What is Manpower Planning?

Man power planning helps in ensuring that an organization has the right kind of employees in sufficient numbers doing the right kind of job. It also makes sure that the employees doing a particular job are capable of performing the job efficiently and effectively. Coleman has described the process as “the process of determining manpower requirements and the means for meeting those requirements in order to carry out the integrated plan of the organization.”

The main features of manpower planning are:

1. It is future oriented and involves the forecasting of manpower requirements so that these demands can be fulfilled with timely and adequate supply of personnel.

2. It is a continuous process as the manpower demands of the organizations keep on changing with its needs and environment.

3. Manpower planning aims at the optimal use of the present and future workforce of the organization, thus it is required for getting maximum results from the investment in human resources.

4. Manpower planning involves both quantitative and qualitative aspects. While the quantitative aspects deal with the right number of people at a job, the qualitative aspect involves the search for the right kind of people for a particular job.

Manpower planning is done at both the macro level and the micro level. It is influenced by the environmental factors like employment rate, demographic changes, legal control and organizational policies at the macro level, the factors like technological changes, trade union pressure, gap in skill and competency and recruitment and selection affect the process of manpower planning at the micro level.