Human Resource Planning

Human Resource Planning:

Planning is a basic management function which involves formulation of one or more detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources. Whereas human resource means set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization. So human resource planning means predetermining the human resource needs and choosing course of action needed to satisfy those needs. It is the process of systematically reviewing human resource requirement to ensure that the required number of employees, with the required skills, is available when they are needed. HRM must be integrated within organization strategic plans.

Why it is important?

Human Resource Planning is a highly important and useful activity. If used properly, it offers a number of benefits:

1. Reservoir of talent: The organization can have a reservoir of talent at any point of time. People with requisite skills are readily available to carry out the assigned tasks.
2. Prepare people for future: People can be trained, motivated and developed in advance and this helps in meeting future needs for high-quality employees quite easily. Likewise, human resource shortages can also be met comfortably (when people quit the organization for various reasons) through proper human resource planning.
3. Expand or contract: If the organization wants to expand its scale of operations, it can go ahead easily. Advance human resource planning ensures a continuous supply of people with requisite skills who can handle challenging jobs easily.
4. Cut costs/control: Planning facilitates the preparation of an appropriate HR budget for each department or division. This, in turn, helps in controlling manpower costs by avoiding shortages/excesses in manpower supply. It facilitates control mechanism by setting standards. The physical facilities such as canteen, quarters, school, medical help, etc., can also be planned in advance.
5. Acquisition of Human Resource: It facilitates requirement and selection of employees to fill job vacancies. It also facilitates Succession planning; HRP, as pointed out previously, prepares people for future challenges. The ‘stars’ can be picked up and kept ready for further promotions whenever they arise. When the time comes, such people ‘switch hats’ quickly and replace their respective bosses without any problem. It also helps to make outsourcing decisions for human resources. It provides lead time for recruitment and selection.
6. Improved labor relations: HRP promotes awareness about the importance of human resources at all levels of organization. This ensures commitment of all levels of managers to human resource goals. It also assists in collective bargaining with labor unions.
7. Helps in planning job assignments

What information are included in HRIS? Explain.

Group 1 Basic non confidential information

• Employee name
• Organization name
• Work location
• Work phone number

Group 2 General non confidential information

• Information in the previous category plus;
• Social security number
• Other organization information (code effective date)
• Position related information (code, title, effective date)

Group 3 General information with salary

• Information in the previous category plus;
• Current salary, effective date, amount of last change, type of last change, and reason for last change.

Group 4 Confidential information with salary

• Information in the previous category plus;
• Other position information (EEO code, position ranking etc.)
• Education data

Group 5 Extended confidential information with salary

• Information in the previous category plus;
• Bonus information, projected salary increase information, performance evaluation information

Difference between recruitment and selection:

Recruitment	Selection
It is the process of making a pool of qualified candidates.	It is the process of accepting the best candidates from many candidates.
Its objective is to create a large number of pool of talented candidates to enable selection of the best candidates for the organization.	Its objective is to choose the right candidate and reject unsuitable candidates to fill the vacant position in the organization.
It is a simple process.	It is a complicated process.
It is a positive approach i.e. it encourages more and more employees to apply.	It is a negative approach i.e. it involves rejection of unsuitable candidates.
It proceeds selection.	It follows recruitment.
Less time requires.	More time required.

Various selection process:

The selection process consists of a series of steps through which applicants pass. Each steps serves as hurdle (obstacles) which the successful candidate must pass. However, the steps differ from organization to organization – some use only interview, other use written test and interview, still other follow all the steps.

1) Completed Application form Evaluation

• Applicants are asked to complete the organization’s application form.
• Company specific employment form used to generate specific information the company wants.
• Information generally required to be given in the forms are; biographical data (name, father’s name, date and place of birth, age, sex, nationality, height, weight, etc.), education (subject offered, grade/percentage secured), training acquired in special fields and knowledge gained from professional and technical institutes, work experiences, salary, personal items (association membership, extracurricular activities, sports, hobbies, and other items), salary drawn in present employment and expected salary, names and addresses of persons who can be contacted for references.
• All the application forms are evaluated. Forms of under qualified candidates and those not meeting job specifications are rejected and forms providing false information are also rejected.

2) Initial Screening

• It is usually conducted by a special interviewer or high caliber receptionist in the employment office.
• This interview is essentially a sorting process in which prospective applications are given the necessary information about the nature of jobs in the organization.
• The necessary information, then, is draw out from the candidates relating to their education, experience, skill, salary demanded, the reason for leaving their present jobs, their job interests and whether they are available for the job, their physical appearance, age, and facility in speech.
• If the candidate meets with the requirements of the organization, he may be selected for further action.
• If the candidate does not fit into the organizational structure he/she is eliminated at the preliminary stage.
• The main objective of such interviews is to screen out undesirable or unqualified candidates at the very outset (beginning).

3) Employment test

Standardized written test are administered to the candidates passing the preliminary interview or initial screening.

They assess the suitability of candidates for the job. They provide objective information about the candidates.

4) Comprehensive Interview

• A selection device used to obtain in-depth information about candidates.
• Applicants who pass the application form, initial screening, and required test receive a comprehensive interview. It probes the areas that cannot be addressed by the application form or selection tests.
• Comprehensive interview is related to job description and job specification. It assesses the candidate in the following areas;

1. Ability to do the job and career goals.
2. Motivation and enthusiasm (strong interest) to do the job
3. Ability to work under pressure and stress
4. Ability to ‘fit-in’ with the organization
5. Personality and interpersonal skills
6. General knowledge

5) Background examination/Reference check

• The process of verifying information that the job candidates provide.
• Information about background and character of the candidate is checked from referees listed in the application form.
• Information provided by previous employers of the candidates about job performance, remuneration and character tends to be reliable.
• Educational, professional, and training accomplishment of the candidates can be verified.
• Reference check can be done by mail, telephone or personal visit.

6) Medical examination/physical examination

• An examination to determine an applicant’s fitness to essential job performance.
• It is the final step in the selection process.
• Physical exam can only be used as a selection device to screen out individuals who are unable to physically comply with the requirements of a job.
• It can be done in one of the following ways;
• The candidates fill out health questionnaire
• An approved physician conducts the physical examination.
• The physical examination must comply with the legal provision.

7) Hiring Decision/Placement

• Individuals who perform successfully in the preceding steps are now considered eligible to receive the employment offer.
• An appointment letter is issued
• Others are rejected or put in waiting list as alternate candidates.
• Organization should notify the candidates who have been selected.
• The list of successful candidates should be posted on the notice board/publish such list in the newspapers.

Various employees’ selection test and tools:

TYPES OF TEST

1) Ability test: they consist of

• Aptitude: can you learn to do it?
• Achievement test: what he or she claims to know?
• Intelligence: how smart are you?

2) Personality test

• Interest: do you want to do it?
• Attitude: how do you feel about it?
• Projective test: expect the candidates to interpret problems or situations.
• Preference tests: try to compare employee preferences with the job and organizational requirements.

3) Situation test

4) Honesty test

5) Simulation tests

6) Assessment center:

1) Ability test:

Determine ability for maximum job performance. They assist in determining how well an individual can perform tasks related to the job. Ability tests are generally of objective type with a correct answer.

There are three types of ability test;

• Aptitude test:

Aptitude tests measure an individual’s potential to learn certain skills – clerical, mechanical, mathematical, etc. These tests indicate whether or not an individual has the ability to learn a given job quickly and efficiently. Clerical tests, for example, may measure the incumbent’s ability to take notes, perceive things correctly and quickly locate things, ensure proper movement of files, etc.

• Achievement test:

1. These are designed to measure what the applicant can do on the job currently, i.e., whether the testee actually knows what he or she claims to know.
2. Work sampling is selections test wherein the job applicant’s ability to do a small portion of the job is tested.
3. A typing test shows typing proficiency, a shorthand (Symbolic mode of expression) test measures the testee’s ability to take dictation (say or real aloud) and transcribe (write out), etc.
4. Work sampling is selections test wherein the job applicant’s ability to do a small portion of the job is tested. These tests are of two types;
5. Motor, involving physical manipulation of things (e.g., professional skill tests for carpenters, plumbers, electricians)   or
6. Verbal: involving problem situations that are primarily language oriented or people-oriented (e.g., situational tests for supervisory jobs).
7. However, work-sample tests are not cost effective, as each candidate has to be tested individually.
8. It is not easy to develop work samples for each job.
9. For managerial jobs it is often not possible to develop a work sample test that can take one of all the full ranges of managerial abilities.

• Intelligence tests:

1. These are mental ability tests.
2. They measure the incumbent’s learning ability and also the ability to understand instructions and make judgments.
3. The basic objective of intelligence tests is to pick up employees who are alert and quick at learning things so that they can be offered adequate training to improve their skills for the benefit of the organization.
4. Intelligence tests do not measure any single trait, but rather several abilities such as memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, numerical ability, perception, etc.,

2) Personality Test:

• Personality tests are used to measure basic aspects of an applicant’s personality such as motivation, emotional balance, self-confidence, interpersonal behavior, introversion, etc.
• There are three types of personality test: (PIP tests) projective (personality), interests and preferences.
• Let’s examine these in detail:

                a) Projective tests:

• These tests expect the candidates to interpret problems or situations based on their own motives, attitudes, values, etc.
• A picture is presented to the person taking the test who is then asked to interpret or react to it.
• Since the pictures are clouded, the person’s interpretation must come from inside – and thus get projected.
• The person supposedly projects into the picture his or her own emotional attitudes, motives, frustrations, aspirations and ideas about life.

b) Interest tests:

• These tests aim at finding out the types of works in which a candidate is interested.
• These tests show the areas of work in which a person is most interested.
• The basic idea behind the use of interest tests is that people are most likely to be successful in jobs they like.
• The chief problem with using the interest tests for selection purposes is that responses to the questions are not always sincere.

c) Preference tests:

These tests try to compare employee preferences with the job and organizational requirements. This test shows how people differ in their preferences for achievement, meaningfulness, discretion etc., in their jobs.

d) Attitude tests:

Attitudes are evaluative judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Attitude tests measure tendencies to act favorable or unfavorable towards objects, people or events.

3) Situation test

Candidates are asked to respond to the situation-specific problems. Their response to such hypothetical situations is evaluated. Group discussion is an example of such test. Video based situational test are gaining more attention.

4) Honest Test/Polygraph Tests

• They ensure accuracy of information provided by the candidate.
• It is used to verify background information has been the polygraph, or lie detector, test.
• One purpose of the polygraph was to confirm or refute the information contained in the application blank.

5) Simulation tests:

Simulation exercise is a test which duplicates many of the activities and problems an employee faces while at work. Such exercises are commonly used for hiring managers at various levels in an organization.

6) Assessment center:

• An assessment center is an extended work sample. It uses procedures that incorporate group and individual exercises.
• These exercises are designed to simulate the type of work which the candidate will be expected to do.

     The in-basket: Here the candidate is faced with an accumulation of reports, memos, letters and             other materials collected in the in-basket of the simulated job he is supposed to take over.

          The leaderless group discussion (LGD): This exercise involves groups of managerial candidates               working together on a job-related problem.

          Business games: Here participants try to solve a problem, usually as members of two or more                      simulated companies that are competing in the market place.

           Individual presentations: Participants are given a limited amount of time to plan, organize and                    prepare       a presentation on an assigned topic. This exercise is meant to assess the participant's oral            communication      skill, self-confidence, persuasive abilities, etc.

           Structured interview: Evaluators ask a series of questions aimed at the participant’s level of                        achievement, motivation, potential for being a ‘self-starter’ and commitment to the company.