This essay discusses the importance of HR planning and the major steps of planning in order to demonstrate its importance and use: Forecasting; Inventory, Audit, HR Resource Plan, Acting on Plans, Monitoring and Control.
So what is human resource planning and how does it contribute to achieving organizational goals? Human resource planning is the responsibility of all managers. HR planning links people management to the organization's mission, vision, goals and objectives, as well as its strategic plan. A key goal of HR planning is to have the right number of people with the right skills, experience and competencies in the right jobs at the right time and costs.
When we prepare our planning programme, Employers /senior managers should bear in mind that their staff members have their own objectives and that people are different from the other resources that are deployed in an organization as people have thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. This is the reason why employees seek employment within companies that match their needs best (eg. Flexi working hours, training etc..). Human resources are the people that work for an organization, and Human Resource Management is concerned with how these people are managed. The term HRM has thus come to refer to an approach, which takes into account both:
• The needs of the organization
• The needs of its people.
Neglecting these needs would result in poor motivation that may lead to unnecessary poor performance and even Industrial actions. Commencing an HR Plan is often complicated, but the results provide a smooth and efficient set of processes that allow organizational goals to be achieved in an orderly fashion.
Planning involves gathering information that would enable managers and supervisors to make sound decisions. The information obtained is also utilized to make better actions for achieving the objectives of the