Manpower

Manpower

1) Manpower management and planning forms the core of human resource management and deals with the human resources of an organization. It consists of the process of selection of appropriate individuals as employees based on their skills, making sure they are smoothly fitted into their assigned roles and the overall system, thus ensuring a smooth functioning of the organization. Besides selecting suitable employees, manpower planning also deals with the process of upgrading the existing employees. The human resources are the most valuable asset of any organization as they contribute to the realization of its business objectives. It is the human resources who contribute their time and expertise to the welfare of their organization. Thus, the process of manpower planning and staffing is crucial to the business development of an organization. Personnel management is closely linked to manpower planning and management.

1a) Manpower Management

Manpower management is a strategic approach to the management of people working for an organization. At its core lies the management of people, better known as employee management. Training and managing the recruited employees is an important part of manpower management. Motivating the workers, helping them update their work knowledge and maintaining the attrition rate to a minimum, are some of the other objectives of manpower management. Human resource managers need to cater to safety of the employees. Absence of workplace safety, lack of motivation and an unhealthy work environment are some of the main factors that lead to dissatisfied employees. Satisfaction breeds productivity and this fact makes it necessary for the human resource managers to take all the required measures to ensure a positive environment at work.

2) Manpower Planning

Manpower planning is the first step towards manpower management. It refers to the process of using available assets for the implementation of the business plans. It also involves the process of coordinating and controlling various activities in the organization. An effective manpower planning requires a careful assessment of the future needs of the organization. It involves the development of strategies to match the requirement of employees and availability of positions at a regional as well as a national level. Those in charge of manpower planning need to have a foresight about the business plans. They need to plan the activities for achieving business growth. They are required to estimate the business needs of the organization and plan for the resources needed to realize the business goals. We can refer to manpower planning as the process of reviewing current resources, predicting future requirements and ensuring that the demand and supply of people and skills is balanced. Manpower planning is useful for both the employees as well as the organization.

2a)

Manpower planning and staffing are critical to the welfare of an organization. Manpower management is a niche area today and considering the increasing importance of the valuable human resources in business, the field shall continue to grow.

Manpower Staffing

The selection of suitable candidates on the basis of their skill-set and requirements of the job is known as manpower staffing. A manpower-staffing consultant plays the critical role of analyzing the skills required by a particular position and weigh them against the skills and abilities of the candidates. He/she needs to read people to assess their potential and wisely choose deserving candidates. Getting dedicated and sincere employees is a difficult task that involves a careful study of the personnel, their work preferences and their fields of expertise. It is also necessary to check their educational and social background and assess their personalities in order to fill the positions with only the most deserving candidates. For determining the manpower needs, it is important to create work roles by grouping related work functions together. This helps the human resource managers in identifying the organizational subdivisions. Manpower planning and staffing involve the process of defining the position structures in the organization and preparing job profiles for the positions to be filled. Only then it is possible to begin the actual recruitment process and select appropriate candidates for vacant positions.

Definition and importance of manpower Planning:
Planning is nothing but using the available assets for the effective implementation of the production plans. After the preparing the plans, people are grouped together to achieve organizational objectives.
Planning is concerned with coordinating, motivating and controlling of the various activities within the organization. Time required for acquiring the material, capital and machinery should be taken into account. Manager has to reasonably predict future events and plan out the production. The basic purpose of the management is to increase the production, so that the profit margin can be increased. Manager has to guess the future business and to take timely and correct decisions in respect of company objectives, policies and cost performances. The plans need to be supported by all the members of the organization. Planning is making a decision in advance what is to be done. It is the willpower of course of action to achieve the desired results. It is a kind of future picture where events are sketched. It can be defined as a mental process requiring the use of intellectual faculty, imagination, foresight and sound judgment.

It involves problem solving and decision making. Management has to prepare for short term strategy and measure the achievements, while the long term plans are prepared to develop the better and new products, services, expansion to keep the interest of the owners.

Advantages of manpower planning:
Manpower planning ensures optimum use of available human resources.
1. It is useful both for organization and nation.
2. It generates facilities to educate people in the organization.
3. It brings about fast economic developments.
4. It boosts the geographical mobility of labor.
5. It provides smooth working even after expansion of the organization.
6. It opens possibility for workers for future promotions, thus providing incentive.
7. It creates healthy atmosphere of encouragement and motivation in the
organization.
8. Training becomes effective.
9. It provides help for career development of the employees.

Steps in Manpower planning
1. Predict manpower plans
2. Design job description and the job requirements
3. Find adequate sources of recruitment.
4. Give boost to youngsters by appointment to higher posts.
5. Best motivation for internal promotion.
6. Look after the expected losses due to retirement, transfer and other issues.
7. See for replacement due to accident, death, dismissals and promotion.

Factors which affect the efficiency of labor:
1. Inheritance: Persons from good collection are bound to work professionally. The quality and rate of physical as well as mental development, which is dissimilar in case of different individuals is the result of genetic differences.
2. Climate: Climatic location has a definite effect on the efficiency of the workers.
3. Health of worker: worker’s physical condition plays a very important part in performing the work. Good health means the sound mind, in the sound body.
4. General and technical education: education provides a definite impact n the working ability and efficiency of the worker.
5. Personal qualities: persons with dissimilar personal qualities bound to have definite differences in their behaviour and methods of working. The personal qualities influence the quality of work.
6. Wages: proper wages guarantees certain reasons in standard of living, such as cheerfulness, discipline etc. and keep workers satisfy. This provides incentive to work.
7. Hours of work: long and tiring hours of work exercise have bad effect on the competence of the workers.

Downsizing of manpower:
Downsizing of manpower gives the correct picture about the number of people to be employed to complete given task in the predetermined period. It is used for achieving fundamental growth in the concern. It can work out the correct price by the resource building or capacity building. It aims at correct place, correct man on a correct job.
Thus manpower planning is must to make the optimum utilization of the greatest resource available i.e. manpower for the success of any organization.

1. Objectives of Manpower Planning:- The persons concerned with manpower planning must be clear about goals of manpower planning because once the wrong forecast of future requirement of human resources are made, it may not be possible to rectify the errors in short-run.
2. Current Manpower Inventory:- Assessment of demand for operating personnel presents less problems of uncertainty & current manpower supply can be adjusted accordingly. But for supervisory and managerial levels projection is complex problem because required talents are not available at a short notice. This will also help in drawing recruitment & development plans to meet the needs of certain skills future.
3. Demand Forecasting:- A proper forecast of manpower required in future say, after one year, two years & so on must be attempted. The factors relevant for manpower forecasting are as follows.

(i) Employment Trends:- Manpower planning committee show examine number of employees on pay roll during past 5 year to knew trend within each group to determine whether particular group has been stable or unstable.
(ii) Replacement Needs:- arises due to death, retirement, resignation & termination of employees. It may relate to supervisory, skilled, clarical groups and must be anticipated in advance.
(iii) Productivity:- Gain in productivity will also influence requirements of manpower. Planning for productivity has several aspects. The first aspect relates to effective utilisation of manpower. The second aspect relates to installation of more productive tools, equipments. The last aspect relates to matching of skills with requirements of jobs.
(iv) Growth & Expansion:- A good organisation always tries to adopt itself to change in method & techniques of Production. Therefore Manpower planner should take all these factors into account while studying impact of various business expansion plans on manpower requirements.
(v) Absenteeism:- Means a situation when a person fails to come for work when he is scheduled to work. Due to absenteeism work get upset leading to overtime work which in turn leads to increased cost of production. The management should go into cause of absenteeism & attempt to reduce absentism as far as possible.
(vi) Work Study:- Can be used when it is possible to apply work measurement to know how long operations should take & amount of labour required. This is also known as ‘workload analysis.’

4. Job Requirements:- Job analysis is the qualitative aspect of manpower requirements since it determines what is the quantum of work which an average person can do on a job in a day. It facilitates division of work in to different jobs.
5. Employment Plans:- This phase deals with planning how organisation can obtain required number of right type of personnel as reflected by personnel forecasts.
6. Training & Development Programme:- Training is essential not only for new employees but also for old employees for improving their performance. Similarly executive development programmes have to be devised for development of managerial personnel. The talent of employees are not fully productive without a systematic programme of training & development.
7. Appraisal of Manpower Planning:- After training programmes have been implemented, an appraisal must be made of effectiveness of manpower planning. Deficiencies in programmes should be pointed out & catalogue of manpower inventory should be updated periodically. Conective actions should also be taken whenever it is necessary to remove deficiencies in manpower planning.

 

KEY INFLUENCE ON MANPOWER PLANNING--INDICATORS

Analysing the current manpower resource

Analysis and investigation
Internal labour
Market
Turnover
Cohort analysis
Profiles
Skills audit
Succession
Manpower system
External labour Market
Quality
Availability
Sources
Price [rewards ]
Organization
Assessment
Performance
Productivity
Structure
Technology
Skill change
Rewards
Corporate Strategy
Growth/decay
New markets
opportunities
Objectives
Manpower system
Work methods

OBJECTIVES AND NATURE OF MANPOWER MANAGEMENT

Manpower and HR plannings involves applying the basic planning process to the human resource needs of the organization. To be effective any MP/ HR plan must be derived from the CORPORATE strategic plan of the organization. The success of the MR/HR depends largely on how closely the HRdepartment can integrate effective people planning with the organization's business planning process.

Corporate business planning seeks to identify various factors critical to the success of the organization.It also focuses on how the organization can become better positioned and equipped to compete in the market. This provides
-a clear statement of the organization's mission.
-a commitment from senior management to the mission.
-an explicit statement of assumptions.
-a statement of objectives / strategies.
-a plan of action in light of available or acquirable resources , including human resources.

MP/HR planning contributes significantly to the corporate business process by providing the means to accomplish the outcomes desired from the planning process. In essence
the HR demands and needs are derived from the corporate strategic business plan and then compared with HR availability.

MANPOWER SYSTEM

Once the corporate objectives , strategies and plans are outlined, the directions are filtered down to the business units and departments, involving all levels of management in the organizational planning process.

The business units management and departments management work closely with the HR management to determine the people requirements to achieve their objectives.

Manpower planning has five essential elements:

* Analysing the current manpower resource

* Reviewing employee utilization

* Forecasting the demand for employees

* Forecasting supply

* Developing a manpower plan

While these can be seen as sequential steps, in practice thinking about manpower can begin with almost any of these. This is what makes manpower planning a dynamic process. For instance, a manufacturing function might want to introduce new machinery that will do a job to a better standard and more quickly. To justify the expenditure, the manufacturing manager will be expected to show a saving on labour, which may translate into fewer people. In another case, a downturn in business may provoke an urgent drive to reduce overheads and cuts in office staff. The point is that manpower decisions have been triggered outside the HRM function, and most certainly outside the hands of anyone who carries the title of manpower planner.

The other point that the two examples highlight is that planning can have a short­, medium‑, and long‑term aspect. The long term is necessary to provide a framework for managing broad trends. Long‑term planning should be done regularly and systematically, and plans kept under review. The short to medium term, however, is what matters to most managers.

MANPOWER planning is a simple process, and consists of  five essential elements:

1) Analysing the current manpower resource
2) Reviewing employee utilization
3) Forecasting the demand for employees
4) Forecasting supply
5) Developing a manpower plan

BUT IN REAL LIFE, you need a lot of base information to work with . If you are doing it for the first time yourself and the company, you need to collect / collate the database before you could a meaning exercise.

The manpower planning is interlinked with Organization planning and the HR planning , and one cannot be planned without the support of the other two.

Whether it is a
-organization with no expansion plan or
-organization with major expansion plan or
-organization start up, the conceptual approach is the same. You may not consider all the elements in all cases.

Other important factors that need to be considered are
-investment dimension
-time frame
-product plan / range
-nature of operation [ mfg. marketing or mfg only or trading only etc]
-geographical coverage
-distribution / channel plan etc etc.

These factors plus the corporate planning objectives / strategies plus the consequences of the inbalances from the ANALYSIS & INVESTIGATIONS would dictate the creation of MANPOWER/ HR planning strategies/ tactics [ policies/ procedures/practices etc]

The inbalances could come from
-organization circumstances
-opportunities and expectations
-requirements and availability
-behavioural consequences
-policy on organization structure
-policy on individuals