Human Resource Planning is the backbone of the human resource management and development. It ensures that the organisation has the right people at the right time and place with the right skills. It believes that each employee is a resource to an organisation and contributes to its productivity.

Every organisation that hires people to carry out its work, whether it be a small business, medium size business, institute or a hospital, needs a human resource plan in which various phases of human resource work are tied together into an integrated programme. Any human resource plan would incorporate the information on the following subjects:

l Functions to be performed by the employees

l Personnel objectives

l Personnel policies

l Assignment of duties and responsibilities

These functions are planning functions. It helps in the selection of a future course by action from various alternatives. It is meant to decide in advance what to do, how to do, when to do, and the person who would do it. Thus, all other functions of an entrepreneur depend upon his human resource planning.

The main objectives of Human Resource Planning are as follows:

1. Identify and assess future human resource needs

2. Analyse and improve upon utilisation of existing resources

3. integrate and coordinate human resource policies so that the present and future human resource needs are met easily.

Human Resource Planning (HRP in short) is a continuous process. HRP is a futuristic planning. Considering the growth areas of the organisation in the next five years, the entrepreneur has to analyse and identify the requirements of human resource of each department and each functional area of the organisation.

The human resource is classified mainly into four categories viz.

Skilled

Semi-skilled

Unskilled and

Administrative

A thorough assessment is made about the vacant positions, job requirements, future demand for and supply of various categories of people in both management and non-management cadres. Depending upon the product or service, scale of operation and technique of production, different organisations will have different requirements of human resource. Accordingly year wise requirement of various categories of employees is assesses. Further details about the desired qualifications and experienced expertise are also scrutinised and a master plan of human resource requirement is prepared.

Human resource is an asset of an organisation. It is responsible for either the success or the failure of the organisation. It has been seen that many organisations have survived in adverse situations only because of their dedicated, committed human resource. Some others are wiped off from industrial scene because of unproductive, uncommitted, undisciplined human resource. Thus, human resource employed in the organisation plays a vital role in the “making or breaking” of the organisation.

From the organisation point of view, human resource has an economic contribution. Organisations compare the contribution to the productivity by a worker and the cost incurred on that worker. Human resource constitutes a major cost component. At times it touches nearly half of the total cost in case of labour intensive industries. Therefore, while planning the human resource, it becomes obligatory for the organisations to assess the productivity of the employees and to open for the optimum utilisation of human resource. The following specific issues are considered for the efficient and effective utilisation of human resource:

l Whether right people are appointed for the job

l Are they doing the job in the right manner

l Do they need further training

l Is there a surplus workforce

l Is there a deficiency in workforce

l How to resolve the surplus / deficiency in workforce

A solution to the above issues cannot be given in isolation. Its impact on production, finance and general administration has to be considered in minute details. Therefore, HRP is a part of the strategic, integrated planning process.

Once the master plan of human resource requirements is prepared, the entrepreneur should take a review of the existing human resource. To facilitate the optimum utilisation of the human resource, decisions have to be taken with respect to the following:

l Fresh recruitment

l Promotion

l Job rotation

l Training

l Transfers

l Separation