What Is the Most Important Step for Human Resource Planning?

The first step in human resources planning is projecting workforce needs and determining the resources necessary to meet those needs. This stage in human resources planning includes establishing workforce goals, such as creating staffing models, performance management standards, compensation and benefits, and training and development. Within those steps are several activities designed to enhance employee satisfaction, motivation and productivity. Human resource metrics is another aspect essential to the planning stages. Of the common five to six steps in the human resources planning process, projecting workforce needs is the most important.

Staffing Needs

Human resources planning requires careful attention to staffing needs. Determining your staffing needs can mean the difference between a company that struggles to meet payroll and a profitable, successful organization. Startup companies experience difficulties in developing staffing models that work the first time around -- they are subject to incur expenses related to recruiting, training and employee turnover. The best way to prevent unnecessary staffing expenses is to create a model that aligns your business goals with the types of skill sets required to accomplish your objectives.

Labor Market

Once you determine the qualifications and skill sets your company needs to achieve its business goals, your next step is to identify the availability of workers in the labor market who possess those skills. For some occupations, there is an abundance of talent in the labor market. For other jobs, finding employees can be quite a task, especially with shortages of qualified and available workers in fields such as health care and computer science. Attracting, recruiting and interviewing applicants are components of the overall employment process. Effective recruitment and selection processes save time and money. Turnover is costly for both startups and established businesses. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to make wise hiring decisions that result in higher levels of employee retention.

Employee Satisfaction

Assigning job duties, tasks and responsibilities according to qualifications and criteria is key to putting the right people in the right jobs. Employees whose skills are underutilized become dissatisfied when their job duties are not challenging. For many employees, mundane and uninteresting work causes their motivation and engagement levels to drop. You accomplish high levels of employee satisfaction through acknowledging employee talents and, if at all possible, modifying job responsibilities to match the employee's talents. For future roles within the company, recognize aptitude and offer training opportunities for employees who demonstrate the ability to accept more responsible positions.

Performance Management

In addition to judging your staffing needs, assigning challenging duties and maintaining employee satisfaction, another aspect of meeting workforce needs is providing the means for employees to continually improve their performance. Performance management goals and standards support the workforce through constructive feedback, mentoring and establishing employee goals. Performance management systems -- including performance appraisals -- improve productivity and job competencies and must, therefore, become integral parts of human resources planning.

References

• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Building Successful Organizations, Workforce Planning in HHS
• TriNet HR Blog: HR Considerations During the 2011 Strategic Planning Process
• Rutgers University: Human Resource Planning, Challenges for Industrial/Organizational Psychologists; S.E. Jackson, R.S. Schuler
• Global AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Team: A Guide to Strategic Human Resource Planning
• "Entrepreneur": Does HR Planning Improve Business Performance?; B. Macaleer, J. Shannon; 2003

Resources

• HR.com
• Society for Human Resource Management
• National Human Resources Association
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• The American Society for Training & Development
• Workforce Management