Strategic Workforce Planning in Retail Sector-Samples for Students

Question: Analyze the different kind of crucial elements of the strategic workforce planning in the entire retail industry. Answer: Introduction The essay helps in analyzing the different kind of crucial elements of the strategic workforce planning in the entire retail industry. The different kind of challenges has to be addressed in an effectual manner with the usage of the different literatures as this will help in addressing the same in an effectual manner. The main aim and purpose of the essay is to understand the fundamental elements of the workforce planning in the retail industry specifically in Wal-Mart that is headquartered in United Kingdom. The challenges have to be described effectually as this will help in resolving the issues in an effectual manner. The structure of the essay includes the different kind of challenges that is faced by the retail industry wherein the different kind of solutions will be provided to resolve the issues in an efficient manner. Strategic Workforce Planning in Retail Sector Strategic Workforce Planning is essential in the different kind of organizations as this will help them in creating a working environment that is effective and efficient in nature. Goodman, French Battaglio Jr, (2015) has commented that proper workforce planning is required in order to bring and provide clarity in the plans of the organization along with description of the different kind of analytical functions as well. However, on the other hand Rees et al., (2018) commented that workforce planning requires continual procedure to align the different kind of needs along with priorities of the organization. For instance- Workforce Planning at Wal-Mart is continual in nature wherein the respective company recruits different kind of employees by conducting proper recruitment and selection process along with job descriptions along with person specifications. Proper job description has been provided to the company wherein the person specification has been provided in an effectual manner wherein the different skills are met in an effectual manner. Fagerstrm, Lnning Andersen, (2014) has commented that the different kind of components of the workforce planning is essential in nature as this will reduce the turnover rates along with forecasts of the potential retirements along with analysis of the performance management activities. However, on the other hand, Cohen, Blake Goodman (2016) commented that workforce planning is essential in nature wherein this will help in supporting the different kind of planning along with talent forecasts. Workforce planning helps in supporting the forecasting and budgeting process wherein it helps in identification of skill gaps in the organization along with analysis of the areas of the concern. For instance- Wal-Mart has introduced workforce planning in their organization wherein proper adoption of the new ideas has helped in analysis of the internal environment and action plan has helped the company in making the workforce planning effectual in nature. In order to make their organization high performing, Wal-Mart has developed proper budget and goal setting for them that has helped them in gaining competitive advantage in recruiting and selecting the employees efficiently as well. Crucial Components of strategic workforce planning There is different kind of crucial components of the strategic workforce planning wherein it is seen that main components are as follows: Firstly, De Bruecker et al., (2015) has commented that proper clarity of the different goals of the organizations is essential in nature wherein this will provide the company with different kind of techniques to solve the workforce planning issues and implement the strategies such as implement the process of planning with the help of the recruitment and selection process as this will help in providing clarity to the activities performed by the organization efficiently. On the other hand, Cohen, Blake Goodman (2016) has commented that the clarity of the different policies and procedures is essential in nature that is required to be adopted by the organization as this will help them in understanding the actual organizational structure of the organization effectually. For instance, Wal-Mart has helped in planning the different processes in a manner such that has helped them in managing the technological advancements. Wal-Mart has tried to analyze the gap in their recruitment and selection process along with specification of the jobs provided to the employees as well. Wal-Mart has tried to make different kind of adjustments along with other updates that has helped the company in improving their image relating to the planning of workforce in the entire market. Buchan et al., (2015) commented that workforce planning has helped the companies in identifying the different kind of skill gaps with proper planning and provides consistent reporting of the different results to quantify the different outcomes effectively. However, Cohen, Blake Goodman (2016) has stated that the turnover rates are increasing at a huge rate in retail sector as the planning process is at fault and the organizations are not in a position to take proper care to reduce such issues effectually as well. Challenges faced by organizations during Workforce planning implementation Workforce planning is an essential aspect of any organization. According to Cascio (2018), workforce planning can be described as a process whereby the organization aims to align the priorities of any organization with the suitability of the workforce to see to it that the service, production, legislative and regulatory requirements of the organization is met with. In this section the challenges related to the workforce planning will be discussed along with relevant examples related to the retail industry. The first challenge that is faced during the implementation of workforce planning in the retail industry in a company like Wal-Mart is that the leaders do not want to be taken accountable for the talent management activities (Walmart.com., 2018). Koochaki et al. (2013), states that although business leaders agree that the talent management is essential for the core functioning of the organization , the leaders do not essentially take full accountability for the results which are dries. The primary reason for the given gap is that they tend to have a fear regarding the HR administrative burden, complex procedures and talent management risks. The performance of the teams in a company like Wal-Mart needs to be managed carefully and continuously. Successful management of the performance may lead to better results of the organization. However as stated by Goetsch and Davis (2014), the business leaders do not want to take the burden of managing this and they often go back on their responsi bilities. The second challenge relates to the challenge of identifying critical organization roles. According to Cascio (2018), understanding of various job roles, descriptions, hiring profiles, competencies and other job attributes play a crucial role in hiring the right kind of people for the organization. The retail supermarket Wal-mart, is a customer centric organization whereby the employees of the organization need to remain in direct contact with the customers and thus they require a specific set of skills and this is the task of workforce planning to identify the right kind of skills that need to be present in the employee. The identification of these skills is a crucial task which many members of the organization are unable to undertake. The third challenge that is faced by organizations during workforce planning relates to the problem of accessing relevant workforce data. According to Williams (2013), the data with respect to the candidates and the employees need to be analyzed carefully, which will then enable them to make smart choices regarding their organization requirements. Very often due to the high availability of data, the company is unable to have the success of the right kind of data and this leads to problems. The managers at Wal-Mart face a similar problem whereby there exists a lack of relevant data which then causes problems. The fourth challenge is related to the leadership management in an organization. Very often industries look out for top 10 leaders or top 100 leaders, however, according to Armstrong and Taylor (2014) , in retail companies like Wal-Mart, the focus needs to be on the establishment of leadership pipelines deeper within an organization. As the retail industry is a customer centric industry, the companies face problems related to uncovering the talent of professionals in an organization which often get missed out during the workforce planning. As per Koochaki et al. (2013), a lack of this process may lead to the de-motivation of the employees which may then hinder their career development. Career development forms an essential part of the organization especially in a fast moving industry like that of Wal-Mart and a lack of it may cause higher turnover. The last challenge which may be faced by Wal-Mart in relation to workforce planning may be alignment of Human Capital Management with the Business Strategy. According to Goetsch and Davis (2014), it is very important for any organization to align the HCM strategy with the Business Strategy in order to create a successful workforce. Various talent management strategies need to be implemented under the business strategies. However, in reality Wal-Mart has been facing problems in relation to the alignment of the human resource strategy with the business strategy and for this reason, the workforce has a high turnover, which then leads to poor performance of the supermarket. Conclusion Therefore, from the given study on the critical components of workforce planning and the related challenges, it could be gathered that Workforce planning forms an essential part of an organization. Without a proper department which looks after the human resource of the organization, the firm will not be able to retain long term employees and become successful. The concerned organization taken for the assignment belonging to the retail industry is Wal-Mart. However, the essential elements of workforce planning like clarity in a firm and proper identification of gap is lacking in Wal-Mart and they need to take corrective measures for it. The various challenges being faced by them have been discussed. 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