Manpower Planning

What is Manpower Planning?

• Manpower: Total supply of personnel available or engaged for a specific job or task in an organization is called manpower.
• Planning: It is a managerial activity which involves deciding in advance, what is to be done, when is it to be done, how it is to be done and who is going to do it. Planning is a fundamental management function. Planning is an intellectual process which lays down the organization’s objectives and develops various courses of action to achieve those objectives.
• Edwin B. Geisler defined Manpower Planning as, “The process, including forecasting, developing, and controlling by which a firm ensures that it has the right number of people and the right kind of people at the right places at the right time, doing work for which they are economically most useful.”
• According to M.N. Rudro Basavraj, “Manpower Planning may be defined as a strategy for acquisition, utilization, improvement, and presentation of an enterprise human resources.”
• K. F. Turkman defines  Manpower Planning as “an attempt to match the supply of people with the jobs available in an organization”. 
• Bruce Coleman defines Manpower Planning as “the process of determining manpower requirements and the means for meeting those requirements in order to carry out the integrated plan of the organization”.

Difference Between Manpower Planning and Human Resource Planning:

• The terms “Manpower Planning” and “Human Resources Planning” are often used interchangeably. Both help companies identify future talent needs and plan ahead to make sure that those skills are available in the workforce.
• The main difference in them is that Manpower Planning is skills-based, while Human Resources Planning is based on talent management.

Objectives of Manpower Planning:

• To ensure an adequate supply of manpower as and when required by making assessment manpower requirements for future and making plans for recruitment and selection.
• To control the manpower already deployed in the organization.
• Ensure optimum use of existing manpower in the organization i.e. ensuring higher labour productivity.
• To assess surplus or shortage of the manpower in the organization and in case of shortage make it available over a specified period of time.
• To determine training and development needs of the enterprise and providing a lead time to select and train the required additional manpower over a specified time period.
• To forecast future requirements of manpower with different levels of skills.
• To anticipate the impact of technology on jobs and requirements for manpower. It involves assessing the surplus or shortage of manpower with respect to the new technology and avoiding unnecessary dismissals.
• To keep the enterprise ready to meet with technological development and modernization.
• To ensure the career planning of every employee of the enterprise and making succession programs.

The Need for Manpower Planning:

Need for Skilled Personnel:

• Despite growing unemployment, there has been a shortage of manpower with required skills, qualification and capabilities to carry on works. To recruit such skilled, qualified, and capable Manpower Planning is required.
• Manpower Planning meets the organizational need for the right type of people in the right number at the right times.

Replacement of Persons:

• There is a decrease in manpower due to retirement, old age, dismissal, ill health, death etc. This decrease in manpower should be compensated with the new recruitment. Sometimes manpower does not decrease as in the case of promotion, transfers but creates vacant posts. Manpower Planning should be done to prepare and train persons for taking up vacant jobs in an enterprise.

Labour Turnover and Succession Plan:

• Labour turnover refers to the rate at which employees leave employment. Labour turnover can be evaluated by relating the number of employees leaving their employment during a period of time to the total or average numbers employed in that period. It takes place in all enterprises. The degree of labour turnover may vary from organization to organization but it cannot be eliminated altogether.
• There is always a need to recruit new employees to take up the jobs for those who have left the undertaking. If the undertaking is able to foresee the turnover rate properly then efforts in advance are made to recruit and train employees so that work does not suffer for want of employees.
• Manpower Planning helps the organization create and develop training and succes­sion planning for employees and managers. Thus, it provides enough lead time for an internal succession of employees to higher positions through promotions.

Assessing Future Requirements:

• Manpower Planning is needed to assess any shortage or surplus employees in the undertaking in near future. If there is less number of employees than needed, it will badly affect the output. On the other hand, if more persons are working than needed then it will increase labour costs and ultimately will reduce productivity.
• Manpower Planning ensures the employment of the right number of employees. In the case of surplus employees, they can be redeployed in other areas of the organization. Conversely, in case of shortage of personnel, it can be made good by recruiting a new workforce.

Technological Changes:

• Due to new inventions, technological changes there may be a need to give fresh training to personnel or recruit a new one into the enterprise. Manpower Planning will be helpful in coping with the new demands of the enterprise.

Expansion and Diversification Plans:

• Whenever there is a proposal to expand or diversify the enterprise, more employees will be needed to occupy new jobs. In such situations the Manpower Planning is necessary.

Globalization:

• Globalization brought the change in the method of products and distribution of products and services and in management techniques. These changes may also require a change in the skills of employees, as well as a change in the number of employ­ees required. It is Manpower Planning that enables organizations to cope with such changes.

Better Management:

• Manpower Planning compels management to asses critically the strength and weak­nesses of its employees on continuous. Through Manpower Planning, duplication of efforts and conflict among efforts can be avoided, on the one hand, and coordination of worker’s efforts can be improved, on the other.

Job satisfaction:

• With an increase in skill, knowledge, potentialities, productivity and job satisfaction of employee, the organization becomes the main beneficiary. It is benefitted in terms of increase in prosperity/production, growth, development, profit and, thus, an edge over its competitors in the market.

Note:

• The objectives of Manpower Planning and Human Resource Planning are similar. The difference is tan Manpower Planning is based on skill while Human Resource Planning is based on talent.

Factors Affecting Manpower Planning:

The Type of organization:

• The type of organization determines the production process, type of staff (supervisor and manager), type of skill, and the strategic plan of the organization.

Stage of Organizational Growth Cycle:

• The different stages in the life of an organization are start-up, growth, maturity, decline. Manpower Planning depends on the life stage of the business. At startup minimum workforce is employed. At the growth stage, more and more manpower is employed. At the maturity stage, the manpower remains constant and in decline state the manpower required decreases.

Environmental Uncertainty:

• Political, social and economic change affect all organizations. Due to globalization, this factor has become critical.

Outsourcing:

• the process by which employees transfer routine or peripheral work to another organizations. It affects the manpower of the organization itself.

Nature of Job:

• job vacancies, promotions, and expansion strategies influences Manpower Planning.

Time Horizons:

• During stable environment long term plans are prepared while during uncertainty and short term plans are prepared.