How Do I Tackle Short-Term Manpower Planning in a CA Firm with 120 Employees?

Hi friends,

How are you? Thanks for accepting my friend request. I do have one issue, can you help me? I have been asked by my boss to do short-term manpower planning for 6 months to 1 year. Can you assist me? I am working in a CA firm with a manpower strength of 120 employees. We have internal, statutory, and taxation departments. I am new to this industry; previously, I was with an IT company. In the past, the process was based on general estimation. Now, we want to do it properly. Can you help me with this? Please, it's urgent. Tell me soon.

Regards,
Swati Saxena

Hi Swathi,

As you need to prepare the manpower planning, you can contact the line managers or conduct a survey by preparing a questionnaire regarding the work against the manpower and the working hours. Analyze it and present it to your boss. Then, you can have a clear understanding of where the manpower is needed and how much is required. Take feedback from the employees with the approval of your boss.

Thanks & Regards,
Arjun

Hi Swati,

First of all, talk to your manager and get better clarity on your assignment. Find out how it was being done earlier, what data he wants now, and what is the purpose of the data. Second, talk to line managers to get forecasts - general forecasts are fine, but try to get specifics. Also, research your clients - how are they doing? What are their business plans? Look for industry reports and forecasts from leading consultants. Work out the manpower you will need, based on the forecasts and the skillsets already available in your organization. Finally, present alternative scenarios, and the manpower planning under each.

Hope these points help. I'm sure your manager entrusted this task to you because he was sure you'd be able to do it!

Thanks to all of you. But the problem is we do have managers, CAs, and Trainees to go for audit and complete the assignment. However, they are all involved in execution. What we do is provide training to trainees, and they go for the audit with seniors. Even seniors are also involved in execution. I think I should focus on CAs who are senior and should do planning at this level because if they would be competent, they can lead a team. Please suggest.

As planning is basically required for different departments, it is always better to have the view of the line managers, their targets for the year, and the manpower requirements. If a particular department cannot achieve the target, then only should you intervene with a questionnaire.

Dear Swathi,

Just go through the MRF (Manpower Requisition Form) and plan accordingly. You can plan for short-term as well as long-term; however, whenever you plan for manpower, you must consider both resignations and people going on vacation for that particular period.

Regards,
Sree Kumar
UAE
:-P

Dear Swati,

For effective manpower planning, you need the following information:
- Company targets
- Job descriptions
- Man-hours
- Manpower costs (budget)

With this information, you will be able to create an organizational chart for effective manpower planning.

Regards,
Kumar

Good morning,

Suggestions for conducting manpower planning: Start by listing the current headcount along with their respective cost centers (functions/departments). Discuss the expansion plan with the line managers each quarter. Once you have the numbers for increased headcounts, evaluate their productivity (each employee) accordingly. Align this information with the expansion plan and the budgeted headcount. Finally, propose the plan to your management.

Swati,

What you are seeking is nothing but proper planning of your management. You need to assess if your resources, specifically the manpower, are truly necessary. If so, then you can proceed with your planned actions for the job. If you still encounter issues, feel free to reach out to me for further assistance.

Yousuf Hanif
Industry Consultant