Assessing the status of human resource planning
You might be employed in a ministry, local authority; NGO, private organisation etc.
and you would like to know how well you are doing in terms of HRP. The following
instruments, outlined in Table 4.1, may be used as a checklist.
Table 4.1 Human resource planning barometer
Answer
QuestionsYes No Do not knowIndicator/
Measure/
Risks
1 Do you know your organisational / department / Project
objectives and targets to be achieved by 30th June, 2011?
2 Do you know how many employees will be needed in
each job category to achieve the above objectives and
targets?
3 Do you know knowledge, skills and competencies
required by the employees to achieve the above
objectives and targets?
4 Will the existing human resources meet the identified
needs?
5 Is recruitment necessary?
Provide Month and Year
6 If the answer in the above question is YES when
recruitment should be done?
Describe
7 Is training and development needed? If the answer is
YES, when, by who and where?
8 If numbers are to be reduced to cut costs or because of
lower levels of activity, what is the best way to do it?(^) Identify if any
9 What other ‘people’ implications are there which affect
productivity and commitment?
The checklist can be as long as desirable. If most of the questions do not have genuine
and specific answers and perhaps ending up in the ‘do not know’ category, extra effort
on HRP agenda is needed. It is important that the indicators or measurements are quan-
titative as much as possible in order to be able to more precisely assess the outcome of
the planning intervention. However, this does not put aside possibilities of having good
qualitative indicators or measurements. In any case, planning is about decision making
with limited information. This advises some kind of caution for managers so that they
calculate the risks involved in such decisions, including motivation or demotivation of
some members of staff who may not be happy with unfavourable decisions.
Practical issues in human resource planning
Human Resource Plans will cover policy issues, human resource areas, objectives and
targets as shown in Table 4.2. All the elements shown in the table, and many others that
may be necessary, should be implemented with flexibility. A mechanism should be put
in place to provide feedback on the status and modifications on the plans on weekly or
quarterly basis.