Strategic Business Leader · Enabling success: talent management

Human Resource Planning and Resourcing for ACCA SBL

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Human resource planning is the process of forecasting how many people and what skills a business needs, comparing that with the people it will have, and closing the gap through recruitment, selection, training or succession planning. In SBL, you must link every people decision to the organisation's strategy.

Understand Human Resource Planning and Resourcing

Start with a simple idea. Strategy needs people to deliver it. Human resource planning (HRP), also called workforce planning, asks: will we have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time?

HRP has four stages. First, forecast demand for labour from strategy, such as new markets, new technology, or cost cutting. Second, forecast supply, both internal (current staff, less leavers, retirements, promotions and transfers) and external (the labour market, competitors, skills shortages). Third, compare the two to find a surplus or a shortage, in numbers and in skills. Fourth, plan action to close the gap and review the results.

Actions depend on the gap. For a shortage you can recruit, retrain, promote, use overtime, outsource, use contractors or automate. For a surplus you can freeze hiring, use natural wastage, redeploy, retrain, offer early retirement or make redundancies. Redundancy brings legal, ethical and morale risks, so it is usually the last resort.

Recruitment and selection are different. Recruitment is attracting a pool of suitable candidates: defining the role, writing a job description and person specification, advertising, using agencies, referrals or social media. Selection is choosing the best candidate from that pool: shortlisting, interviews, tests, assessment centres, references and the offer. Recruitment widens the pool; selection narrows it.

Succession planning prepares for the future loss of key people, especially senior roles. You identify critical roles, assess potential successors, develop them through training, secondments and mentoring, and review the plan regularly. It reduces disruption and keeps knowledge in the business. It must be handled fairly and openly enough to avoid favouritism and loss of motivation among those not chosen.

Key rules to remember

Labour supply forecast: Expected supply = Opening headcount − leavers (resignations, retirements, dismissals) ± internal transfers and promotions + planned recruits; Use it to compare with forecast demand for each skill group, not just in total.
Labour gap: Gap = Forecast demand − Forecast supply; A positive gap is a shortage. A negative gap is a surplus. Check numbers and skills separately.
Labour turnover rate: Labour turnover % = Number of leavers in period ÷ Average number of employees in period × 100; A high rate may signal poor pay, culture or management, and raises replacement and training costs.
Recruitment versus selection: Recruitment = attract a pool of candidates. Selection = choose from that pool.; A key distinction that students are often asked to explain.

How to solve Human Resource Planning and Resourcing questions

Use this method for any SBL question on HR planning, recruitment, selection or succession. Keep every step tied to the scenario.

1Read the requirement and note the verb (advise, evaluate, recommend, explain). It tells you the depth needed.
2Identify the strategy in the scenario, such as growth, expansion abroad, digital change or cost reduction. This drives labour demand.
3Assess demand and supply: what skills and numbers are needed, what is available inside, and what the external market offers.
4Identify the gap or risk, such as skills shortage, ageing workforce, key person dependency or high turnover.
5Recommend actions, such as recruit, train, promote, outsource or succession plan. Match each to the gap and justify it with scenario facts.
6Cover the methods: for recruitment, sources and channels; for selection, the tools and why they fit the role (reliability, validity, cost, fairness).
7Add risks, costs, ethics and legal points, such as discrimination, bias, cost and morale.
8Finish with a clear recommendation and a point on how you would monitor results. Show professional skills through clear, concise, commercially aware writing.

Quickest way: Demand, supply, gap, action

When to use it: Use when time is short and you need a quick plan for a question on workforce planning or resourcing.

Write four words on your plan: Demand, Supply, Gap, Action.
Under each, put one or two scenario facts (for example, new plant needs 40 engineers; only 15 available).
For action, give one internal option and one external option, then pick one and say why.
Add one risk or ethical point and one monitoring measure.
Write the answer in short paragraphs, each starting with the point and then the scenario link.

Common mistakes in Human Resource Planning and Resourcing

Treating recruitment and selection as the same thing.
In everyday speech both mean hiring someone.
Fix: Say recruitment attracts a pool and selection chooses from it. Then discuss each separately when the question asks for both.
Writing a generic list of HR methods with no link to the scenario.
Students memorise textbook lists and reproduce them.
Fix: Start from the organisation's strategy and name its specific skills gap. Choose only the methods that fit and explain why.
Ignoring supply and only forecasting demand.
Scenarios stress growth, so students jump to hiring.
Fix: Always check internal supply first, including leavers, retirements and redeployment. The gap, not demand alone, drives action.
Treating succession planning as only replacing the CEO.
Students think of boardroom succession in news stories.
Fix: Explain that it covers all critical roles and key knowledge, and link it to talent development and retention.
Leaving out ethics, fairness and legal risk in selection.
Students focus on efficiency and cost.
Fix: Mention bias, discrimination, diversity, data privacy and fair process, and suggest safeguards such as structured interviews and diverse panels.

Worked examples

Example 1

A retail group plans to open 12 new stores. Each store needs 25 staff, so 300 extra staff in total, on top of the current 1,000. Over the year it expects 120 leavers and 20 internal promotions into supervisor roles, which will be filled from the existing 1,000. Calculate the number of staff the group must recruit externally, and advise on how to attract and select them.

Show the solution

Demand: current staff 1,000 plus 300 new = 1,300 staff needed.
Supply: 1,000 current less 120 leavers = 880. The 20 promotions move staff between roles and do not change the total supply.
Gap: 1,300 − 880 = 420 staff short.
Recruitment: use local job boards, social media and referral schemes. Run a clear employer brand and offer flexible hours to reach students and part-time workers.
Selection: for customer-facing roles use structured interviews and short role-play tests. Use group assessment days for supervisors. Check references.
Risks: a large intake may dilute culture and service quality, so plan induction and training. Avoid discrimination and keep recruitment costs under control. The 20 promoted staff leave vacancies at their old level, but these are already counted in the 420 as part of the total headcount gap.

Answer: The group must recruit 420 staff externally. It should recruit through varied channels, select with structured, role-relevant methods, and support the intake with induction and fair, documented processes.

Example 2

A family-owned engineering firm's founder-CEO plans to retire in three years. No successor has been identified, and two senior engineers have recently left. Advise the board on succession planning.

Show the solution

Identify the risk: loss of leadership, key client relationships and technical knowledge, with a recent pattern of senior departures.
Define critical roles: the CEO and other senior engineering and client-facing roles.
Assess potential successors, both internal and external. Use performance records, potential reviews and assessment centres for internal candidates.
Develop them: job rotation, mentoring by the founder, stretch projects, and formal leadership training. This also supports retention.
Plan for the external route if no internal candidate is ready, using executive search, with a handover period overlapping the founder's exit.
Capture knowledge and client relationships through documentation and joint client meetings, so value does not leave with the founder.
Address fairness and morale: communicate the process openly so the unsuccessful candidates stay engaged, and review the plan every year with board oversight.

Answer: The board should name critical roles, assess and develop internal candidates over the three years, prepare an external search as a fallback, transfer knowledge and client ties, and review progress yearly. This reduces disruption and retention risk.

Exam tips

Tie every recommendation to the scenario's strategy. Marks go for application, not for listing textbook methods.
If the requirement asks for recruitment and selection, use two clear headings or paragraphs and keep them separate.
Include a view on cost, time and risk of each option, then make a clear recommendation. Professional skills marks reward judgement.
Watch for hints in the scenario: ageing staff, high turnover, new technology or overseas expansion usually signal the HR issue to address.
Keep calculations simple and show them. A supply and demand gap number gives a strong anchor for your discussion.

Practice questions from Enabling success: talent management

Human Resource Planning and Resourcing in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Human Resource Planning and Resourcing: frequently asked questions

What is the difference between recruitment and selection?

Recruitment is the process of attracting a pool of suitable candidates through job descriptions, advertising and other channels. Selection is choosing the best candidate from that pool using interviews, tests, assessment centres and references.

What is human resource planning in SBL?

It is forecasting the labour an organisation needs to deliver its strategy, comparing it with the labour it will have, and planning action to close any gap. In SBL you should always link it to the scenario's strategy.

What is succession planning and why does it matter?

Succession planning identifies critical roles and prepares people to fill them when current holders leave. It reduces disruption, protects knowledge and supports retention by giving staff a development path.

Is HR planning examined with calculations?

Rarely. SBL is a written case study exam, so you may use simple figures such as headcount gaps or turnover to support your argument. The focus is on application, judgement and recommendation.