A Practical Guide to Company Manpower Planning
| Date | 01 April 1975 |
| Pages | 33-40 |
| Published date | 01 April 1975 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb055294 |
| Author | Roger A. Sawtell,Philip Sweeting |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
A Practical Guide to Company
Manpower Planning
Roger A. Sawtell
Executive Director, Manpower Analysis and Planning Limited
Philip Sweeting
Manpower Planner, Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines
1 Introduction
As employment costs and, regrettably, Government interfer-
ence increase, companies are beginning to recognize the need
for a rational manpower policy or strategy to take account of
new circumstances. To do this many policies will need a com-
plete re-think and to make the new policies rational they will
need to be based on reliable assessments of present and
future manpower needs. This can only be done through the
framework of manpower planning.
Many companies give lip service to manpower planning.
Many more think they are doing it when they are not. Typi-
cally manpower planning
is
viewed as a new, separate, desira-
ble but non essential activity within the personnel field. It is
not. It is the groundwork common to all personnel policies
and is essential to ensure that they are effectively geared to
the company need.
In this article we look at practical manpower planning at a
companya
level.
The article can be divided into three parts. In
the first, Sections 2 and
3
describe the principles of manpower
planning. In the second, Sections 4 to 9 describe the man-
power planning process and its objectives. Finally in Sections
10 to 15 we illustrate some simple work that we have com-
pleted.
2 What is Manpower Planning?
Manpower planning is about using personnel and business
data to develop the base for a sound manpower strategy. In
fact it means planning manpower so that short, medium and
long term company objectives are met. The central theme is
that people are a costly resource and that this resource needs
just as much thought and planning as any other resource.
Planning manpower so that objectives are met is a natural,
aThroughout
this article the word
'company'
embraces industrial and
commercial companies, building societies,
universities,
local
authorities and any other organization employing more than say 500
people.
Below this
number,
organizations still need
the
disciplines of
manpower
planning,
but they need very little
formality.
indeed essential, activity of any business. It is a management
responsibility although work may be delegated to 'specialists'.
The discipline embraces both personnel and corporate plan-
ning. In addition it uses 'operational research', 'industrial
engineering' and one or two other disciplines.
This should not give the impression that manpower planning
is overly sophisticated. Rather in a medium or large company
manpower planning is a question of assembling and digesting
manpower information.
3 Why do Companies Need To Plan Their Manpower?
The over-riding reason why companies need manpower plan-
ning is to ensure that manpower factors do not impose
restraints on business success.
No company will ever consistently maintain their best man-
power structure by chance. Planning is needed to think
through the manpower consequences of business objectives.
More specifically:
1 With salary and wage costs inflating beyond all recognition
the balance between capital and manpower needs constant
review. A balance that was perfect two or three years
ago
is
now unlikely to be right.
2 The need for social responsibility, redundancy and other
termination payments make 'U' turns in policy expensive
(both financially and in terms of morale). It is, therefore,
essential to take a longer term view.
3 Large functional organizations and jobs do not readily
develop generalists for top management positions. Train-
ing and career development are costly. It is, therefore,
essential that a company establishes what its future need
for top managers is before embarking on expensive train-
ing programmes for potential managers.
4 The 1975 Industry Bill adds a peculiar dimension.
Undoubtedly some companies will be forced into
'Planning Agreements' with the Government. If they have
previously failed to establish the necessary manpower
planning schemes, then foreseeable changes in the labour
market, allied to the legal commitment to a pre-
determined path, could easily take the overall business
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