Struggling with Manpower Planning? Seeking Practical Tips Beyond Theory

I am doing manpower planning for a department. I have read articles and books and understood the theoretical approach to it, but I face problems in practically applying it. Can you suggest some practical ways for planning the manpower?

It's very simple. Set up a meeting with department heads or line managers and discuss their requirements in detail, such as position/designation, job details, qualifications, grades, time limit, temporary or permanent status, and salary, etc.

Hope this will help you take initiative. Wishing you all the luck.

Best regards,
Shakeel

You can adopt function-wise analysis to determine how much manpower each function requires. For example, finance, marketing, maintenance, or packaging.

Then conduct role-wise analysis in each function to understand how many roles are necessary to perform each function. A function is carried out through various roles such as Finance Manager, Finance Officer, Finance Executive, and Accounts Clerk/Assistant.

Next, identify the gap between the required number of roles and the current workforce manning those roles.

Additionally, factor in the number of employees likely to retire within a year.

Consider the additional manpower needed both role-wise and function-wise, taking into account any business expansion plans and the timeframe in which they are required.

Take into consideration any modernization plans that may reduce manual processes.

These are broad guidelines that can assist in manpower planning.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai

For manpower planning, you have to conduct a time-motion study on the job. This will enable you to determine the actual manpower requirements for each section, or you can obtain this information from the production department. Subsequently, you need to plan for the manpower accordingly.

Regards,
D. Gurumurthy
HR/IR Consultant

All the suggestions are quite relevant. I also want to know about the complete processes of manpower planning. Therefore, I am requesting all members to please provide some more suggestions on this particular topic. 

Looking forward to the replies.

Regards,
Shweta Singh

Thank you for all your inputs! Mr. Sai Kumar and Shakeel, I do agree that meeting with the department heads and analyzing the manpower will get the job done. However, is that the right way? Because I have a feeling, "Will the HOD mind increasing the cost of unnecessary manpower or not?"

Thanks,

S. Sanjeevi

Manpower planning does not mean merely increasing manpower, but also planning how to deploy the existing manpower to secure optimum utilization of resources, thereby reducing the need to recruit more manpower. It involves planning how to effectively utilize existing skills and how to eliminate redundant jobs, among other considerations. Through this approach, you can control the costs associated with recruiting manpower.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai