Future workforce

If the banking institutions in the UAE are to gain competitive advantage, the way they undertake their recruitment process would in the first place be strategic in nature (Lee 2007). It is recommended that the recruitment be founded on the strategy of the organization if the recruitment is to act as a source of competitive advantage (Porter 1985). Manpower planning needs to be strategic in nature as opposed to being reactive whereby case its purpose will be to respond to the staffing problems whenever they arise (Bratton & Gold 2003).

This is because a manpower plan will constitute a good business strategy which will have the effect of boosting the overall output of the banking institutions in the UAE. What the above implies is that it would be meaningless for the banking institutions in the UAE to undertake a recruitment process if it is not strongly related to the core business need of the organization (Lee 2007).

The examination of the future workforce view will permit the people in charge of human resource planning within the banking institutions in the UAE to know the employees required at each of the horizontals and vertical levels of the organizations in terms of the exact number and the type of employees (Bratton & Gold 2003). Analysis and Targeted Future Closely related to the future workforce view is the targeted future.

Its should be noted that projecting the future workforce view is likely assist the banking institutions in the UAE with the likely patterns that the manpower could take based on the future plans of the organization (Lee 2007). For instance, if the banking institutions in the UAE projects that their product offering will highly increase, then it is highly probable that they will hire more employees. The underlying principle in this regard is that the way the organization is designed will influence the need for recruitment or not (Bratton & Gold 2003).

What is implied here for instance is that in the case the organization has production objectives then the recruitment process will need to be undertaken in the area of production. Alternatively, if the organization has a marketing objective, then the recruitment will be undertaken in the marketing department (Lee 2007). In the same manner an organizational design founded upon autonomous work teams could necessitate the recruitment of more skilled staff more than if the organization was more hierarchical in nature.

What this implies is that having examined the labor demand based on the strategic objectives of the banking institutions in the UAE, what would follow is the evaluation of the ways in which the demand above can be filled (Lee 2007). This means that with the analysis of the future manpower views accomplished and the analysis of targeted future also accomplished, the next step is now to find out the way of filling the gaps that have been identified. The gaps can also be identified from regular performance appraisals (See figure 2 in the appendix). Closing the Gaps

The final step in manpower planning is filling in of the gaps identified between the potential labor supply and potential demand (Bratton & Gold 2003). Many authors who have made contributions towards the field of manpower planning have advocated for filing in the vacancies either through direct recruitment or through promotions (Mariappan 2006). Several, researchers have contributed towards filling that are found after a successful manpower planning model. For instance promotion and mapping have been identified as some of the methods of filling the vacancies (Srinivasan & Kasturri 2004, pp. 115-120).

Basically, there are several strategies by which the banking institutions in the UAE can use to fill the skills gaps (Bratton & Gold 2003). The most common is through training and development. In this regard once the banking institutions in the UAE have recognized that there are some deficits in the skill requirements, the employees would be subjected to training and development programs as a way of having their skills (Ribas 2006, p. 20). The other option available is to hire new employees possessing the required competences from outside (Bratton & Gold 2003) (See figure 3 in the appendix).

The other common techniques which can be used to close the skills gaps is by making plans to retain the employees who have demonstrated that they are very skilled (Ribas 2006, p. 20). In order for the banking institutions in the UAE to retain the employees who are well performing, they will need to put in place strong mechanisms of motivating the employees. These can be in terms of adequate compensation and reward structures, good work life balance policies, and opportunities forcareergrowth and development (Bratton & Gold 2003).

The gaps can also be filled through succession planning (Bratton & Gold 2003). In fact the most successful banking institutions in the UAE in future are likely to be those that are presently spotting and developing executives with high potentials at whatever age, gender or geographic history (Bridge Partners LLC 2006). What this implies is that with adequate strategies of succession planning and training, the identified employees are likely to develop theirleadershipskills and take leadership roles at senior management levels when the right time comes.

It means therefore that as the banking institutions in the UAE grow and develop, they have to pay attention to the people who are likely to lead them on the future. Through succession planning, the banking institutions in the UAE can decide to fill the leadership positions they have internally with the employees they have they have been investing on over the years (Bridge Partners LLC 2006). This would be very advantageous to the organizations for the reason that the internal candidates are accustomed to thecultureof the organization thus are less likely to need additional orientation (Bratton & Gold 2003).

Alternatively the banking institutions in the UAE can close the gaps with the employees who are not permanent (Ribas 2006, p. 20). In other words, the organizations can decide to hire contractors thereby acting as a short term measure through which the above gaps can be filled. Finally the banking institutions in the UAE can close the gaps arising from the manpower planning process by assigning workers to firms where the skills they have can be utilized in the best way possible way, a process known as re-deployment (Ribas 2006, p. 20).