Question

As head of human resources for a fortune 500 company, discuss the HRM planning process and include at least 3 aspects of HR oriented environmental scanning, giving examples of how they might impact the HR plan.

Answer 1

HR planning process involves-

1. Evaluating existing human resource supply- It is first important to understand the company’s existing labor supply. The HR analyzes the strength of the firm based on the number of employees, skills, experience, job roles, levels of performance, etc.

2. Forecast of labor demand- The future workforce is outlined by the HR. In this step, the HR considers layoffs, retirements and any transfers. HR also forecasts the impact of technological advancements as a need to increase or decrease the workforce size.

3. Balance between labor and demand- HR now makes a forecast of the demand in employment. This is a gap analysis for the HR to understand the company’s current labor supply and the future labor demand.

4. Developing and implementing HR plan- In this step, the HR who now knows the requirement of the firm, develops HR plans to align with the company’s strategic objectives. It is a team effort from all other departments as well. It includes setting objectives, sourcing of applicants, evaluating the applications, selecting and recruiting.

The aspects of HR oriented environmental scanning are-

Environmental scanning refers to scanning of the general environment in which the business functions such as industry, market, economy, etc. From a HR perspective, environmental scanning includes-

1. Economy of a country- this is an external environment for the business. It is important that the economy of the country is scanned to understand the impact of the economy on the business. Environmental scanning of the economy includes questions such as-

                - what is the economy in which the business operates (either national or international)

                - Is there political stability? What laws pertain to political factors that impact the business?

                - What is the unemployment rate? Is there good labor supply? What skills the people have (skilled or unskilled)?

2. Technological impact- technological advancements have a great impact on the organization’s performance. Environmental scanning of the technological trends includes questions like-

                - Does the technology changes impact the HR needs of the company.

                - What kind of training is required for adapting the technological environment?

3. Company’s existing workforce- This is an internal environmental scanning. The existing workforce strengths and weaknesses are determined. What steps can HR take to overcome weakness of the workforce?

Note- If you liked the answer, please give an up-vote, this will be quite encouraging for me, Thank you.