HRM 357

Workforce Planning
Study Unit 1
Seminar 1

Associate Faculty:
CY Gan (Mr)
Kick-Off Agenda

▪ Course Structure & Overview

▪ Assessment Overview
▪ Contact & Consultation
Kick-Off Agenda

▪ Quick Introduction

▪ Student introduction :
▪ Share your working experience (whether internship or part-time work)
that gives you a glimpse of workforce planning in the process?
▪ How do you see workforce planning as part of what you would do in
your HR profession?
▪ What do you expect to learn from this course?
Kick-Off Agenda

Learning Outcomes

▪ Illustrate the frameworks and theories in workforce planning

▪ Recommend workforce planning strategies to support organisation strategy

▪ Judge the impact of the economic, labour and political environment on workforce
planning

▪ Examine strategic job analysis as a prelude to forecasting and planning for

staffing requirements, applying statistical tools

▪ Apply basic statistical tools in measuring the effectiveness of recruitment and

selection process

▪ Illustrate an organisation’s management of its workforce flow into, through and

out of the organisation
Kick-Off Agenda

Course Structure & Overview

▪ Study Unit 1 – Human Resource Planning

• Introduction to Human Resource Planning (Chap 1 of textbook)

• Linking Business Plans to Human Resource Planning (Chap 2)

▪ Study Unit 2 – The External Environment

• Economics and Labour Market Demographics

• Workforce Policies

▪ Study Unit 3 – Workforce Forecasting, Planning and the Recruitment

Pipeline

• Workforce Forecasting and Planning (Chap 5)

• Recruitment Pipeline (Chap 6 & 9)
Kick-Off Agenda

Course Structure & Overview

▪ Study Unit 4 – Measuring Success in Recruitment & Selection Using Workforce

Analytics

• Measurement and Assessment in Staffing (Chap 8)

• Strategic Job Analysis (Chap 4)

▪ Study Unit 5 – Managing Retention, Engagement and Succession, and

Managing Workforce Flow

• Managing Retention, Engagement and Succession (Chap 10)

• Managing Workforce Flow (Chap 12)

▪ Study Unit 6 – Staffing System Evaluation and Globalisation

• Staffing System Evaluation and Technology (Chap 13)

• Human Resource Planning and Globalisation
• Final Revision
Kick-Off Agenda

Assessment Overview

Assessment Description Weight Allocation

Pre-Course Online Quizzes (PCQ) 5%
Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA) 45%
Timed Online Assessment (TOA) 50%

▪ Assessment Submission Dates

• TMA – 21 Oct
• Exam – 18 Nov (Check Exam Timetable)

Contact for questions/consultations

▪ Email : [email protected]
▪ Consultations will be held during the Student-led sessions weeks either
F2F or on-line on Zoom.
Workforce Planning
Introduction to Human Resource Planning
Study Unit 1 – Chapter 1
Seminar 1
Study Unit 1 – Human Resource Planning

Learning Objectives

▪ Define Human Resource Planning (Workforce Planning)

▪ Examine differences between traditional staffing and strategic staffing

▪ Describe the seven components of strategic staffing

▪ Describe staffing goals and relate to organisational performance

▪ The components of strategic staffing and integration with other HR functions

Human Resource Planning

What is Human Resource Planning – Workforce Planning ?

▪ Process of predicting an organization’s future employment needs

▪ Assessing current employees and labour market to meet those needs

▪ Evaluate organization’s current and new lines of business and the gaps
between current skills/competencies of current and future workforce to
meet future business strategies
Strategic Staffing

What is Strategic Staffing ?

▪ Definition: The process of staffing an organization in future-oriented and

goal-directed ways that support the organization’s business strategy and
enhance organizational effectiveness

▪ This involves the movement of people into, through, and out of the
organization.

▪ Maximize the organization’s performance and its ability to attain the

business objectives

▪ Requires long-term planning, aligning staffing function with the

organization’s business strategy and other areas of HR

▪ Involves assessing the labor market, potential candidates (both short term
and long term potential) and evaluating staffing outcomes against pre-
identified goals.
Trends of HR Challenges: Ageing Workforce

Source: The Straits Times, July 26,

2018

12
Trends of HR Challenges: Artificial Intelligence in the
Future

Source: The Straits Times, August 31, 2018

13
Strategic Staffing

Reflection

▪ Use the contents of any of the newspapers articles above and try to relate
to the workforce planning characteristics.

▪ How do you think each of the themes of HR challenges would affect the
present workforce planning process of today?

▪ Please share your comments in your groups.

Strategic Staffing

Difference between Traditional and Strategic Staffing

Traditional Staffing Strategic Staffing

Less linked to Business Strategy Alignment with Business Strategy

More reactive and short term Longer term

Lack continuous improvement Evaluation of staffing outcomes

efforts
Viewed as a standalone Align with other areas of HR
functional activity
Strategic Staffing

Other aspects of Strategic Staffing

▪ Longer-term planning
▪ Alignment with the firm’s business strategy
▪ Alignment with the other areas of HR
▪ Alignment with the labor market
▪ Targeted recruiting
▪ Sound candidate assessment on factors related to job success and longer-
term potential
▪ The evaluation of staffing outcomes against pre-identified goals
Employment environment before pandemic…..

Straits Times dated 10 Jan 2020

How the pandemic has affect Strategic Workforce
Planning…
Straits Times dated 15 Aug 2020
How the pandemic has affect Strategic Workforce
Planning…
Straits Times dated 12 Aug 2020
How the pandemic has affect Strategic Workforce
Planning…
Straits Times dated 1 Sept 2020
How the pandemic has affect Strategic Workforce
Planning…
Straits Times dated 5 Sept 2020
How the pandemic has affect Strategic Workforce
Planning…
Straits Times dated 11 Sept 2020
How the pandemic has affect Strategic Workforce
Planning…
Straits Times dated 12 Sept 2020
How the pandemic has affect Strategic Workforce
Planning…
Straits Times dated 14 Sept 2020
Activity 1

Application

▪ Read case of 2 organizations (Treds and Soles) in textbook, Strategic

Staffing, page 24 to 26.
▪ Discuss the different staffing approaches taken by the two organizations
and justify with your own reasons which approach is more effective.
▪ How would such staffing approach apply to small & medium size
organizations in Singapore?
Strategic Staffing

Reflection

▪ In what various aspects of the current pandemic will it change the

workforce planning process of the future?

▪ Please share your comments your groups

Class Activity

Class Activity 1

– Refer to the case in Textbook pages 24 to 26 on two shoe

retailers (Soles and Treds) in shopping malls.
– Discuss in your groups the following (15 minutes):
➢ Identify the differences in approaches in each store’s staffing
process.
➢ Discuss, with justifications, which company is likely to
perform better as a result of its staffing process.
– Identify a spokesperson in your group to present the
discussions. (5 minutes)
Seven Components of Strategic Staffing
 Components of Strategic Staffing

Workforce Planning

▪ Definition: The process of predicting an organization’s future employment

needs, and the availability of current employees and external hires to meet
those employment needs, and execute the organization’s business strategy
▪ Usually involves both, the hiring manager and a staffing specialist

▪ Can be short-term and focus on an immediate hiring need

▪ Can be long-term and focus on the organization’s needs in the future

Components of Strategic Staffing

Sourcing & Recruiting Talent

▪ Sourcing: locating qualified individuals and labor markets from which to

recruit.

▪ Recruiting: all organizational practices and decisions that affect either the
number or types of individuals willing to apply for and accept job offers

▪ Sourcing identifies people who would be good recruits. Recruiting activities

entice them to apply to the organization and accept job offers, if extended.
• Employer Branding / Employer Value Proposition
Components of Strategic Staffing

Selecting & Acquiring Talent

▪ Selecting: assessing job candidates and deciding whom to hire

• Dependent on strategic recruiting to meet minimum hiring
requirements to reduce burden of selection process

▪ Acquiring: involves putting together job offers that appeal to chosen

candidates, and persuading job offer recipients to accept those job
offers and to join the organization.
• Negotiations usually result in employment contracts.
Components of Strategic Staffing

Deploying Talent

▪ Socializing: the process of familiarizing newly hired and promoted

employees with their job, workgroup, and organization as a whole

▪ Deploying: assigning talent to appropriate jobs and roles in the

organization
• Succession planning and career development enhance
deployment options

Retaining Talent

▪ Succession management and career development are effective tools

▪ Turnover of high performers can be expensive
▪ Turnover of low performers can be beneficial – healthy attrition
▪ Retention saves money in recruiting and hiring replacements for
those leaving
Staffing Goals

Types of Staffing Goals

▪ Process Goals : related to processes, examples
• Number of qualified applicants
• Meeting hiring timeline goals

▪ Outcome goals : based on successful outcomes of strategic staffing, examples

• Reducing turnover rates among new hires
• Hiring individuals who will succeed in their jobs and have the desired impact
to the organisation
• Meeting stakeholder needs
• Maximizing the financial return on the firm’s staffing investment
• Enhancing employee diversity
• Enhancing business strategy execution
Integration with other HR functions

Other HR Functions

▪ Training
▪ Performance management
▪ Compensation
▪ Succession planning
▪ Career development
▪ Recruitment impacts selection activities and the likelihood of successfully
identifying good hires

▪ How would workforce planning affect the other HR functions above?

Effects of pandemic on the rise of gig workers…
Straits Times dated 5 June 2022
Issues arising from increase of flexible workforce…

Straits Times dated 1 Mar 2022

Workforce Planning
Business & Staffing Strategies
Study Unit 1 – Chapter 2
Seminar 1
Study Unit 1 – Human Resource Planning

Learning Objectives

▪ What constitutes a firm’s competitive advantage

▪ Different types of firm’s business strategies

▪ How a firm gain competitive advantage through its workforce planning

Importance of Staffing

Staffing as Competitive Advantage

▪ A competitive advantage is something that a company can do differently

from its competitors allowing it to perform better, survive, and succeed in its
industry

▪ Every company’s employees create, enhance, or implement the company’s

competitive advantage

▪ Where do these employees come from and their importance?

• It all begins with the staffing process
• Staffing outcomes determine who will work for and represent the firm,
and what its employees will be willing and able to do
• Staffing influences the success of future training, performance
management, and compensation programs, as well as the
organization’s ability to execute its business strategy
Business Strategy & Competitive Advantage

Resource-Based view of the firm

▪ Proposes that a company’s resources and competencies (including
its talent) can produce a sustained competitive advantage by creating
value for customers by:
• Lowering costs of products or services
• Providing something of unique value
• Or some combination of the two

▪ Focuses attention on the quality of the skills of a company’s

workforce at various levels, and on the quality of the motivational
climate created by management.
• Human resource management is valued not only for its role in
implementing a given competitive scenario but also for its role in
generating strategic capability.
• Staffing has the potential to create organizations that are more
intelligent and flexible than their competitors
 Business Strategy & Competitive Advantage

Business Strategy
▪ Definition: how a company will compete in its marketplace
▪ Competitive advantage: anything that gives a firm an edge over rivals in
attracting customers and defending itself against competition
• To have a competitive advantage a company must be able to give
customers superior value for their money (a combination of quality,
service, and acceptable price).

What constitute a Competitive Advantage?

 Different types of Business Strategies

▪ Cost Leadership Strategy

• Strive to be the lowest-cost producer of its products or services at a particular level of
product quality.
• Competitive advantage is operational excellence (e.g. McDonald’s)

▪ Differentiation Strategy
• Develop products or services that have unique characteristics valued by customers
which allows it to charge a premium price.
• Competitive advantage is based on product innovation (e.g. Apple)

▪ Specialisation Strategy
• Focus on a narrow market segment for buyers with special needs.
• Competitive advantage is based on customer intimacy (e.g. high-end luxury products
and brands)

▪ Growth Strategy
• Focus on growing customer base to achieve economics of scale (e.g. Facebook,
Google)
Business Strategy & Competitive Advantage

Staffing Implications on different Competitiveness Advantage

 Business Strategy & Competitive Advantage

Business Strategies link to Staffing Decisions

Strategic Staffing
Business Strategies Life Cycle Decisions
• Core or flexible
• Cost Leadership • Organization
• Internal or external
• Differentiation • Product
• Train or hire for skills
• Specialization • Industry
• Retention or replacement
• Growth
• Skills levels requirement
• Proactive or reactive
• Types of jobs
• Staffing as investment or
cost
• Centralized or
decentralized
 Organisational Life Cycle & Strategic Choice

Growth-Maturity-Decline Life Cycle

▪ Strategy during growth phase:

― During this stage, the company need to pursue innovation or
differentiation strategies to gain customers and win market
share.
― Company is less established and are higher-risk employers.
― Need more resources and money to attract talent for it to grow.
― Lack a strong internal talent pool and need to hire from external
sources
― Employees are likely to be promoted or transferred to other
positions faster than companies in other stages of a product life
cycle.
Organisational Life Cycle & Strategic Choice

Growth-Maturity-Decline Life Cycle

▪ Strategy during maturity phase when products and services have
fully evolved, and the product’s market share has become
established:
― Maintenance of market share or getting a higher market
share is the main strategy.
― Cost-leadership strategy by streamlining operations and
focusing on efficiency are main drivers.
― Due to a larger internal workforce, the talent focus is internal,
leading to reduced opportunities for promotions and career
progression.
― Possible restructuring leads to need for employees to be
adaptive and to acquire new skills.
Organisational Life Cycle & Strategic Choice

Growth-Maturity-Decline Life Cycle

▪ Strategy choice during decline phase when markets
are shrinking, and business performance is
weakening:
―A cost-leadership strategy is adopted until the
business is no longer profitable.
―Alternatively, the company can change its strategy
to a specialization or a differentiation strategy.
―Staffing and manpower planning need to be
adapted to its changed strategy.
Business Strategy & Competitive Advantage

Talent Philosophy vs Human Resource Strategy vs Staffing Strategy

Activity 2

▪ Research on the workforce planning activities in McDonald’s.

▪ Read the ST news article – “ Serving up happy meals at McDonald’s”.
▪ Discuss in your assigned group the following questions: -

• Identify McDonalds’ main business strategy and its competitive

advantage.
• What are the typical staff profile that McDonald’s is looking for?
• From the article, the MD, Mr Kenneth Chan said “Efficiency is important,
but so is warmth”. How would that change the business strategy and
impact on staffing implications?
• Select three strategic staffing decisions and examine the impact of the
shift in business strategies to these decisions.
Summary

Learning Objectives

▪ Define Human Resource Planning (Workforce Planning)

▪ Examine differences between traditional staffing and strategic staffing

▪ Describe the seven components of strategic staffing

▪ Describe staffing goals and relate to organisational performance

▪ The components of strategic staffing and integration with other HR functions

▪ What constitutes a firm’s competitive advantage

▪ Different types of firm’s business strategies

▪ How a firm gain competitive advantage through its workforce planning

Questions?

Thank You