What is Human Resources Planning?
Human resource planning is as imperative for startups as financial and project management is. Human resource planning is an ongoing process under this umbrella, not just forthcoming but also, the current HR needs within an organization are taken into consideration. Human resource planning process bears a heavy importance in the efficiency as well as smooth running of an organization. It helps meet the company plan better and meet their goals better.
Human resource planning bridges an important gap between the management as well as the plans for the organization and the employees. The strategies that higher levels of management devise require the HR planning process to have successful implementation along with proper work-life balance. The overall functioning of an organization churns around this important mechanism of human resource planning.
Importance of HR Planning process
The markets are turbulent, the competition is ferocious. In this highly competitive atmosphere, the rates of startups surviving beyond the nascent stages are miniscule. In fact most of the startups fail miserably within the first year and the reason for many of them has been found to be rooted into a common issue- human resource planning.
HR planning processes are indubitably one of the pillars whose seamless functioning proves to be a blessing for the organization overall in the long run. It does so by keeping a close watch on all the processes while firmly gauging their importance in the operation and efficiency of the organization. However, most startups don’t have proper human resource planning in place, the loopholes arising from which may initially seem trivial but have a humongous impact on the organizations in the long run.
Some major reasons that show how human resource planning processes can do wonders for the organizations, operationality, employees and make the integration of all smooth are here. Let us look at some of them:
1. Instills Resilience To Build A Better Working Environment
The world is ever-changing and the dynamics are so spontaneous today that companies, even the established ones, struggle to adapt to such changes. Anticipation and planning are two major cornerstones which, in turn, thrive on brainstorming and seamless implementation. In the new-age businesses, this is impossible without a proper HR planning process.
2. Better Talent Acquisition
Having good talent is half the job done for every company. This is because ultimately the quality of work done and overall performance is determined by the workforce in an organization. Hiring the best talent can make like-minded individuals come together and human resource planning is the pillar of every organization that makes it come true.
3. Retention of Talent
The way an employee feels while working is imperative. Good talent always seeks appreciation for their work as this further motivates them to work harder and innovate. With proper human resource planning, talent acquisition can be a piece of cake.
4. Industry laws Compliance
Compliance to the rules and regulations of the industry is a must if the company wishes to succeed. Compliance with the rules of not just operations but even for human resources becomes an absolute must. Proper human resource planning can help safeguard a company against any such violations.
5. Development And Structure of The Organization
It is important to care about decisions like who every employee reports to, the teams people are a part of and the sizes. These play an important role for the critical decision making of the organization. In startups this is almost a necessity because the structure in the initial stages can be designed and moulded through trials and errors to suit the needs upon growth of the business.
HR Planning Processes to Follow
Human resource planning is a long drawn process which continuously evolves and needs sequential processes to be followed. They are:
1. Analysis of the present workforce.
2. Anticipating the need for labor in various locations.
3. Meeting the forecasted demands of labor with respect to the available supply.
4. Alignment of workforce performance with the business’ key objectives.
Let us now see how these human resource planning processes are carried out:
- Talent Acquisition & Recruitment
Recruitment of talent is an important component of human resources planning and management. Right from the initial step of shortlisting candidates for interviews to final hiring and their onboarding. Finding the best fit is important and HR does it just perfectly. In startups, a single entity usually handles the task. It can be done internally, externally and through outsourcing.
- Selection Process in HRM
This refers to finding ideal candidates for the job and whether they’re suitable for the role. Human resource planning can make this selection process seamless. There are 7 steps followed in this process:preliminary interviews, screening, various rounds of tests, final interview, referrals verification and the final hiring.
- Documentation For HR Process
This limb of the human resource process is an important limb for an organization. It deals in framing and maintenance of important documents of the company. It makes the organization data sensitive which is great for analytics.This helps anticipate and plan everything beforehand.
- Onboarding And Induction Of Employees
Integrating employees into the company is not at all the same as onboarding. The process of onboarding is a long-drawn one which lasts for 12-18 months. This is the training period. Induction, however, is welcoming of new employees by providing them with the right tools and information along with comfort and familiarity with the workplace environment.
- Relations With Employees
Retention and engagement of employees in an organization are the ideal tools for gauging relations with employees. Engagement refers to how invested the employees are in the organization which in turn determines retention. Proper human resource planning can be a major key point to determine the two and hence, the relationship of the company with the employees.
- Management Of Leaves For Employees
Every now and then, employees need to take offs to relax or for medical and other emergencies. Management of leaves for employees in any organization plays a crucial role to manage the work efficiently so that overall efficiency isn’t affected. This also helps manage proper compensation and helps in providing a work-life balance to employees. All this can be done with human resource planning.
- Time Management
HR planning takes cognisance of monitoring work timelines, employee schedules on a daily basis. Due to inefficient time management, work can become rather inefficient. In order to avoid the same, the HR planning process can help align the timelines and help employees be more time efficient.
- Management Of Performance
This helps determine the performance efficiency of your employees. Be it in terms of their day-to-day work, meeting deadlines or any other ways pertaining to their productivity, performance management. Human resources planning process can help manage it better.This can be done better through appraisals, employee evaluations or other benefits..
- Rewards
Employee compensations like paid leaves, bonuses, etc. work great for motivating employees. These are subject to policies of every company and of course, the productivity and overall performance of the employees. Through efficient human resource planning they can be great motivation factors for employees.
- Appraisal
Employees in every company are regularly evaluated on regular intervals. This is to check productivity and see how motivated the employees are in terms of their quality of work. Employees can use these as feedback to enhance their performance in order to enhance their productivity and hence, get better salaries and appraisals.
- Employee Surveys
Employees can be asked to fill in questionnaires from which data is gathered. This can help curate a very clear depiction of the morale of employees. This can be very handy while conducting appraisals or exit interviews.
- Exit Interviews
Exit interviews are quite underrated but very effective tool for Human Resource planning for every organisation. They help companies find gaps they could bridge as employers and also act as a means of feedback for them. They often even come handy to mitigate troubles or issues in the organisation.
