Human Resource Planning Model

Human Resource Planning and Development

For a company, human resource planning is the recognition of the future labour requirements needed and how these requirements are going to be met. Human resource planning is the process by which a company ensures that it has the right number and kind of staffs, at the right time in the right place for which they are economically most useful for a company. The use of human resource planning is a big deal for any organisation.

For employee develop, human resource development (HRD) is the framework. By which, employees can develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. Human resource development includes many opportunities such as employee training for developing them, performance management and development, mentoring, series planning, key employee identification, organization development and etc.

Human Resource Planning Model

Best Practice Model

Best Practice HRM is the idea that a particular bundle of HR practices has the potential to contribute to improved attitudes and behaviours, lower levels of absenteeism and labour turnover, and higher level of productivity, quality and customer service, ultimately generating higher organisational performance and profitability.

Marchington & Wilkinson (2002)

Components of best practice include employment security and internal promotion, selective hiring and firing, extensive training, learning and development, employee involvement and voice, high compensation upon organisational performance, reduction of status differentials, etc.

(Marchington & Willinson, 2002; Hughes & Julia M, 2002 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Vol.14 No.5)

Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Practice Model

In McDonald’s, more than 40% of senior managers have been promoted on the inside and not hired from outside directly. In the kitchen of the McDonald’s restaurant, crewmembers are started their career by working at the smallest possible level of the chain of command. So, they carry out learning, training and development programs on a regular basis and lengthily which is reflected in their HR activities. McDonald’s also offers high level of employment security. By implementing valuable and variable human resource activities, employee have been successful in developing dedicated and competent labour force who bring quality and customer satisfaction. By the recent market situation of McDonald’s, employers can be observed easily what the condition of them is.

On the other hand, according to the best practice model, employers can take long term view of strategy. In addition, from the view of personal experience, it is observed that the lowest level staffs (who work in the kitchen) generally do not have awareness of the strategy of the organisation.

Also, some company’s strategy is different. To cite an example, the lowest level staff of ASDA , they can give suggestion for the organisation. Their opinion senior management level can be considered or received. In additional, reward of the employee is totally appraisal based not on performance based.

From the above discussion, it can be said that McDonald’s is practising many components of the best practice model but do not implement full best practice model.      

Best-Fit (Contingency) Model

There are three different models are defined under contingency as below

(1) Business Life Cycle, (2) Strategy/Structure, and (3) Business Strategies

(1) Business Life Cycle

It includes four stages of organisational development for example, start-up, growth, maturity, and decline. This model also includes some human resource functions such as recruitment and selection, reward and benefit, staff training and improvement, employee relationships and etc with business life cycle stages.

Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Fit (Contingency) Model (Business Life Cycle)

If McDonald’s, want to open a new branch still today anywhere in the world, continue recruitment all around the year. (HR department, Headquarters, McDonald’s) As seen earlier, Training and development has been practiced regularly and comprehensively. According to the Best fit model, during the growth stage, McDonald’s recruit sufficient members and run through effective management and organisational growth. To match with HR function of an organisation, McDonald’s always try to control labour costs, maintaining staff peace and getting better productivity during maturity stage.

It is very difficult to say exactly that McDonald’s is in which stage of Business Life Cycle but they are mature and growing at particular rate.

(2) Strategy/structure

Miles and Snow (1984), Cite in Bratton and Gold (1999) identified four modes of strategic orientations: Defenders, Prospectors, Analysers, and Reactors.

Defenders companies have limited product line and the management focus on getting better the efficiency of their existing operations. HR practices in defenders include extensive and long-term focus, well defined career ladders, clear grading structures, employee share ownership, well-established HR function, etc. Prospectors are companies with fairly broad product lines that focus on product innovation and market opportunities. It is right performance standards and expectations (Bratton and Gold, 1999)

Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Fit (Contingency) Model (Strategy/structure)

By extensive training and development, McDonald’s corporate strategy and issue want to improve their efficiency and always running to take the product into new markets. So, it can be said that McDonald’s is followed the combination of Defenders and Prospectors.

(3) Business Strategies (This model is based upon Porter’s competitive advantage model)

Michael Porter’s (1980; cited in Bratton and Gold, 1999) formulated a framework that describes three competitive strategies: low cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy. In a differentiation strategy, managers try to distinguish their services and products-such as brand image or quality. In this way, value is added to the product and reflected in the product price. (Purcell, 1999 Human Resource management Journal Vol.9 No.3)

Effectiveness in achieving organisational objectives to Best Fit (Contingency) Model (Business Strategies)

By distinguishing McDonald’s brand and providing quality of food and service around the world, McDonald’s has achieved their present position. They have standard recruitment methods and policies, and highly focussed training and learning, reward system for staff remuneration. In McDonald’s, line management function is very close with HR function, which has come from their HR strategy and activities.

So, From the above discussion, it can be said that McDonald’s is following differentiation strategy.