Human Resource Planning – What is that?
You are a human resource consultant. The newly appointed president of a large paper manufacturing firm has
Called you:
President: I have been in this job for about one month now, and all I seem to do is interview people and listen to personal problems.
You: Why have you been interviewing people? Don’t you have a human resource department?
President: Yes, we do. However, the human resource department does not hire top management people. As soon as I took over, I found out that two of my vice presidents were retiring and we had no one to replace them.
You: Have you hired anyone?
President: Yes, I have, and that is part of the problem. I hired a person from the outside. As soon as the announcement was made, one of my department heads came in and resigned. She said she had wanted that job as vice president for eight years. She was angry because we had hired someone from outside. How was I supposed to know she wanted the Job?
You: What have you done about the other vice president job?
President: Nothing, because I am afraid someone else will quit because they were not considered for the job. But that is only half my problem. I just found out that among our youngest professional employees, there has been an 80 per cent turnover rate during the past three years. These are the people we promote around here. As you know, that is how I started out in this company. I was a mechanical engineer.
You: Has any one asked them why they are leaving?
President: Yes, and they all give basically the same answer: They say they do not feel that they have any future here. Maybe I should call them all together and explain how I progressed in this company.
You: Have you ever considered implementing a human resource planning system?
President: Human resource planning? What is that?
Questions:
1. How would you answer the president’s question- ‘Human resource planning? What is that?’
2. What would be required to establish a human resource planning system in this company?
3. What measures should the president take to retain good young employees?