Access to the right resources used in a project can make the difference between success and failure
Efficient Resource Management program is critical for the deployment of all organizational resources, from financial resources and inventory to human skills (HR), production resources and information technology (IT). It ensures optimal and speedy resource ramp-up and deployment, and leads to high productivity and on-time delivery of critical projects.
A well-tuned Resource Management strategy provides an insight into the art of balancing work demand and resource capacity. Better visibility into future resource demand and capacity raises the company's confidence level, reduces the resource-associated risks (missing or deficient equipment, non-matching or inadequate human skills, unclear employee responsibilities, staff turnover, etc.) and allows you to make more accurate hiring decisions. Clear, reliable information supporting increased resource demand, and the availability of multiple scenarios based on anticipated future work allow the company to acquire more staff for the project and efficiently control employee turnover.
Most Resource Management programs are aimed to achieve better performance in the following areas: Resource Acquisition, (Human) Resource Training, Resource Deployment and Resource Retention. Resource Management programs can be viewed from the following perspectives: Strategic Perspective (Are necessary resources available to achieve the company's strategic goals and objectives", Does the current investment level open up new growth opportunities), Customer Perspective (Are there enough resources to deliver value to customer", Is the response time on client initiatives sufficient"), Operational Perspective (Are the company's processes and transactions efficient and effective", Can the latest technology be used to improve resource management efficiency"), and Financial Perspective (Is the company's return on investment in resources competitive", What is the resource value added level").
Resource Management program allows the company to achieve superior value to customer in the following forms: better client interaction and understanding of client's needs and requirements; optimal resource deployment for higher productivity; faster response times on critical client initiatives and large projects; on-time and high-quality project delivery; knowledge retention; re-use of resources on multiple engagements.
Several types of metrics can be used to evaluate the progress of the company's resource management program. The most common resource metric type is Resource Utilization. Equipment Resource Utilization can be determined using the following measurements: Cycle time (The total elapsed time to move a unit of work from the beginning to the end of a physical process), Lead Time (The amount of time that is required to meet a customer request or demand), and Capacity (The maximum amount of parts that may be processed in a given time period). In Human Resource management, HR utilization is the ratio of a resource's billable work to the total amount of work. For instance, factors such as employee overtime and success in selling new work naturally result in utilization increases; however, there are also likely associated costs. Driving a utilization increase through more intense resource management process can result in considerable positive impacts to profitability without associated costs.
Good Resource Management program gives a clear view of the company's resource supply, including resource roles, skills and skill levels, provides full visibility and control over the project demands, and balances resource supply. Understanding of both operational tasks and mission-critical, strategic project requirements enable the company management to allocate resources to the highest-priority activities.