6.1 Manpower requirements

Manpower requirements are the numbers and kinds of employees an organisation needs, at the right time and in the right places, to carry out its work. Staffing, the management function that fills and keeps filled the positions created by organising, begins by working out these requirements. An office administrator plays a central part here because the office supports every department: if the office is short of a receptionist, a records clerk or a personal assistant, letters go unanswered, files are lost and meetings are poorly prepared. Example: before a growing logistics company opens a second branch office, its office administrator works out how many front office, records and secretarial staff the new branch will need and what skills they must have, so that the branch opens with a complete team rather than borrowing staff from head office.

Determining manpower requirements has two sides. The quantitative side asks how many people are needed, and the qualitative side asks what knowledge, skills and attitudes they must have. Both are answered by first defining staffing needs against what the business is trying to achieve, which is the subject of this topic; the detailed techniques of job analysis, assessment and forecasting are taught under 6.2 Recruitment procedures.

Importance of determining manpower requirements

• Avoids understaffing: A clear estimate of needs prevents a situation where a few employees carry too much work, which leads to delays, errors, fatigue and absenteeism.
• Avoids overstaffing: Employing more people than the work requires raises the wage bill and leaves staff idle, which lowers morale and wastes office space and equipment.
• Supports budgeting: Salaries and wages are a large part of an organisation's running costs, so knowing the number and grades of staff needed allows the personnel budget to be prepared accurately.
• Guides recruitment and training: Once the required skills are known, management can decide whether to recruit new staff or train existing ones to fill the gap.
• Supports continuity: Planning for staff who will retire, resign or go on long leave ensures that critical office work, such as payroll support or records management, continues without interruption.
• Aligns people with strategy: When manpower is planned from the organisation's goals, every position can be justified by the work it contributes.

6.1.1 Define staffing needs

Defining staffing needs means stating clearly which positions the organisation must fill, how many people each position requires, when they are required and what each holder must be able to do. It turns a general feeling that "the office is overworked" into a written statement that management can approve and act on. Example: an insurance brokerage's office administrator notices that client files are taking a week to be opened; after reviewing the workload, she defines the need as one additional records assistant, holding a diploma in records or office management, to start before the busy renewal season.

Steps in defining staffing needs

1. Review the organisation's objectives and plans for the period, because the work to be done flows from what the business intends to achieve.
2. List the activities and workload that each department or section must handle, for example the number of letters, files, visitors, calls or reports processed in a month.
3. Take stock of the current staff: their number, grades, qualifications, skills and expected movements such as retirements, transfers and contract expiries.
4. Compare the workload with the capacity of current staff to identify any shortage or surplus in numbers.
5. Identify skill gaps, such as a need for staff who can operate a new electronic records management system or handle minute writing for board meetings.
6. Decide how each gap will be filled: internal transfer, promotion, training, overtime, temporary staff, outsourcing or new recruitment.
7. Prepare a staffing request or plan with the justification, the cost and the timing, and present it to the approving authority.

Factors that influence staffing needs

• Workload volume: The more transactions, documents and customers the office handles, the more staff it needs, unless the work is automated.
• Technology in use: Office automation, such as electronic document management and online booking systems, can reduce the number of clerical staff needed while raising the need for digitally skilled staff.
• Organisation structure: The number of departments, branches and levels of management determines how many administrative support positions exist.
• Labour turnover: An office that loses staff frequently must plan for replacements in addition to new positions.
• Legal and policy requirements: Rules on working hours, leave and safety affect how many people are needed to cover all shifts and duties. Under the Employment Act 2007, employees are entitled to annual leave, so the office must plan cover for staff on leave.
• Budget: The amount the organisation can afford for salaries limits the number and grades of positions it can create.

6.1.1.1 Business objectives

Business objectives are the specific, measurable results an organisation intends to achieve within a given period, such as increasing the number of clients served, opening a new branch or improving the speed of customer service. They are the starting point for defining staffing needs because every position in the organisation should exist to help achieve one or more of them. When objectives change, the number and type of staff needed change too. Example: if a law firm sets the objective of reducing the time taken to file court documents from five working days to two, the office administrator may conclude that the registry needs an additional court clerk and that the existing clerks need training on the electronic filing system.

The setting of organisational goals and objectives is taught in Chapter 4 under 4.1 Organizational goals and objectives; here the concern is how those objectives are translated into people. The administrator does this as follows:

• Growth objectives: An objective to expand, for example by opening a new branch or taking on a large new client, creates new positions such as receptionists, clerks and an office supervisor for the new unit.
• Service quality objectives: An objective to shorten response times or improve customer satisfaction may call for more front office staff, better-trained staff or staff with specific skills such as customer care or a second language.
• Cost reduction objectives: An objective to cut operating costs may lead to fewer positions, merging of roles, outsourcing of cleaning or security, or the use of technology in place of manual clerical work.
• Technology objectives: An objective to digitise records or move to paperless meetings requires staff with ICT skills and may make some manual filing positions unnecessary.
• Compliance objectives: An objective to meet legal requirements, such as safe record keeping or occupational safety, may require positions such as a records officer or a safety representative, or training for existing staff.

The staffing plan that results should show, for each objective, the positions needed, the number of people, the skills required and the date by which they must be in place. This link makes it easier for management to approve the plan, because each request is tied to a result the organisation has already committed to.