A profile of employees in terms of age, sex, education, training, experience, job level, past performance and future potential should be kept ready for use whenever required. Requirements in terms of growth/diversification, internal movement of employees (transfer, promotions, retirement, etc.) must also be assessed in advance. The possibilities of absenteeism and turnover should be kept in mind while preparing the workforce analysis. Through replacement charts or succession plans, the organisation can even find out the approximate date(s) by which important positions may fall vacant. Frequent manpower audits may be carried out to find out the available talent in terms of skills, performance and potential.
i. Staffing table: It shows the number of employees in each job. It tries to classify employees on the basis of age, sex, position, category, experience, qualifications, skills, etc. A study of the table indicates whether current employees are properly utilised or not.
ii. Markov Analysis: In hierarchical systems, routes for the employees, which is the promotion ladder, are well defined. It means every employee elevates himself in the organisation through a well defined career path. All employees start in an organisation at the bottom rung and climb up the ladder one at a time. Any wastage is falling off the ladder. Young and Almond (1961), devised a hierarchical manpower system, framing sub-groups on the basis of salary grade and length of service. They have used the theory of the Markov process to measure the long-term equilibrium distribution of staff among the subgroups. The basic assumption of this model is that an employee in a particular grade or a status group has a fixed chance of promotion in a given year, independent of vacancy.
iii. Skills inventory: A skills inventory is an assessment of the knowledge, skills, abilities, experience and career aspirations of each of the current employees. This record should be updated at least every 2 years and should include changes such as new skills, additional qualifications, changed job duties etc. Of course, confidentiality is an important issue in setting up such an inventory. Once established, such a record helps an organisation to quickly match forthcoming job openings with employee backgrounds.
iv Replacement chart: It shows the profile of job holders department-wise and offers a snapshot of who will replace whom if there is a job opening.