Strategic Planning in the Small Business

Unit 2

HO 2-5 (continued)

HUMAN RESOURCES

A final

category of internal

factors to be analyzed

relate to the

firm's personnel

or human resources.

Although one may

often

overlook this component,

the firm's personnel

are its most crit­

ical assets. Here,

human resources

are viewed broadly

to in­

clude all

personnel of the firm

along with their unique

skills

and abilities.

Key

initial concern should

be examining the

number of em­

ployees

and the relevancy of their

skills. Particularly,

if the business

is considering

a strategic realignment

or expansion,

an analysis

of human

resource needs must be

performed to determine

how

many

employees are

needed and what specific

skills are re­

quired. This needs

assessment should then

be compared to the

existing

human resource supply.

If discrepancies

appear, cor­

rective

action must be taken

before the strategy

is enacted. For

example,

if the required skills

are missing, the firm

must either

train

existing employees

or hire additional workers

who possess

the necessary skills.

Such human resource

planning efforts

need

not

be excessively complex.

Yet, small business

planners must

commit

the necessary time

to objectively consider

the issues

raised above.

A second human resource

consideration is

the assessment

of the employee's

morale and

labor relations. Morale

is a key

factor,

yet fairly difficult to

accurately measure.

In most situ­

ations,

the small firm need

not take the time

and effort nec­

essary

to conduct a formal

morale survey. Rather,

a set of more

informal,

surrogate indicators

should be utilized.

Levels of

turnover, absenteeism,

tardiness, and a

general assessment of

the climate may

enable one to structure

a notion of morale.

Frequent grumblings,

complaints,

arguments, and conflicts

may

indicate a weakened

state of morale.

Again, our attempt

here

is

not to be able to designate

a precise level

of morale, but to

provide a general

feeling that can relate

to business action.

If

the business

is considering

a new expansion program

and is

anticipating

some additional

turmoil and stress

as a result, mo­

rale becomes

critical. A business with

weak morale may

expect

a series

of problems (perhaps

even significant

enough to un­

82 PartOne
Tbe Analysis Phase

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