Introduction
For an effective operation, organizations need human and physical resources; properly managed organizations have an appropriate number of personnel’s, in number, experience and expertise.
To ensure that the right number of people is available when required, a company’s human resource management should develop effective framework of planning human resources (Bandt and Haines 1). This paper reviews the book “Successful Strategic Human Resource planning”, written by Allan Bandt and Stephen G. Haines in 2002.
The Authors
The authors of the book have a wide experience in the field as academicians and practitioners; Allan Bandt is a partner at Bandt Gatter &Associates Center in Australia whereas Stephen G. Haines is a partner at Center for strategic management San- Diego CA.
Book introduction
The book in divided into three parts: in the introduction section, the book starts by defining and creating a big picture in the minds of the readers on the role that human resources play in an organization; they challenge the current organizations where they feel that the need for human resources planning may not be readily accepted.
However, an organization that does not plan for its human resources may find that it is not meeting either its personnel requirement or its overall goals effectively.
Plan-to-plan
In part one, the book suggest that human resource planning (HRP) is an attempt to forecast how many and what kind of employees will be required in future and to what extent this demand is likely to be met. It involves the comparison of an organization’s current human resource with likely future needs and consequently, the establishment of programs for hiring, training, redeploying and possibly discarding employees.
HRP may be defined as the process that helps to achieve adequate human resources in order to achieve organizational goals. As the book develops, the writers are seen to concentrate on four steps as the major considerations in a human resource-planning scheme, these processes are:
- Determination of an organization’s objectives: an objective is a result that an organization is aiming at.
- Derive the demand for labor required to achieve the stated objective. This is done through projection of demand. Some of the methods used include regression analysis and correlation analysis
- Compare the demand for and supply of human resources, that is, both internal and external supply.
- Lastly, establish programs for hiring, training, recruitment, redeploying and possibly discarding employees depending on the results obtained above, that is where the demand is greater than the supply recruitment or hiring programs should be established.
According to the authors, human resource planning is future oriented; it involves looking forward or forecasting the future needs of an organization to meet a given objective in terms of human resources. HRP is dynamic and hence there is need to review and revise the plan.
HRP has both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Quantitative means the right number of employees and qualitative means employees with the right skills. This maximizes the investment in human resources. It is necessary to relate future human resources to future needs of the organization.
- Long-term plans cover a long period and could be five years or more based on trends in the economy, labor markets and production. These reflect management thinking on the organization structure, business environment and personnel policies. Short-term labor plans cover times ranging from one year to less than five years (Bandt and Haines 1-27).
The writers came up with the following main objectives of human resource planning,
- To ensure optimum utilization of human resources
- To forecast future requirements for human resources
- To integrate the human resources plan with the organization plan
- To establish ideal management development programs
- To meet the needs of expansion and diversification programs
- To assess the surplus and shortage of human resources
- To anticipate the impact of technology on jobs and human resources
- To estimate the cost of human resources and housing needs of employees (Bandt and Haines 1-27).
Developing a Strategic HR/ People plan & Document
In part two, the books elaborated on the need to have an effective human resource planning strategy: it suggests that failure to plan for human resources is planning to fail in achieving organizational goals. Putting in mind that human resources are the most unique in the organization and are most important among other resources, it is therefore essential to plan for them.
The following are the advantages that accrue to organizations that plan for their human resources. HRP aids in proper utilization of human resources. Since employee’s
time, and with the right skills, this eliminates idleness. Idleness is a cost itself and therefore, idleness eliminated is a cost reduced.
Labor shortfalls and surpluses are avoided since HRP ensures that there is the right number of employees as the organization may require achieving its goals. Cases of corruption in form of “ghost workers” are rarely reported in organizations whose management undertakes HRP honestly and seriously.
Careful consideration of the likely future human resources requirements could lead the firm to discover new and improved ways of managing human resources (Bandt and Haines 28-70).
Implementing and change
HRP helps the organization create and develop employee training and management succession programs. Training programs ensure that the right people are trained at minimum cost. Management succession programs eliminate unfair promotions. This programs therefore reduce both management and employee conflicts.
Through HRP, management is compelled to assess critically the strengths and weaknesses of its labor force and personnel policies. Collective actions are therefore taken to correct the weaknesses.
When managing change, consultations with the affected groups and individuals may occur at an early stage in the change process, decisions can be undertaken unhurriedly and by considering all relevant options, rather than being taken in crises.
Through human resource planning, an organization is able to adhere to equal employment opportunity (EEO) policy through analysis of the different employees it has. The organization is able to identify areas in which it is biased in employing (Bandt and Haines 83-100).
Book summary
According to the Allan Bandt and Stephen G. Haines, human resources department of a company has the role of ensuring that an organization meets its quantitative and qualitative human resources needs, the department is concerned with people at work and their relationship with their employer.
Well-managed human resources results into an orchestrate team. The goal is attained through human resources planning, deploying, employing, training, retaining, and dismissal of employees.
Works Cited
Bandt, Allan, and Haines Stephen. Successful Strategic Human Resource Planning. San-Diego: Systems Thinking Press, 2002.