Anti-case about the calculation of the number of personnel department
December 30, 2020Headcount calculation as an anti-case
A case is a description of a solution to a problem that someone completed. The case examines the difficulties encountered in the process of solving and the logic of overcoming them.
Anti-case, as you may have guessed, is when everything happens exactly the opposite – the problem is not solved, an unsuccessful attempt to solve it led to negative consequences.
This happens in life, but this does not mean that such an experience is not worthy of attention – learning from other people’s mistakes is comfortable and useful.
The hero of the anti-case on the calculation of the number was the head of the personnel department, who solved the problem of justifying the position and number of the personnel department.
There are many similar anti-cases in practice, but this one deserves special attention since the mistakes made are clear to everyone familiar with the specifics of the HR department.
Terms & Conditions
The number of the company is 200 employees, the field of activity is business services. Over the previous year, 12 employees were hired, 54 were dismissed, more than half of those dismissed left the company as a result of the reorganization.
The work of the enterprise has a pronounced seasonal character, most of the hired employees are graduates of specialized universities. The director of the enterprise hired the head of the personnel department for a vacancy that was empty for six months.
The manager was hired, he was tasked with preparing a work plan for the department, a month after the start of work, a discussion of the work plan with the director took place.
The plan did not raise any objections, the director was perplexed by the proposal to hire at least two more specialists to successfully solve the problems facing the department.
Previously, one employee was able to cope with the existing volume of work without significant remarks, so the proposal to increase the staff caused the director to doubt its validity.
Continuing to doubt, the director requested calculations that would confirm the need to expand the staff, and by the evening he received such a table.
| Title | Functionality | Time | Frequency/week | Total |
| Head of department | Preparation and maintenance of analytical reporting: | |||
| Excel database for sick lists | 90 | 1 | 90 | |
| Excel database of attendance (labor discipline control) | 90 | 1 | 90 | |
| Excel Leave Usage Database | 90 | 1 | 90 | |
| Working with department heads by: | ||||
| Reducing annual leave balances | 15 | 3 | 45 | |
| Avoiding individual work schedules | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Not granting long leave for s/s | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Staff relocation and rotation | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Improving operational efficiency | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Setting up the work of 1C in terms of the correct generation of reports and forms (IT, CA, accounting) | 180 | 1 | 180 | |
| Preparing for hardware meetings | 30 | 1 | 30 | |
| Participate in hardware meetings | 90 | 1 | 90 | |
| Preparing data for presentation for meetings | 120 | 1 | 120 | |
| Participate in hardware meetings | 90 | 1 | 90 | |
| Cooperation with universities | ||||
| Field Practice Communication | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Preparing and participating in a Career Day | 240 | 1 | 240 | |
| Checking and adjusting orders by: | ||||
| Receive | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
| translate | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| dismissal | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| allowances | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| weekend work | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
| one-time payments | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| business trips | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
| field trips | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| holidays (s/s, regular, additional) | 3 | 23 | 69 | |
| Maintaining the headcount | 20 | 1 | 20 | |
| Checking external reports | 30 | 5 | 150 | |
| Rotation: | ||||
| Approval with supervisor | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| Approval with employee | 30 | 2 | 60 | |
| Dismissal: | ||||
| Farewell interview | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| Formal notes | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Making a business trip report | 40 | 1 | 40 | |
| Email reply | 20 | 15 | 300 | |
| Checking the completion of the form4 for department 1 | 15 | 2 | 30 | |
| Meeting with the director | 180 | 1 | 180 | |
| Consulting with departments of economics and finance, accounting | 20 | 7 | 140 | |
| Consulting with target audience on changes and innovations | 15 | 3 | 45 | |
| Perspective: | ||||
| Recruiting | ||||
| Negotiation of Internet sites agreement | 60 | 1 | 60 | |
| Job Description | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| Resume screening | 120 | 0 | 0 | |
| Invite candidates | 30 | 0 | 0 | |
| Interviewing | 720 | 0 | 0 | |
| Approval of the candidate with the head | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| Approval of the candidate with the target audience | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Approval of the candidate with 1 department | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lead Specialist | KDP (add-on) | |||
| Consultation on filling out form 4 for department 1 | 10 | 3 | 30 | |
| Issuing a withdrawal order from vacation | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Issuing a revocation order from a business trip | 20 | 4 | 80 | |
| Making an order for allowances | 15 | 2 | 30 | |
| Issuing a work order on weekends | 15 | 3 | 45 | |
| Making a one-time payment order | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Ordering a premium | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Execution of an order on administrative penalties | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Execution of orders to amend the Regulations, LNA | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Execution of orders based on the orders of the target audience | 15 | 2 | 30 | |
| Final field order execution | 180 | 0 | 0 | |
| Registration of certificates for employees | 10 | 2 | 20 | |
| Formatting archive references | 120 | 1 | 120 | |
| Reporting by department | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Registration of applications in IT for a pass | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Consulting employees on vacation balance | 5 | 10 | 50 | |
| Approval letters from target audience: | ||||
| About granting long leave for s/s | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| About material assistance | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| About priming for the anniversary | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| About vacation director of the branch | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| About approval of transfer to another position | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| About awarding a diploma | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| External reports: | ||||
| Report to the job center | 20 | 1 | 20 | |
| Report to the Pension Fund | 240 | 1 | 240 | |
| Report to the statistics department | 60 | 0 | 0 | |
| Report to target audience on training | 30 | 1 | 30 | |
| Report to the target audience on hired/dismissed | 30 | 1 | 30 | |
| Report in CA on statistical data | 40 | 1 | 40 | |
| Writing a letter for the registration of civil servants | 25 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conducting an inventory of workbooks | 60 | 0 | 0 | |
| Providing military registration data | 45 | 1 | 45 | |
| Document scanning: | ||||
| About Education | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Employment records | 15 | 3 | 45 | |
| Employment contracts | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Continuing Education Certificates | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Cover letters for reports in the target audience | 15 | 3 | 45 | |
| Trips: | ||||
| To the job center | 90 | 1 | 90 | |
| To statistics department | 90 | 1 | 90 | |
| To the pension fund | 30 | 1 | 30 | |
| Consulting with target audience on changes and innovations | 10 | 5 | 50 | |
| Liaising with departments on current issues | 10 | 140 | 1400 | |
| Reading Incoming Documentation | 10 | 20 | 200 | |
| Sending emails | 15 | 25 | 375 | |
| 2235 | ||||
| HR Specialist | Standard KDP: | |||
| Hiring an employee | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 10 | 3 | 30 | |
| Filling in personal card T2 | 20 | 3 | 60 | |
| Execution of an employment contract | 30 | 3 | 90 | |
| Filling out the workbook | 15 | 3 | 45 | |
| Filling out the workbook journal | 10 | 3 | 30 | |
| Making a referral to the medical commission | 10 | 2 | 20 | |
| Entering information into the Access database | 10 | 3 | 30 | |
| Entering information into the Staff Substitution | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Employment contract logging | 10 | 3 | 30 | |
| Transfer of employee | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Filling in the T2 card | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| Preparing add. agreements | 15 | 2 | 30 | |
| Filling out workbook | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Entering information into the Access database | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Entering information into the Staff Substitution | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Dismissal of an employee | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Filling in the T2 card | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Entering information into the Access database | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Filling out the workbook | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Making a note-calculation | 20 | 1 | 20 | |
| Readability sheet | 15 | 1 | 15 | |
| Entering information into the Staff Substitution | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Vacation s/s | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 2 | 10 | |
| Filling in the T2 card | 10 | 2 | 20 | |
| Long vacation for s/s (over 14 cd) | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Drawing up a letter of agreement with the target audience | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 2 | 10 | |
| Entering information into the Excel database | 5 | 2 | 10 | |
| Another vacation | 10 | 17 | 170 | |
| Consulting employees on vacation balance | 5 | 10 | 50 | |
| Affixing the remaining days of the next vacation on the application | 5 | 17 | 85 | |
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 17 | 85 | |
| Entering information into the Excel database | 5 | 17 | 85 | |
| Parental leave | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| Entering information into the Staff Substitution | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Entering information into the Access database | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Additional leave for field workers | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Entering information into the Excel database | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Registration of business trips | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Field trip processing | ||||
| Making an order in 1C | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Execution of the order in the form of S.Yu.Mitrofanov | 30 | 2 | 60 | |
| Filling out sick leave | 10 | 9 | 90 | |
| Completing the sick leave book | 5 | 9 | 45 | |
| Sewing of personal files and filing (not submitted since 2014 – 96 cases in total) | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| Interaction with departments on current issues | 10 | 105 | 1050 | |
| Reading Incoming Documentation | 10 | 20 | 200 | |
| Sending emails | 15 | 15 | 225 | |
Parsing the solution
I can assume that the author of the document expected that the detailed volume of work of the HR department would impress the higher-level manager so much that no one would analyze the document. This probably explains the fact that checking the table revealed several unpleasant moments.
Labor costs for paperwork when applying for a job are too high at 36 times
Let me explain where the number “36” came from. According to the data from the table, 3 employees will be hired every week, which will amount to 148 people per year.
In the previous year, 12 employees were hired, no expansion of the staff is planned, but instead of 12, it is planned to hire 148 employees, that is, the expected volume of work compared to last year is 12 times overstated.
The complexity of paperwork when hiring one employee in the table is at least three times overestimated (2.5 hours instead of 0.74 hours according to “Interindustry time standards for recruiting and personnel accounting”). Multiplying 12 by 3 – we get an overestimate of labor costs for hiring a job by 36 times.
60 working hours consist of notes
In the impressive variety of table rows describing in detail the operations performed by employees, there was such a strange operation as “interacting with departments on current issues”, “eating up” a total of 40 hours – a whole week of working time.
As you can see from the table, the leading specialist will spend 23 working hours a week on “interaction”, and the specialist will spend 17.5 hours. It turns out that 40 working hours HR specialists are busy “interacting with departments on current issues.”
Also, the specialist and the leading specialist will spend 10 hours a week on “Reviewing incoming documentation” and “Sending emails” – these are separate types of work that do not relate to “interaction with departments on current issues.”
Even apart from the other controversial labor articles, it’s clear that 60 hours of labor time dissolves into “engaging,” “familiarizing,” and “sending emails. In the practice of labor rationing, of course, a reserve of working time is provided for performing “non-standardized operations”, but not in the amount of 75% of the working time.
46 working days a year an employee of the personnel department will be in the pension fund
According to the data from the table, the leading specialist of the personnel department spends about 8.8 hours a week preparing reports and traveling to the pension fund and the employment center, which will amount to at least 46 hours a year working days.
