ior managers. Systems and procedures have to be established to ensure that this happens
and to encourage the cyclical exchange of information on which sound staffing deci-
sions can be based.
Underlying the process of information exchange is the need to ensure that decisions
affecting human resources fully take into account the resources available in the organi-
sation, as laid out in the budget. There is a presumption that human resource planning is
only likely to be effective if budgetary guidelines and constraints are incorporated in the
plans. To understand how this integration is to be achieved, it is necessary to look at the
human resource demand forecasts within the organisation.
Decentralised human resource demand forecasting
‘The bottom up’ approach to demand forecasting is fully aligned to decentralised deci-
sion making in the organisation, which is what management theorists say is so impor-
tant in establishing commitment and motivation on the part of the managers (Robins
1992). The essence of the approach is that once organisational goals have been trans-
lated into unit objectives, the managers in charge of those units are left to determine
those personnel requirements themselves. The strength of this approach is that managers
are best placed to know the current working practices, technology used and performance
levels that can be achieved, and therefore forecast demand.
The next stage in the ‘bottom up’ approach in human resource planning is for the
entire organisation to be involved in the whole process. There is a distinct possibility
that the level of staff requirement, as determined by managers throughout the organisa-
tion, is to be aggregated into one set of data. However, there is a distinct possibility that
when integration happens, given the absence of certain preconditions for the level of
staff requirement, the organisation risks having an unaffordable excess of human re-
sources. The following weaknesses on the part of managers contribute to this situation:
- Human resource assessment based on personal preferences rather than job
requirements. - Entrenchment of the existing work practices and procedures instead of looking for
better ways of improving productivity. - Difficulties in assessing the performance of administrative staff.
- The tendency to overstate staff requirements for contingency purposes.
Centralised human resource demand forecasting
Quite often organisations respond to the above tendencies by adopting a ‘top down ap-
proach’. The advantage of this approach has been its ability to produce forecasts of
staffing requirements using specialists reporting directly to senior management. These
forecasts have inevitably been in line with what senior management has wanted in terms
of resource availability, as seen at the start of the planning period. The weaknesses of
the approach however, include the following:
- Exaggeration of budgetary constraints.
- Non-involvement of line managers in planning and hence failure to get their
commitment. - Reactive staffing.