Strategic workforce planning is the first component of HRM strategy and forms the basis for all other HR activities. It involves proactively anticipating future HR needs in light of current capabilities and responding flexibly to changing requirements. The key objectives are to ensure the right employees with the right skills are in the right places at the right times and that the organization can respond to environmental changes. There are two main types of planning: aggregate planning which anticipates groups of employees needed for lower level jobs and skills, and succession planning which focuses on ensuring critical management positions remain filled with the best candidates. Effective succession planning is tied to organizational strategy and monitors progress and outcomes.

1. STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING
.

2. Strategic Workforce Planning
• First component of HRM strategy
• All other functional HR activities are derived from
& flow out of HRP process
• Basis in considerations of future HR requirements
in light of present HR capabilities & capacities
• Proactive in anticipating & preparing flexible
responses to changing HR requirements
• Both internal & external focus

3. Strategic Workforce Planning
• Goes beyond simple hiring & firing
• Involves planning for deployment of human
capital in line with organization &/or business unit
strategy
• May involve:
– Reassignment
– Training & development
– Outsourcing
– Using temporary help or outside contractors
• Needs as much flexibility as possible

4. Key Objectives
• Prevent overstaffing & understaffing
• Ensure organization has right employees
with right skills in right places at right times
• Ensure organization is responsive to
changes in environment
• Provide direction & coherence to all HR
activities & systems
• Unite perspectives of line & staff managers

5. Types of Planning
• Aggregate Planning
– Anticipating needs for groups of employees in
specific, usually lower level jobs & general skills
employees will need to ensure sustained high
performance
• Succession Planning
– Focuses on ensuring key critical management
positions in organization remain filled with
individuals who provide best fit

6. Aggregate Planning
• Forecasting demand
– Considers firm’s strategic plan’s effects on increases or
decreases in demand for products or services
– Assumptions on which forecast is predicated should be
written down & revisited when conditions change
– Unit forecasting (bottom-up planning) involves “point of
contact” estimation of future demand for employees
– Top-down forecasting involves senior managers allocating a
fixed payroll budget across organizational hierarchy
– Demand for employee skills requirements must also be
considered

7. Aggregate Planning
• Forecasting supply
– The level and quantities of abilities, skills &
experiences can be determined using Skills
Inventory.
– Annually updated human resource information
system (HRIS) is dynamic source of HR information
– Markov analysis can be used to create transition
probability matrix that predicts mobility of
employees within organization

9. Strategies for Managing Shortages
• Recruit new
permanent employees
• Offer incentives to
postpone retirement
• Rehire retirees part-
time
• Attempt to reduce
turnover
• Work current staff
overtime
• Subcontract work out
• Hire temporary
employees
• Redesign job
processes so fewer
employees are needed

10. Strategies for Managing Surpluses
• Hiring freezes
• Do not replace those
who leave
• Offer early retirement
incentives
• Reduce work hours
• Voluntary severance
leaves of absence
• Across-the-board pay
cuts
• Layoffs
• Reduce outsourced
work
• Employee training
• Switch to variable pay
plan
• Expand operations

11. Succession Planning
• Involves identifying key management positions
the organization cannot afford to have vacant
• Purposes of succession planning
– Facilitates transition when employee leaves
– Identifies development needs of high-potential employees &
assists in career planning
• Many organizations fail to implement succession
planning effectively
– Qualified successors may seek external career
advancement opportunities if succession is not forthcoming

13. Guidelines for Effective Succession Planning
• Tie into organization’s strategy (and modified accordingly)
• Monitor the progress and measure outcomes of succession
planning initiatives
• Ensure that all HR functions that impact the succession
plan are iterated and working in tandem
• Ensure centralized coordination of succession planning
• Engage and involve managers throughout the organization

15. Reading 5.1
Designing Succession Planning: Lessons from the Industry
Leaders
Typically organization have utilized one of three approaches
to managing diversity
• an assimilation view that downplays differences;
• an access view that focuses on building diversity in order
to gain access to ethnic consumer groups;
• an integrated view that emphasizes uniform performance
standards, personal
• development, openness, acceptance of constructive
conflict, empowerment, egalitarianism, and a
nonbureaucratic structure that encourages challenges to the
status quo

16. Reading 5.1
Designing Succession Planning: Lessons from the Industry
Leaders
• An integrated approach combined with a culture of inclusiveness are
needed to ensure diverse succession planning.
• Commitment from and direct involvement by the CEO and senior
leadership team are mandatory for diverse succession planning
• Employees should be encouraged to look upward in the organizational
hierarchy to indentify people who are like themselves
• Specific programs which target women and minorities are needed to
bring about change in the status quo as they may not see people like
themselves in positions higher than the one they hold

17. Reading 5.1
Designing Succession Planning: Lessons from the Industry
Leaders
• Cross-race mentoring requires that mentors have
skills related to understanding diversity
• Cross-gender relationships need to be carefully
managed to prevent any perceptions of
impropriety
• Organization’s such as Denny’s have made
thresholds of representation of minorities and
women in management a key component of
executives’ annual bonuses

18. Reading 5.2
The Annual HR Strategic Planning Process: Design and Facilitation
Lessons from Corning Incorporated Human Resources
As part of the planning process, four transformation
goals were developed which guide the
organization’s growth (see Figure 1)

19. Reading 5.2
The Annual HR Strategic Planning Process: Design and Facilitation Lessons
from Corning Incorporated Human Resources

20. Reading 5.2
The Annual HR Strategic Planning Process: Design and Facilitation Lessons
from Corning Incorporated Human Resources
These goals resulted in a four-step process which gave
business unit generalists comment tools land
language for translating strategies into action steps
for talent development and allow consistency and
comparison for prioritization across business lines
(see Figure 2)

21. Reading 5.2
The Annual HR Strategic Planning Process: Design and Facilitation
Lessons from Corning Incorporated Human Resources

22. Reading 5.2
The Annual HR Strategic Planning Process: Design and Facilitation
Lessons from Corning Incorporated Human Resources
Corning’s annual strategic planning process for HR brings
together several key components including:
• corporate strategy and the implications of that strategy for
HR
• HR function strategy including the strategic direction for
each of the COEs
• the outputs of the Human Capital Planning process for
each of the business units, which is essentially the HR
implications of each of their business strategies
(see figure 3)

23. Reading 5.2
The Annual HR Strategic Planning Process: Design and Facilitation
Lessons from Corning Incorporated Human Resources