Components of a Business Plan

HUMAN RESOURCES PLAN

• Key questions answered by human resources plans:
  
  • How do you describe your desired corporate culture?
    
  • What are the key positions within your organization?
    
  • How many employees will you have?
    
  • What characteristics define your desired employees?
    
  • What is your recruitment strategy?
    
  • What processes will you apply to hire the employees you require?
    
  • What is your leadership strategy and why have you chosen this approach?
    
  • What performance appraisal and employee development methods will you use?
    
  • What is your organizational structure and why is this the best way for your company to be organized?
    
  • How will you pay each employee (wage, salary, commission, etc.)?
    
  • How much will you pay each employee?
    
  • What are your payroll costs, including benefits?
    
  • What work will be outsourced and what work will be completed in-house?
    
  • Have you shown and described an organizational chart?

Recruitment and Retention Strategies

• Include how many employees are required at what times
  
• Estimate time required to recruit needed employees
  
• Estimate all recruitment costs including:
  
  • Employment advertisements
    
  • Contracts with employment agency or search firms
    
  • Travel and accommodations for potential employees to come for interviews
    
  • Travel and accommodations for interviewers
    
  • Facility, food, lost time, and other interviewing costs
    
  • Relocation allowances for those hired including flights, moving companies, housing allowances, spousal employment assistance, etc.

You might include a schedule here showing the costs of initial recruitment that then flows into your start-up expense schedules

Leadership and Management Strategies

• What is your leadership philosophy?
  
• Why is it the most appropriate leadership approach for this venture? Training
• What training is required because of existing rules and regulations?
  
• How will you ensure your employees are as capable as required?
  
• In which of the following areas will you provide training for your employees?
  
  • Health and safety (legislation, WHMIS, first aid, defibulators, etc.)
    
  • Initial workplace orientation
    
  • Management
    
  • Financial systems
    
  • Sales
    
  • Contracts
    
  • Product features
    
  • Other
    

Performance Appraisals

• How will you manage your performance appraisal systems?

Health and Safety

• There may be legal requirements that should be noted in this section (and also legal requirements for other issues that may be included in other parts of the plan)
  
• Consider pursuing accreditation such as ISO 9000, if so, evaluate the costs, benefits, and time frame
  
• Employees may require WHMIS training or other training including machinery handling

Compensation

• Always completely justify your planned employee compensation methods and amounts
  
• Always include all components of the compensation (CPP, EI, holiday pay, etc.)
  
• How will you ensure both internal and external equity in your pay systems
  
• Describe any incentive-based pay or profit sharing systems planned
  
• You might include a schedule here that shows the financial implications of your compensation strategy and supports the cash flow and income statements shown later

Key Personnel

• May include brief biographies of the key organizational people

Completing the human resources plan further adds to the overall business plan.