HR Planning and Manpower Plan

From the above figures given about sales and the number of customers for the last five years, we can deduce that sales and patronage started to drop from the year 1999. The decrease has been progressive. Sales decrease as wastage increases. Many factors can be attributed to this. MM has exhibited two major strategies, that is, Quality and cost reduction strategies. Quality strategy is about having an image and developing a brand name, which MM did. They also kept to the standards of the brand reputations.

Cost reduction was pursued through increased use of part-time employees, measurement procedures and job assignment flexibility. The primary focus of these measures is to increase productivity, that is, output cost per employee. This was done through the reduction of the numbers of employees and reduction in pay levels by keeping salaries under severe control. Obviously all these had adverse effects on the company as reflected by the two tables above.

1. 2. Task and Problem identification

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As a consultant brought in to review the situation of things at MM, I will try to identify the problems and offer suggestions to improve matters.

From the data given, strategy is focused on short-term cost saving and profit targets rather than adopting a long-term view of building skills and competency in the employees . The reduction in salaries helped in the loss of sales as less qualified employees was left in the company. MM need to match the quality of their brand with a good pay as other competitors as low pay makes it difficult to attract and retain existing employees. Customer contact is mostly with sales staff that if dissatisfied with their job will not be motivated to provide quality service.

It is obvious that competitors with better pay might have attracted most of the employees. To create flexibility in recruitment and retention, management needs to balance part-time and full-time employees and overtime. High pay tends to assist recruitment and increase retention while low pay will do the reverse. It is good to be flexible but there are implications of part-time in terms of costs e. g. headcount Feedback system needs to be put into use as this allows communication between management and employees.

Problems can be easily identified at its early stage and gives room for consultation. The management should attempt to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of current employees. The reason for no feedback might also be that there was no staff left to comment as everyone leaves once they get better offers. The issue of taking time off in lieu needs to be addressed as this might lead to the company being understaffed during peak periods as employees might take days off when business is busy. If they pay for overtime, the employees will be further motivated into providing quality service.

MM is not operating a formal personnel practice by having no formal selection tests. A quality product requires employees with knowledge of the brand and must be able to match requirements. They maintain a program to motivate employees towards the goal of providing intensive service but offer little training. Training should be specifically directed with feedback and assessment as essential ingredient. Proper induction of all new employees is important. The diverse experience that an employee undergoes during the period goes a long way in shaping his/her later work attitudes and behaviour.

The loss of sales and high turnover rate may be as a result of cultural shock, and employees move off quickly as they do not feel they fit with the company. MM should take the utmost care in providing the right kind of exposure of the cultures of the company to new entrants so that the desired attitudes and values are inculcated in them from the onset. The use of commission is a good incentive to motivate employees into higher performance but the individual bonus scheme is obviously not promoting teamwork amongst employees.

It also does not portray quality professionalism when employees argue over which salesperson a customer belongs to in front of customers. MM should adopt a team bonus scheme whereby employees are encouraged to work as a group and this can result in higher commitment and better problem solving. It also helps maximise staff retention. Lastly, MM need to review its promotion strategy, as the one in place will not motivate staff to stay. They need to reduce the number of years for each level of promotion. A junior staff will have to be in the company for at least fourteen years to get to managerial level.

We also need to understand that there is really no turnover at the managerial level, so this means a longer waiting period as there has to be a vacancy. The junior sales level also has the highest turnover rate, and at this rate, it might be difficult to even get a junior sales person with three years experience to be promoted to senior sales level. MM obviously needs employees with understanding of the company processes, a quality workforce with suitable skills and consciousness of the quality in goods and services produced.

Conclusion

1. MM's management objectives

Overall, MM's management objectives should be to increase sales and patronage of both UK and Tourists who do believe in the quality of their products and services and implementing and introducing the changes highlighted above can achieve this. Much better planning of the workforce is required, a change in pay system and the creation of better work environment.

2. Wastage Analysis

Wastage analysis is used to analysis the rates at which employees are leaving an organisation. It matters who leave in Voluntary wastage as the company builds its plans on them being there and it is expensive and time consuming to replace them.

A great deal of recruitment, training, development and promotions in a company take place because people leave. Analysis of wastage data helps to assess the outflow from the organization It is necessary to apply wastage rates by length of service to stocks of people. From the above calculations, it is obvious that there is a high turnover especially at junior sales level. This indicates a need to review recruitment and induction methods adopted by the company. There are limitations to the information given.

To effectively understand and interpret wastage, we need to look at the length of service distribution of the groups of employees we are considering. Also it does not indicate the percentage of part-time and full-time staffs. According to the data, there is obviously a problem but lack of historical data makes it difficult to draw any detailed conclusion, we can only speculate.

3. The Manpower Plan

An organisation that is searching for a place to begin its Manpower planning would well be advised to begin by looking at its wastage pattern.

Manpower planning can be defined as the process by which an organisation ensures that its supply of manpower matches its demand. It is concerned with the organization's most volatile resource. It implies a desire and an ability to identify and select from a range of objectives. Having determined the need for manpower, MM needs to find out whom they are employing and how these employees may develop in future. Attempts to do this often concentrate on counting Manpower strengths. Feedback is important in planning processes and will allow plans and forecasts at all stages to be reviewed.

We also need to see how Manpower objectives should be seen in conjunction with the organization's overall objective, which is to make profit; manage costs; and reduce wastage.

The following plans are recommended:

Plans for Recruitment Recruitment gives an organisation the opportunity to change its nature and the structure of its labour force. It is obvious that there are problems with the current recruitment process in MM. Designing a new recruitment process that will take into account the needs of the business will be a good start off. Plans for Promotion Promotion route in MM is long and poorly defined.

There is also no opportunity to transfer skills within the organization. MM needs to improve and maintain retention and commitment by properly managing its promotion policy.

Plans for Training

Training provides a source of supply in employees both in the present and future. MM should put a big emphasis on adequate training to improve employee's productivity and performance, which will assist them to do their job well. They should also give room for employees to deputise afterwards will allow them to effectively match up skills gained with experience on the shop floor.

Plans for Career Development / Reward

Career development helps to improve and develop staff for progression within the company. It helps retention as it motivates staff to effectively match demand with supply of labour. Reward management should be utilised as a strategic tool to retain, recruit, motivate and manage corporate performance. With reference to MM, employees leave when they are offered better reward by another organization. Employees see reward systems as signalling the importance the employee places on various activities. MM should therefore review its reward policy.

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