| dc.description.abstract | Planning is a process for providing a frequently
updated framework of information for decision-making, I
with the object of improving the utilization of resources.
It is therefore a process in which the likely consequences
of the continuation of current policies or the introduction
of new policies can be assessed, action can then be taken to
avoid undesirable consequences. So organizations with
effective planning procedures can adopt more quickly to new
circumstances as they arise. Any organization with no plan
will therefore flounder when faced with sudden changes, it
will also lack the information and understanding of the way
its manpower system works which would enable it to adopt
effectively and quickly. The aim of corporate planning is
therefore to reduce the risk of either surplus or shortage
of particular kind of manpower, because any imbalance between
personnel and other resources a corporation needs is likely to
involve waste.
Organizations also plan so as to maximize use of the
scarce resources because of anticipated changes in technology,
markets, production, the labour market and also due to
the rapid rate of social and economic changes, increasing
capital intensity, increasing national or international
competition, organizational development and special circumstance:
such as take-overs, nationalization, changed management, etc.
To do or cater for the above changes the corporation has also
to plan for its manpower which will be directly involved in
these changes and therefore manpower planning has to be
complementary to the organizational plan. It is concerned
with the future manning of planned and evolutionary
organization structures in two ways.
First, it is detailed planning of manpower requirements
for all employees throughout the period of the plan. And
secondly, it merges with planning of manpower supply and
demand and therefore can be described quantitatively with
the object of improving efficiency by introducing an element
of control. It is thus a form of system engineering used to
modify the designs of the organization by exploitation of
flows in information with right types of people from all
sources to meet the planned requirements.
Planning is done in organizations because it facilitates
the top management's task by providing as much as possible,
careful analysis and consideration of alternative courses of
action, and perhaps more important, to ensure that corporate
objectives and strategy are regularly and systematically
reappraised; to ensure that the most careful evaluation is
made of projects which may range from building a new plan,
acquiring another company, .developing a new product, to
entering a new market. Most of such projects would acquire
the commitment of large capital sums and manpower resources
for the time to come; to develop an organizational process
that coordinates the future activities of different units
in large diverse organizations and increase top management
ability to control these activities. Organizations cannot
carry out their plans or objectives without the human
resources and capital and that is how manpower should be planned
because it closely integrates with all other planning in the
organization so that it makes proper contribution for the
attainment of the organization's goals and objectives.
It is thus becoming widely recognized that manpower
planning is a critical function in management, assuring
that human resources are effectively utilized in an
organization. Manpower planning is viewed-as offering a
potentially great return to an organization in terms of
reduced personnel management costs, reduced recruitment
costs and increased productivity through the effective
allocation of available human resources.
Thus every organization should have a mission whether
explicit or implicit which should be the purpose of its
existence. The mission should be defined in terms of goals
whose attainment is ultimately expected to satisfy certain
human needs either directly or indirectly. But as man is
the force behind these goal-directed activities any
deficiencies, or limitations on his part will affect the
quality and quantity of the outcome. Therefore every
organization has a responsibility to plan in order to
maximize use of the scarce resources so that their
deficiencies and limitations can be overcome to enable the
organization achieve its objectives.
Any organization which ignores manpower planning does
so at its peril. Manpower planning today is recognized as
a priority for action at the highest level and its contribution
to long-term stability and profitability is unchallenged.
Yet manpower management in a rapidly changing
environment is a process of such complexity that it can no
longer function effectively without a coherent policy. So
management must accept responsibility for developing and
managing its human resources in every way as professionally
as it should manage its financial resources. To meet the
needs of the situation manpower policy
must be planned must relate to the elements of the organization and
of technology to the needs and aspirations of people.
must provide an intergrated approach to the develop-
1 ment utilization and satisfaction of employees.
While there is no easy solution to the problems facing
organization today, some of the worst effects may be
minimized where there has been successful manpower planning
in the past. Unfortunately too little attention has been
paid by the managements to manpower as a resource; the
consequences have been poor productivity, low growth and
wastage of talent.
1 " Company Manpower Planning in perspective" Edited by
John Lawrence for Institute of Personnel Management
and Others. 1975 pg. 6.
In this paper we aim to take a look at the extent and
degree of manpower planning in the Nairobi City Commission
today, and to examine some current attitudes towards manpower
planning brought to play a greater part in the
planning process.
By focusing attention in this way on the current
"state of the art" and on some of the main problem areas,
we cannot pretend to offer solutions, but merely, hope to
pave the way for those concerned with manpower planning
at both the organization and national level, to undertake
ways of creating more widespread understanding of what
manpower planning is all about and what it can do, and
ways of improving the quality and quantity of manpower
and of the data needed for more accurate manpower
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