Dairy Plant Management and Pollution Control

Module 3. Personal management

Lesson 5
MANPOWER PLANNING, RECRUITMENT, TRAINING TRANSFER, PROMOTIONS POLICIES

5.1 Introduction

Man power planning or human resource planning means deciding the number and type of the human resources required for each job, unit and the total company for a particular future date in order to carry-out organizational activities.

5.1.1 Definition of man power planning

• E.W. Vetter defined man power planning as "a process by which an organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position. Though planning management strives to have the right number and right kind of people at the right place at the right time, doing things which result in both the organization and the individual receiving maximum long-run benefit."
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• According to Leon C. Megginson, man power or human resources planning is "an integrated approach to performing the planning aspects of the personnel function in order to have a sufficient supply of adequately developed and motivated people to perform the duties and tasks required to meet organizational objectives and satisfy the individual needs and goals of organizational members."

5.1.2 Objectives of man power planning

The important objectives of manpower planning in an organization are

• To recruit and retain the human resources of required quantity and quality;

• To foresee the employee turnover and make the arrangements for minimizing turnover and filling up of consequent vacancies;

• To meet the needs of the programmes of expansion, diversification etc.;

• To foresee the impact of technology on work, existing employees and future human resource requirements;

• To improve the standards, skill, knowledge, ability, discipline etc.;

• To assess the surplus or shortage of human resources and take measures accordingly;

• To maintain congenial industrial relations by maintaining optimum level and structure of human resources;

• To minimize imbalances caused due to non-availability of human resources of the right kind, right number in right time and right place;

• To make the best use of its human resources and

• To estimate the cost of human resources.

5.1.3 Benefits of man power planning

Man power planning anticipates not only the required kind and number of employees but also determines the action plan for all the functions of personnel management. The major benefits are:

• It checks the corporate plan of the organization.

• It offsets uncertainty and changes to the maximum extent possible and enables the organization to have right men at the right time and in the right place.

• It provides scope for advancement and development of employees through training, development etc.

• It helps to anticipate the cost of salary, benefits and all the cost of human resources, facilitating the formulation of budgets in an organization.

• To foresee the need for redundancy and plan to check it or to provide alternative employment in consultation with trade unions, other organizations and the government through remodeling organizational, industrial and economic plans.

• To plan for physical facilities, working conditions and the volume of fringe benefits like canteen, schools, hospitals, conveyance, child care centers, quarters, company stores etc.

• It gives an idea of the type of tests to be used and interview techniques in selection based on the level of skills, qualifications, intelligence, values etc. of future human resources.

• It causes the development of various sources of human resources to meet the organizational needs It helps to take steps to improve human resources contributions in the form of increased productivity, sales, turnover etc.

• It facilitates the control of all the functions, operations, contribution and cost of human resources.

5.1.4 Factors affecting man power planning

The factors affecting man power planning can be classified into external factors and internal factors.

5.1.4.1 External factors

• Government policies: Policies of the government like labor policy, industrial relations policy, and policy towards reserving certain jobs for different communities affect the man power planning.

• Level of economic development: Level of economic development determines the level of man power planning in the country and thereby the supply of human resources in the future in the country.

• Business environment: External business environmental factors influence the volume and mix of production and thereby the future demand for human resources.

• Information technology: Information technology brought amazing shifts in the business which includes: business process reengineering, enterprise resources planning and supply chain management. These changes brought unprecedented reductions in traditional human resources and increase in software specialists. Added to this, the computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided technology (CAT) also reduced dependence on the existing human resource.

• Level of technology: Level of technology determines the kind human resources required.

5.1.4.2 Internal factors

• Company strategies: Company's policies and strategies relating to expansion, diversifica­tion, alliances etc. determine the human resources demand in terms of quality and quantity.

• Human resources policies: Human resources policies of the company regarding quality of human resources, compensation level, quality of work life etc. influence human resources plan.

• Job analysis: Fundamentally, human resources plan is based on job analysis. Job description and job specification. Thus, the job analysis determines the kind of employees required.

• Time horizons: Companies with a stable competitive environment can plan for the long run whereas firms with an unstable competitive environment can plan for only short term range.

• Type and quality of information: Any planning process needs qualitative and accurate information. This is more so with human resources plan.

• Company's production/operations policy: Company's policy regarding how much to produce and how much to buy from outside to prepare a final product influences the number and kind of people required.

• Ade unions: Influence of the unions regarding the number of working hours per week, recruitment sources etc.

5.2 Recruitment

• Recruitment is defined as "a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient workforce."

• Edwin B. Flippo defined recruitment as "the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization."

Selection is a process of picking individuals (out of the pool of job applicants) with requisite qualifications & competence to fill jobs in Organisation.

5.2.1 Difference between recruitment and selection

• Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The difference between the recruitment and selection is:

• Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation whereas selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.

• The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organisation whereas the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organisation.

• Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply whereas selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates.

• Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources whereas selection is concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interview and tests.

5.2.2 Objectives of recruitment

The objectives of recruitment are:

• To attract people with multi-dimensional skills and experiences that suit the present and future organizational strategies,

• To induct outsiders with a new perspective

• To infuse fresh blood at all levels of the organization,

• To develop an organizational culture that attracts competent people to the company

• To search or head hunt/head pouch people whose skills fit the company's values,

• To devise methodologies for assessing psychological traits,

• To seek out non-conventional development grounds of talent,

• To search for talent globally and not just within the company,

• To design entry pay that computes on quality but not on quantum, anticipate and find people for positions that do not exist yet.

5.2.3 Recruitment strategies

The recruitment strategies formulated by the companies include:

• In sourcing or outsourcing: Companies recruit the candidates, employ them, train and develop them and utilize the human resources of these candidates. This strategy is called 'in-sourcing'. Companies formulate and implement this strategy when the company strategy is for the stable growth. Some manufacturing and service companies, depend for their human resource requirements on such external organizations whose core business is to provide human resources. This strategy is called 'outsourcing'.

• Vast and fast source: The best strategy to get vast human resources immediately is internet.

5.2.4 Recruitment policy

The following factors should be taken into consideration in formulating the recruitment policy. They are:

• Government policies;

• Personnel policies of other competing organizations;

• Organization’s personnel policies;

• Recruitment sources;

• Recruitment needs;

• Recruitment cost;

• Selection criteria and preference etc.

5.2.5 Modern sources of recruitment

A number of modern recruitment sources are being used by the corporate sector in addition to traditional sources. These sources are divided into internal and external.

5.2.5.1 Internal sources

The internal sources of recruitment are transfers, promotions, upgrading, demotion, retired employees, retrenched employees, dependents and relatives of deceased employees.

5.2.5.2 External sources

The external sources are press advertisements, educational institutes, placement agencies/ outsourcing, employment exchanges, labor contractors, unsolicited applicants, employee referrals, recruitment at factory gate.

Presently e- recruitment is also encouraging.

5.3 Training

After an employee is selected, placed and introduced in an organization he/she must be provided with training facilities in order to adjust him to the job. Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skill of an employee for doing a particular job. Training is a short-term educational process and utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which employees learn technical knowledge and skills for a definite purpose.

Dale S. Beach defines the training as "The organized procedure by which people learn knowledge and/or skill for a definite purpose."

5.3.1 Training objectives

The personnel manager formulates the following training objectives in keeping with the company's goals and objectives:

• To prepare the employee, both new and old to meet the present as well as the changing requirements of the job and the organization.

• To prevent obsolescence.

• To impart the new entrants the basic knowledge and skills they need for an intelligent performance of a definite job.

• To prepare employees for higher level tasks.

• To assist employees to function more effectively in their present positions by exposing them to the latest concepts, information and techniques and developing the skills they will need in their particular fields.

• To build up a second line of competent officers and prepare them to occupy more responsible, positions.

• To broaden the minds of senior managers by providing them with opportunities for an interchange of experiences within and outside with a view to correcting the narrowness of outlook that may arise from over-specialization.

• To develop the potentialities of people for the next level job.

• To ensure smooth and efficient working of a department

• To ensure economical output of required quality

• To promote individual and collective morale, a sense of responsibility, co-operative attitudes and good relationships.

5.3.2 Benefits of training

• Leads to improved profitability and/or more positive attitudes toward profits orientation

• Improves the job knowledge and skills at all levels of the organization

• Improves the morale of the workforce

• Helps people identify with organizational goals

• Helps create a better corporate image

• Fosters authenticity, openness and trust

• Improves the relationship between boss and subordinate

• Aids in organizational development

• Organization learns from the trainee

• Helps prepare guidelines for work

• Aids in understanding and carrying out organizational policies

• Provides information for future needs in all areas of the organization

• Organization gets more effective in decision-making and problem solving

• Aids in development for promotion from within

• Aids in developing leadership skill, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display

• Aids in increasing productivity and/or quality of work

• Helps keep costs down in many areas, e.g. production, personnel, administration etc.

• Develops a sense of responsibility to the organization for being competent and knowledgeable.

• Improves labor-management relations

• Reduces outside consulting costs by utilizing competent internal consulting

• Stimulates preventive management as opposed to putting out fires

• Eliminates sub-optimal behavior (such as hiding tools)

• Creates an appropriate climate for growth and communication

• Helps employees adjust to change

• Aids in handling conflict, thereby helping to prevent stress and tension.

5.4 Promotion Policies

Performance appraisal is a method of evaluating the behavior of employees in the work spot, normally including both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of job performance. Performance here refers to the degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an individual's job. Some of the important features of performance appraisal may be captured thus:

• Performance appraisal is the systematic description of an employee's job-relevant strengths and weaknesses.

• The basic purpose is to find out how well the employee is performing the job and establish a plan of improvement.

• Appraisals are arranged periodically according to a definite plan.

• Performance appraisal is not job evaluation. It refers to how well someone is doing the assigned job. Job evaluation determines how much a job is worth to the organization and, therefore, what range of pay should be assigned to the job.

• Performance appraisal is a continuous process in every large scale organization.

5.4.1 Promotions

Most of the internal candidates would be stimulated to take up higher responsibilities and express their willingness to be engaged in the higher level jobs. Management generally gives the promotion to an employee based on their performance and need of organization.