The Importance Of Workforce Planning Business Essay Example

inputs and serves as the fundamental outcome of the planning. It demonstrates the validity of workforce programs by highlighting the connections between workforce planning and program management, budget justifications, organizational goals, and human resources planning. Workforce planning offers managers a strategic foundation for making human resource management decisions that align with program objectives. Predictive models based on workforce analysis enable managers to anticipate turnover and plan recruitment and employee development to meet future workforce needs. This acts as a "radar" for ongoing monitoring.

Challenges in workforce planning

Workforce planning faces various challenges relating to the mismatch between the process and traditional HR function (Friel, 2002). Many HR leaders are responsible for day-to-day tasks such as managing benefits, processing payroll, and classifying jobs. This results in a lack of time for strategic work due to HR administration. To address this issue, some US federal agencies, like the Internal Revenue Service, have implemented a solution by creating separate departments for each side of the HR function (Friel, 2002).

In the past, workforce programs have been approved based on personal credibility and non-quantifiable metrics, which are not reliable when organizations face difficulties. According to Sullivan (2002b), organizations should consider providing training for their HR staff in relevant skills and reviewing their performance management and bonus strategies in order to assess and reward workforce planning effectively.


Lack of Integration

In practice, workforce planning is often conducted separately from other processes, which poses a risk of exerting excessive corporate power over different units (Sullivan, 2002d).


Integration of Planning Procedures

Previously, the process of workforce planning was conducted independently from other resource allocation activities such as budgeting and production planning. Consequently, managers were

faced with different and frequently conflicting forecasts (Sullivan, 2002d). Several workforce planning models suggest that forecasting should begin by understanding the future direction of the business.

The significance of aligning strategic and workforce programs has been highlighted in academic research. It has long been stated that HR practices that are consistent with or support organizational strategy are more effective than those that do not (e.g. Schuler & Jackson, 1987). Although it may be tempting to integrate local programs into a master workforce program, Bechet (2000) emphasizes the importance of keeping them separate and not consolidated. This is because the process of consolidation sometimes eliminates the very aspect that is most useful and ends up concealing significant differences between units.
Lack of Ownership
According to Sullivan (2002c), workforce planning has often been viewed as something owned by the HR department, not by management.

However, in tight economic times, it is not the HR department that has the authority, which jeopardizes workforce planning security. Without a full understanding of its benefits, management may believe it is expendable. Experience has shown that ownership of any HR initiative needs to be extended to senior levels, with a senior title-holder identified to help drive the process through.

Lack of Flexibility

Past workforce planning strategies followed linear growth and tried to define a specific target. Recent changes have shown that the business world often deviates from historical patterns and organizational plans need to be more adaptable.

Sullivan suggests that work force planning should encompass a range of objectives and that organizations should be prepared for various possibilities within that range. One way to achieve flexibility is through scenario planning (see Reilly, 1996). Scenarios are not meant to predict

the future, but rather acknowledge that uncertainty is a fundamental aspect of the business environment (Wack, 1985). In particular, Shell's original development of scenarios aimed to question assumptions about how the world operates and gain understanding of crucial factors.

Lack of Prioritisation

In the past, workforce programs have failed due to being overly ambitious and attempting to accomplish too much (Sullivan, 2002c). To effectively address this issue, Sullivan recommends "rightsizing" the programs and focusing on areas where they will have a significant impact. Since workforce programs cannot cover everything, it is important to prioritize certain units, jobs, clients, and products.

Inactive Event Using Long Time-Frames

Historically, workforce planning has used long time frames, sometimes looking ahead five or ten years.

Often directors have refused to revisit programs regularly because of the lengthy development process (Sullivan, 2002d). While an overall administration strategy requires long-term focus, Sullivan recommends that detailed programs should only focus on the next 18 months. Workforce planning should be considered a dynamic document (Reilly, 1996), not a static event, and should be regularly monitored to prevent the loss of alignment between the organization and the external world (Johnson, 1987). Issues should be continually defined, and discussions about staffing implications should occur whenever changes to business plans are discussed or expected.

Bad Data and Analysis

HR had limited access to workforce-planning-related information in the 1980s, and the quality of that information was not up to today's standards ( Sullivan, 2002a ) . HR planning had to rely on guesswork or simplistic forecasting methods due to the lack of database linking and complex trend analysis capabilities. Moreover,

plans were primarily based on internal data and ignored external factors ( Sullivan, 2002d ) . Currently, there are improved data and analysis techniques available ( Sullivan, 2002a ) .

The convenience of accessing economic and business information online has made the process of calculations more affordable and effortless, even for small businesses. With the availability of enterprise-wide software packages, managers can easily gather data for forecasting and creating feasible workforce plans.

The Significance of Employee Motivation Assessment

One of the key factors contributing to a successful company is their acknowledgment of the importance of motivating their staff. Beware of companies that have been around for 10 years or more, as their longevity and success stem from recognizing this crucial aspect.

A solid and good direction is necessary for staff to work efficiently and effectively. In order for employees to be motivated, their efforts should be rewarded with physical, fiscal, and psychological benefits and incentives. This will help maintain a high level of morale, satisfaction, and productivity. It also means that workers should be encouraged to take desired actions by providing them with opportunities to achieve their goals. Employee motivation is an important function for all managers, including human resources managers.

The following are techniques that a director can use to motivate employees:

1. Ensuring employee engagement in the decision-making process
2. Paying adequate and fair wages to employees
3. Praising employees for their good work
4. Keeping employees informed about changes in company policy
5. Show interest in workers and provide them with sufficient personal attention
6. Utilize employees' skills, ideas, suggestions, and abilities effectively
7. Provide employees with helpful guidance and assistance when they encounter challenges
8. Create
   

a sense of job security and alleviate anxiety among employees

Communicating performance standards to employees is essential in helping them understand their progress, performance, and areas for improvement. The need for employee motivation is no longer concealed, but the most effective method remains a subject of debate.

The multitude and appearance of theories of motivation are clear evidence of this. People's needs and situations differ. This implies that there can be no simple generalizations or single best method of motivation but instead a selective application of the techniques suggested above.

Performance Appraisal of an employee

Performance Appraisal is the regular, formalized and recorded evaluation of the way in which an individual is performing their job. It is the assessment of the performance of employees. According to Beach, performance appraisal is the continuous systematic evaluation of the individual's performance on the job and their potential for development. Staff or performance appraisal is an essential part of every manager's role.

On a daily basis, whether planned or not, informal assessments are conducted to determine how to complete tasks and assign staff members to specific duties. However, a formal assessment is a deliberate, methodical, and comprehensive evaluation performed by the evaluator and the appraiser. The extent of staff involvement, planning, and appraisal system priorities vary among organizations. The main objectives of staff performance appraisal include identifying and rewarding competency and excellence, identifying staff training needs and developing potential employees to meet future workforce demands, identifying performance deficiencies and promoting improvements, and motivating employees to be highly productive based on their understanding of an external evaluation of their performance.

A planned and formalized performance assessment strategy involves defining clear job objectives, goals, and standards for each employee, objectively evaluating staff performance and comparing results against previously agreed upon criteria, openly discussing the results and their implications, and reaching agreement on future plans for the appraisee and the supervisor.

• The conventional way of evaluating employees is by having their superiors complete a standard assessment form on a yearly basis.

The signifier typically evaluates various aspects of employees' work, including productivity, collaboration with colleagues, ability to work independently, initiative, cost consciousness, goal orientation, and more. Each employee's performance in the past year is assessed based on these criteria using a numerical scale. For example, if the scale is from 1 to 10, an employee may receive a score of 2/10 for productivity level, 3/10 for collaboration with colleagues, and so on. These scores are then totaled to determine the overall performance of the employee. Additionally, apart from evaluating a worker's past performance, the supervisor may also be asked to assess the worker's potential for growth and promotion by describing them as 'highly promising', 'average with potential', 'unlikely to advance', or 'not worthy of consideration'. Furthermore, the supervisor is encouraged to provide a general comment on the employee. The completed form is then forwarded to a higher-level management for review, feedback, and approval or rejection. To ensure the success of an assessment system, the following principles must be followed in its design and implementation.

1. The organization's appraisal system should be tailored to its specific needs.
2. It should not be seen as a meaningless, annual exercise.
3. The system should be fair
   

and objective, ensuring that an employee's performance is not influenced by personal connections within the organization. To achieve this, colleagues and subordinates should be involved in the evaluation process.

Before the development of management theories, there were various approaches to leadership, including an autocratic or authoritarian style. However, there are now multiple schools of thought in management.

The text describes the classification of different schools of management thought throughout history. It notes that early writings on management rules came from experienced practitioners, while more recent writings come from academic theorists with no direct management experience. The text then lists six groups of management theories: the management process school, the empirical school, the human behavioral school, the social systems school, the decision theory school, and the mathematical school. It also mentions an additional approach discussed by Evans based on eleven basic styles mentioned by Herbert Hicks in his book. Moving on from the early perspectives, Hitt

and others classify management theories into three broad groups: classical management theory, neoclassical management theory, and modern management theory. Under each group, a few schools of thought are identified. These three groups are currently popular and considered sufficient for the purpose.

Classical Management Theory ( 1880s-1920s ) The Classical management theory emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a response to the industrial revolution and the growth of large organizations. It is sometimes referred to as the traditional school of management. This theory is divided into three sections: scientific management, administrative principles, and bureaucratic administration. One common aspect among these subdivisions is the emphasis on the economic aspect of management and administration. According to this theory, individuals choose actions that maximize their economic benefits while at work.

In simpler terms, the economic rationale assumes that people are driven by financial incentives and will make choices that result in the highest monetary gain. As a result, managers should use monetary desires to motivate employees to work harder. These assumptions are based on a negative view of human nature. Although they are partially true, they also ignore some positive aspects. Classical theorists acknowledged human emotions but believed that these emotions could be managed through logical and rational job structures.

The classical school of management encompasses several key elements, including the application of scientific principles to management, the establishment of basic management functions, and the formulation and implementation of specific management principles.

Neo-Classical Theory (1920s-1950s)

Critics argue that traditional classical theory and its principles are contradictory, give little consideration to motivation, and offer simplistic directives without examining the underlying assumptions. These principles do not represent the

essence of managerial knowledge but merely a small part of the overall body of administrative management. In response to this criticism, neoclassical theory emerged, taking a more human-oriented approach that emphasizes the needs, motivations, behaviors, and attitudes of individuals. This shift coincided with the development of industrial psychology concepts. Two significant groups, known as the human relations school and behavioral schools, emerged during the 1920s and 1930s within the framework of neoclassical theory.

Two individuals who are frequently mentioned in the period before neoclassical theory are Robert Owen and Andrew Ure. In 1800, as a young Welsh mill proprietor, Robert Owen was the first to emphasize the human needs of employees. Andrew Ike also incorporated human factors in his book `The Philosophy of Manufactures' published in 1835. Although the human relations movement of the 1940s and the 1950s filled many knowledge gaps about business organizations, it had limited impact on management theory or the development of a new and practical theory of management.

Modern Management Theory

Modern management theory recognizes the complexity of both organizations and individuals, and the diversity of their needs, motivations, aspirations, and potentials.

As a result, it is impossible to have a single standard or universal approach for managing individuals and organizations. The intricacy of the situation necessitates sophisticated managerial strategies. This perspective differs from the rational economic perspective of classical theory and the social individual perspective of neoclassical theory. Instead, modern management theory is based on the assumption of a complex employee perspective. According to this perspective, employees are both complex and unpredictable. They have multiple motivations, acquire new motivations through experience, and their motivations differ depending on the organization and department. There are

intricate interactions between employees and the organization.

There is no universal managerial scheme that is effective for all individuals and situations. Directors have the flexibility to use different schemes based on the specific circumstances and individuals involved. The use of analytic tools can be beneficial when implementing managerial schemes. Four important modern management theories that emerged from the complex employee perspective are systems theory, contingency theory, organizational humanism, and management science. This phase of management theory is the result of revisionist researchers combining efforts from the behavioral sciences with mathematics, statistics, and the use of computers. Many of these revisionists are behavioral scientists who conducted research outside of the realm of human relations.

It is the combination of systems theoreticians, operations research specialists, decision theorists, statisticians, computer experts, and others skilled in quantitative research and decision methods. This school of thought is characterized by rigorous research and testing of propositions using behavioral, statistical, and mathematical tools. This period is also known as the synthesis period. In contrast to the primarily engineering-oriented quantitative theorists in classical theory and the industrial psychologists, sociologists, and applied anthropologists who dominated neoclassical theory, revisionist researchers dominated modern management theory. They questioned old dogmas, developed new hypotheses, and provided better explanations of organizational and managerial behavior.

The revisionist movement began with Litchfield's propositions published in the first issue of Administrative Science Quarterly in 1956. These propositions questioned rules developed by deductive logical thinking in classical theory but did not reject all of the early theories. A logical extension of applying management knowledge into non-business areas such as education, government, and healthcare is a significant aspect of modern management theory. It is noteworthy that classical

theory was focused on administration, emphasizing efficiency through a process or functional approach, based on deductive reasoning and descriptive research. In contrast, neoclassical theory adopted an individual-centered approach, became increasingly experimental, and remained mainly descriptive and highly deductive. On the other hand, revisionists utilized behavioral and quantitative tools and maintained a more inductive, experimental, rigorous, and comprehensive approach.

According to the modern management school, management involves using logic and applying quantitative methods to situations that can be measured and handled with unitized measurements. Computers play an increasingly important role in this process.

Understand the challenges of introducing and implementing change in today's workforce.

Implementing a new idea is more difficult than simply suggesting it. This is especially true in organizations where implementing a new practice requires the understanding, comprehension, and willingness to act of many people. To implement a new idea, one must convince and persuade others. It requires thorough planning and documentation as it involves transitioning an organization from an existing expert system to a new one. Planning the necessary strategic actions for implementation requires intentional and calculated planning to harness the potentially disruptive organizational forces in change and leverage them for the benefit of the evolving system.

The planning and certification of the new system involve not only listing the steps to be followed but also designing the work that can help people understand the new apparatus ( Wick, 2005 ).
Passage Or Implementation Plan
The passage or execution plan provides a bridge from the way things are currently done to the change desired in the organization. Creating a detailed plan of passage is the only way for the change to fully take place and achieve desired future outcomes.

Simply emailing or verbally directing changes will not make a new idea happen permanently. The plan consists of four stages: Current state, Transition state, Future desired state, and Clean up ( Wick, 2005 ).

If new things are not planned before hand and are implemented and practiced immediately, it will directly lead to creating a false new state. In such situations, the elements of the new and old system are combined randomly with a few future concepts, and people spend most of their organizational time trying to clean up the spontaneous mess. This will result in confusion and chaos in the organization. Failed implementations can be prevented in the organization through skilled construction and maintenance of your implementation plan (Wick, 2005). The need for organizational change arises due to external forces and circumstances.

In order for an organization to endure and thrive, it must have effective planning and management of change (Smith E. and Jones D., 1996). A skilled manager is able to address the changes impacting the work environment and take measures to ensure continued growth and success of the organization (Doe, 1996). The objective of this paper is to identify and analyze an organizational problem, and describe the implementation of a change to solve the problem using a change theory.

Identification of a Problem

The dissatisfaction expressed by employees in the work setting is often the first indicator of a problem (B. Moore, 1997).

Crisp managers always pay attention to their work environment and are particularly concerned about recurring employee illnesses (Doe S., 1996). A manager's awareness and understanding of the organization's work environment and its issues helps them identify and resolve problems at an early stage before

they become major issues. The technology department employees at XYZ have expressed dissatisfaction with the requirement to use a time clock to record their working hours. An informal telephone survey conducted by eight companies revealed different methods for documenting and tracking time worked. The most commonly used method involved professionals submitting the number of days worked to the Payroll Department at the end of each pay period.

A proposal has been submitted by a group of technology department employees to the management for consideration of studying the outcomes and testing the implementation of a new method for documenting clip worked. The director has received approval from management to review the proposal and present his recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer within the next two weeks (Smith, 1999).

Identification of a Change Theory

Kurt Lewin's theory of planned alteration is utilized as a model for implementing change in organizations. The three stages of Lewin's change process, which include "unfreezing, moving or changing, and refreezing," can help the organization overcome obstacles and bring about effective change (Hall, 1997).

The implementation of the change process at XYZ works can be effectively carried out using Lewin's theoretical model. This model has been widely used because it can be applied in any setting, is easy to follow, and includes strategies for identifying and resolving obstacles during the change process (B.Moore, 1997). It will be used to describe the experimental implementation of the award system method for employees in the Engineering Department to track their working hours. Lewin's model suggests changes that are relatively straightforward and involve a small number of employees within the organization (Hall, 1997).
Unfreezing
The first step in the change process is identifying

the need for change and creating a receptive climate. To create an environment for change, one must follow the strategy of identifying obstacles to successful change, communicating with employees in the department about the problem and its solution, and outlining the benefits associated with the new change.

The employees will support the proposed alteration, but more work is needed to convert the disposal (Hall, 1997).

Moving or Changing

The second stage of the procedure is change. This involves implementing new equipment, ideas, values, or behaviors that focus on and lead to real change. For the XYZ Plant, the strategy may include clearly defined details about the new policy for documenting time worked, managing resistance to the change, creating a written procedure for the change, and a way to inform all employees when the change will occur. All these details are included in the recommendation to the Chief Executive Officer and will be formally developed if the trial period is successful (Hall, 1997).

Refreezing: The third stage involves refreezing new behavior forms into place. In this stage, the support of the adoptive alteration is strategically done until it is integrated. Incentives are given, and some other incentives can be used to promote the employees and to increase the acceptability and likelihood of the new apparatus. The engineers would be motivated by acknowledging their professional status. The management would be incentivized by the reduced costs due to simplified record maintaining (Hall, 1997).

Several studies support Lewin's change theory as an effective tool for implementing planned organizational change (Hall, 1997; International Business Institute, 1998). In this case, it was used to demonstrate the implementation of an organizational change in response to an issue

that occurred in the XYZ Plant's engineering department. While change is inevitable, it can create complete confusion in a work environment if not managed effectively.