Human Resources Planning
and Development
Chapter 8
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Human Resources Management
Systems: A Practical Approach

By Glenn M. Rampton, Ian J. Turnbull, J.
Allen Doran
ISBN 0-459-56370-X
Carswell
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Internal and External Trends
Increasingly, legislative, sociodemographic
and business trends are exerting pressures for
organizational change (Solomon, 1994). Many
organizations are finding it easier to make
technical changes than to make accompanying
human resources changes. In fact, the ability
to adapt their human resources to new
requirements is proving to be a limiting
factor to success for many organizations
(Coates, 1990; Towers Perrin, 1992).
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Reasons why HRP&D is
becoming more important
Skill shortages in key areas (e.g., systems
analysts, engineers, data base specialist,
information/communications specialists)
caused by a greater demand for information
processing/skills along with a shrinking
labour force (the baby bust) making it
increasingly important to plan for, and to
develop staff effectively.
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Reasons why HRP&D is Becoming
More Important (Cont’d)
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the requirement to foster management teams
capable of "accomplishing more with less", and
with a more diverse workforce.
the challenge of containing human resources
costs in the context of the trend by
governments to off-load training/development,
health, benefits, and other costs onto
corporations.
the pressures of accelerating social and
legislative changes (e.g., pay equity,
employment equity, etc.).
the challenge of making the most of staff,
many of whom are educationally very well
qualified, but under utilized.
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Reasons why HRP&D is Becoming
More Important (Cont’d)
Corporate downsizing, restructuring, and the
move to organizational levelling is leading
to fewer, and more widely placed rungs on the
corporate ladder. This, along with more
sophisticated demands in many jobs, will make
the transition between levels more difficult,
rendering the probability of being able to
learn the skills required for successive
levels by osmosis alone, less likely.
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Reasons why HRP&D is Becoming
More Important (Cont’d)
The available workforce is becoming more
diversely based; increasingly composed of new
Canadians; women, entering or re-entering the
workforce; and members of ethnic minorities
(Coates, 1990). Although these individuals will
bring many skills and abilities with them, the
ability to assess and keep track of: skills and
qualifications; as well as, progress on skills
refocusing and upgrading programmes, will be
an increasingly important HRMS function (Liker
& Thomas, 1991).
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Reasons why HRP&D is Becoming
More Important (Cont’d)
Many organizations are finding that alarming
numbers of secondary and post-secondary
school graduates do not have the literacy,
numeracy, and technical skills that they
require (Coates, 1990). Some of these
problems may stem from the fact that
increasing numbers of employees are working
in their second language, while technological
and other changes are creating new demands
that the educational system cannot respond to
quickly enough.
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Importance of an HRMS
The need to plan more systematically for the
people required to staff and manage
organizations, now, and into the future is
critical (Cascio & Thacker, 1994; Dyer &
Holder, 1988; Urlich, 1986; Wagel, 1990).
Such planning cannot be done effectively in
organizations any size beyond a few hundred
employees without the support of an HRMS
(Horsfield, 1991).
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Importance of an HRMS (Cont’d)
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With the support of such tools human resources staff
have increasingly been able to demonstrate that they
have an important contribution to make to bottom line
strategic corporate decision-making (Rampton & Doran,
1994; Snell, Pedigo, Krawiec, 1994).
Those human resources executives that have been able
to show that they have something important to
contribute to the bottom-line success of the
organization are increasingly being welcomed to sit
on senior executive committees (Dyer & Holder, 1988;
Wagel, 1990).
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Human Resources
Planning(Cont’d)
The objective of human
resources planning is to ensure
that there are sufficient
numbers of competent and
motivated employees to meet an
organization's need now, and
for the foreseeable future.
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Human Resources Planning
The use of an HRMS in strategic corporate decisionmaking should result in improved:
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understanding of the human resources implications of
business/operational strategies;
awareness of the experience, knowledge and ability in
the organization's employees;
productivity;
selection/development of potential replacements for
key/vulnerable positions.
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Demand and Supply
Forecasting

The structure of an organization's
workforce, including the number of employees
that may be required, with specified skills,
in defined positions should be determined
from the organization's strategic/business
plans through Demand Forecasting

The availability of human resources to meet
these demands, whether from within the
organization, or from the external labour
market may be determined through Supply
Forecasting
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning
There is sometimes confusion in the difference between
human resources and succession planning. We have
found the following rule of thumb to be useful in
distinguishing between the two (see also, Walker,
1980):
 human resources planning is aimed at resolving gaps
that may exist for human resources of certain skills,
whether across the organization, or in specific
organizational units.
 Succession planning, is aimed at determining how
specific key, and/or vulnerable positions are to be
filled appropriately.
Thus, in operating specifically at the position, or
individual level succession planning may be regarded
as a subset or special application of human resources
planning.
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Human Resources Reports
Using information contained in the position, person, and
organization modules,of an HRMS reports can be done on:
 the structure of the organization, as well as units
within it relative to defined organizational
requirements;
 the numbers of unfilled positions;
 the qualifications and assessed performance of the
workforce relative to present and future defined
requirements;
 the age distribution of the workforce, across the
organization, within organizational units, and within
specific functions;
 employment equity reports, including the distribution
of women, individuals with disabilities, native people,
and visible minorities in the workforce relative to the
distribution of such individuals in the population;
 turnover statistics by unit, function, qualifications,
employment equity category, etc.
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Human Resources Reports (Cont’d)
May be used to help line management answer such
questions as:
 are
there any special business/economic
factors that are likely to have major
effects on the organization over the next
one to five years?
 what will the organizational unit look
like one year from now? Two years from
now? Three years from now?
 what organizational problems are being
experienced?
 what human resources problems are being
experienced?
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Human Resources/Succession Planning
Significant parts of the data required
for human resources planning (e.g.,
performance appraisal results, academic
qualifications, skills inventories,
applicant data, turnover data, job
description and job requirements data)
should be resident in the HRMS, as
should an analysis capability so that
relationships may be drawn in the data,
and the results of these analysis
reported in clear, "user-friendly" form.
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning (Cont’d)
Knowing what is on the system, as
well as how to conduct the
requisite analyses, and report the
results provides human resources
personnel with a golden opportunity
for gaining credibility with line
management in an area that is
becoming increasingly important to
the long-term health of an
organization.
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Human Resources/Succession Planning
(Cont’d)
The human resources practitioner should be able to use
the HRMS to provide statistical overviews for the
whole organization, as well as each unit involved in
human resources/succession planning. The overview
should summarize flow data, such as recruitment,
separations, promotions, transfers and turnover, and
personal data such as sex, designated group for
employment equity purposes, language(s), group and
level, age, and years of service. A preliminary
estimate of potential vacancies based on retirement
projections should also be provided. More detailed
assessments of these data may be conducted with line
management wherein information can be added that is
not formally contained on the HRMS, but may be known
in the work environment, such as possible transfers,
promotions, resignations, retirements, and so on
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning (Cont’d)
The HRMS should contain, or at least
have access to job description
information that can be related to its
module(s) containing detailed
information on the positions and
organizational structure. It should
have the capability of presenting this
information quickly and flexibly, in
"user-friendly" form.
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Human Resources/Succession Planning
(Cont’d)
The human resources practitioner should then
do summary analyses which can be provided to
line management in advance of any HRP
meetings, and should be prepared to do
further "what if" modelling as part of the
planning process. Line management should use
this information to review job
descriptions/positions that will probably
become vacant in the next few years, and
or/those that have significant operational
impact. The job description information
should be examined to help identify the major
qualities of experience, knowledge and
ability that will be required in successors
to the present incumbent
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning (Cont’d)
The HRMS can then be used to provide
information on current employees, including
latest performance review and career
development reports that have been completed
and entered on the system. Summary reports
of this information prepared by human
resources practitioners and supplied to line
management beforehand can be used to refresh
memories regarding individual strengths,
areas that need improvement, career
interests, and development plans.
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning (Cont’d)
A human resources practitioner can help line
management identify potential successors for all
positions that have been identified as "key and or
vulnerable”. (S)he can also play a special role in
using the HRMS in identifying appropriate
individuals in organizational units other than the
one in question. The human resources/succession
planning module of the HRMS should have
preestablished screens that allow those responsible
for human resources/succession planning to document
the additional knowledge experience, or formal
training that is determined to be necessary for the
identified individuals to qualify as a candidates
when each position becomes vacant.
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning (Cont’d)
The organizational charting function
of an HRMS should be able to show the
relation of such "key or vulnerable"
positions to each other, and to other
positions in the organizational, thus
providing a graphic overview of the
health of management "depth" of the
organization, as well as where there
might be weaknesses
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning (Cont’d)
Human resources/succession planning is often
done by committees formed from the senior
management team of the organizational unit
concerned, with the head of the unit as chair,
and a human resources practitioner as a resource
person. Such a committee attempts to reconcile
the demand of personnel with the required skill
mix and the available supply reflected in the
career planning and development information, and
summary reports available through the HRMS. The
committee examines this information in the
context of what the unit requires now and for the
future, both generally and for specific positions
(including employment equity considerations).
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Human Resources/Succession
Planning (Cont’d)
The main basis for human resources/succession
plans are organizational requirements (as
determined by the demand/supply forecasts as
outlined earlier), along with the resources to
make them happen. It is generally more effective
and economical to develop human resources
internally. When, however, it is evident that
certain requirements will not, or may not be met
through such efforts, then the human resources
plan will have contingencies to ensure that
appropriate individuals are recruited externally.
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