MANPOWER PLANNING AND ORGANISATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS
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MANPOWER PLANNING AND ORGANISATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Manpower planning is concerned with the scientific acquisition, optimal use, development, and proper upkeep of human resources. Although manpower planning is a relatively recent concept in the world of human management, there hasn’t been much published about it. However, with the increasing recognition of the need of planning human resources in an organisation due to anticipated changes in major organisations, manpower planning is now receiving a lot of attention.
However, manpower planning provides organisations with an overview of their complete workforce by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of human resources. This makes it easy to develop effective plans and initiatives to meet their expected needs.
The introduction of personnel planning into management circles has assisted organisations in researching ways to preserve and improve their ability to enhance their corporate image and achieve corporate goals. It has also assisted organisations in formulating plans to boost the current and future contributions of human capital to the organization’s survival.
To that aim, it is clear that manpower planning must be integrated into a competitive organization’s overall strategic plan. It must be integrated into business objectives and goals in order to attain high organisational competitiveness.
According to Ndukwe (2003), a company’s only competitive advantage nowadays is its ability to learn faster than its competitors. A culture of achievement can only exist when change is not just tolerated but actually embraced.
According to Nwachukwu (1997), one of the primary challenges that management faces in any organisation is determining the most effective ways of matching individuals with roles. What distinguishes a great organisation is its ability to accurately foresee the future.
Any organisation without proper manpower planning will always be on a perilous mission. In Nigeria, where both management and technical capabilities are limited, organisations must plan ahead of time to minimise problems in the future.
Manpower planning is vital because it provides top management with a better understanding of the human resource aspects of company choices. It should be mentioned, however, that the era of unsystematic and intuitive manpower management is over.
As a result, if manpower planning is not properly handled, the outcome will be worse than an unplanned scenario because the multiplier effect will influence all other functional areas of the organisation.
Manpower planning encompasses more than just anticipating future organisational competitiveness needs. It considers an organization’s present level of talents as well as the predicted vacancies caused by retirements, promotions, transfers, sick leave, discharges, or other reasons.
Overall, manpower planning is concerned with ensuring the best use of present human resources while also meeting the organization’s future personnel needs in terms of skills, sizes, and a variety of other criteria.
As a result, in order to meet the organization’s goals and objectives, the proper number of people with the right degree of abilities must be present at all times. In this regard, the organisation is regarded to be competitive.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In the banking industry, more focus is placed on areas such as information technology, marketing, and product development, at the expense of human resource development, particularly in terms of manpower planning. There is no stable or consistent programme or policy to improve organisations’ right and adequate staffing needs.
As a result, most persons who are unprepared for a specific job are simply sent to work in such sectors after receiving minimal or no training. These have caused more harm than good to the organisations.
Most banks have a pitiful budget for manpower planning in most fiscal years. In most situations, a significant portion of their money is allocated to information technology, marketing, new product development, and advertising.
Key decision makers in most banks agree that strategic manpower planning is a sine qua non for any bank. As a result, any organisation that wishes to continue in this highly competitive post-consolidation era must recognise that, in most situations, the profit derived from this is in no way commensurate to the long-term cost.
However, for any bank to be considered in this era of technology change, its personnel planning in relation to organisational competitiveness must be regularly modernised and upgraded to match the level of technical innovation in baking.
Previously, flexi cube banking software was the most popular among banks. It is increasingly being phased out in favour of finable, equinox, and other more efficient banking software.
Overall, any serious organisation would grasp the reality that no matter how advanced the technology, human inputs are still required to make it work, highlighting the importance of strategic manpower (workforce) planning.
This is significant because the human being is the brain behind everything in an organisation; thus, a rigorous examination of any organization’s success or failure will reveal that human resources play a significant influence in the end outcome. As a result, an effective and time-tested strategy is required.
1.3 PURPOSE OF STUDY
The interest in the study stems from the fact that, while some organisations may have abundant resources in terms of machines, employees, and other outputs, many lack the necessary personnel with organisational requirements for competitiveness, making it difficult to overcome challenges.
Human resources in an organisation can also be referred to as transformation capacity, which means that they can convert rich resources into goods and services for which demand exists or can be produced.
As a result, any organisation that treats its human resources haphazardly and fails to develop a systematic plan for them may eventually fall from the position of market leader to market follower.
Thus, the study will emphasise the relevance of workforce planning in organisational competitiveness. Finally, the study intends to conduct both descriptive and empirical analyses of personnel planning, with the goal of assessing the effectiveness of these strategies in increasing organisational competitiveness.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.
In this study, several essential questions will be answered to highlight the difficulties of personnel planning and organisational competitiveness faced by most organisations in the banking industry, as well as potential solutions to them. These questions include:
·Does manpower allocation for organisational planning and competitiveness align with recognised needs?
Are employees productive and efficient while planning for organisational competitiveness?
Is the projected personnel available and sufficient? Is there a relationship between workforce planning, organisational competitiveness, and modernization to keep up with technological advancement?
What are the biggest constraints for Zenith Bank’s workforce planning and organisational competitiveness?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
To offer systematic responses to the researcher’s queries, an attempt was made to investigate the link between variables highlighted in the study.
Therefore, the following hypothesis will be tested:
Hypothesis I.
Ho: Manpower planning may not have a substantial impact on organisational competitiveness.
HI: Manpower planning may have a substantial impact on organisational competitiveness.
Hypothesis II.
Ho: The planning function may not have a substantial impact on organisational competitiveness.
HI: The planning function may have a substantial impact on organisational competitiveness.
Hypothesis III.
Ho: There may be no substantial difference between workforce planning, organisational competitiveness, and modernization to keep up with technological advancements.
HI: There may be a substantial gap between workforce planning, organisational competitiveness, and modernization to keep up with technological advancements.
1.6 Significance of the Study
It is hoped that the findings of this study will be highly valuable to practicing managers who understand the need of carefully planning their human resources before they become unmanageable.
It is recommended for management researchers, consultants, and scholars interested in learning more about the impact of personnel planning on organisational competitiveness.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
The study’s goal is to investigate the importance of manpower planning in terms of organisational competitiveness. Some members of Zenith Bank’s headquarters and selected branches were picked for empirical testing based on certain criteria.
For the aim of description, a large number of textbooks and publications were read to consider the perspectives of many management practitioners on the subject.
However, the limitations inspired by this study should be emphasised, which stem from:
• The time allotted to conduct the study was significantly short, and acquiring information from many sources was not possible, limiting the sample chosen as a representative of the target population.
• The study was limited to Lagos state due to its metropolitan nature; also, the research decision was motivated by the fact that Lagos is the country’s commercial capital, and thus the conclusions gained in the research effort may be representative enough. Samples were selected using judgmental and convenience sampling procedures.
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