2.02 Time to plan

There are two key questions that managers must ask when developing a human resources management strategy for their organization:

1. What type of staff do we need to run this organization and meet our organizational goals?
2. What must we do to attract, develop, and retain (keep) this type of staff?

After considering the answers to these questions, managers should perform a workload analysis. This is an assessment of the organization’s HR needs, both current and future. Current needs may be easy to determine, but how do managers predict what the future will hold? There are a number of different tools they can use, such as expert analysis, analysis of economic trends, and sales and production forecasts. In addition, keeping a close eye on the HR indicators we learned about earlier in the LAP will help managers make reasonable assumptions about upcoming staffing needs.

When the workload analysis is finished, managers can move on to conducting a workforce analysis. This is an assessment of the human resources available within the organization, both current and projected. There are many different tools available for workforce analysis as well.

Now that managers have completed a workload analysis and a workforce analysis, they are able to see the gaps between the human resources they need and the human resources they have. Their next job is to determine how to bring staffing supply and demand into balance by designing employment and training plans accordingly.

Let’s say that managers for a software company determine that they don’t have enough fresh, young talent coming out of top colleges and universities. They know they’ll need to bridge this gap if they want the business to remain competitive. So, they design (or redesign) their recruiting process to include developing relationships with career-services departments at certain schools known for producing talented software engineers. The managers also understand that today’s young employees highly value work-life balance. For this reason, they design (or redesign) their benefits plan to include flexible work schedules and opportunities to telecommute. Managers will likely create an action plan for each staffing activity to ensure that all policies and procedures line up with the human resources management strategy they have chosen.

No business or organization can hope to succeed without being able to rely on the staffing function of management to operate effectively and efficiently. When knowledgeable managers understand staffing and put the right plans in place, it’s an unbeatable combination!