another option to make the qualification of the employee suit that of the job is to remove him from the job altogether so as to give him the necessary training and counselling and enable him according to the requirement of the job. For example, if the drop in sales of some sales agent is not due to any personal fault of his but due to lack of knowledge about the product on his part then the efficiency of that sales person can be enhanced with counselling and training.
(c) Change the job and the man – if the aim of
short term human resource planning is being fulfilled then some times both, the job and the man, can be changed. Under this situation, on one hand, the work load of the employee is reduced and on the other, the employee can be removed from the post and his training can be arranged.
(d) Remove the incumbent – when the employee cannot be made suitable for the job with counselling and training within an appropriate time limit then it becomes necessary to either transfer that employee or remove him from the job: But the decision to transfer or remove the employee should be taken after a lot of thought because such decisions can have serious repercussions. Also before taking the decision to remove any employee the following things should be considered –
1.The length of his remaining service period – if the employee has a short service period left then as far as possible all efforts should be made not to remove him from the He should be given ample motivations to complete the tasks in the best possible manner and his services continued till he retires. Arrangements should be made for an assistant for this time to ensure completion of tasks.
2.Is high quality of execution absolutely necessary – if high quality execution is not absolutely necessary then rather than removing a person from his job he should be given an opportunity to improve his performance but where high precision work is an absolute and immediate necessity, then continuing with the services of an incompetent person can prove to be disastrous. In this condition either he can be transferred or, in case of him being totally incompetent, it will be better to remove him from the job altogether.
3.Effect on the morale of other employees – thought should also be given to the effect that removal of any employee will have on the morale of the others. Generally removal of a well known or a popular employee may lower the morale of the employees. Removal of a colleague generates fear and insecurity in the minds of the employees. Removal can also have positive impact on the morale of the employees. When a totally incompetent employee, who was believed to be in employment because of the partiality of the managers, is removed then the morale of the employees goes up because such an incompetent employee should definitely be removed.
4.Will a replacement be easily available – at time removal of any employee does not become possible because a suitable replacement qualified for the concerned job is not available. Many times incompetent people continue in their jobs because a suitable replacement is unavailable. In such a condition only ‘stop gap’ policy can be implemented.
(e) Providing Additional Assistant: If it is not possible to make the present employee suitable to the job and neither is it possible to transfer or remove him, then arrangements can be made to provide him with an assistant. Here it should be kept in mind that the incompetency of the employee may be not only due to his inability to execute the task but also because of his unsocial behaviour. Many officers, who are very efficient in their jobs, become very unpopular because of their bad behaviour. In this condition good assistants prove very helpful.
(ii) When the employees are over qualified for the
job: There can be such employees in the organization who are over qualified for the job assigned to them. In order to derive the benefit of their qualification the organization can take the following steps –
a.The qualified person can guide the employee who is unable to accomplish his task which is somehow related to his qualification. On the other hand the job of investigating into the work of any incompetent employee can be handed over to a qualified person.
b.In case a peculiar problem arises the suggestions of the qualified person can be asked for.
c.The tasks which the qualified person is asked to dobregularly can be made a part of his regular duties.
d.If no proper arrangements could be made for a
particular task then it can be handed over to the
qualified person.
It is observed that a qualified person. due to his
influence, gets more powers in his work sphere. But in such a situation generally the original work of the person gets ignored. Besides this, too much dependence of the enterprise on anyone particular person also proves harmful for the enterprise later because if the employee leaves the organization for any reason then it becomes very difficult to find a suitable replacement.
