Engagement with the work is one of the most important factors that affect overall employee performance, and thus, managers should be aware of how to increase it effectively. As such, higher levels of satisfaction with the job are positively associated with engagement. Moreover, another antecedent of high engagement is trust between the worker and supervisor. Such a sentiment usually appears due to good understanding, open and honest communications, fair treatment, and consistency, to name a few (Mello, 2014). As a result, high engagement with the work leads to greater innovative behavior, better performance, increased commitment, and reduced turnover rate.
There are generally five major objectives of strategic workforce planning. The first objective that any company should pursue includes avoiding under- and overstaffing. The former should be prevented as a shortage of the workforce signifies that there is still customer demand that should be satisfied. The latter, in turn, should be avoided as an excessive number of workers means that the cost per product unit will increase significantly.
Therefore, having the optimal number of workers ensures a competitive advantage because the company can keep low production costs and satisfy the existing demands. The second objective is related to having people with the right skills in the right place at the right time. It guarantees the organization’s ability to use the human resources at the maximum and, through that, outperform its competitors.
The third objective includes proactive behavior towards the changes in the environment. It implies that companies should anticipate possible economic, political, technological, and legislative changes and develop action plans accordingly. As a result, such a strategy would lead to greater flexibility and a stronger competitive advantage. Providing direction and coherence to all HR activities and systems – is the fourth objective that companies should pursue. It ensures that HR functions are organized in a way that helps organizations to reach their goals faster and with reduced costs. Finally, promoting cooperation between line and staff managers is the last major objective.
Aggregate and succession planning are of great importance as they allow an organization to sustain high productivity levels. Indeed, anticipating the need for an additional labor force or management position in the future helps to prepare for changes in advance. Contrary, due to the time needed to hire and train new workers, organizations may encounter a decrease in production and, consequently, reduced ability to compete.
Reference
Mello, J. A. (2014). Strategic human resource management (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.