Unit 16 | P1 | Describe the internal and external factors to consider when planning the human resource requirements of an organisation

Describe the internal and external factors to consider when planning the human resource requirements of an organisation

Internal planning factors: organisational needs eg demand for products and services, new products and services, new markets, technological change, location of production; skills requirements; workforce profiles (age, gender, ethnicity, ability)

The internal factors of my business idea should be planned sufficiently because there are many factors that need to be considered. This website is mainly a service platform, where customers will be able to post what they need to be graphically designed – so therefore the level of demand for this specific service needs to be considered and monitored constantly. There could always be new markets where this business idea could strike so there always needs to be a representative seeking over these markets so the opportunity is not missed. Technological change is a key factor that needs to be considered all the time when talking about a technological, online business. If there is a new platform of device or handset being released – such as a new operating system with a new smartphone – this app should be optimised for that OS as well, to be among the first few organisations who support that environment. For an online business like this, workforce profiles do not need to be considered unless there will potentially be an office space where these employees would have to work closely together. I think that in the beginning, this business idea could be managed from home – even if there are employees, they could work from home too until the organisation makes enough money to move into an office space. If that happens, the organisation will need to consider the age, gender, ethnicity and abilities of their employees so that no form of discrimination will occur. The age category for this online business should be from 18 to about 25, the gender should be mixed equally, ethnicity should not matter and the abilities should reflect on the needs of the business. If these are not met accordingly, there could be a form of discrimination within the workforce which will cause the business to reduce their workflow, and potentially their profits.

External planning factors: supply of labour (international, national, regional, local, long-term trends, short-term trends); labour costs; workforce skills; government policy; labour market competition; changing nature of work; employee expectations eg full-time, part-time, permanent, temporary, casual work; impact of automation; demand for products and services

When external factors need to be considered, there is a lot of small things that it comes down to; short – and long-term trends, demand for products and services, employee work expectations etc. With a business idea of such, both long – and short-term trends are one of the keys to success. Holidays like Christmas, Easter, New Year, even Summer or Winter need to be considered as when these dates are approaching, the level of demand for according graphic design needs rise. The demand for products and services highly depend on short – and long-term trends, as for example when Christmas is coming up, people will start to look for according outfits, Christmas lights, banners – and even big organisations will switch up their billboard designs to match the spirit of Christmas. Employees working for an online business could not always expect it to be part-time, even though that's what they mostly think it is; working from their home, relaxing etc. This is not always the case. Depending on the needs of the business, most business have an office space where people are employed at least 5 days a week full-time to keep the business up and running, and to maintain their level of customer service and such in general.