P1 – Describe the internal and external factors to consider when planning the human resource
requirements of an organisation
In this task, I will describe the internal and external factors that need to be considered when
Birmingham Metropolitan College plans for its human resources.
Matthew Boulton College, which is situated in Birmingham, is an educational institution and
consists of around 34 employees and 2,000 students. Matthew Boulton College aims to provide
a safe and supportive environment in which everyone is able to study and work to the best of
their abilities. It is focused on students’ success and future careers and has been recently stated
as an ‘outstanding’ college by Ofsted. Students can choose between BTEC, apprenticeship, GCSEs
and A-levels.
Human resource management is the process of hiring and developing employees so that they
become more valuable to the organization. Human Resource Management includes conducting
job analyses, planning personnel needs, recruiting the right people for the job, orienting and
training, managing wages and salaries, providing benefits and incentives, evaluating
performance, resolving disputes, and communicating with all employees at all levels.
Initially, the business has to take internal factors into consideration.
Internal factors are those that relate to what is already happening inside the business. These
include organisational needs, skills requirements and workforce profiles.
To begin with, when doing human resource planning, Matthew Boulton College should
determine whether this is actually necessary or not. For instance, in a fast-paced and advancing
environment, then human resource management can have a vital role as the business should be
able to adapt and meet such conditions. There are several reasons as to why a business should
recruit. For example, to perform more efficiently, to bring in new ideas into a business and to
meet demand. In addition to this, another internal factor which might affect Matthew Boulton
College during human resource management is skills requirement. That is, during certain times,
LRC might have additional administrative or operational needs. As a result, instead of hiring
contractors or additional employees, the college could consider offering staff training to make
maximum use of current employees’ skills set. For instance, a business teacher may also be able
to teach IT. If the college assesses the skills and identifies that an employee will be able to do so
effectively, then employing someone externally would be pointless and less advantageous. If this
is not possible, then the college might decide to employ new people. However, when carrying
out this process, the business has to verify whether their changes fit or not in their budget.
On the other hand, external factors are those that influence the business from outside its direct
control. These factors include the type and availability of employees to work for the organisation
and the amount of money that is needed to pay them.
One major factor which the college has to take into consideration is the availability of labour. For
instance, if the college has to hire individuals with highly specialised skills, then it may be difficult