In organizations, it is important to determine the current and future organizational requirements of staffers and the labor quotas based on their skills and technical skills, competencies, flexibility, among others. The analysis requires consideration of the internal and external factors that can have an effect on the resourcing, development, motivation and retention of employees and other workers.
External factors are those largely outside the control of the organization. These include such topics as the economic climate and current and future trends in the labor market (eg, skills, education, government investment in industries, etc.). On the other hand internal influences are largely controlled by the organization to predict, determine and control the culture of the organization, backed by management style, climate, environment and approach to ethics and social responsibility.
Major trends
Knowing the business environment of an organization operates in three major trends should be considered:
Demographics: The characteristics of a population/workforce, for example, age, sex or social class. This type of trend may have an effect on the supply of pensions, insurance packages, and so on.
Diversity: variation in the population or workplace. Changes in society now means that a greater proportion of organizations are made up of “baby boomers” or older workers compared to thirty years ago. Advocates of “diversity at work” just a supporter of employee base that is reflective of the composition of society as race, gender, sexual orientation, etc..
Skills and abilities: industries move from manual to more managerial professions so does the need for more highly skilled graduates. If the market is “tight” (ie not enough staff for the jobs), employers must compete for employees by offering financial rewards, community investment, and so on.
Individual responses
In regard to how individuals respond to changes in labor market, the following must be understood:
- Geographic distribution: how far is the work of the individual? The distance to go to work should be commensurate with the salary offered, and transportation and infrastructure in the area also influence whether a charge is applied.
- Occupational structure: the norms and values of the different careers within an organization. Mahoney (1989) developed 3 different types of occupational structure namely craft (loyalty to the profession), organization career (promotion through the firm) and unstructured (lower or unskilled workers who work when needed).
- Generational differences: the different age categories of employees have certain characteristics, for example, their behavior and expectations of the organization.
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