Resourcing and Talent Planning in Labor Markets

Main Objective of the Assessment

Understanding the nature and specifics of labour markets in different countries allows making more informed decisions on hiring and firing employees, changing their wages and working conditions. Besides, knowledge of the main trends enables a clear vision of the overall economic situation in the country. Scientists note that “the field of labour economics is involved with the study of the labour market, including the determinants of employment, unemployment, and wages” (Junankar, 2016). Trends in the labour market are usually expressed through the rates of employment, unemployment and economic activity.

Labour Market

Government statistics offices usually record how the labour market situation differs across regions and measure disparities between different segments of the population. For example, it is the difference in the number of working men and women; hours worked among men and women, employment rates depending on education and work experience, the effect of age on employment opportunities. If the company has a conscious and responsible attitude towards employment, it is crucial to consider such inequalities and contribute to their elimination.

The UK is a country with a reasonably stable labour market. However, the country’s economy is gearing up to face challenges of COVID-19 and Brexit, associated with providing fair and safe employment opportunities for refugees and migrants and ensuring decent work conditions for vulnerable groups. According to the UK government statistics office, “the employment rate is the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are in employment” (Watson, 2020, para. 8). From March to May 2020, the employment rate for the UK was 76.4% (Watson, 2020). The highest rate was fixed in the South East at 79.7% and in the South West at 78.8% (Watson, 2020). At the same time, the lowest employment rate was marked in Northern Ireland at 71.6% and Scotland at 74.1% (Watson, 2020). It is essential to know that employment rate estimates people who sometimes have more than one job.

Therefore, workforce jobs are another indicator that measures the number of filled posts in the state economy. The data are usually gained from the Short-Term Employment Surveys (STES), the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). For March 2020, there were 35.83 million workforce jobs in the UK (Watson, 2020). It is noteworthy that employment in the service and manufacturing sectors is unevenly distributed, with a significant predominance of jobs in the service sector, about 83.8% (Watson, 2020). Moreover, London has the highest proportion at 91.8%, and Northern Ireland has the lowest proportion at 78.0% in the service sector (Watson, 2020). A relatively large percentage of professions in the service sector work in the financial and administrative areas.

An equally important indicator that determines the state of the labour market in a particular country is the unemployment rate. According to the Office for National Statistics, unemployment measures people “who have been actively seeking work within the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks” (Watson, 2020, para. 12). It is also interesting that this indicator reflects the percentage of the economically active population, both in business and not in employment, who are seeking and available to work. The unemployment rate in the UK for the mentioned period is relatively low, 3.9%, and remains virtually unchanged (Watson, 2020). London is the region with the highest unemployment rate at 5.1%, followed by the North East at 5.0% (Watson, 2020). On the opposite, economically inactive people are those who are not classed as unemployed because they are not seeking work or are unable to start work within the periods mentioned above.

Therefore, the economic inactivity rate may differ much from the unemployment rate. The estimated economic inactivity rate in the UK was 20.4% for the period of March-May 2020 (Watson, 2020). The highest rate was fixed in Northern Ireland at 26.6% and Wales at 23.1% (Watson, 2020). The regions with the lowest economic inactivity were the South East with 17.8% and the South West with 18.3% (Watson, 2020). Thus, despite the low unemployment rates, the percentage of the non-working population can be significantly higher.

The labour market in Germany differs in many ways from the UK labour market. In particular, Germany has more favourable unemployment and economic inactivity rates. In May 2020, the number of unemployed was 1.73 million people, and the number of persons in employment was 42.59 million (Labour market, 2020). At the same time, the size of the labour force amounted to 46.476 in 2019, which is 2.5 million more than in 2009 (Labour market, 2020). Of these, 4.15 million are self-employed, and 41.106 are employees (Labour market, 2020). Besides, 33.735 million work in services, 10.925 million – in the production industry and 596 thousand in agriculture, forestry and fishing (Labour market, 2020). These figures differ dramatically from the UK figures: in March 2020, the East Midlands had the highest proportion of jobs in the production sector at 13.2%, while London had the lowest percentage at 3.2% (Watson, 2020). It is because London has primarily service-based industries within the region, mostly in financial and administrative sectors.

The indicators of the distribution of jobs, depending on the level of education and gender, are also impressive. Thus, the amount of registered unemployed is 2.267 million, and the number of persons exclusively in marginal employment is 4.646 million (Labour market, 2020). The number of reported job vacancies is 774 thousand (Labour market, 2020). There are 22.608 million working men and 19.771 million working women of whom 5.303 million have low, 24.195 million have medium, and 12.829 million have high educational attainment (Labour market, 2020). Interestingly, in Germany, 33.407 million employees are subject to social insurance contributions, up 5.8 million from 2009 (Labour market, 2020). All these indicators show a relatively favourable situation on the labour market.

Notably, Germany has the fourth-lowest unemployment rate in the EU-27. The overall rate is 3.9%, and the youth unemployment rate is 5.4%, compared to the average of 15.7% in the EU (Labour market, 2020). Under the COVID-10 circumstances, it would also be interesting to mention that 2.401 million employees are working from home on less than half of working days (Labour market, 2020). Besides, 565 thousand are working from home on at least half of working days, and 674 thousand – on every working day (Labour market, 2020). These statistics may as well speak of the viability of the growing general trend of work from home jobs.

Thus, in Germany, there is a tendency to a tight labour market, as well as in the UK. In particular, it is evident that in both countries, the demand for labour is significantly lower than the supply. Scientists note that the term tight labour market describes a situation when there are a limited number of job opportunities, which makes it difficult to increase wages on the national average (Junankar, 2016). At the same time, on loose labour markets, demand for labour significantly exceeds supply, which forces employers to look for additional sources of motivation and raise wages.

Given the above, how organizations position themselves strategically in competitive labour markets should be related to how important it is for an organization to attract and retain the best employees. The strategies for retaining different employees will differ from each other. IT specialist retention strategies will be more focused on adjusting the motivational strategy under the personal profiles of each specialist (Pflügler et al., 2018). At the same time, to retain multigenerational employees, managers will have to focus on fostering a diversity-friendly workplace culture, implementing effective interpersonal communication strategies, offering professional growth opportunities, and eliminating negative generational stereotyping.

The Role of Government, Employers and Trade Unions

The labour market has a long history of development, which has led to the emergence of various participants. Since the labour market unfolded from feudal to capitalist relations, the latter implied the interaction of influential capitalist owners and industrial workforce. Since working conditions in factories did not meet sanitary and safety standards, workers united in unions that demanded the protection of their rights. Political organizations such as the Labour Party in the UK are another example of political alliances (Junankar, 2016). Such organizations had influence, and many of their requirements were eventually met since many countries adopted legislation to provide minimum wages, poverty relief, unemployment benefits, pensions, and safe working conditions.

Today, trade unions are sustainable organizations and important actors in economic and political life (Regalia and Regini, 2018). At the same time, the influence of trade unions on labour relations is more significant than the impact of society and politics. However, small and medium-sized enterprises continue to set low wage standards, despite disapproval from trade unions, which seek to resolve the issue through centralized negotiations.

Another characteristic feature is that labour services are often largely dependent on the power the employer has over the worker. Scientists note that when the level of unemployment is high, workers may find themselves in a weak position and more labour services can be extracted from them (Junankar, 2016). Moreover, the number of labour services that the employer gets from workers can be measured not only by hours worked but also by the efficiency of labour services provided. In this regard, it is vital to draw up of the employment contract, where the worker’s wage and conditions of employment are indicated.

It is noteworthy that young people and low skilled workers are the most vulnerable category, who faces the highest unemployment rates. The young people of 15-19 years old show higher unemployment rates than 20-24 year-olds, who also have higher rates than 25-64 year-olds (Junankar, 2016). Besides, on tighter labour markets, younger adults may purposefully delay their participation in it by prolonging their education. Another widespread tendency is when people who were unemployed for a long time give up looking for a satisfying job.

Main Principles and Tools of Effective Workforce Planning

Effective workforce planning is crucial for building a workforce that will perform well in whatever task is assigned. Workforce planning becomes especially important in the face of fierce competition between enterprises. According to scientists, workforce planning can be a sustainable source of the desired competitive advantage (Kudryashov, 2018). In this regard, it is imperative to understand the basic principles of the designated process. The initial task of workforce planning is to meet the human resource needs of the enterprise (Kudryashov, 2018). Moreover, workforce planning must become the norm and an integral part of the company’s HR policy integrated into the overall business strategy.

Interestingly, the process of workforce planning consists of several stages: first, the manager must define the approach and determine the tools to use in the process. Next, the timeframe should be set to determine how often the planning will take place – for example, once a quarter, a year, or two years (Kinsella and Kiersey, 2016). The next step is the data collection carried out mainly through labour force surveys and other statistics, such as colleges and graduate information, immigration data, hospital statistics. The most important is the stage of team composition, when the manager forms the future team, relying mainly on the recruitment of employees following their speciality and trying to ensure that the team members complement each other’s professional qualities. One of the final stages is to determine the way of allocating resources between future employees – evenly among all team members or with the privileges to certain specialists.

The advantage of workforce planning is in consultation with various specialists to enrich the process. On the other hand, during the workforce planning process, managers can face challenges related to collection, quality and data exchange. Several tools are used in the process of workforce planning. For example, in Australia, managers often use the advanced Microsoft Excel models tool (Kinsella and Kiersey, 2016). Another popular tool is scenario modelling, used to check the influence of the possible policy decisions of the state on future workforce supply and demand. In the Netherlands, most managers prefer a forecasting simulation model that considers data regarding demand and supply of the workforce and is based on the elaboration and trial of various simulated scenarios within the model (Kinsella and Kiersey, 2016). Then the New Zealand managers pay the most attention to current trends and pressure points, using reliable data and intelligence. Besides, various data modelling tools are widely used in the country.

In Scotland, the workforce planners use tools like workforce trees, skill mix analysers, nursing and midwifery workforce tools, and emergency department multi-professional tools. Finally, in Wales, the planners use six-step methodology complemented with numerous workforce, education and development services (WEDS) benchmarking tools. These are interactive workforce tool, skill mix analyser, age profiling tool, agency and locum tool (Kinsella and Kiersey, 2016). The managers also use advanced Microsoft Excel models in work.

Developing a Succession Plan and Creating Job Descriptions

Another critical aspect of the company’s HR policy is developing succession and career development plans for its employees. According to the scientists, succession planning is the “ongoing process of identifying successors to the critical roles of the organization and developing them, so they are ready to move into leadership roles” (Atwood, 2020, p. 3). Such a plan allows creating a framework for the future development of employees within the organization. It also allows determining the opportunities that the company is ready to create for its employees and finding the necessary resources for this. Besides, one of the most critical stages of succession planning is the creation of job profiles and competency listings, which allows formulating more specific requirements for future employees.

Succession planning usually includes finding potential candidates and determining the education and training needed to prepare them for leadership roles. Therefore, our succession and career development plan for the Company “X” with the headquarters in London and branches in Germany will utilize the steps listed below. The first step in designing the succession plan is creating job profiles and defining the components of the competency-based job description (Atwood, 2020). The next step is communicating competencies for leading positions, forming a list of potential candidates and developing a checklist for managers. Finally, after creating a clear action plan, the manager will start implementing it.

In addition to designing the proper plan, the manager will have to assess and analyse the organization’s current workforce and forecast future trends. The manager will also need to develop the existing employees under the well-foreseen plan, so these employees would be able to replace the retiring or departing leaders (Atwood, 2020). Therefore, the manager will: assess the organization, determine key positions, identify capabilities for leading positions, identify and evaluate the candidates, create development plans, and then measure, monitor, report and revise the ongoing processes.

The templates of a Basic succession plan and a Basic Career development plan are presented in Appendix 1.

Downsizing is a standard solution when an organization cannot provide jobs for all its employees. Most often, downsizing occurs due to an unexpected change in the economic situation in the country, for example, as a result of the financial crisis. Besides, the decision to carry out downsizing can be made under pressure from competition or as a unilateral decision when the business is in crisis. An equally important factor that can be an argument in favour of downsizing is a global competition, which requires continuous cost savings and increased productivity (Singh and Ramdeo, 2020). At the same time, downsizing at the organizational level is more common than the individual or group downsizing.

For the downsizing to work successfully without too much loss for both the company and its employees, there are a few necessary steps HR professionals should take. First, HR needs to provide a substantial communication level with employees and educate them on the downsizing factor. People need to understand why downsizing is necessary and what they will face after the process is over. Then, HR has to provide visible leadership to those who feel confused and are afraid of their future. HR’s role here is to be available 24/7, answering questions and concerns of the employees. The whole working process may become stuck if there is no leadership mentoring from the Human Resources team. At the same time, ensuring equality and fairness in a complicated process of downsizing is one of the most crucial issues the HR will face. The latter needs to provide an equal application of existing rules to each employee, whether it is an average worker or one of the executives. After all the steps listed above were taken into account, HR needs to make sure that everything is working correctly, according to the after-downsizing plan.

Therefore, in developing a plan for downsizing the Company “X”, the manager will use three common tactics: downsizing the workforce, redesigning the work, and systems approach. These tactics complement each other and therefore allow finding the optimal solution. Workforce reductions are usually applied to reduce headcounts and terminate employment contracts (Singh and Ramdeo, 2020). Next, crisis managers redesign work processes by eliminating some of them and therefore reducing labour costs and increasing overall efficiency. Finally, as part of a systems approach, the processes in the organization are assessed in terms of broader economic and business processes and influences.

Thanks to the existence of the job descriptions, managers can explain to employees how to fulfil their responsibilities. This tool is very convenient, firstly, because a potential employee gets acquainted with the job description during the employment process. But more importantly, the compilation of the job descriptions allows managers to monitor the duties and work tasks of employees constantly. When developing job descriptions, the manager of Company “X” will try to make them as clear and specific as possible and will adjust them to the ongoing organizational changes (Raju and Banerjee, 2017). The manager will also pay attention to the design structure of the job description so that it will motivate the current employees and enhance their effectiveness. The manager will also include guidelines for the new people to feel more comfortable knowing what precisely they are expected to do. Besides, the full job description will become a basis for other HR practices such as job evaluation, developing wage and salary compensation, or creating fair wage and salary structures.

Person specification and job description have a similar structure and have common goals. However, the person specification is different since it reflects the profile of the ideal candidate. The person specification is essential information for HR managers who assess the personal qualities and competencies of job seekers during the recruitment and selection process. Scientists note that person specification should reflect experience, skills, qualifications and other features demanded by the vacancy (Board, 2017). Person specifications are often used in job advertisements, choosing the selection methods, shortlisting, making the final selection, approving the most suitable candidates.

The competency framework is usually more extensive than the person specification and includes a long list of social, individual or other competencies required for the position. For example, scientists note that a project manager’s competency list may be composed based on 81 skills in 11 various fields (de Rezende and Blackwell, 2019, p. 34). The mentioned areas of competence may include “influencing, communication, emotional, contextual, management, and cognitive skills, professionalism, knowledge and experience, project management knowledge, and personal skills and features” (de Rezende and Blackwell, 2019, p. 34). It is also interesting that organizations like trade unions can publish frameworks describing the core competencies of a given speciality.

Depending on the speciality, competency lists may focus on social, individual, technical aspects, as well as on the issues of knowledge, performance and personal competencies. Among other competencies, the HR manager can highlight the group of the most important skills (de Rezende and Blackwell, 2019, p. 37). For example, influencing skills are most important for project managers, which imply the ability of the candidate or current employee to produce effects on the actions, behaviours, and opinions of others. These skills may include competencies of leadership, conflict management, influence or persuasion, motivating others, negotiation and charisma.

There are many templates of job descriptions, person specifications and competency frameworks (presented in Appendix 2), but managers should individualize them to get better results.

Legal Requirements Relating to Recruitment and Selection

Legal requirements relating to the recruitment and selection processes in organizations exist in most civilized countries, including the UK and Germany. In particular, these legal requirements usually have the form of state laws that regulate the employer-employee relations and ensure justice. The aspects covered by such acts may include the main components of the labour services, such as the number of workers or employees, the average hours worked per worker, and the efficiency per hour of the worker (Junankar, 2016). These are laws against discrimination, equal pay legislation, legislation regarding minimum wages, occupational health and safety requirements, hiring and firing restrictions, and penalty rates for overtime (Junankar, 2016). Speaking of the UK, the main fields covered include discrimination, the right to work in the UK, criminal records checks and data protection.

These laws exist since when hiring people, employers must understand their legal obligations, which restrict them from possible unfair actions or practices. Equality Act 2010 is one outstanding example that forbids employers to discriminate against job applicants and existing workers because of protected characteristics (Recruitment, 2020). These are age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity.

Another widespread legal practice in the UK is pre-employment checks. These are right-to-work checks, criminal record checks, and medical checks. In particular, right-to-work checks are performed to ensure that organization is employing someone who has permission to work in the UK (Recruitment, 2020). Then, criminal record checks are made to determine whether ex-offenders are suitable for particular employment and protect the vulnerable members of society. Finally, medical checks are performed to increase inclusivity and diversity of recruitment processes and the opportunities to provide safe working conditions.

There are many recruitment methods which include internal and external recruitment. Internal recruitment is recruiting employees already working for the organization to run for new positions. This method’s advantages may include the workers already being familiar with the company environment and experiencing less pressure. Most important is the fact that managers know the strengths of the existing employees so that they can assign appropriate tasks efficiently. This method’s main weakness is employees being too comfortable with the company, so they can often neglect some tasks or leave work half-done. In turn, external recruitment is the recruitment of people outside of the company environment, such as graduates, freelancers, and employees from other companies. What is good about this method is bringing new ideas and skills to the workforce, which, however, might lead to the lack of necessary experience or abilities of newcomers, especially if it is a fresh university graduate.

Selection methods may include interviewing, assessment, psychometric testing, pre-employment checks like references and social-media checks. Notably, as a rule, organizations do not have any legal obligations or rights to ask for employment references or to receive such recommendations. However, most employers practice this method both by requesting and providing referrals and characteristics of former employees (Recruitment, 2020). Thus, this practice has both strengths and weaknesses: among the advantages is the possibility of creating an accurate image of future employees. Main weaknesses include the danger of obtaining not objective information, as well as the dubiousness of practice for the law.

Another controversial practice is social-media checks, the main strength of which is data availability, and weakness is dubiousness from the Data Protection Act 2018. Therefore, this practice can only be carried out following the data protection principles set out in the mentioned law. Moreover, scientists suggest that “employer applications transform mobile devices into recruiting and selecting tools” (Yaseen and Marwan, 2016, p. 21). Therefore, employers can attract job seekers through the LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, using various methods of social media networking or by creating their apps and platforms. Social media can also serve as a data source when collecting information about industry trends and concerns.

Employee Turnover and Approaches to Retaining Talent

Companies and organizations have to continually deal with employee turnover, which refers to a percentage of workers leaving their jobs and then being replaced by new employees. Measuring employee turnover rates helps employers calculate the turnover reasons and work out the possible tactics for employee retention. First of all, it is essential to estimate why people stay at their jobs in the long run. It helps determine the strategies to prolong their working for the company and make it comfortable and enjoyable. The main reasons for employees staying in their positions are usually connected to trust, emotional investment, respect, and fair recognition of their talent and hard work. If an employee feels cared for and recognized by the company’s leaders, thoughtful mentors, and co-workers, and is invested in its growth, they will most probably be willing to stay in the company.

However, no matter how favourable are the working conditions, sooner or later, the moment comes when an employee decides to leave the company. The most common reasons that employees name themselves are related to looking for exciting new jobs, striving for career growth, training and development, the desire to work with great people, and the desire for fair pay. Equally important are the pursuit of recognition and respect, the pursuit of benefits, the desire to do meaningful work and change the world, the desire to be proud of the organization, its mission and products, and the search for a new work environment and culture (Top 10 reasons employees stay with an organization, 2017). Nevertheless, there are some other factors that influence the employee’s decision to leave.

According to Finegold and Mohrman (2001), age and culture are usually the determining factors. For example, the research shows that the primary motivator for people under 50 is usually job security, whereas, for those over 30, it is mostly money. For the employees of in-between ages, there are the following four aspects they would like to see in their company: a clear, motivating strategy; an innovative environment low in bureaucracy; challenging tasks that push employees to work harder and develop their skills; rewards following each success of the organization. It is also important to mention that the research showed a much higher role of team incentive payment over the individual payment in employee retention. Group rewards motivate individuals to work together as a team, which often gives much more fruitful results than individual work.

Employee turnover is usually classified into a functional turnover and a dysfunctional one. Functional turnover occurs when employees who do not have unique skills or who are not leaders or employees with inadequate performance leave. Therefore, the benefits of a functional turnover usually outweigh the costs incurred (Kraft, no date). However, in a dysfunctional turnover, the costs outweigh the benefits, since it is associated with the departure of capable employees whose work has a direct impact on profitability, or employees with unique skills. Therefore, the most unfavourable scenario is the simultaneous loss of a large number of employees from this category, since, in addition to high costs, it can cause customer complaints related to the quality of services.

Costs associated with dysfunctional employee turnover can be many times higher than the price of paying wages even for the highest-paid employees. For example, a study of Center for American Progress found that the average costs to replace an employee are: 16 percent of annual salary for low-paying jobs (earning under $30,000 a year); 20 percent of the yearly wage of midrange positions (earning $30,000 to $50,000 a year); up to 213 percent of annual salary for highly educated executive positions (There Are Significant Business Costs to Replacing Employees, 2012). Negative impacts of employee turnover include high costs of hiring and training new employees, loss of intellectual capital, and decreased productivity and quality of work. It is noteworthy that with functional employee turnover, positive aspects of the process can arise, for example, the infusion of new ideas, intellectual capital, lower salary payments, and increased opportunities for the promotion of other employees of the company.

The most popular approaches to talent retention are organizational culture and values, dynamic learning, attractive work environment, and open career opportunities (Ott et al., 2018). It is also good practice to conduct a high-quality probationary period, giving a future employee a chance at this stage to get to know colleagues and surely understand responsibilities and prospects for future achievements (Brouwer, 2018). It is because when deciding to change jobs, people usually focus on their experience in the first three months of work in the company, which is the strength of this approach. The weak side may be that if the candidate does not pass the trial period, they will receive too much information about the company’s work processes.

Another practical approach to talent retention is to provide training and career opportunities. The strength of this approach is the importance of the training and career aspect for employees, and the potential increase in their work efficiency. Besides, employees gain self-confidence and a sense of their importance in the company. Weaknesses can be the exploitation of the company by employees for training, especially on the part of younger employees and the turnover of trained personnel.

Managing Dismissal, Retirement and Redundancies

Sometimes companies face difficulties and are forced to resort to lay-offs of employees. Firing usually occurs in the form of dismissal, redundancy, or when an employee retires. Therefore, it is often necessary to develop an ethical and legal practice of dismissal to ensure this painful process goes smoothly, and the employees do not have legal claims against the company. This practice can consist of several steps: the first step is to notify the employee of the meeting, where the manager will discuss the possibility of termination at least 48 hours in advance. During a conversation, it may be wise to document it to avoid misunderstandings in case the employee decides to go to court. Besides, the objective reasons for the dismissal must be clearly explained to the employee.

Next, the manager needs to give the employee at least five days to appeal the dismissal, since the termination should not occur directly during the meeting. This appeal option usually relieves stress and reduces the likelihood that an employee will file an unfair dismissal complaint. Finally, after five days, the manager has to decide on dismissal or termination of the contract, and in a friendly atmosphere, inform the employee about this. If the termination occurs for reasons not related to the employee’s behaviour or work capability, it is advisable to offer him a reference for future employment. The company also has to provide reimbursement payments to the employee associated with dismissal following the law.

When it comes to fair managing of the retirement process of an employee, the regulations against age discrimination establish specific rules for the employers to follow. It is essential to notify the employee of the retirement decision within 6 to 12 months of the retirement date. The manager must provide this notice in writing within the specific timeframe for it to be considered a lawful act. If the timescale is violated, an employee can claim up to eight week’s pay. Noteworthy, if the employer wants to continue working after reaching the retirement age, they have the right to do so. However, even though the employer must seriously consider this request, they have the right to reject the appeal without giving reasons for their decision. If the employer him- or herself insists on the employee working past the compulsory retirement age, it is considered unlawful, and the worker can reject it legally.

Frequently, the redundancy of some workers is unavoidable. In this case, many employers tend to dismiss workers based on their age or length of service. Such an approach is understandable, as younger people are considered to be able to find a new job more quickly; therefore, people approaching retirement age are the first in line to redundancy. Almost the same approach applies to the workers who served for the organization for a shorter period of time, as those with a long working experience are people who the employer would like to retain. However, such a tendency of dismissing older workers or those who did not work for a long time is most likely unlawful. Under the new age discrimination law, it may lead to employers being exposed to legal complaints. That is why it is advisable to consider other factors when selecting employees for redundancy. These may include taking into account the performance, skills, knowledge, and job attendance of each employee, as well as keeping the team skill balance which needs to be retained in the workforce. Apart from all the regulations mentioned above, it is crucial to have an open, friendly dialogue with an employee and keep them satisfied with the outcome of this uncomfortable process.

Appendix 1

Succession Plan Template

1. Position. There may be one or several positions that might need to be filled in if the person currently occupying the position (mostly the leading position) is absent, either planned or unexpectedly. The primary responsibilities and competencies required for the position can be listed.
2. Incumbent. This refers to the person currently occupying the position.
3. Candidates. This includes a list of potential candidates who can be suitable for the position.
4. Personal candidate rating. Here, each candidate’s current competency levels should be evaluated to determine if they are suitable for the position. This should be performed according to each candidate’s job rating, skills, willingness to change working position, relocate, and other factors.
5. Development plan. According to each candidate’s competency level, the lack of certain skills should be evaluated to create a plan of filling in the gaps.

Career Development Plan Template

1. Current job position. This is where the employee stands now as part of the company’s working team.
2. Goals. The potential goals of the employee are listed according to three categories:

• Short-term goals that are essential for the employee’s current position;
• Mid-term goals that the employee needs to set for professional growth within the next two years;
• Long-term goals that will ensure professional growth in the next three to five years.

3. Competencies and skills. The employee’s main strengths are listed to demonstrate how they will promote one’s professional growth.
4. Competency gaps. The existent gaps should be addressed to calculate the needed actions directed at eliminating the barriers that stand in the way of the employee’s professional growth.
5. Course of action. Curtain steps towards eliminating the identified gaps should be set at this stage. They might include special training, courses, certifications or other forms of additional education.

Appendix 2

Job Description Template

• Job title
• Formal position title
• Job overview (with the provided short description of the position, what role it has in the company and what possible opportunities will the applicant get)
• Duties and responsibilities:
  • list the essential duties needed to do work successfully;
  • use neutral vocabulary;
  • list the duties according to their level of importance;
  • start sentences with verbs;
  • use the present tense.
• Guidelines for the applicants (these are essential for candidates to feel more comfortable in the working environment with new responsibilities and obligations).

Person Specification Template

• Job title.
• Formal position title.
• Required qualifications (includes education level, certifications, licences).
• Specific skills:
  • Essential (the candidate must have).
  • Desirable (would be a plus if the candidate had).
• Knowledge:
  • Essential.
  • Desirable.
• Experience:
  • Essential.
  • Desirable.
• Personal characteristics:
  • Essential.
  • desirable.
• Special requirements (optional, depends on the position).

Competency Framework Template

• Cognitive skills:
  • evaluating problems;
  • investigating issues;
  • creating innovation;
  • self-development;
  • organizational skills.
• Influencing:
  • building relationships;
  • communicating important information;
  • providing leadership;
  • providing teambuilding;
  • focusing on customers;
• Emotional management:
  • showing resilience;
  • adjusting to change;
  • giving support;
  • showing humility;
  • managing emotions;
  • engendering confidence and trust.
• Skills and knowledge:
  • processing details;
  • structuring tasks;
  • articulating vision;
  • leading change;
  • adapting.

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