The essence of manpower planning is to anticipate the manpower needs of an entire organization and to have the right people, in the right number, with the right knowledge, in the right jobs, in the right places, at the right time and at the right cost.
The planner of a manpower plan should have thorough knowledge of the entire organization it is expected to service.
Importance of manpower planning
Manpower planning is very important because:
1. It provides management information on the number of employees required, in existence or anticipated to perform the various tasks of the organization.
2. It aids planning for recruitment, selection and development of employees.
3. It helps to reduce cost.
4. It gives management time to concentrate on personnel problems.
An ideal manpower plan involves;
1. Taking an inventory if current manpower.
2. Forecasting the number of jobs in the organization.
3. Estimating manpower requirement based on the analysis of 1 and 2 above.
Manpower planning and company policy
Manpower planning is influenced by an organization’s policy relating to employment, promotion, transfer and demotion. A company that adopts the ‘bids system’, will only fill vacant positions from outside when there’s no older employee with the required skill.
The manpower plans of organizations that have the policy of promotion from within; seniority or a policy of not recruiting certain level of employees from outside, are variously influenced by the policy they adopt.
Manpower Planning at the Company Level
Company management plan takes into full consideration the following key factors they relate to job incumbents: the grade, job type, title and department, sex, age, length of service, skill and educational level.
Manpower Planning in the Public Service
To undertake effective manpower planning in the Nigerian public service (the greatest employer in Nigeria), it is imperative that personnel managers regularly analyze the