Why is Human Resource Planning Important?

The talent of an organization’s employees determines its ultimate value. An organization can be built upon a brilliant concept, product or design, but it is impossible to maintain or grow a profitable business without talented and engaged employees. As a result, human resources must plan very carefully in order to balance business development goals with employee relations. Careful planning can help an organization to grow and flourish by identifying, recruiting and retaining top talent.

Human resources involves far more than simply hiring new employees and setting salaries. Successful businesses have moved their HR from the periphery onto the main stage, involving them in all stages of business development. Many of the basic tasks traditionally associated with HR can be automated or outsourced, but the best human resources teams are indispensable on a much more fundamental level.

By including human resources in overall business planning, it is possible to ensure that an organization's workforce can meet its needs and expectations. The HR team must understand the organization’s overall goals in order to provide a staff able to meet them. Ideally, executive leadership would involve HR in its overall strategic vision and plan for the future cooperatively.

Recruitment and Training

Once the organization’s goals are established, human resources must plan carefully to ensure that the organization’s existing employees possess the talent, expertise, knowledge and experience necessary to execute the leadership’s plans. HR must be able to gauge the size and skills of the organization’s workforce and that workforce’s ability to meet the organization’s needs.

If they determine that the organization is not sufficiently staffed, HR must either recruit new employees or provide training to current employees. Hiring new employees requires considerable business planning, from creating detailed job descriptions to selecting candidates to salary negotiations. Similarly, providing training to current employees takes long-term vision. HR must balance the benefits of these two tactics. In order to avoid disrupting production, it is necessary to have plans in place for both possibilities.

Retaining an Efficient and Engaged Staff

HR professionals must organize systems for evaluating employees. They must appraise the efficiency of all employees and make sure that individual goals are being met. These types of reviews enable the HR department to work with supervisory staff to set up compensation packages that are acceptable to employees, but within reasonable bounds.

Low productivity can indicate a need for increased training or for a more experienced staff. Similarly, training and development opportunities are important for retaining productive employees.

Effective HR takes a great deal of coordination and planning. Long-term planning is necessary to develop and implement feasible strategies for marrying an organization’s needs with its human capital. It is only with a clear understanding of its personnel that leadership can make reasonable decisions about its future. This type of cooperative planning between human resources and leadership is what makes it possible for companies to thrive.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net