BUS101: Introduction to Business

How does Starbucks make sure that its worldwide retail locations are staffed with just the right number of committed employees? How does Walt Disney World ensure that it has enough qualified "cast members" to provide visitors with a "magical" experience? How does Norwegian Cruise Lines make certain that when the Norwegian Dawn pulls out of New York harbor, it has a complete, fully trained crew on board to feed, entertain, and care for its passengers? Managing these tasks is a matter of strategic human resource planning – the process of developing a plan for satisfying an organization's human resources (HR) needs.

A strategic HR plan lays out the steps that an organization will take to ensure that it has the right number of employees with the right skills in the right places at the right times. HR managers begin by analyzing the compan's mission, objectives, and strategies. Starbucks's objectives, for example, include the desire to "develop enthusiastically satisfied customers" as well as to foster an environment in which employees treat both customers and each other with respect. Thus, the firm's HR managers look for people who are "adaptable, self-motivated, passionate, creative team members". Likewise, Disney's overall objectives include not only making all visitors feel as if they're special in a special place but also ensuring that employees' appearance reflects a special image (there's even a forty-seven-page book on the subject)". Disney looks for people who best fulfill these job requirements. The main goal of Norwegian Cruise Lines – to lavish passengers with personal attention – determines not only the type of employee desired (one with exceptionally good customer-relation skills and a strong work ethic) but also the number needed (one for every two passengers on the Norwegian Dawn)".

Job Analysis

To develop an HR plan, HR managers must obviously be knowledgeable about the jobs that the organization needs performed. They organize information about a given job by performing a job analysis to identify the tasks, responsibilities, and skills that it entails, as well as the knowledge and abilities needed to perform it. Managers also use the information collected for the job analysis to prepare two documents:

• A job description, which lists the duties and responsibilities of a position
• A job specification, which lists the qualifications – skills, knowledge, and abilities – needed to perform the job

HR Supply and Demand Forecasting

Once they’ve analyzed the jobs within the organization, HR managers must forecast future hiring (or firing) needs. This is the three-step process summarized in Figure 7.1 "How to Forecast Hiring (and Firing) Needs".

Figure 7.1 How to Forecast Hiring (and Firing) Needs

Starbucks, for instance, might find that it needs three hundred new employees to work at stores scheduled to open in the next few months. Disney might determine that it needs two thousand new cast members to handle an anticipated surge in visitors. The Norwegian Dawn might be short two dozen restaurant workers because of an unexpected increase in reservations.

After calculating the disparity between supply and future demand, HR managers must draw up plans for bringing the two numbers into balance. If the demand for labor is going to outstrip the supply, they may hire more workers, encourage current workers to put in extra hours, subcontract work to other suppliers, or introduce labor-saving initiatives. If the supply is greater than the demand, they may deal with overstaffing by not replacing workers who leave, encouraging early retirements, laying off workers, or (as a last resort) firing workers.