MGT 4322 CH 5

Workforce Planning

Predicting an organization’s future employment needs and predicting the availability of current employees and external hires to meet those needs and the organization’s business strategy.

Types of Business Activity Forecasts

Seasonal, Interest rate, Currency exchange, Competitors, Industry and economic, Others

Forecasting Labor Demand

Identify minimal as well as optimal staffing levels when analyzing demand. This can include staffing levels to generate revenue, increasing staffing levels to execute a growth strategy, decreasing staffing levels during a restructuring, talent to create new products or new services. 

How is forecasting done?

Get numbers from past performance, obtain current headcount, identify past performance sales, number of customers, key metrics for the organization.

Ratio Analysis

Fixed ratio between employees needed and business metrics. Using consistent, historical patterns within the firm helps to establish a reasonable range for these ratios. These are used for justifying new positions or demonstrating the need for layoffs.

Scatter Plots

Show graphically how two different variables (ex. revenue and staffing levels) are related. 

Trend Analysis

Involves looking at past employment patterns—the employer’s, the industry’s, or even the nation’s patterns, for example—and using those patterns to predict a firm’s future labor needs.

Judgemental Forecasting

Ask for insights of people in the organization to predict future needs.

Forecasting Labor Supply

Combining current staffing levels with anticipated staffing gains and losses results in an estimate of the supply of labor for the target position at a certain point in the future.

External Labor Market

Consists of people who do not currently work for a firm

Internal Labor Market

Consists of the firm’s current employees

Forecasting the Internal Labor Market

Estimate competency and number of employees by the end of a

period.

Transition Analysis

A quantitative technique used to analyze internal labor markets and forecast internal labor supply. Best performed for a limited number of jobs at one time.

Forecasting the External Labor Market

Organizations monitor the external labor market in two ways: through their own observations and experiences/PESTEL analysis and by monitoring labor market statistics generated by others.

Temporary Talent Shortage

Sign on bonuses and retention bonuses

Persistent Talent Shortage

Reduce its demand for the talents that will be in short supply, use technology and redesign jobs so that fewer people are needed, increase the supply of qualifications it needs.

Temporary Employee Surplus

If frequent, use temporary workers, temporary layoffs, salary cuts, reduction in work hours, reallocating workers. 

Permanent Employee Surplus

Reassignments, hiring freezes, steering employees away from careers in that position for the future, retraining employees to fill other jobs. 

Staffing Planning Elements

How many people should be recruited, what resources are needed, how much time will it take to hire the employees.

Strategically evaluating the company’s current lines of business, new businesses it will be getting into, businesses it will be leaving, and the gaps between the current skills in the organization and the skills it will need to execute its business strategy is________

Workforce Planning

What is the primary limitation of all forecasting techniques?

They rely on historical patterns and activity levels

Grey Industries identifies all the positions that feed into the Line Manager role, and estimates how many Line Managers will be promoted, demoted, transferred, or will leave the firm to identify how many Line Managers they will have next year. Grey Industries has conducted a:

Transition Analysis

A hospital needs to maintain a ratio of 4 nurses for every 20 patients. The hospital plans to expand to accommodate 1000 new patients next year. How many new nurses will need to be hired?

200 nurses

Name a solution for dealing with a persistent talent shortage and a solution for dealing with a temporary talent shortage

Temporary- Sign on bonuses, Retention bonuses (cash, stock), external talent network (freelancers, retirees)

Persistent- Increase use of automation/technology, redesign jobs, outsource.

True or False At will employment offers blanket protection for all employee discharges

False: Contracts, Just Cause Clause, and Wrongful termination (e.g., Equal Employement Legislation)

When an organization keeps a record of employees’ skills, competencies and qualifications, they are building a __________

Talent Inventory: Summarize each employee’s skills, competencies, and qualifications

Barry Baffalow runs a small law firm of 13 people. He hates women and routinely discriminates against young female applicants. In fact, he often tells them to “go take a hike”. These women can bring a lawsuit against him under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

False, this law only applies to private employers with at least 15 employees.