Introduction to strategic HR planning
Introduction to strategic HR planning
The overall purpose of strategic HR planning is to:
• Ensure adequate human resources to meet the strategic goals and operational plans of your organization - the right people with the right skills at the right time
• Keep up with social, economic, legislative and technological trends that impact on human resources in your area and in the sector
• Remain flexible so that your organization can manage change if the future is different than anticipated
Strategic HR planning predicts the future HR management needs of the organization after analyzing the organization's current human resources, the external labour market and the future HR environment that the organization will be operating in. The analysis of HR management issues external to the organization and developing scenarios about the future are what distinguishes strategic planning from operational planning.
The strategic HR planning process
The strategic HR planning process has four steps:
• Assessing the current HR capacity
• Forecasting HR requirements
• Gap analysis
• Developing HR strategies to support organizational strategies
Assessing current HR capacity
Based on the organization's strategic plan, the first step in the strategic HR planning process is to assess the current HR capacity of the organization. The knowledge, skills and abilities of your current staff need to be identified. This can be done by developing a skills inventory for each employee.
The skills inventory should go beyond the skills needed for the particular position. List all skills each employee has demonstrated. For example, recreational or volunteer activities may involve special skills that could be relevant to the organization. Education levels and certificates or additional training should also be included.
An employee's performance assessment form can be reviewed to determine if the person is ready and willing to take on more responsibility and to look at the employee's
The overall purpose of strategic HR planning is to:
• Ensure adequate human resources to meet the strategic goals and operational plans of your organization - the right people with the right skills at the right time
• Keep up with social, economic, legislative and technological trends that impact on human resources in your area and in the sector
• Remain flexible so that your organization can manage change if the future is different than anticipated
Strategic HR planning predicts the future HR management needs of the organization after analyzing the organization's current human resources, the external labour market and the future HR environment that the organization will be operating in. The analysis of HR management issues external to the organization and developing scenarios about the future are what distinguishes strategic planning from operational planning.
The strategic HR planning process
The strategic HR planning process has four steps:
• Assessing the current HR capacity
• Forecasting HR requirements
• Gap analysis
• Developing HR strategies to support organizational strategies
Assessing current HR capacity
Based on the organization's strategic plan, the first step in the strategic HR planning process is to assess the current HR capacity of the organization. The knowledge, skills and abilities of your current staff need to be identified. This can be done by developing a skills inventory for each employee.
The skills inventory should go beyond the skills needed for the particular position. List all skills each employee has demonstrated. For example, recreational or volunteer activities may involve special skills that could be relevant to the organization. Education levels and certificates or additional training should also be included.
An employee's performance assessment form can be reviewed to determine if the person is ready and willing to take on more responsibility and to look at the employee's