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2.1 Functions & Evolution of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Planning

Human Resource Planning is the management function of using and developing people within a business to meets its organisational objectives. This includes:

Workforce planning
The recruitment, selection and induction of new employees
Training and development of staff
Performance management and staff appraisals
Reviewing pay and remuneration packages
Disciplinary and grievance procedures
Looking after the welfare of employees

By finding the right people, skills, places, times and costs; workforce planning can go efficiently and effectively affecting the business in a positive way. Businesses have to employ the right people to achieve its aims and objectives.

Human Resource Planning is the continual process of anticipating the future workforce needs of the organisation.
It identifies the size, type, and quality of workforce needed to achieve objectives. Determines what mix of experience, knowledge and skills is required.
Sequences steps to get the right number of right people in the right place at the right time.

Workforce Planning (Human Resource Planning)

Workforce planning is the management process of anticipating and meeting an organisation's current and future staffing needs.

Short term:

Covers deals with current and upcoming demands of an organisation. for example:
- - employing workers to replace those who are going to resign.

Long term:

Covers HR needs for the foreseeable future. for example:
- - Disney hired employees and began training two years before Hong Kong Disney Land opened

Why is workforce planning so important?

Businesses need to employ the right people to achieve its aims and objectives.
Recruitment/Training staff takes time and money.
- Important people have time stealed from workplace and they are still paiyed.
- Advertising costs
A proactive rather than reactive approach will ensure that the organisation responds to changes in the internal/external environment
Training new recruits can be expensive and takes time

What information is needed for recruitment?

Historical data and trends, sales forecasts, demographic changes and technological changes
Labor turnover rates
- This is defined as the number of workers leaving a company per year as a percentage of the average number of workers employed during that period of time.

What is labour turnover?

Labour turnover is defined as the number of workers leaving a company per year as a percentage of the average number of workers employed during that period
Having a high turnover can be indicative of a management issue or unhappy and aging workforce
High labour turnovers can result in high costs due to re-training of new workers or recruitment of workers
If labour turnover is too low then the older staff gain higher wages due to the wage scaling and eventual possible laziness factor

Internal and External Factors Influencing Human Resource Plans

External

Demographic change
Technological change
Geographical Mobility (national and international)
Occupational Mobility

Internal

Change in labour mobility
- Labour mobility refers to the ease with which labourers are able to move around within an economy in terms of:
  - Location
  - Industry

Outsourcing (sub-contracting), Offshoring and Re-shoring

Outsourcing

Advantages:

Potential cost savings for the company due to the lack of a large HR department to hire workers
Increased reach towards new workers, HR outsourcing firms tend to be more efficient and effective than internal HR departments
Better competitivity by gaining knowledge and skills through the diverse range of workers within the outsourced workforce

Disadvantages:

Service reliance - the outsourced work may not be able to produce enough stock within a set amount of time
Quality Control - Without an internal HR department to control the quality of goods and services, sometimes quality falls due to outsourced work
Legal issues - Often outsourced work for product-oriented companies such as Nike or Apple are given to sweatshops in LEDCs.
Security - Companies cannot ensure that proprietary data and technology remains secure when using outsourcing

Re-Shoring

Advantages:

Possible tax breaks from the home government such as the state of California giving tax breaks to Silicon Valley companies
Efficiency with distribution especially for companies such as Amazon or E-Bay, they need to have an efficient distribution network which is hindered by being off shore
Improved public perception due to the higher investor confidence in the home nation
Consumer confidence in the product may rise caused by the term "Made in the USA" suggesting higher quality.

Disadvantages:

Higher labour costs due to the high costs of labour in home nations perhaps caused by the high minimum wage as compared to LEDCs
Outside of the cost difference, manufacturers might still choose to manufacture abroad because many laborers in the US are untrained in the skills necessary to efficiently produce mass quantities of goods

Off Shoring

Advantages:

Lack of export/import taxes from the home nation due to potential deals made with the host nation
Cheaper cost of raw materials and access to cheap but skilled workers in foreign nations usually LEDCs (example: China or Bangladesh)
Ability to not be taxed by storing profits in foreign national banks such as Apple banking with financial institutions in Ireland

Disadvantages:

Labour costs may begin to rise in the outsourced nation due to the demand for better wages (example: China)
Transportation costs of raw materials and finished goods may spell high cost margins for the original company due to the high costs of import and export
Product re-calls cause massive issues due to the inefficiency for recalled products to be brought back to the original place of manufacturing
Outsourcing practices have been heavily investigated due to malpractice or abuse of workers in other nations (Example: Foxconn)

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