In the human resource planning function, the number and type of employees needed to accomplish organizational goals are determined. Research is an important part of this function because planning requires the collection and analysis of information in order to forecast human resources supplies and to predict future human resources needs. The basic human resource planning strategy is staffing and employee development.
Job Analysis
Job analysis is the process of describing the nature of a job and specifying the human requirements, such as skills, and experience needed to perform it. The end product of the job analysis process is the job description. A job description spells out work duties and activities of employees. Job descriptions are a vital source of information to employees, managers, and personnel people because job content has a great influence on personnel programmers’ and practices.
Staffing
Staffing emphasizes the recruitment and selection of the human resources for an organization. Human resources planning and recruiting precede the actual selection of people for positions in an organization. Recruiting is the personnel function that attracts qualified applicants to fill job vacancies. In the selection function, the most qualified applicants are selected for hiring from among those attracted to the organization by the recruiting function. On selection, human resource functionaries are involved in developing and administering methods that enable managers to decide which applicants to select and which to reject for the given jobs.
Orientation
Orientation is the first steps toward helping a new employee adjust himself to the new job and the employer. It is a method to acquaint new employees with particular aspects of their new job, including pay and benefit programmers’, working hours, and company rules and expectations.
Training and Development
The training and development function gives employees the skills and knowledge to perform their jobs effectively. In addition to providing training for new or inexperienced employees, organizations often provide training programmes for experienced employees whose jobs are undergoing change. Large organizations often have development programmes which prepare employees for higher level responsibilities within the organization. Training and development programmes provide useful means of assuring that employees are capable of performing their jobs at acceptable levels.
Advantages of training

Self-confidence. Training helps to improve the self-confidence of an employee. It enables him to approach and perform his job with enthusiasm.
Higher Earnings. Trained employees can perform better and thereby by earning more employees become more efficient.
Safety. Training helps an employee to use various safety devices. He can handle the machines safely and becomes less prone to accidents which can save organizations from legal actions.
Adaptability. Training enables an employee to adapt to changes in work procedures and methods.
Promotion. Through training, employee can develop himself and earn quick promotions.
New Skills. Training develops new knowledge and skills among employees. The new skills are a valuable asset of an employee and remain permanently with him.

Performance Appraisal
This function monitors employee performance to ensure that it is at acceptable levels. Human resource professionals are usually responsible for developing and administering performance appraisal systems, although the actual appraisal of employee performance is the responsibility of supervisors and managers. Besides providing a basis for pay, promotion, and disciplinary action, performance appraisal information is essential for employee development since knowledge of results (feedback) is necessary to motivate and guide performance improvements.
Advantages of performance appraisal
It offers a rare change for a supervisor and subordinate to have “time out” for a one-on one discussion of important work issues that might not otherwise be addressed. Almost universally, where performance appraisal is conducted properly, both supervisors and subordinates have reported the experience as beneficial and positive. Appraisal offers a valuable opportunity to focus on work activities and goals, to identify and correct existing problems, and to encourage better future performance. Thus the performance of the whole organization is enhanced. For many employees, an “official” appraisal interview may be the only time they get to have exclusive, uninterrupted access to their supervisor.
Career Planning
Career planning has developed partly as a result of the desire of many employees to grow in their jobs and to advance in their career. Career planning activities include assessing an individual employee’s potential for growth and advancement in the organisation
Compensation
Human resource personnel provide a rational method for determining how much employees should be paid for performing certain jobs. Pay is obviously related to the maintenance of human resources. Since compensation is a major cost to many organizations, it is a major consideration in human resource planning. Compensation affects staffing in that people are generally attracted to organizations offering a higher level of pay in exchange for the work performed. It is related to employee development in that it provides an important incentive in motivating employees to higher levels of job performance and to higher paying jobs in the organization.
Benefits
Benefits are another form of compensation to employees other than direct pay for work performed. As such, the human resource function of administering employee benefits shares many characteristics of the compensation function. Benefits include both the legally required items and those offered at employer’s discretion. The cost of benefits has risen to such a point that they have become a major consideration in human resources planning. However, benefits are primarily related to the maintenance area, since they provide for many basic employee needs.
Labour Relations
The term “labour relations” refers to interaction with employees who are represented by a trade union. Unions are organization of employees who join together to obtain more voice in decisions affecting wages, benefits, working conditions, and other aspects of employment. With regard to labour relations, the personnel responsibility primarily involves negotiating with the unions regarding wages, service conditions, and resolving disputes and grievances.
Record-keeping
The oldest and most basic personnel function is employee recordkeeping. This function involves recording, maintaining, and retrieving employee related information for a variety of purposes. Records which must be maintained include application forms, health and medical records, employment history (jobs held, promotions, transfers, lay-offs), seniority lists, earnings and hours of work, absences, turnover, tardiness, and other employee data. Complete and up-to-date employee records are essential for most personnel functions. More than ever employees today have a great interest in their personnel records. They want to know what is in them, why certain statements have been made, and why records may or may not have been updated.
External environmental factors
Administrative/Legal Environment
The administrative and legal environment in a country provides a framework within which an organization operates. In some countries this environment is very restrictive and has significant impact on all aspects of the organization; in other countries the administrative/legal context is more permissive. Understanding the administrative/legal environment is essential to determining if organizational change can take place. The administrative context within which the organization operates may be shaped by a unique combination of forces, including international, governmental, nongovernmental policy, legislative, regulatory, and legal frameworks. An organization is affected by the policy or regulatory context that gave rise to it. This includes specific laws and regulations that support or inhibit the institution’s development.
HR plays a role in examining several specific dimensions of the administrative environment
Whether there are constitutional restrictions on the organization working environment and employee’s rights however HR does assessment to determine whether the organization employments policies comply with the government rules and regulations
Whether there is a legislative mandate that restricts leadership of the organization: It is helpful to understand any parameters that have been set around who can lead an organization. This includes identifying the governing body of the organization, and understanding how its members are selected, and further understanding who has the mandate or authority to set goals for the organization and develop curriculum
Best Companies
In 2009 Nando’s celebrated achieving the maximum three stars in the Best Companies Accreditation award. 
We were the only big company in the UK to achieve three stars! This award measures eight key areas including Personal Growth, Well Being and Leadership. 
Last year we entered the starred accreditation for 2010 once more and again received three stars!
We also entered the Sunday Times Top 25 Best Big Companies to work for (a big company is classed as one with 5,000 or more employees). This takes the score awarded to each company in the Best Companies star accreditation and then ranks them against other Big Companies in the UK who have entered. In March we achieved first place in the Best Big Companies to work for!
Investor in People
Nando’s was first recognised as an Investor in People in 1998. We are now celebrating ten years of recognition following a  reassessment in 2008. We remain committed to maintaining this award.
National Training Award Scheme
National Training Awards are the most prestigious awards for training in the UK and at Nando’s we have achieved awards for five of our training schemes.

Buddy System (Buddies are staff who help train new staff)
New restaurants opening training
Working in Management Teams (Team Building)
Nando’s Inductions
Coaching Programme

The jobs available through staffing companies are “real” jobs at companies like: Amazon, Continental Airlines, Freddie Mac, Hearst Publications, Microsoft, PG &E, RBC Dain Rauscher, Suntron, Sony, Starbucks, and Visa. These companies develop budgets to hire a set number of full-time employees on an annual basis, and include in that budget a substantial amount of money that can be used to hire temporary staff throughout the year to handle the ebb and flow of business. When the time comes for the company to open up the temporary position as full-time, you are perfectly positioned to interview for the full-time job