The year 2012 commenced with a number of unrests-the bottom line was the cry from different unions for more money or the increase in salaries and wages of their representatives. While many empathised that improved salary is necessary given the increase in the level of inflation and the high prices that are evidenced everywhere, the unions as a partner in the development process must also understand that a far greater challenge facing the country is one of the lack of proper manpower planning. Indeed, a constant criticism is that there are far too many people out in the job markets with MBAs and EMBAs and far less with skills in carpentry, auto mechanics, wood working and even tailoring. It is therefore an opportune time for the unions as well as policy makers to place greater emphasis on manpower planning.
While the general purpose of manpower planning has often been described, there are specific purposes in crucial areas of management which manpower planning serves, namely:
• Balancing the costs between the utilisation of plant and manpower; this involves comparing costs of these two resources in different combinations and selecting the optimum;
• Determining recruitment needs;
• Determining training needs;
• Management development;
• Industrial relations.
In other words, manpower planning is concerned with the demand and supply of labour and problems arising from the process of reconciling these factors. The main elements of a system of manpower planning are:
• Defining or redefining organisational objectives;
• Determining and implementing the basic requirements for sound manpower planning;
• Assessing future requirements to meet demand;
• Assessing current resources and the availability of resources in the future;
• Producing and implementing the manpower plan in detail;
• Monitoring the system and amending as indicated. (Taken from Personnel Management-Shaun Tyson and Alfred York 1992).
It is evident that the task of manpower planning does not, however, reside only with the unions. Rather, what is suggested is that the union is a critical partner in the determination of such a plan since, no doubt, the arrival of such a plan will mean that workers will inevitably have to be redeployed in other areas or perhaps there may be some termination as well. Manpower planning, it should be recognised though, is not a new concept in Trinidad and Tobago. In fact, the issue of manpower planning revolves around the wider issue of re-classification of jobs and this was undertaken by the firm of Collett and Clapp in 1966 in the public services of Trinidad and Tobago. Since then, another major attempt was made in 1991 by Gordon Draper when he attempted to reform the public services. Draper's plan at that time was far reaching and had numerous dimensions. His intent to enhance the morale of the public service was fairly obvious-with the introduction of such reform strategies such as 'training the trainer', 'service begins with me', leadership training, retreats and the emphasis on wearing green to indicate solidarity within the public sector. One of his key ambitions, though, was to embark on another classification system and he accordingly established within the office of the Chief Personnel a Classification Department. It has been a long and difficult task in undertaking this exercise. The main task was to match comparable jobs, arrive at some basic dimensions of the task required and then arrive at suitable compensation.
The larger challenge, though, was that in undertaking this task, many positions within the public service would have become redundant, a fact that Draper understood at the inception of the reform process. The challenge, however, in the public sector remains and in some respects have become even more critical. More and more, the public service, which has often been described as still steeped in colonialism, is now asked to do more with less revenue. Further to this, with the advent of technology such as the e-mail, computerisation and scanning of files many jobs are fast becoming redundant and new capacities and skills in computer, information systems and services are now required. The job requirements of the public service is thus undergoing and has been forced to undergo changes. Given the new kind of development trust, then, it is an opportune time for the ministries, the policy makers as well as the unions to recognise that reforms, particularly manpower planning, cannot be put off much longer. If the public service is to survive-a manpower planning exercise must be conducted with immediate effect. It is only when this is completed then the schools and the universities could rethink their offerings to ensure that proper skills and academic programmes are put in place and are relevant to ensuring that true development objectives are met.