Planning human resources is the process of business forecasting, arrange and develop the workforce to meet the growing demand in each stage. This is not just operation to calculate the number of employees to be recruited, which also includes the identification of skills and competencies required to serve business goals.
In the context of fierce competition, planning resources to help businesses avoid risk of shortages, the optimal cost while ensuring strategic sustainable growth.
This article Lac Viet Computing going deeper analysis of the concept, role, process and technology solutions to the organizations and enterprises are to find out information about planning, human resources have clear insight, effective application.
1. Planning, human resources, what is?
Planning human resources is an operation in hrm, focusing on the forecasting of human resource needs of the business in the future, develop a plan to meet that demand. Speaking in an understandable way, here is the process “prepared in advance” for businesses to always have the right number of staff with the right skills, at the right time.
For example, a company, ecommerce projected growth in orders, 30% in peak season last year. If there is no planning, human resources, they may fall into shortage of delivery staff, led to delays reduce the satisfaction of our customers. Conversely, if right forecast demand, plan preparation, recruitment, training soon, the business will ensure the customer experience is maintained, at the same time good cost control.
Difference between planning and personnel management typically located in the initiative. Hr managers often focus on current issues such as attendance, payroll, resolving complaints. Meanwhile, planning, strategic, future-oriented help businesses prepare for the changes long-term development.
Thus, the planning doesn't just stop at the “calculate number of employees”, which is also part of the strategy, business development, helping enhance competitiveness, optimal cost-to ensure the stability of the organization.
2. The role of planning human resources in business
Planning is not just an activity internal management but also the elements of strategy, decision to the stable development of the enterprise. Those organizations are in the stage of scaling or face the fluctuations in hr planning, it will bring the practical benefits follows:
2.1 Ensure appropriate human resources with business goals
Every business has a business plan in stages, such as market expansion, new product launches or re-structure the process of operation. Planning resources to help businesses determine the exact number and quality of personnel required to accomplish this goal.
For example, a production company set a goal to increase 20% yield in the coming year. If you only focus on stitching machinery that is not prepared enough commissioning engineers, maintenance staff, then growth plan will be difficult to succeed. When planning, business would proactively forecast and additional resources needed from early, avoid falling into the passive.
2.2 minimize the risk of personnel and costs
As practice shows, the condition of excess resources that the cost of salary, benefits increases, while the shortage of manpower led to slow progress and reduce productivity. Planning resources to help businesses balance the effect of these two factors.
According to the report of McKinsey (2023), the organization applied strategic planning, human resources can reduce an average of 10-15% of the cost of recruitment, training, thanks to the accurate forecast staffing needs. This shows that the plan not only helps entrepreneurs “have enough people working,” but also the tools to control cost effective in the long term.
2.3 Increase competitiveness, sustainable development
In the environment of fierce competition, enterprises not only need manpower in sufficient quantities, but also need high quality human resources. The plan allows the construction business plan skills development, retraining or prepare the team inherited.
For example, many multinational corporations, always deploy the program “succession planning” (succession planning) to ensure that when a management position key blank will have the full capacity immediately replaced. This approach not only helps business to maintain stable operation, but also improve the confidence of staff in development opportunities long career.
3. The planning process human resource standard for business
A process planning, human resources effective not only in the calculation of the number of people who need to recruit, but also must be associated with the development strategy's overall business. Here are the basic steps generally apply:
Step 1: analyze the strategic business goals
Planning human resources only effective when derived from business strategy overall. Here is the step platform to help businesses identify exactly need staff how in the short and long term.
Specific businesses need to answer the following questions:
- Businesses are pursuing the goal what? For example: expand into new regions, revenue growth, or re-structure to the optimal cost.
- Time, the priority of each objective? Short-term (6-12 months) generally focus on recruitment, meet operating needs, while long-term (3-5 years) navigate to the training and development of internal capacity.
- The external factors that influence how? Such trends, consumer change, the competition is increasingly high, or the impact of digital technologies (AI, automation) forcing companies to adjust the orientation of personnel.
Practical example: A retail chain aims to open 50 more stores in the next 3 years. This means the demand for key personnel will focus on managing the store staff, sales and logistics. If not mounting to plan with this strategy, businesses may face a shortage of labour during the expansion phase, slowing the progress of business.
Benefits: The analysis of the goal from the outset to help businesses optimize personnel budget, avoid waste in recruitment and training, while ensuring the workforce is always the same strategy development.
Step 2: forecasting demand for human resources
After you have defined your business goals, the next step is to forecast the number and quality of personnel that your business needs in each stage. This is not a license to estimate the sentiment, which is a process based on the data analysis model.
The prediction method popular, including:
- Based on historical data: View the number of personnel't need in the campaign expansion, peak season, or similar project.
- Analysis trends industry: For example, the retail industry is often 20-30% increase seasonal workers in the end of the year, while the manufacturing sector may need more automation engineers when investing in new lines.
- Hypothetical scenarios (Scenario planning): Business set up various scenarios such as “if the revenue increased by 30%” or “if you applied new technology”, from which it calculates the demand for human resources respectively.
For example: A company e-commerce in Vietnam, after data analysis, 3 year, recognizes the need for care staff, customers increased by an average of 40% in August 11-12 (season sale end of the year). Thanks to earlier forecasts, the company actively recruit training collaborators ago 3 months, avoid overload service.
Benefits: accurate Forecasts help businesses proactively resources, limiting the crisis, shortage of personnel, at the same time the optimal cost of salary and benefits.
Step 3: assessing current human resources
Forecasting demand for human resources will have no meaning if the business does not understand the resources are there. This is the stage of business conduct comprehensive assessment of the labor force current based on 4 main aspects:
- Number of employees: total scale, allocated according to the departments, the rate of the holiday.
- Professional skills: compare current capability with future requirements.
- Experience seniority: assess the level of readiness to take on the role higher.
- Leadership and development potential: identifying team of inheritance.
For example, A technology company-oriented product development based on artificial intelligence (AI). However, when evaluating the force of the current, they found that the programming team is mainly about traditional software (Java, .NET), while the number of skilled personnel AI/ML accounted for only less than 5%. The results of this evaluation indicate “talent gap” clearly, from that business is forced to choose: training together in the old or recruit a new hr professional WHO.
The evaluation of the workforce is in helping businesses determine the distance between “what is there” and “should have”, from which to build training plans, restructuring or recruitment reasonable. This step is important to ensure hr strategies aligned with business goals in the long term.
Step 4: build the hr plan
Once you have identified the gap between future demand and existing resources, businesses need concretized by the hr plan details. This not only is a action list that is a route overall, ensuring the sustainable development of the organization.
The solution is often applied include:
- Recruitment: When deficiency of specialized skills, particularly in positions requiring highly specialized (for example, engineers, AI experts, data analysis), businesses need to plan to recruit early to avoid “sprint” cause increased costs.
- Training and development: For existing staff, re-training (reskilling) and advanced skills (upskilling of) is the optimal method to leverage internal resources.
- Rotation, advancement internal: Here's how to create development opportunities to help employees stay motivated work.
- Planning succession planning: With the position senior management or key professionals, businesses need to prepare human resources to avoid disruption of operation.
Hr plan clearly to help businesses reduce the risk of labor shortages, increase the cohesion of employees at the same time control the cost effectively.
Step 5: deploy monitoring implementation
A plan personnel only successful when deployed, they have the system of constant monitoring. Many businesses are struggling not because of the wrong plan that because of the lack of tools monitor and adjust timely.
Businesses should implement the following 3 pillars:
- Clear process: Determine who is responsible for each action (recruitment, training, promotion).
- Tech support: App software hr management (HRM/HRIS) to automate tasks such as records management, reporting, human resources, analysis, personnel costs, tracking the rate of the holiday. For example: software, HRM of Lac Viet SureHCS allows the management track the entire life cycle of employees from recruitment and training to reviews through just one panel synthetic.
- Internal communications: Employees need to understand the hr plan to consensus and cooperation.
Illustrative example: A retail conglomerate when implementing HRM has been reduced by 30% aggregate time report of personnel by the system automatically. This helps the hr department to spend more time for strategic initiatives instead of handling paper craft.
Practical benefits: effective Monitoring to help businesses quickly detect deflector, timely adjustment and optimal resources.
Step 6: evaluate continuous improvement
Planning human resources is not in operation “once and for all” which should become a continuous process. Businesses need to periodically evaluate the effectiveness plan through indicators (KPI) as clear as:
- The rate of quitting (Turnover rate): Help assess the level of employee engagement.
- Recruitment time average (Time to hire): Measurement speed to meet staffing needs.
- The cost of recruitment and training (Cost per hire/training cost): effective control personnel budget.
- The level of satisfaction of employees (Employee satisfaction/engagement): Measuring quality of experience staff.
Practical benefits: continuous Assessment to help businesses maintain the fit between business strategy, strategic hr at the same time enhance the experience of employees, thereby creating competitive advantage long-term.
Thus, a process plan, it not only helps businesses fill the empty seat personnel, but also ensure appropriate resources, optimize the cost of maintaining competitive advantage in the long term.
4. The method of planning personnel in business
The business choose the right method of planning not only help to forecast labor demand more accurate but also optimal staffing costs, limiting the shortage of people in the peak season or in the stage of decline orders.
Here are four popular methods effective, suitable for all businesses that are new construction or upgrade process planning resources.
4.1. Methods trend analysis
Trend analysis is way business forecast staffing needs based on the actual data in the past, such as the number of employees, productivity, number of hours worked, production or turnover in the previous year.
The meaning of the method
Trend analysis to help businesses identify rule increase – reduce manpower seasonal business cycles, or according to the speed of growth. This is the basic method, but has high precision if the business has complete data from time and attendance system and payroll.
Illustrative example: A manufacturing company has the following data from time and attendance system 12 months:
- Number of overtime hours increased by 25% in October 8-10
- Resting rate, the increase in the first quarter every year
- Labor productivity peaked in January 11-12
From this data, businesses can proactively planning human resources:
- Increase recruitment plan time in service for the period January 7-9
- Additional internal training in the first quarter to reduce the rate of the holiday
- Increase sales force, customer care in the fourth quarter to meet peak demand
4.2. Methods of job analysis
Job analysis based on the volume of practical work and the number of hours required to complete each task. This is the method in accordance with the business system KPI, Timesheet or timesheet data details.
The meaning of the method
Workload Analysis help businesses answer the question: “To reach the goal work, how many personnel, the level of capacity how?”. Different Trend Analysis looking at past data analysis work focused on the workload, present, and future.
Illustrative example: A center customer care recorded through the system:
- Each employee handles an average of 60 ticket/day
- New goal: increase the quality of feedback, reduced to 50 ticket/day
- Total ticket median: 3.000 ticket/day
Distance calculator: 3.000 ticket / 50 ticket per employee = 60 hr
Conclusion: the center are about 10 hr compared with the actual demand (currently only 50 hr).
4.3. Methods Delphi
The Delphi approach is forecasting techniques based on expert opinion through multiple feedback loops independently. This method is useful when the business lack of historical data or are planning for the new array (for example, open a branch, open the production line).
The meaning of method: Delphi brings perspective aggregated from several specialists: head of department, HRBP, production management, team recruitment... to help businesses avoid making decisions lack of facilities.
Process
- Round 1: experts forecast demand for human resources
- Round 2: summing up the results, send it back to tuning experts
- Round 3: finishing the final number
When business should apply?
- When developing a new market or expand the scale
- When businesses do not have the HRIS system to track data
- When should assess factors expertise, deep, difficult to measure by data
4.4. Modeling method
Modeling is the group method of data usage, performance, labor productivity, and the variable number of business to build the prediction model resources. The pattern common: linear models, regression models, forecasting models based on KPI.
The meaning of method: This method is scientific, high precision, in accordance with the enterprise already has a system HRM/HRIS or attendance software – payroll is stable operation.
Illustrative example: A retail business wants to forecast the number of sales staff based on the variables:
- Revenue per store
- The number of tourists average hourly
- The average yield of each employee (number of units/hours)
If the revenue is expected to increase by 20%, the prediction model will calculate the manpower demands a corresponding increase based on real productivity, help business does not recruit too little or too much.
5. The factors that affect planning, human resources
Planning human resources is a continuous process, affected by many factors both inside and outside the business. Understanding these factors help businesses forecast staffing needs, more accurate, reducing the risk shortage of resources and optimal operating costs.
Here are the most important elements that businesses need to consider.
5.1. Business strategy and growth objectives
Business strategy is the foundation orientation, the whole works personnel. Business extended branches, increase in production capacity or invest in new products will last the greater. On the contrary, when the business re-structure or optimal cost and human resource needs can be reduced.
For example, A retail business, set a goal to increase 30% of revenue in the next two years. When that hr needs forecast:
- The number of sales staff need additional
- Operating departments need how much manpower support
- The average yield to determine the number of personnel in accordance
5.2. Scale structure current
Scale organization directly affects the business plan manpower. Businesses can scale on 300 personnel are often faced with fluctuating personnel, higher entrance needs constant replacement.
The analysis of personnel structure by age, seniority, rank help businesses predict:
- Who's going to retire
- Location understaffed inheritance
- Department-risk workers off work high
5.3. Labor productivity and workload
Labor productivity is the measure important for businesses to determine the number of personnel needed. A department with low productivity not only reduces business efficiency but also cause difficulties when forecasting demand for human resources.
For example, If a worker created 120 products/day, aim to increase production by 20%, the business will know need additional how many people or need training to increase productivity.
5.4. The rate of the holiday, the level of fluctuations in hr
The rate of the holiday is important indicator in planning human resources. Rate this higher cost of recruiting, training, growing, and businesses increasingly difficult to maintain a stable workforce.
Therefore, businesses need to understand:
- The rate of quitting by departments
- Reason for leaving
- Replacement time average
5.5. The labor market, the ability to supply resources
The labor market has a direct influence requires planning personnel. If the source provides resources scarce, businesses need to prepare training plan internal or increase incentives to retain talent.
Enterprise value received:
- Proactively build strategic personnel in accordance with market
- Reduce the risk of recruitment failure due to limited supply
5.6. Policies and laws on labor
The provisions on working hours, contracts, social insurance, the minimum wage directly affects the plan manpower. When the law changed, businesses have to adjust the budget model, and human resources to ensure compliance.
For example, When the minimum wage increase, businesses need to evaluate:
- Impact on pension fund
- Change the border personnel to the optimal cost
- Plan new recruits are consistent with the financial capacity current or not
5.7. Trends in automation and transformation of
Automation is changing the way businesses operate and planning resources.
This affects directly to:
- Personnel structure
- Recruitment needs high-quality human resources
- Plan skills training for new employees
6. The common challenges in planning human resources
Despite brings many benefits, not every enterprise is easy to deploy successful work planning personnel. Some of the common challenges that the organizations and enterprises often encounter include:
- Lack of accurate data to forecast: Many businesses still manage hr with spreadsheets, discrete or data has not been updated promptly. This makes forecasting demand for human resources is usually emotional, lack of scientific basis.
- Hard mounted between business strategy and hr planning: In many cases, the hr department only join after business strategy has been issued, leading to a state plan resources not keep up with actual needs. As a consequence, shortage of personnel when deployed project or excess manpower in the stage of slow growth.
- The labor market and technology change rapidly: For example, the development of e-commerce has created a large demand for personnel, logistics, IT and customer care online – the position which is less focused ago. Business if not timely.
7. LV SureHCS HRM – The effective support tool to help the human resource management strategic planning effective
In the context of the business environment and rapid fluctuations, institutions, businesses are finding out information about planning, human resources increasingly aware that the decisions based on feelings or personal experience is no longer enough to compete. Instead, special technology is the system of human resource management (HRM/HRIS) become effective support tool to help the hr management, forecasting, data analysis to come up with strategies effective personnel.
LV SureHCS HRM is the solution in hrm comprehensive is designed according to the needs of business in Vietnam. Some highlights of the software:
- Integrated distribution system planning: support demand forecasting hr planning, recruitment – training – development team according to each stage.
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- Flexible deployment: suitable for both medium and large enterprises deploy on-premise or cloud.
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