Manpower planning preparation is among the crucial parts of HR management activities. Through the formula of workforce planning, business make sure an appropriate workforce accessibility to sustain business operations.

As the most important asset in a business, HR should meet the expectations and requirements of the company. Otherwise, there is a high possibility that the company might stumble.

So, what is workforce planning and what are its strategies? Find out the complete evaluation in the following Mekari Talenta short article.

Manpower preparation is a process of determining, planning, approximating, and fulfilling the workforce with the ideal quantity, time, location, and cost according to the business's requirements.

However, nowadays, the term workforce planning is not only about fulfilling workforce demand and supply.

But likewise about how business can guarantee that existing workforce can possess the skills needed by the business and determine what technology is required to enhance the skills of these employees.

Marcus Lemonis, an American entrepreneur, said, "The client is number 2 for me best behind the staff member." It indicates that company must constantly put their workers welfare initially above all else.

The tactical execution of workforce planning can have impacts not only on HRD but on the total company too.

Here are some benefits that business can obtain through excellent manpower planning:

- Increasing business performance as the company can estimate the quantity and kinds of labor force and innovation needed.
- Enabling the business to have quality workforce in line with business requirements and goals.
- Detecting issues early in the management system, particularly in the HR field, together with mitigation methods.
- Creating effective workforce administration so that when there is worker turnover, the business does not have vacant positions causing disturbances in the company.
- Facilitating HR supervisors to make strategic choices in establishing the labor force in terms of technology, abilities, and staff member complete satisfaction.
- Quoting Deloitte, workforce planning can cost-effectively manage labor expenses. This is due to the fact that the business can spending plan the variety of employees and costs properly.
- Creating client satisfaction. With excellent workforce planning, the business management automatically has great systems and requirements, which affect client satisfaction.

Manpower Planning Objectives

The primary objective of implementing manpower preparation is to guarantee the schedule of labor force according to the business's requirements. This planning process is not an activity that is done once or two times. Instead, it is a constant procedure as long as the business exists.

Moreover, every 5-10 years, industrial innovation constantly changes and develops, thus business undoubtedly need to adjust.

For instance, 10 years earlier, cloud computing innovation or synthetic intelligence (AI) were not widely known by industries. However, just recently, these innovations have become possessions for business to survive in the digital era.

Companies are needed to satisfy these needs by having Human Resources or labor force capable of developing and operating such innovations. Manpower preparation process is likewise needed when a company sees brand-new organization opportunities and desires to implement them.

Such tasks need time, cost, manpower, and innovation. If done hastily, these opportunities can turn into threats leading to losses.

For instance, HR in your company has recruited 5 workers. However, the needed technology is not readily available yet, the task timeline is unclear, and even the budget plan does not satisfy the job's expectations.

Here is where manpower planning plays its role in ensuring that these components are satisfied properly according to the business's requirements. Thus, the service opportunities can run as anticipated.

To put it simply, another goal of workforce planning is to ensure no mismatch among the labor force, time, place, innovation, and economy.

According to The 2022 Global Talent Shortage by ManpowerGroup, the typical skill scarcity worldwide reached 75 percent in 2022.

The sectors most affected consist of government, education, health care, technology, production, finance, and retail.

Meanwhile, according to the World Bank report in 2018, Indonesia requires at least 9 million IT employees in between 2015 and 2030.

This is also supported by data from Korn Ferry in 2017, which anticipated Indonesia would face a skilled labor deficit of as much as 3.8 million by 2030.

If both of these situations take place in your company, the company growth rate will be significantly slower. Companies will likewise have a hard time to complete and endure, specifically in the future.

One technique to narrow the talent space or perhaps boost the business's ability to meet its labor force requires is through manpower planning.

Best Practices in Manpower Planning Process

As a guideline, there are 4 primary actions in strategically establishing workforce preparation, as follows:

Know the Company's Business Conditions and Plans

Although workforce preparation is an ongoing procedure that runs continuously, every year the business has company plans and examines the current and future conditions.

HR managers, in this case, need to coordinate with all departments and organization systems. What are the tactical strategies of each organization unit and what funds are required?

To get to understand your business to align with manpower planning, a minimum of consider the following elements:

- The existing labor force, how lots of business systems there are, and the types of jobs currently available
- The existing work culture. Does it currently satisfy expectations for the company, workers, and customers?
- Business objective top priorities both short-term and long-term
- The kind of people and skills needed by each business unit
- Also, know the growth phase of your business, whether it's start-up, growth, mature, or decline. This will determine the required labor force capacity.
- Potential company dangers both existing and future ones.

Mapping the Company's Future Workforce Needs

The next action is to map the future workforce requires or manpower forecasting. Through manpower forecasting, you can approximate the required workforce and the abilities required by these employees. Manpower forecasting itself has two approaches: internal and external.

Internal analysis consists of:

- Expert analysis including all workers consisting of stakeholders from each department and C-level. This can be done through surveys or informal discussions.
- Workload analysis by thinking about the existing work culture, functions, and the abilities most needed by each department or business unit.
- Workforce analysis, which involves observing the number of employees, yearly turnover rates, participation records through online applications, and worker performance.
- Other workforce-related analyses such as financial and service analyses.

While external analysis consists of:

- Analysis of the task market patterns and its effect on the company.
- Third-party analysis. Whether it's stakeholders who can provide external data or innovation providers who can support the company's workforce preparation process. For example, the usage of worker recruitment applications.

Develop Workforce Programs

The next step is to develop workforce programs which include recruitment procedure designs, Standard procedure, and labor force placement.

Additionally, it should be kept in mind that in workforce planning, the business not only concentrates on getting the required workforce but also on how to maintain it.

Compensation programs, working hours, lacks, accessibility, and other techniques to guarantee employee complete satisfaction with the business are vital elements not to be overlooked.

Design Workforce Development Programs

Finally, labor force advancement ought to be executed to satisfy the company's required skill needs. As mentioned previously, manpower planning not just focuses on recruiting brand-new talent but likewise on developing existing skill.

According Huawei's Future of Work: 2022 Digital Talent Insight report, there are three primary programs that business can carry out in labor force advancement programs:

- Leadership: Building a labor force culture in the management stage so that the existing workforce has the same mindset as the business's vision.
- Upskilling and reskilling: Developing existing worker abilities or introducing brand-new abilities to staff members.
- New skilling: Providing brand-new skills to brand-new graduates, for example, through internship programs or external training.

Examples of Manpower Planning

Here are some study cases that explain some cases on how manpower planning can be used.

Manpower Planning on Recruitment Process

Manpower preparation typically used in the recruitment process because some companies have reasons to hire more workers. With efficient manpower technique, business can determine its objective while figuring out the number of employees they need to complete some tasks.

For instance, a manufacturing company that produces steel items for construction tasks analyses its sales number and found that the number of consumers might increase 2 times within a year. The company recognizes that it doesn't have enough employees to fulfill the production numbers for the increasing customer. This forecast shows the needs of working with additional workforce to fulfill production quotas.

Then, they develop a plan and determine the number of staff members required to increase production number. The business finds out that they need 20% more workforce to run the plan and begins recruiting brand-new employees. Over 2 years, they can attain their goal to meet the need of production for their increasing consumers.

Manpower Planning on Leadership

Leadership typically stands as a crucial part within a service's workforce. Effective leadership typically causes improved performance, the implementation of brand-new policies, the growing of healthy workplace, and the facilitation of efficient processes.

Moreover, it is usually essential in cultivating preparedness for change. As an organization goes through functional shifts, skilled management can significantly help the modification procedure. A labor force plan commonly examines the present management capacity within business, highlighting the possible need for leadership development.

For instance, one business concentrating on individual financing consultation, performs an analysis of its HR metrics and observes a constant decrease in staff member engagement. It prepares for that only 20% of its existing employees might stay within the next three years.

Recognizing the requirement for office transformation to boost worker relations and retention rates, it creates new policies. However, it acknowledges the requirement for boosted management to efficiently execute these policies and achieve their goals.

Consequently, the business develops a labor force strategy that includes training and advancement efforts for its existing leadership. Through participation in management advancement programs, both management and senior personnel improve their leadership competencies.

Then, workers begin to place higher trust and regard in their management figures, thus promoting a more favorable office environment. As an outcome of the enhancement in its management capabilities assisted in by boosted labor force planning, it observes an increase in its forecasted retention rates.

Manpower Planning Through HRIS

One strategy in conducting workforce preparation is by counting on HRIS.

Through HRIS innovation, you can make use of workforce data more easily and thoroughly. This information can then be used to determine the future instructions of the service, particularly in HR.

According to Gartner's report, only 12% of companies successfully make use of labor force information, particularly in helping service decision-making.

One service provider of HRIS in Indonesia is Mekari Talenta.

Mekari Talenta is a software application that has features covering numerous HR functions such as online attendance, payroll, efficiency management, staff member self-service, staff member database management, and workforce preparation.

With Manpower Planning (MPP) function, business no longer requires to do manual information analysis, mapping, computation, and decision of employment strategies. The allocation of workforce needs is more transparent to prevent unpredictability and to tone down recruitment expenses.