Wikipedia defines human resource planning as “a process that identifies current and future human resource needs for an organization to achieve its goals.” So, basically, organizations need HR planning to ensure that the HR requirements are pinpointed in advance and strategies are brought in to meet those requirements. It covers everything from building a good employer brand to retaining good talent and preventing attrition. It is also required for the digitization of the HR functions in the most optimum way, including the investment in effective HR Management software – such as Digital HRMS & BeehiveHR – to increase the efficiency of the department. Planning things way in advance can bring a lot of benefits for the HR department and this article talks about 6 of the key ones.
1] Human Resource planning ensures that your HR department is well aware of the future recruitment needs of the organization and is able to anticipate the type of manpower that would be required and the vacancies that are likely to come up in the near future. Every organization has employees of different skill sets and experience. HR planning, if done effectively, can help the organization maintain a ready pool of the required number of resources with specific skillsets.
2] HR planning, if done well, can prove to be really cost-effective for the organization. This is because at any given time, there would be a much-needed balance in the number of employees in the organization, without the possibility of a surplus number of resources working on projects. Too many employees – more than the number required to get the job done – can be touch to manage and can also turn out to be expensive.
3] Human resource planning ensures that the functioning of the organization and its various processes is never hindered by the lack of availability of the resources at the right time. With the prior knowledge of the kind of resources that would be required, it becomes easier for the HR team of an organization to manage the recruitment process in such a way that the right resources are brought on board before a certain process starts. Plaining in advance also makes it possible to conduct internal job postings to fetch resources from other teams within the organization, if new resources with the required skill set are not available at the time.
4] HR planning helps address the issue of large scale vacancies resulting from the expansion and diversification of the organization. In the absence of proper planning, getting skilled resources in large numbers can prove to be quite challenging and might result in unnecessary delay in the recruitment process. However, having a plan in hand makes it easy to ensure a smooth expansion process for the organization and have some of the best talents on board.
In other words, it ensures that the organization is never short of employees with the skills and know-how required to manage the challenges arising out of a major change, such as expansion or diversification.
5] Human resource planning helps the HR department to foresee the skill sets that would be expected from the employees in order to successfully accomplish the tasks in the future. This way, they can plan training and development sessions for the employees to make them learn and master the required skills well ahead of time. So, even if the organization is expected to need highly skilled resources for a project, HR planning gives ample time to train the current employees instead of hiring talent at the last moment. This also contributes to employee skill development and boosts employee morale.
6] With the increasing demand for skilled resources, it can be difficult to find the best talent as employees today have many options. In such a scenario, an organization needs some meticulous HR planning to get the best talent on board. This allows the organization the privilege of having the time to scout for talents and build a team that comprises of some truly brilliant minds.
So, you see that there are multiple ways in which your organization can benefit from effective human resource planning. Right from saving costs to helping you bring in the best talent on board, there are many reasons for you to consider it. Does your organization practice HR planning? Share your insights in the comment box below.