As part of maintaining organizational competitiveness, strategic planning for HR effectiveness can be increased through the use of HR metrics and HR technology.
Human resource planning (HRP) determines the number and type of employees needed to accomplish organizational goals. It includes:
- Creating venture teams with a balanced skill mix
- Recruiting the right people
- Voluntary team assignments
This function analyzes and determines personnel needs to create effective innovation teams.
The basic HRP strategy is staffing and employee development in line with business strategy. HRP complements business strategy in the following ways:
1. Staffing
Staffing aims to provide a sufficient supply of qualified individuals to fill jobs in an organization. Job analysis, recruitment, and selection are the main functions of staffing.
Workers’ job design and job analysis lay the foundation for staffing by identifying what people do in their jobs and how they are affected by them.
- Job analysis is the process of describing the nature of a job and specifying the human requirements such as knowledge, skills, and experience needed to perform it.
- The result of job analysis is the job description, which spells out the work duties and activities of employees.
All these elements are designed keeping in mind an organization’s overall goals.
Through HR planning, managers anticipate the future supply and demand for employees and address workforce issues like retention. HRP precedes the actual selection of people for the organization.
These factors are used when recruiting applicants in sync with the overall business strategy.
Selection process → Choosing qualified individuals to fill strategic jobs. The most qualified applicants are selected based on how closely their abilities and skills match the job requirements.
2. Talent Management and Development
Talent management and development begin with orientation for new employees. Orientation is the first step toward helping a new employee adjust to the job and the employer.
It acquaints new hires with:
- Pay and benefit programs
- Working hours
- Company rules and expectations
Training and development programs ensure employees can perform their jobs at acceptable levels while aligning with the organization’s goals.
Organizations provide training for:
- New and inexperienced employees
- Employees whose jobs are changing (through on-the-job or off-the-job training)
These efforts make the workforce more adaptable to strategic needs.
HR development and succession planning prepare employees and managers for future challenges, bringing organizations closer to their goals.
Career planning helps employees grow in their jobs and advance in their careers. Activities include assessing an employee’s potential for growth and advancement.
Performance appraisal involves:
- Encouraging risk-taking
- Demanding innovation
- Adopting new tasks
- Peer evaluations
- Frequent evaluations
- Auditing innovation processes
This ensures employee performance remains aligned with business strategy. It also links individual innovativeness to company profitability.
3. Total Rewards
Compensation in the form of pay, incentives, and benefits is the reward for performing organizational work.
Compensation management determines how much employees should be paid for certain jobs.
- Higher pay can attract more talent.
- Employers develop competitive compensation systems, sometimes using variable pay programs such as: Incentive rewards Promotions from within the team Recognition rewards Balancing team and individual rewards
Rewards motivate employees toward productivity, innovation, and profitability.
Benefits (e.g., health insurance, retirement plans) are another form of compensation and can be legally required or optional. They primarily address employee maintenance by meeting basic needs.
4. Risk Management and Worker Protection
HRM addresses workplace risks to ensure worker protection by:
- Meeting legal requirements
- Being responsive to workplace health and safety concerns
- Disaster and recovery planning
5. Employee and Labor Relations
Maintaining a healthy relationship between managers and employees is essential. HR must ensure both parties’ rights are respected.
This involves:
- Developing, communicating, and updating HR policies
- Ensuring everyone knows what is expected
In unionized workplaces, labor relations play a key role. A trade union represents employees to secure better wages, benefits, working conditions, and decision-making power.
HR personnel functions in labor relations include:
- Negotiating with unions on wages and service conditions
- Resolving disputes and grievances
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