Human Resource Management:
Gaining a Competitive Advantage

Chapter 5
Human Resource Planning and
Recruitment

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
 Discuss how to align a company’s strategic direction with its
HR planning.
 Determinelabor demand for workers in various job categories.
 Discuss advantages and disadvantages of various ways to
eliminate a labor surplus and avoid a labor shortage.
 Describe various recruitment policies that organizations
adopt to make job vacancies more attractive.
 List various sources from which job applicants can be drawn,
their advantages and disadvantages, and evaluation methods.
 Explain the recruiter’s role, limits and opportunities in the
recruitment process.
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3 Stages in HR Planning
1. Forecasting
2. Goal Setting and Strategic

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Downsizing
Pay reductions
Demotions
Transfers
Work sharing
Hiring freeze
Natural attrition
Early retirement
Retraining

Fast
Fast
Fast
Fast
Fast
Slow
Slow
Slow
Slow

High
High
High


Speed

Revocability

Fast
Fast
Fast
Slow
Slow
Slow
Slow

High
High
High
High
Moderate
Low
Low

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Downsizing
Downsizing is the planned elimination of
large numbers of personnel designed to
enhance organizational competitiveness.
4 Reasons for Downsizing:
1. reduce labor costs

 a fear that Social Security will be cut
 mandatory retirement is outlawed

Many employers tryvoluntary attrition among
older workers through early retirement incentive
programs.
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Employing Temporary Workers
Hiring temporary workers helps eliminate a
labor shortage and affords flexibility needed
to operate efficiently during swings in demand.
3 Advantages:
1. temporary workers free a firm from
administrative tasks and financial burdens
2. temporary workers are often times tested by a
temporary agency
3. many temporary agencies train employees
before sending them to employees

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Outsourcing and Off-shoring
Outsourcing is an organization’s use of an outside
organization for a broad set of services.
Off-shoring is a special case of outsourcing where
the jobs that move actually leave one country and
go to another.

Recruiter Traits
&Behaviors

Applicant
Characteristics

Recruitment
Sources

Recruitment Influences
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Personnel Policies
 Organizational decisions that affect the nature of
the vacancies for which people are recruited.
 Characteristics of the vacancy are more
important than recruiters or recruiting sources.
 Personnel Policies vary:
 Internal versus External recruiting
 Extrinsic versus Intrinsic rewards
 Employment-at-will policies
 Image advertising

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Recruitment Sources
Colleges& Universitiescampus placement services



Recruiters
Functional Area
- HR versus operating area specialist

Traits
- warm and informative

Realism
- realistic job preview
- honesty
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2 Steps to Enhance Recruiter Impact

1. Provide timely feedback
1. Provide timely feedback

2. Recruit
in teams
2. Avoid rude
behavior
3. Recruit in teams

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Summary
 HR planning uses labor supply and demand