Effective Workforce Planning And Staffing

Personnel planning generally describes the organization of personnel measures and decisions in a company. Personnel planning is extremely important in corporate planning, as it ensures that corporate goals can be achieved using appropriate human resources.

Professional personnel planning ensures that the right number of employees are in the right place at the right time – in the short, medium and long term.

Nowadays, in the course of personnel planning and personnel allocation, some innovative tools can be used that greatly simplify organization. A search on the Internet for “time registration” can be worthwhile.

The following article explains how effective personnel planning and allocation are structured.

Personnel Planning – How It Works

In principle, personnel planning is primarily based on numbers. The HR department must know the number of employees and then use this to determine current requirements.

The number of employees leaving the company, for example, due to retirement and layoffs, must be added to the gross personnel requirements. The current number of employees and recruits will then be deducted from the number. In this way, the net personnel requirements can be determined quite easily.

The calculation results then show whether the personnel planning has already been completely fulfilled and whether there are too many or too few employees. Ideally, there is the complete fulfillment of personnel planning.

If too many employees are employed in the company, measures for staff reductions must be defined. However, it is important to consider whether this is just a seasonal surplus of staff. If there is a staff shortage, it may be possible to create synergies with the existing staff. If this is not the case, searching for suitable new employees should be started.

The Advantages Of Professional Personnel Planning

Personnel planning in a company primarily aims to ensure optimal coverage of personnel requirements. This ensures that the company can work efficiently.

The more optimally the personnel planning is designed, the better it is possible to react appropriately to sudden changes. In addition, the planning of the personnel represents an important basis for any emerging times of crisis or expansion of the company.

ALSO READ: Emotional B2B: Why Communicate “More Human”

The Different Variants Of Personnel Planning

Today’s business environment is extremely complex and volatile. For this reason, the importance of forward-looking personnel planning and allocation is growing. Future developments are becoming increasingly difficult to foresee, so it makes sense to subdivide them into three different variants of personnel planning.

The Short-Term Plan

To be able to react reliably to short-term changes, there should always be a certain reserve of employees who could also help out in other areas of the company if necessary. Short-term personnel planning usually only covers a few days. It is used, for example, when an important employee suddenly falls ill.

The Medium-Term Plan

With the help of medium-term personnel planning, the workforce is secured for the current month or quarter. In this context, vacation days, for example, are important, but also known terminations or scheduled further training.

The Long-Term Plan

The approach pursued in the course of long-term personnel planning is primarily strategic. The need for staff in the coming year is important here. In addition, a comparison must be made between the actual and the target status to derive further necessary steps.

Long-term personnel planning also considers new company goals, such as downsizing or expanding the company. Employees who are about to take parental leave or retire play a particularly important role here.

Personnel Planning Uses These Methods

An important distinction is also made in personnel planning between the qualifications and the number of employees. A specific planning approach is required for both areas. In addition, a new comparison between the actual and target status must be made.

The personnel requirements are calculated using the actual/target comparison. This way, a subdivision can be made into actual demand and inventory.

Then comes workforce planning. In this step, documentation takes place about the number of employees working in which departments and in which employment relationships.

If the personnel planning finds out the actual state, the personnel requirements planning determines the target state. This makes it possible to determine whether there is a shortage or excess of staff in certain areas. This, in turn, allows foresighted action for the future. However, not only quantitative but also qualitative aspects are taken into account by personnel requirements planning.

Quantitative And Qualitative Personnel Planning

In the course of quantitative personnel planning, the number of employees that must be available for a fixed period is calculated. Factors such as average fluctuation or expansion play a role here.

Qualitative corporate planning, however, focuses on the requirements associated with the respective positions. In addition, efforts should be made to develop the existing skills and abilities of the employees continuously. This applies in particular if future corporate planning requires new or advanced qualifications.

Not To Be Neglected: The Personnel Allocation

Personnel allocation, also referred to as personnel deployment planning is an extremely important part of personnel planning. In this discipline, the focus is on distributing the existing employees to individual positions. Of course, the most important factor is the individual qualification of the employees. However, time aspects must also be taken into account.

Different types can also be identified in the area of ​​personnel allocation. In their entirety, these ensure that the work processes run smoothly at all times and that the highest possible efficiency is achieved.

In addition, a professional and well-thought-out personnel allocation also ensures higher employee satisfaction so that the general working atmosphere in the company benefits.