1.

1 - Determine resource requirements in accordance with business and

operational plans and organisational requirements

Monitoring results
You may have found

 insufficient resources that will be needed by staff or the availability of employees in

particular programs or projects

 updating business or operational planning to reflect unforeseen changes that occur

during the year, such as the chance of funding for new initiatives

Dealing with variances Monitoring results

Human resources What are they? What are they?

Financial resources

Physical resources

Information
resources

Techniques
 Develop and implement an annual or more frequent method of monitoring
resource use

 Link it to the operating expense budget

 Explain the relationship between the business and operational plans and the service
demand and resource allocation

 Consider your business continuity planning and other implementation guidelines

 Describe strategies to address any imbalance between resource allocation and the
business and operational plans
Activity
3B
3.3. Identify improvements in resource planning through consultation and
feedback, and implement in accordance with organisational requirements

Feedback sources may include:

 Customer/client response data

 employee data

 Equipment meter readings

 Financial forecasts

 Sales orders

 Suppliers' invoices

Identify improvements in resource planning

 Resource planning is a “master plan” that includes all of the resources of an
organisation.

 Resource planning is meant to address both your operation planning in units, and
financial planning in dollars.

 Elements of a resource plan include a variety of relevant factors of operation and

production, as well as things like future capacity planning.

 It will also address finances down to details such as general ledger, accounts
receivable and accounts payable, cost reporting, purchasing management, and
more.

To identify improvements you need to identify areas where there is no immediate need of change.

 Maybe consider using a SWOT analysis?

 Be familiar with your business processes

 As stated, identifying improvement starts with having a sound understanding of all

parts of the company, so you fully understanding what makes the organisation
work.

 If you are addressing this from outside the company, consultation and feedback
interviews with as many employees as possible, on all levels, is necessary to form a
sound and accurate view.

 Addressing the needs for improvements from inside can be conducted in a similar
manner using the examples provided:
 o customer/client response data

o employee data

o equipment meter readings

o financial forecasts

o sales orders

o suppliers' invoices

 Identify measurable processes in the core business functions.

 Gather data measurements of the business processes such as inventory levels,

costs, sales, demand, labour hours, lead times and space allocations.

 You can identify opportunities for improvement when determining what prevents a
process from adequately meeting its objectives.

Example Models
Resource sector Strengths within the organisation Weaknesses within the organisation
structure structure

Recommendations

Resource sector Positive feedback Negative feedback

Recommendations

Resource sector Implementation strategy Organisational comments

Recommendations
Activity
3C
3.4. Maintain records concerning equipment and resource purchases in
accordance with organisational requirements

Records may include:

 Computerised or manual

 financial statements

 Invoices

 Maintenance schedules

 Order forms

 Petty cash forms

 Purchase orders

 Stock list and inventory

control

Resource purchases
Assets

 Asset management has sometimes been confused with inventory management, fixed
asset management, project management, and managing business assets, but today
nearly everyone agrees that asset management is a combination of all of these.

Resources register

Date   % Used  
Description of Resource Placed Cost of For Recovery
Purchased in Service Asset Business Period
Equipment XYZ 2014 $3,200 90% 3
Plant / Property XYZ 2014 $15,000 100% 3

Equipment and resource purchases

Asset Name Asset Class Description Physical Location

        

Estimated Estimated Estimated

Asset Serial Acquisition Acquisition
Useful Life Salvage Straight-Line
No No Date Cost
(Years) Value Depreciation Value

           

           

Online or software based asset management systems

 You can implement propriety software or online programs

 Take inventory.

 Find out what you already have

 Get organised with recording all your software licenses and documentation

 Create policies and procedures

 Establish new standards and guidelines for all phases of the asset management re
life cycle.

Other benefits with software asset management programs:

 Preventive
maintenance

 Scheduling

 Tracking

Most recording systems are based on a

series of functional modules which assist
the asset manager in effectively and
efficiently managing their assets.

The modules are usually based on the following headings:

Asset Register Module – This is basically the database which captures items such as building
elements, plant, equipment, FF&E and the like. All these items are bar-coded, preferably at fit out
stage, and transposed in to the main module database through a bar code reader.
Budget – This module allows the manager to run cost budget reports for a particular financial year to
indicate the budget amount allocated to a given budget code. It can also provide a monthly budget
comparison against actual expenditure for each budget codes.

Contracts – This database allows the manager to input essential information on contractors,
contacts, performance, etc. and also allows pop ups to be called for any essential Contract flag dates.

Work Orders – This allows the interfacing of any related maintenance, repair or building expenditure
in to the software system. The process simply relates all costing, scope, programme, and asset
accounting information, through the use of the asset management database.

Property – This module recognizes the relative locations of the facilities and assets in the building. It
can be linked to say AutoCad where graphic representations can be made for locating a certain item.

Requests – This enables all individuals in your organization to call in to the Pinnacle system to
request a work order. Again this needs to be managed expeditiously to ensure you are not replacing
paperclips.

Schedule – This provides the manager with the facility to link certain tasks with a schedule.

Stock – An inventory of items which are generally consumables such as light bulbs, this module
allows an up to date check of stock numbers.

Security – Provides a user access hierarchy to ensure protection or confidentiality of selected

information.

Barcode maker also make Stocktaking a much simpler process

There are many types of common source documentation which will also vary in description from
organisation to organisation.

The source document is essential to the accurate accounting process of the organisation.

 It is the evidence that a financial transaction

actually occurred

 A record for company audits

 Essential for documents back up

 Used in other links to accounting journals and

the general ledger

Keeping a source document for a business is applicable to

every financial transaction.

A source document will provide a description of all the facts surrounding the financial transaction
including any on-going details during a particular point in time, including:

 The date
  The company details

 The item details

 The purpose of the transaction

 The amount

Errors in documentation may include:

 Purchase credit notes

 Purchase invoices

 Sales credit notes

 Sales invoices

Referring these errors and discrepancies may include:

 Bank

 Line management

 Organisation's authorisations department

 Statutory body

 Supervisor

There could be different times and circumstances when you discover errors and discrepancies.

 During a reconciliation processes

 This could result in a possible imbalance in the debits and credits recorded

 It could be an entry in the general ledger

 It may be an incorrect payment to a creditor

 It could be an error in your liabilities

2.4. Ensure consultation with individuals and teams on allocation of

resources is participative and is conducted using appropriate interpersonal
skills

The most obvious way to ensure consultation with individuals and teams is by setting up a project
schedule that is participative and is conducted using appropriate interpersonal skills.
  Avoid pushing resources onto employees through an unreasonable schedule as a
defence, but rather engage in consultation processes such as meetings, team
building, and regular feedback and open door policies.

 Schedule the consultation in a realistic way as part of effective planning.

Consider using tools to help the consultative process or use a software program such as Microsoft
Project to detail allocation of resources that everyone can access at their desk or device.

 Use the consultation process to help you recognise areas for concern before they
become issues.

 Use the consultation process to agree on prioritising the allocation of resources.

 By prioritising resource allocation, you can avoid when a task conflict exists and it
can be resolved without putting pressure on the individual or team.

Linking the allocation of resources

When discussing resource allocation with individuals and teams, linking tasks that require similar
resources is a logistical solution.

 If the resource/s has been assigned to cover, e.g., project A and project B, these
tasks could be linked.

 In this manner, if it appears that a resource will be over-allocated for just one area
or project and if another task is similar enough the two may count as one by linking
these tasks and the resource problem resolved.

 It is equally important not to under-allocate resources as this could lead to a loss of

budget allocation meaning resource allocations problems could then appear in
future planning.

 A balance must be achieved between recognising allocations of resources and not

moving forward quickly enough.
Appropriate interpersonal skills may include:
 Clarity of language

 Consultation methods, techniques and protocols

 Seeking feedback from group members to confirm understanding

 Summarising and paraphrasing

 Using appropriate body language

To be effective, consultation needs to take place at a stage that offers employees a chance to
prepare a response and offer meaningful dialogue.

 Interpersonal skills include not only how we communicate with others, but also our
confidence and our ability to listen and understand.

 Problem solving, decision making and personal stress management are also
considered interpersonal skills.

Participation and the allocation of resources

 Listen to what others tell you and ensure that you understand

 Be helpful and offer to learn all points of view

 Be honest if you agree or disagree

 Be friendly, open and approachable

 Admit and rectify mistakes if they have occurred in the past

 Seek advice from others when needed

Activity
2B
Activity 3D

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Determine resource requirements
To determine resource requirement analysis effectively, if this hasn’t already been carried out, do
this exercise as part of the assessment.

 gathering accurate information

 understanding the stakeholder need

 articulate requirements clearly

Resource requirement analysis

 Determine your WORKPLACE requirements in accordance with your business and
operational plans

 Examine the highest levels required of each resource to determine if each area is:

o Clearly understood

o Complete as much as possible

o Free of any contradictions

o Complies with the business plan strategy

Business plan resource requirements specifications

 Where possible, the determination should involve communication with users,
stakeholders, and other experts to avoid issues such as conflicting requirements
before the business plan is undertaken.

Resource requirements EXAMPLES included:

Human Resources

The heart of the issue with business resource needs is Human Resources.

 Human resources are the skills-base of the business.

 What skills does the business already possess?

 Are they sufficient to meet the needs of the chosen strategy?

 Could the skills-base be flexed / stretched to meet the new requirements?

An audit of human resources would include assessment of the following factors:

Existing staffing  Numbers of staff by function, location, grade, experience,

resources qualification, remuneration

 Existing rate of staff loss ("natural wastage")

 Overall standard of training and specific training standards in key

roles

 Assessment of key "intangibles" - e.g. morale, business culture

Changes required to  What changes to the organisation of the business are included in
these resources the strategy (e.g. change of location, new locations, new products)?

 What incremental human resources are required?

 How should they be sourced?

 Alternatives could include employment, outsourcing, joint ventures

etc.

 What are the costs to your business of employing someone?

 How much time will need to be spent adhering to record keeping, payroll and other
administrative tasks related to employing staff?

 How much time will need to be spent supervising staff or outsourced work?

 Prepare an estimate on the costs of employing staff as well as the direct expenses of their
wages and other relevant costs (e.g. superannuation requirements)

 You will need to consider all these (and more) of employing staff
Others include:

Physical Resources
The category of physical resources covers a wide range of operational resources concerned with the
capability to deliver your goods, services and meeting your business plan.

Production facilities  Location of existing production facilities; capacity; investment and

maintenance requirements

 Current production processes - quality; method & organisation

 Extent to which production requirements of the strategy can be

delivered by existing facilities

Raw materials  Materials required for the manufacture or production of finished

goods

Marketing facilities  Marketing management process

 Distribution channels

Information  It systems
technology
 Hardware, software etc

 Integration with customers and suppliers

Facilities  Buildings, rooms with specific purposes

Stock and supplies  Trading stock, consumables, fixed assets such as machinery or
vehicles
Determine resource requirements in accordance with business and operational plans
 Check your WORKPLACE business and operational plan against these suggested EXAMPLES

Suggested examples Your workplace resources requirements

The physical plant

Equipment

Assets

Special requirements

Materials

Production

Inventory

Cost

Organisational requirements
The examples provided suggest several areas that would need to be addressed as part of:

1. Determine resource requirements

2. Are they in accordance with business and operational

plans

For example:
Access and equity principles and practices

What does that include?

1. Equal employment opportunity

NO discrimination against staff or clients on the basis of race, gender, sex or sexual preference,
religious or political belief, pregnancy or marital status, union activity or age.

2. Disabilities

Making any necessary and reasonable adjustment for staff and clients with disabilities
 3. Staff policies

All staff to be issued with their individual copy of the HR Policy Manual

For example

Business and performance plans

 What is expected of you in your role and how you contribute to the achievement of
your goals or set objectives using these approved resources

 Acknowledging the types of support

available to help you in delivering
work priorities

 How to work towards and achieve

goals and build job satisfaction.
Activity 1A
2.1. Acquire physical resources and services in accordance with
organisational requirements

Determine your organisations views on the advantages and disadvantages of the purchasing
methods using examples provided or ADDING your own additional examples

Acquire physical resources and services in accordance with

organisational requirements

Advantage Disadvantage
Purchasing options

Direct negotiations

Direct purchases using supply

agreements

Electronic trading (ONLINE)

Your views

Invitation of open or select

tenders

Written quotations

Other

Other

 What influences would the following examples play in the acquisition of resources?

 Would your organisation have special supply arrangements for resources?

 Would your organisation have documented procedures, guidelines and strategies

formatted for these types of examples?
 Your views

Local and distant suppliers

Other entities owned by the

organisation

Partners

Alliance members

Other
Activity 2A
2.2. Check resources to ensure quality and quantity are in line with service
agreements
Assuming you have acquired the particular resource according to organisational requirements, the
checking process to ensure:

1. quality

2. quantity

…complies with purchasing orders or ‘service agreements’ is also a mechanical checklist process.

EXAMPLES

Quality

Resource Meets requirements Complies to service Does not comply

agreements

Quantity

Resource Meets order Complies to service Does not comply

agreements

Basic Service Agreement

Review these to identify areas where future improvements could be made.

There may be issues such as

 A breakdown in the supply process

 An overrun of a budget allocation

 The purchase of unsatisfactory goods

 The discovery of an alternate supplier

 A review of supply practices

Other review strategies could include feedback and discussion with relevant staff, recording
problems with particular suppliers and maintaining records of any difficulties in the procurement
process.

EXAMPLE

Heading Content Compliance

Description/purpose Basically the service or the

product description

Parties Supplier and client - including

addresses

Date

Definitions Frequently occurring items in

the document

Pricing If appropriate, attach a

schedule

Pricing adjustment Example includes annual

increases linked to an index

Responsibilities of provider Include or append details of

services

responsibilities of customer payment terms

confidentiality

Dispute process

Termination / force majeure Renegotiation /prevailing laws

renewal

Signatures and witnesses

2.3. Allocate resources promptly to enable achievement of workgroup
objectives

 In strategic planning, resource allocation is a plan for using available resources, for
example human resources, especially in the near term, to achieve goals for the
future.

 It is the process of allocating resources among the various projects or business

units.

In any organisation, the prompt allocation of resources, presumably in these examples, recently
acquired, would be fundamental to the efficient use of those resources given they were purchased
for a specific set of reasons?

Achievement of workgroup objectives

 The achievement of various workgroup objectives would have been fundamental to
the justification of the purchasing of the resource!

 The allocation of the resource thus completes

that cycle!

Why not create a plan to achieve this?

The issues:

 What is the particular resource management?

 Think about capacity/demand management as well as the number of and

skillset/experiences for the actual resource.

 Look for optimum utilisation of resources.

 The right people on the right tasks at the right time.

The challenge of resource allocation

 It's not just the resources!

 Think planning techniques used, usage experience, accuracy in scope and the ability
to estimate/plan/define the required activities for the resources.

 It can almost be a daily resourcing challenge!

 The problem may not be 'resource management’ but what is required and how to
drive your plan that is important.
Tools that can help

 Project Server, Clarity, Primavera etc. are helpful resource allocation tools.

 Consider an Excel spreadsheet?

 Do research - how many companies derive a benefit or not from them?

 The trick is leadership and management vision and technique.

 Think about how you allocate resources.

 Think about how you sequence and pace delivery.

 Spot busy times and understand priorities and actions.

3. Monitor and report on resource allocation and usage

3.1. Measure effectiveness of resource planning and assess against actual costs, identified
shortfalls and surpluses

3.2. Develop and implement methods of monitoring resource use to enable timely and accurate
reporting against business and operational plans

3.3. Identify improvements in resource planning through consultation and feedback, and
implement in accordance with organisational requirements
3.4. Maintain records concerning equipment and resource purchases in accordance with
organisational requirements

3.1. Measure effectiveness of resource planning and assess against actual

costs, identified shortfalls and surpluses

 Cost-effectiveness is a measure of how well an organisation uses its resources to

achieve its desired outcomes.

 A first step in defining the measurement system is establishing a process for

resource planning. (Addressed elsewhere)

 Evaluating and measuring the resultant resource planning would need a model that
can be used in defining your selected variables.
  Measuring the actual resource cost compared to the standard budget for a given
resource can be considered according to your organisational requirements,
including cost and resource scheduling which may exceed the standard budget.

 The result of the measurement be it unfavourable or favourable will need to be

predetermined in your set of parameters for the model chosen.

EXAMPLE ONLY

A B C

Resource

Measure effectiveness

Measurement

Assess against

1. Actual costs

2. Identified
shortfalls

3. Surpluses

Results

1. Favourable

2. Unfavourable

Additional Comments
Measure effectiveness
Monitoring is also keeping a close eye on how resources are being used and comparing this with
your planning.

EXAMPLE of key words or actions

 Corrective action altering activities, modifying the use of resources

 Renegotiating the allocation of particular resources in response to measurement

 Consistency in product and service delivery

 Products and services you are responsible for are meeting standards set in the
planning

 Impact on the environment both organisational, planning and costs

 Improvements needed from this assessment

 Legal requirements are being met relevant to physical resources, for example health
and safety and environmental legislation, industry specific legislation
Measure effectiveness
 A measurable unit or set of units assigned to each evaluation objective, e.g., a
planned resource

 The data collected in your ‘measured units’ profile will allow for a determination of
the degree of achievement for that
objective.

 Suggesting new methods of using available

resources to improve the team's
effectiveness and efficiency

Things affecting effectiveness

 Resource not suitable

 Cost of poor quality from suppliers

 Defective material or damaged material during delivery

Activity
3A
3.2. Develop and implement methods of monitoring resource use to enable
timely and accurate reporting against business and operational plans

If a format does not exist, you will need to ‘develop’ what you or your organisation considers these
resources to be?

There are many variables, but a general guide would likely include some or all of the following
headings.

Human resources People

 direct and sub-contract labour, management and

supervision

 health safety and risk management issues

 labour management techniques

Financial resources Money/time

 finance budgets, banking, investments, creditors,

payment, receipts

 hire, lease or purchase

Physical resources Equipment /material /infrastructure

 plant and machinery, scheduling of material requirements,

purchasing/procurement, receiving and checking,
materials handling

 storage and security issues

 energy usage

 water usage

 waste generation

 consumables usage

Information resources Technology/knowledge

  documentation

 control systems

 networks

 schedules

 computers, programs

Business and operational plans

Human resources What are they?

Financial resources

Physical resources

Information resources

Dealing with variances

Causes

 insufficient detail and targets in the business plan

 weak business planning

 inadequate operational planning

Skills and Knowledge Activity
Nearly there...

Major Activity – An opportunity to revise the unit

At the end of your Learner Workbook, you will find an activity titled ‘Major Activity’. This is an
opportunity to revise the entire unit and allows your trainer to check your knowledge and
understanding of what you have covered. It should take between and 1-2 hours to complete and
your trainer will let you know whether they wish for you to complete it in your own time or during
the sessions. Once this is completed, you will have finished this unit and be ready to move onto the
next, well done!
Congratulations!

You have now finished the unit ’Coordinate business resources'.

 References
These suggested references are for further reading and do not necessarily represent the
contents of this Learner Guide

 From Resource Allocation to Strategy [Paperback]

 Joseph L. Bower (Editor), Clark G. Gilbert (Editor)

 Resource Management (Sun Bluprints) [Paperback]

 Richard Mc Dougall (Author), Adrian Cockcroft (Author), Evert Hoogendoorn (Author)

 Managing Human Resources [Hardcover]

 Susan E. Jackson (Author), Randall S. Schuler (Author), Steve Werner (Author)

 Accounting for Fixed Assets (Google eBook)

 Raymond H. Peter (Author)