Manpower Planning – Definition and Objectives

Manpower planning can be defined as a total estimation of the total number of workers or employees with different skills required for the completion of a job, project, or task in the desired period of time.

What is manpower planning?

A manpower planning process is also known as the Human resource planning process. it is a continuous process. every organization has different requirements at a different time for human resources. Therefore, the human resource manager of the organization is always on the look for human resources, so that the right number of employees with the right skills can be provided at the right time whenever the need arises in the organization.

Employees recruited through manpower planning process can be hired for short period of time say for a particular project and on the other times the employees hired for the organization stays with the organization for longer period of time for example, a marketing manager or a sales manager are recruited by keeping in mind their long-term association with the organization and hence, their recruitment process is of greater importance and require much planning and effort at the end of the human resource manager as compared to the recruitment of labor level workers. Labor workers are hired according to the need of each project.

In large organizations, the requirement of new employees is announced beforehand for the upcoming project so that recruitment can be started so that employees can be available as soon as the project going to start.

However, recruiting employees is a risky process as the company will be left with a huge number of skilled employees whose skills aren’t being used properly if for some reason project doesn’t start and if they don’t hire sufficient skilled employees then they might don’t get enough skilled employees when they actually need them.

Manpower planning plays an important role in making the right decision of recruitment at the right time so that no business loss takes place. let us further learn about the objectives of manpower planning.

Objectives of Manpower Planning

1. Recruitment of skilled employees at the right time:

First and foremost and also an important objective of the manpower planning process is the recruitment of skilled employees for the upcoming project. large companies have a separate research and development department which consistently works to look for new market opportunities and on the basis of their suggestion management of the company take on the projects for the future.

Manpower planning is useful for the recruitment of employees with the skills to use new technology. Only with the right skilled employees, the success of the future project can be ensured.

2. Maximum Productivity:

If the Manpower planning is done correctly then only the maximum productivity can be ensured. In the manpower planning process, the number of employees required, employees with different skills, and their time of enrollment for the job is decided. So that the time and the skills of the employees can be used to the optimum level.

3. Satisfied Work Relationship:

Effective manpower planning may ensure a healthy relationship between employer and employee. Employees will perform well if they have satisfied relationship with their employers as a result of which they will contribute the maximum effort for the success of the project they are involved in.

With manpower planning, management can learn about the capacities and interests of the employees and using this knowledge they can present opportunities to employees which makes sure the proper utilization of their skills as well as their career growth.

4. Lowered Labor Cost:

Manpower planning helps in the reduction of labor costs. Management can make the proper use of management without any wastage.

5. Proper implementation of Human resource policies:

The manpower planning process helps in the recruitment of employees without hassle. Therefore, the Human resource manager can properly implement human resource policies.

Which saves the organization from the future troubles of a policy violation.

6. Training and development requirements:

Training and development are an important part of an organization. Employees are required to provide training for the skills demand of the future.

With the help of manpower planning, one can make the estimation of training and development requirements in the future and can make arrangements accordingly.

Manpower Planning process

The manpower planning process consists of various steps. Following those steps management can fulfill the future requirements of efficient manpower in the future. let us learn about the steps involved in the manpower planning process.

1. Analysis of existing manpower in the organization:

The first step of manpower planning is to analyzing the manpower inventory in the organization. Human resource managers should analyze the skills, qualifications, location of the employees and also learn about the current projects that the employees are working on and how long they are going to be involved in the current projects.

Having this knowledge, the human resource manager will have a clear knowledge of the number of employees that will be available when a new project will start in the future. Once this information is made clear then the manager can move to the next step which is the prediction of the manpower requirement in the future.

2. Predicting future requirement of manpower:

Predicting the future requirement of manpower is the most important and difficult step of the manpower planning process. in order to make the right prediction, the human resource manager should have the knowledge of future trends, technological skills requirements in the future, etc.

On the basis of this knowledge, the employment program is prepared and the decision is made whether the employee recruited should be higher as full-time employees or part-time employees and where to seek employees with the required skill set.

3. Preparing employment program:

After analyzing the existing manpower inventory and future requirements of employees. the human resource manager can prepare the employment program. The employment program should contain the details about the recruitment of whether recruitment should be made internally or externally and which recruitment method should be opted.

There are different types of recruitment which can be opted for the recruitment of employees of different skills set.

4. Recruitment and selection:

The next step is the recruitment and selection of employees with the right skills set. The meaning of recruitment is to attracting and hiring the right skilled employees. there different recruitment methods for hiring employees of different skills set. For example, the recruitment process of a project manager will be quite long and serious than the recruitment of a labor worker.

The labor worker can be hired in a short span of time. Whereas finding a project manager is a difficult process and it is quite important too as the success of the project depends on the skills of the project manager.

5. Preparing a training and development program for recruits:

And the last step of manpower planning is to prepare the training and development program for the recruited employees. The training and development program is prepared so that the skills of employees can be updated and they can be prepared to work on a new project in the future.

These programs are an essential part of every manpower planning process. Companies can expand their business with the development of the skills of their employees.

Importance of Manpower Planning

1. Increased Productivity:

Manpower planning helps in increasing the productivity of the organization. With the right manpower planning management come to know about the number of people require to complete a task. Management can hire employees whose skills might be required for work in the future. In this way, the productivity of the organization increases.

2. Effective management’s decision-making:

Manpower planning process betters the decision-making of management. With continuous and proper manpower planning management have the clear idea of human resource available in the organization. On the basis of this information, management can take decisions effectively and there is a low rate of wrong decision-making.

3. Better communication between employers and employees:

Manpower planning improves the relationship between employers and employees because of clear communication. Employees can reach their management with the shortcomings that they are facing in their work and can ask their management to do something for it.

Similarly, management can ask employees to work on the projects that they want and can also ask them to improve their skills so that their skills according to the requirements of upcoming projects. Clear communication between the management and employees helps in creating a stress-free and friendly environment.

4. Effective utilization of the skills of employees:

Another importance of manpower planning is that analyzing the skills of employees available in the organization management can utilize their skills to expand the business and explore new market segments and can make sure that the skills of all employees are being utilized properly.

5. Helpful in the expansion of the business:

Companies look for opportunities to expand their business. but to take the full advantage of an opportunity at hand companies are required to have effective manpower planning. An opportunity can only be exploited if there are employees with the right skills in the organization.

The need for Manpower Planning

Manpower planning is necessary for the organizations if they want to stay ahead in the business and to make the most of the opportunities available to them. in the present times, technology is changing rapidly and to keep up with the pace of the technology companies need to have the employees with the right skills in the organization.

With the manpower planning process, management comes to know about the skills of employees in the organization and the need for required skilled employees.