HR Basics: Human Resource Planning

[Music]

HR basics is a series of short courses

designed to highlight what you need to

know about a particular human resource

management topic in today's HR basics we

explore human resource planning by

outlining a three-step strategic process

to meet your organization's human

resource needs human resource planning

is a process that identifies current and

future human resource needs for an

organization to achieve its goals human

resource planning should serve as a link

between human resource management and

the overall strategic plan and mission

of an organization the goals of human

resource planning are to ultimately

improve organizational outcomes human

resource planning is used in and for all

functions of human resource management

although you might immediately think of

things like Workforce Planning human

resource planning covers the broad

spectrum of all functional areas of

human resource management human resource

planning includes figuring out first

where you are understanding the current

reality second where you want to go

understanding and identifying your

vision for the future and third how to

get there

bringing the plan to reality through

measurable action using this process you

will develop the core elements of a

human resource plan including your

strategy which is an extension of your

organization's mission a bridge between

the organization and its environment

your goals which are statements of

desired outcomes towards which effort is

directed to realize your human resource

plan and third and finally actions which

are the most important things that can

be done to reach your stated goals the

first step in human resource planning is

figuring out where you are we do this

through environmental scanning the scan

usually includes an external and

internal component the external

component identifies and assesses

opportunities and threats in the

external environment where the internal

component assesses organism

strengths and weaknesses this process is

often referred to as SWOT strengths

weaknesses opportunities and threats

completely scanning the environment in

discussing the results adds value in

defining and refining strategy goals in

action use a SWOT matrix a square

divided into four quadrants to complete

your SWOT analysis each quadrant

represents one element strengths

weaknesses opportunities and threats

let's take a look strengths for this

quadrant think about the attributes that

will help you achieve your objective ask

what do we do well weaknesses for this

quadrant think about the attributes that

could hurt your progress in achieving

your objective ask what could we improve

opportunities for this quadrant think

about the external conditions that will

help you achieve your objective ask what

more can we do and finally threats for

this quadrant think about the external

conditions that could damage your

performance ask what obstacles do you

face let's move on to the second step in

the human resource planning process

which is figuring out where you want to

go through the development of clear

human resources strategy through two

critical issues and goals strategy

begins by identifying critical issues

also known as strategic issues which are

at the heart of the human resource

planning process a critical issue is a

fundamental question affecting the

organization or your human resource

management the fourth strategy can be

developed an effective human resource

plan identifies these questions to

identify these strategic issues look for

themes in your SWOT analysis and

prioritize those critical issues from

your environmental scanning strategies

should be thought of as a pattern of

purposes policies or programs that

define what a human resource function is

what it does and why it does it strategy

is therefore an extension of an

organization's mission a bridge between

the organization and its environment

central to your human resource planning

effort is a strategy statement a plain

language tool designed to communicate

your human resource strategy as an

example an effective employee engagement

strategy might sound something like

create emotional bonds among employees a

goal is a statement of desired outcomes

towards which effort is directed it

helps you realize your human resource

plan goals support and provide direction

for your human resource strategy your

goals need to be actionable clear to

engage staff and concise to make actions

become a reality

I believe that well defined goals are

among the most effective communication

tools available to any leader so

consider using smart criteria to craft

your goals to make your goal smart it

needs to conform to the following

criteria specific a specific goal is

clear unambiguous and focuses on one

topic or area it can be communicated to

others without confusion because it's

well-defined and easily understood

measurable a measurable goal has a

definitive end point and is quantifiable

through numbers or percentages that can

be easily measured achievable an

achievable goal is a goal that's

possible to accomplish relevant a

relevant goal is one that helps you

achieve your human resource plan and

it's important to them and the

organization and finally time-based a

time-based goal is one that has a

scheduled completion date so let's move

on to our third and final step of our

human resource planning process which is

figuring out how do we get there through

the identification of actions and

performance metrics actions are the most

important things that can be done to

reach stated goals after uncovering how

critical issues inform goals we can now

turn to a conversation of the means by

which to reach those goals through our

actions for each goal develop at least

one and up to three action items to

achieve that goal monitoring is all

about an organization's plans for

reviewing and refining a human resource

plan metrics provide the means by which

successive actions can be measured and

tracked in during the work of strategic

planning may be reason enough to ensure

to

of progress towards realizing goals as

made far more important is the ability

to measure progress clearly communicate

what activities need to be done to reach

goals and to monitor the plan to ensure

continuous review and refinement human

resource planning is critical for each

functional area of human resource

management ask these three simple

strategic questions where are we now

where do we want to be and how do we get

there

to frame your next human resource

planning process doing so will ensure

that you develop the right human

resource strategy goals and action items

to realize your plan

[Music]

you