Hr Planning in Civil Service

1. Introduction

The increasing importance of people as the primary sustainable source of competitive advantage makes it even more important that dedicated resources and thinking time are applied to the strategies through which people are developed and managed. - CIPD, 2001

Human resource planning is the term used to illustrate how companies ensure that their staff are the right staff to do the jobs. It considers the levels and types of human resources required to ensure the success of the strategic plan of every company. Through human resource planning, management prepares to have the right people at the right places at the right times to fulfil both organizational and individual objectives (Walker, 1974). Selection of employees, staff development, skills analysis and staff retention are closely related to human resource planning. Human resource planning involves the estimation of the number of qualified employees necessary to carry out the assigned activities versus the number of available employees. Human resource planning is the development of strategies and policies to ensure that the size and skills of the workforce meet the organizational needs. Human resource planning is becoming one of the most important functions within an organization and is most effective when it is linked with strategic, operational and work planning.

The basis for human resource planning is the competitive organisational strategy of the enterprise as a whole. Mathis and Jackson (1997) see human resource planning as the process of analysing and identifying the need for the availability of human resources so that the organisation can meet its objectives. According to Griffin (1997), human resource planning involves assessing trends, forecasting the supply and demand of labour and then developing appropriate strategies for addressing any differences. Dessler (2001) sees HR planning as employment planning which, in his view, is the process of formulating plans to fill future openings...