Approaches to Manpower Planning Process in Construction

Introduction
Man power planning is concerned with coordinating, motivating and controlling of the various activities of the people within the organisation. An effective manpower planning requires a careful assessment of the future needs of the organisation and it is a procedure used in organisation to balance future requirements for all levels of employee with the availability of such employees. Manager has to reasonably predict future events and plan out the production. The plans need to be supported by all the members of the organisation. Managers are required to estimate the business needs of the organisation and plan for the resources needed to realise the business goals.
Manpower Planning Process
The process of man power planning is reviewing current resources, predicting future requirements and ensuring that the demand and supply of people and skills is balanced. With understaffing, the organisation loses projects, economies of specialisation and scale and profits. Overstaffing results in losses in terms of salaries and competence.
Analyse existing manpower in the Organisation
Personnel planning begin with a clear understanding of the current Personnel situation in the company. An analysis of current employment categories, the number of employee currently in post, knowledge and skills available of them are important steps in the manpower planning. An assessment of the training development potential of existing employees and analysis employee turnover rate in the organisation also include the process.

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Forecast future requirements of manpower
Forecasting is typically anticipates future staffing requirements. Strategies are formulated to not only anticipate their needs over time, but to consider optimal solutions for the long term and under challenging economic conditions. Organisations with a plan in place, and a keen understanding of their long-range objectives, may instead decide to weather the economic changes and keep trained, talented, and dedicated staff in place for the inevitable business uptrend.
Job Analysis
Job analysis is the process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of this analysis are job description and job specification. Before the recruitment takes place it is essential to determine, the duties, responsibility and requirement of a particular job and relationship with other jobs and positions within the organisational hierarchy.
3.4.0 Job evaluation
Job evaluation is an attempt to determine and compare demands, which the normal performance of a particular job makes on normal workers without taking into account the individual abilities or performance of the workers concerned. The aim of job evaluation is to determine systematically a job’s relative worth. It is a formal and systematic comparison of jobs to determine the worth of one job relative to another and eventually results in a wage or salary hierarchy.
3.5.0 Recruitment and Selection
Employee recruitment forms a major part of an organisation’s overall resourcing strategies, which identify and secure people needed for the organisation to survive and succeed in the short to medium term. Recruitment and selection are usually considered as one process.
Recruitment needs to be carefully planned in order to attract the right type of applicant. Ultimately, this increases the chances of making a suitable selection and appointment. Recruitment activities need to be responsive to the ever increasingly competitive market to secure suitably qualified and capable recruits at all levels. To be effective these initiatives need to include how and when to source the best recruits internally or externally.
3.6.0 Training and Development of Employee
After the recruitment and selection of an employee, is to provide the employee training and development facilities. New employee usually, is not fully fit at the time of procurement some training is always essential. The organisation, along with the individual, is responsible for training for specific jobs or positions according to their level. Development can occur formally or informally, as people grow and learn to adapt by using their education and training.
Training programmes will be based upon extent of diversification, expansion plans, development programmes etc. Training programmes depend upon the extent of improvement in technology and advancement to take place. It is also done to improve upon the skills, capabilities, knowledge of the workers.
4.0.0 Barriers of Manpower Planning and Practical solutions
Manpower planning is a key to successful management practises, which is link to business strategies of the organisation. However, there are some problems with manpower planning both short term as well as long term.
4.1.0 Economy Downturn
For example, according to various sources, in the past recent years there was a boom at UAE, more development projects, infrastructure projects and real estate project was stared. The sharp increase in construction, along with other key factors, has meant the industry was seeing a lack of skilled construction staff. The demand for certain categories of employees and skill is also influenced by changes in social structure in an economy. Firms employing in construction have greatly enhanced the worth of technicians, surveyors and engineers during the last couple of years. In contrast the present climate of economic and labour market in UAE is downturn therefore Companies operating in fields compel to reduce their workforce due to high competition and short of new construction and development projects. This type of economy changes is occurring confusion of proper manpower planning.
Solution
The huge boom of construction and development field in UAE now over, while the present it going to down little by little but various source of news says [TopNews Arab Emirates] it expect to recover in near future. The boom time there was shortage of skill workman like Engineers, surveyor and Technicians in the firms but now excess. In some situations even after implementing some of the above cost saving initiatives, redundancies can still become inevitable and this can pose significant challenges for an employer as many complex issues need to be addressed including legal, labour union, compensation, natural turnover of workers of the company and future economic changes of the region.
The practical way to approach the current situation is to preparation of well designed profile of employees of organisation. It will help to identify employee’s information not directly related to on the job skills and performance. The overall profile of the workforce generated is a vital aid to management decision making on things like redundancy. It can highlight impending problems, such as the retirement of employees, and the need for fresh recruitment training and developments. And it will help to analyse the sort of workforce envisaged at the end of the exercise, the utility of retraining, redeployment and transfers, what the appropriate recruitment levels might be. Such an analysis can be presented to senior managers so that the cost benefit of various methods of reduction can be assessed, and the time taken to meet targets established.
4.2.0 Changes in Technology
Past years of time, the technology changes are more rapid and pervasive than ever before in the context of the organisation and its interface with the environment. Such changes in technology make manpower planning redundant or obsolete and ineffective. For example, Speed house group of companies [http://www.speedhouse.com/about-us.htm] well reputed House Construction Company in UAE recently utilisation of advance computer base systems to design such as current and future programme needs, home schedule and budget constructions to give facility for their customers. Utilisation of advanced technology is generally accompanied by less demand for low skilled workers and more demand for knowledgeable workers. Computerisation programs for office work and modern machinery in construction sites may reduce demand in some job categories (eg. clerks, book keepers and who had less knowledge to operate the computer prgrammes) while increasing it in another like workers with sound knowledge to operating modern high-tech tools and computer base programms. High technology with all its attendant benefits may compel organisations to go lean and downsize workforce suddenly. Employment planning under such situations becomes complicated.
Solution
Rapid changes in technology are cause serious mismatches between the jobs that are available and the number of people with the necessary skills to fill those jobs. In addition, rising levels of education have brought with them rising expectations among employees at all level. Some jobs are held by individuals who have more advanced skills or training than is needed. Sometimes the task can be done by a lower-level worker, rather than, an example is university educated employee. The manager should bring this situation to the attention that has the authority to make the necessary changes and thus relieve what seems to be a skills shortage. In addition, redesign job will help to reducing boredom and monotony, and increasing comfort, often increases productivity. As a result, positions for which skills are in short supply may not require more personnel, as more productive and skilled individuals produce more.
4.3.0 Workforce in and out fluxes within the Organisation
Demands of workers are influence the internal in and out fluxes of the employee through retirement, termination, resignation, leaves and absence etc. This factors are effect how much workers will be required given work of different type of employee and the expected volume of business activity.
Solution
Economy downturn is occurring less demanding labour market in the region. The company might have excess workforce but still labour turnover creates unnecessary expense and reduces efficiency to the firms. When a manager identifies high turnover in a specific department, the quality of training and supervision in that department should be looked into. As a part of the human resources function, the manager would contribute to the decision on what steps should be taken to remedy the turnover situation, such as training, pay and incentive improvements, and the like.
Perhaps company may have shortage of skill workers in some departments. The best practical way to approach this situation if present is to look within the organisation among its workers first. Until and unless the opening is not related to immensely diversified field of which the existing workforce might not posse requisite skills and the cost of training may be working out to be high. It is easier to go in for an internal source for recruitment. Becourse it is cost saving in many ways to utilize what is already available to the organisation and for instance are there imbalances where transferring people would avoid redundancy problems and solve recruitment one. In addition moving people between regions becomes nearly impossible when individuals can’t get new mortgages or sell their existing homes. Alternatives to consider include focusing on accommodation or other essential facilities what they need or new recruiting area to a reasonable commuting distance.
4.4.0 Organisational Decision and Planning Process
Organisational decision and planning processes seek to address the implications that a change in one input can have on the corresponding output. The evaluation and process evaluation that comprises part of the change management approach seeks to measure and anticipate the effect strategic decisions will have on company resources and labour. For example, ready-mix concrete Supply Company in UAE expects higher demand for their products in next couple of years. Likewise, if they try to venture into other lucrative fields such as supplying precast concrete product. For instance, the effect of the economy downturn in UAE, whereby product demand in the short term were low, downsizing staffs of organisation structures were the trend. The sudden changes in market conditions will obviously affect the demand for labour in general or for particular skills. Even proposed expansion, contraction or diversifications of the organisation’s activities are complicating the man power process.
Solution
Manpower plan need to account the rest of the organisational plan, sales and production forecast and new venture to be more accurate. Estimating changes in product or service demand is basic forecasting concern, as it anticipating changes in national or regional economics. Furthermore, where plans are changed, the effect of the changes must be estimated. This may be estimated by market research, competitive analysis, trends in technological advances and so on.
5.0.0 Why should know Manpower Planning?
The human resources are the most valuable asset of any organisation as they contribute to the realization of its business objectives. It is the human resources who contribute their time and expertise to the welfare of their organisation. Thus, the process of manpower planning and staffing is crucial to the business development of an organisation.
The future Managers should know and follow the Manpower planning and it techniques to take the proper decision for their organisation. So then, it will ensure optimum use of available human resources and creates healthy atmosphere of encouragement and motivation in the organisation. The good manpower planning generates facilities to educate people in the organisation and opens possibility for workers for future promotions, thus providing incentive.
If Manpower Planning techniques are ignored, decisions will still be taken, but without the benefit of understanding their implications. For example graduate recruitment numbers will be set in ignorance of demand, or management succession problems will develop unnoticed. It is surely better if decision makers follow this maxim in the way they make and execute resourcing plans.
6.0.0 Conclusion
Employee resourcing is a wider issue than recruitment and selection. In this report is discussed the approaches to manpower planning process in construction oriented business with consist of series of activities such as determining current manpower or situation of the organisation, forecasting future demand and supply, Job analysis, Job evaluation recruitment and selection, training and development of employees in the organisation.
In addition this report is explored the barriers that exist the proper manpower planning in the organisation with discussion of essential practical solutions. Discussion includes redundancy, employee training and development, proper movements of employee within the organisation that determine the extent of organisation performance, competence and ability to cope with dynamic forces of completion in business environment.