ESSENNTIALS OF HRM

1) With the world returning to normalcy post the

pandemic, as an HR hiring manager you have the task of
forecasting the demand for the next year to make sure you
hire the right number and right kind of people. Explain
the techniques of HR demand forecasting that you will
employ in depth.
What is Demand Forecasting?
Demand forecasting refers to the process of estimating future customer demand
based on available historical sales data. Similar to sales forecasting, demand
forecasting is a crucial business management process that provides a business with
extensive benefits.

Both qualitative and quantitative forecasting methods are commonly used by

business professionals. Choosing the proper forecasting method or a combination of
forecasting methods depends upon specific business objectives and deadlines.

Strategic planning and business management are both heavily influenced by

demand forecasting. Short term and long term business objectives ranging from
supply chain management to capacity planning are additionally impacted by demand
forecasting.

Modern day technology has produced demand forecasting methods that are more
advanced and accurate than ever before. Automated machine learning and
algorithmic predictions are being adopted by large corporations that recognize the
incredible value of proper demand forecasting.
The Importance of Demand Forecasting
Improper forecasting can have significant negative short term and long term impacts
on a business's longevity and success. When a demand forecasting process
accurately predicts future customer demand, businesses are much more efficient,
effective, and productive.

Many business planning processes and business decisions are directly affected by
demand forecasting including-

 Employee scheduling
 Cash flow
 Capacity planning
 Supply chain management
 Inventory planning
 Market research
 New product formulation
 Inventory control
  Risk assessment
 Performance evaluation
Technologically advanced demand forecasting incorporates various data points
seamlessly. Both short term and long term factors like mergers, market events, and
sales indicators are considered in real time without necessitating extensive
employee independent research.

Case studies have confirmed that human bias can be disastrous to sales forecasting
and demand forecasting. Technological advances in demand forecasting have
created the potential to predict sales without human bias.

Businesses should evaluate forecasting results carefully whenever making business

decisions including undertaking business expansion or product development
initiatives.
How to Develop a Demand Forecast
Creation of a sales forecast and demand forecast is benefitted by collaboration
between customers, stakeholders, and suppliers. The three main steps for
developing a reliable demand forecast include analysis of-
1. Historical Demand
Interpreting data points without context is a serious forecasting mistake with
potentially disastrous short term and long term business consequences. Without
factoring in how individual components affected customer demand levels, data points
can mislead businesses.

Business professionals who are seasoned in sales forecasting and demand

forecasting will not only recognize any data point abnormalities but look for
opportunities to replicate prior successes in the future.
2. Market Trends
From case studies to market research analysis, there is an abundance of data points
for demand forecasters to sift through. Instead of basing forecast on media
projections, utilize these concrete pieces of marketplace data correctly.

Customer feedback is crucial to predict future customer demand and may be

obtained through a variety of methods.

Statistical reviews of market trends and customer order history are a great starting
point and can be supplemented with more personal feedback opportunities such as
customer surveys and telephone correspondences.

Continuous communication is key to extracting the information businesses need to

accurately demand forecast. Create a dialogue with friendly competitors, financial
advisors, and customers.

Human Resource Planning and Demand Forecasting

Techniques
Human capital is the most valuable asset a company possesses. Human resource
planning is a process used to predict future human resource requirements. Human
resource forecasting, also known as HR forecasting, generally utilizes past sales
data in order to more accurately estimate future staffing needs.

HR forecasting begins with performing comprehensive job analyses and estimating

employee output levels. Factoring in the labor market and labor supply helps with
both human resource planning and resource management optimization.

There are both quantitative and qualitative approaches for forecasting human
resource demands. While quantitative methods are heavily reliant on mathematical
and statistical analysis, qualitative forecasts generally depend more on managerial
judgement techniques.

Both internal and external factors must be considered during the HR forecasting
process. An example of an internal factor is the release of a new product and an
example of an external factor is a technological advancement.

While some businesses may choose a single demand forecasting technique, other
businesses may utilize multiple forecasting techniques collaboratively. Regardless of
which forecasting processes are used, it is crucial for human resource management
professionals to also consider their own expertise and intuition.

There are a wide variety of demand forecasting techniques used for human resource
planning. Common forecasting techniques used to estimate human resource
demand include-
1. Managerial Judgement
The managerial judgement technique includes the bottom up approach and top down
approach. In the bottom up approach, line managers communicate human resource
requirements to top management.

Applying the information received directly from their line managers, top management
forecasts human resource requirements. The end result of the bottom up approach is
a demand forecasting process that incorporates input from various departments.

In the top down approach of the managerial judgement technique, top management
begins the demand forecasting process. After their human resource forecasting is
completed, top management sends the forecast to departments for them to analyze
and accept.

A combination of the top down and bottom up approach is referred to as the

participative approach. The participative approach allows department heads and top
management professionals to forecast human resource requirements collectively.

The participative approach is a human resource planning forecasting technique that

encourages collaboration while decreasing communication gaps. For this reason, the
participative approach is generally preferable to the top down and bottom up
approach.
2. Work Study Technique
Commonly referred to as workload analysis, the work study technique predicts
comprehensive activities and production for a specified future time period. The end
result of the work study technique is an estimation of the work hours required per
unit produced.

When estimating future work hours needed, human resource management

professionals must take into consideration-

 Resignations
 Dismissals
 Strikes
 Technical difficulties
 Absenteeism
 Turnover rate
The more experienced the human resource management professionals performing
the work study technique are, the more accurate their estimate for resources
required is likely to be.
3. Econometrics Models
The econometrics model analyzes the relationship of an dependent variable with an
independent variable. An example of an dependent variable are human resources
and an example of an independent variable are sales.

Statistical and mathematical techniques used throughout the econometrics model

allows human resource management professionals to estimate future demand with
significant accuracy.
4. Delphi Technique
The Delphi technique utilizes expert feedback in order to predict the human
resources requirements that are necessary in the future. Human resource
management professionals gather responses and develop reports that
comprehensively summarize expert opinions.

The process of collecting feeback and creating reports is continued until a unified
consensus is reached between the experts. For this reason, the Delphi technique
can be a long term process if experts do not agree.
5. Regression Analysis
Regression analysis is a statistical method used to identify trends contained within
data. Identifying trends helps business professionals to better understand their
human resource requirements and optimize labor supply already available.

Regression analysis investigates the relationship between a predictor and a target,

also known as independent and dependent variables. The dependent variable
includes factors that businesses are trying to predict or gain additional insight about.

The independent variable includes factors that may or may not influence the
dependent variable. Keep in mind that independent variables never predict
dependent variables with complete accuracy.
Key Takeaways
Human capital is a business's most valuable asset. Human resource planning aims
to predict future human resource requirements. HR forecasting uses historical data
in order to more accurately estimate the human resource requirements that will be
needed in future.

There are many HR forecasting techniques available including the Delphi method
and managerial judgmenent technique.

Regardless of which forecasting process is used, human resource professionals

should always consider their own intuition and experience.

2) As seen in recent trends, organizations have moved away from traditional induction methods to
many more interesting ways to welcome their new recruits. Take industry examples and share how
will you design induction for new employees in an innovative way.

10 Ways to Improve your Employee Induction

Process
Your employee induction process is often what makes or breaks an employee’s experience at a
company. A great induction or on boarding experience helps settle your new employee in, and
avoid workplace issues in the future. Here are 10 tips to make it great!
A successful employee induction process sets up an employee for a great experience with your
company; however, if this process does not go so well, it is more likely your new employee will
have a difficult time at your company, perhaps even resigning down the track.
For this reason, employee onboarding should be taken quite seriously. You need to quickly
determine what you can do to maximise the likelihood that an employee will be successful with
the company and then focus your induction around these activities.
Here are 9 methods to add to your employee induction checklist to ensure a great on boarding
experience for your next hire.

Prepare an induction checklist

When we first started, we’d just try and remember what we needed to take a new employee
through. Now, we have a 3 page document that outlines pre-start (things like computer set-up,
email set-up, etc) on the first day (show emergency exits, explain software, etc) and first week
(training sessions, larger overview of organisation).
It needn’t even be that long, however I would recommend at least some form of checklist that
covers the basics of your employee induction process. For example, you can include items such
as;
  Introduction to team leader or direct manager
 Performance standards and expectations of new employee
 Office/work times
 Introduction to team members
 Team roles and responsibilities
 Organisational chart
 Layout of office – I use a hand drawn map where people sit, and put their names and roles
on there too.
 Security issues and access to the office
 Safety procedures
Make them feel welcome
It’s quite easy to become so fixated on getting your new employee up-to-speed that you forget to
encourage them to feel welcome. There are a number of activities you can do, besides the usual
‘walk around and introduce them to everyone’. For example;
 Get the team together and go around in the group and ask each individual to tell everyone
something unique about themselves.
 Buy a couple of helium balloons and tie them to the new employee’s desk. Get everyone to
sign a ‘welcome to the team’ card.
 Enjoy a team lunch on their first day
 Post a welcome on your company social media accounts.
Have a job description
A job description doesn’t need to be long and academic. I prefer a one single page approach,
where we list the most important duties, as well as experience and skills.
For example, we keep ours strictly to one page with the following headings;
 Role title
 Last updated
 Authored by
 Position statement (literally a few paragraphs)
 Key tasks (normally a list of dot points)
 Role requirements (more dot points)
These needn’t be long, however it is very important they are truly reflective of the role; I make a
point of reviewing these every year with the people who are actually employed in these roles.

Encourage your whole team to be involved

When many people think of employee induction, they have a vision of sitting in a conference
room while a single presenter delivers a long-winded PowerPoint presentation for hours on end.
We encourage a different approach. Sure, have a checklist as I’ve mentioned above, however
encourage different topic experts to deliver each segment, and spread it over a few days, to
avoid overwhelming your new employee all in one day.

Discuss your company values and vision

In the first few days, it is vital that you sit down with the new employee, and take them through
your company values and vision and what they all mean. Ask your recruit what the values mean
to them, and if they have any questions.
You will find this a lot easier if you prepare a good document that helps explain your company
values beforehand. We’ve written an article, Creating company values that boost company
culture which goes into depth on this topic.

Encourage social interaction with your team

If you can, ensure that your new person has a team member or two that they can rely on to ask
questions and help them settle in. It’s a good idea to encourage the team to all pitch in and help
with the small things, such as good places nearby to eat, etc.
One activity we always try to do is have a Friday drinks at the end of the new employees first
week. This gives the team a chance to unwind together, and interact with their new colleague in
a relaxed and friendly environment.

Outline your expectations clearly

Although your role description will carry some of the detail, it is important to lead each employee
through the expectations you for them, along with why they are important to the company
success.
For example, if you have a policy around booking leave in advance, ensure you explain the
policy (bonus points if you have it documented somewhere!) and give a reason why, for example
‘We ask that people give four weeks notice, so we can prepare your colleagues to cover your
workload effectively whilst you are away’.
There are many situations that policies or at least documentation could be created for the benefit
of communication. Anything you expect, you cannot just assume that new hires, or even existing
employees, will just now by instinct.

Look for creative ways to welcome your new hire

For example, at Australian startup, Appbot, they give all new employees a gift of a ‘cubebot’. See
this article, How Appbot works on creating a great culture, written by one of the co-founders, for
more information on that.
At Blinds.com they create a custom welcome video (here’s an example) before their first day on
the job. They also get a tour of the entire business with the CEO, Jay Steinfeld.
At Bonobos, the hiring manager sends out an e-mail to the entire company introducing a new
employee. The e-mail includes a brief biography and a photograph of the employee. It also
includes a trivia game that is called “Two truths and a lie.”
These are fun facts about the new employee, but only two of the three are true. In order to figure
out the lie, employees are encouraged to meet the new employee. The first person to identify the
lie correctly gets a $25 store credit.

Follow up regularly
Don’t just complete your first weeks induction and leave it! Schedule a face to face with the new
employee after a few weeks, and find out what is going on with them, what challenges they have
found integrating with your team, etc.
It is vital in those early days that you are easily accessible by any new employee, so they can
learn and understand your expectations and vision for the team.

Ask your new employee for feedback

The best way to improve your employee induction process is to ask your recent hires about their
experiences.
For example, these three questions normally yield some good answers;
 What is something you wish we had explained better in the first week?
 What’s one piece of advice you would give to the next person who is hired?
 How could we have done a better job of your induction? What could be improved?
This gives you great feedback to consider and include in your future inductions, as your team
grows.
Summary
New employees need to feel at home, and become as productive as possible in the shortest
amount of time. A little effort from management and some planning around your employee
induction process can reap the rewards for everyone, quickly.
The nine points we raised, again are;
 Prepare an induction checklist
 Make them feel welcome
 Have a job description
 Encourage your whole team to be involved
 Discuss your company values and vision
 Encourage social interaction with your team
 Outline your expectations clearly
 Look for creative ways to welcome your new hire
 Follow up regularly
 Ask your new employee for feedback
All the best with your next hire, and congratulations for growing the team!