Human resource planning cannot be done in a vacuum. The HR department needs to understand the company's strategic plan and be able to hire or shed jobs as necessary. As you read the following case, think about how Alicia Brooks, HR manager at Edu-Films, needs to take a balanced approach to hiring the right amount of staff for the company's next big project.

In this exercise, please read the mini-case and answer the questions that follow.

Edu-Films is a small design company that writes and produces videos for the elementary and high school education market. The company is in the final stages of negotiating a new contract with a U.S. publisher to create 40 videos for a new K-12 math series, and the videos need to be available by the spring of 2017. Business for Edu-Films has been slow over the past three years, and the company has kept staff levels to a minimum. Mindful of the company's flat fiscal results over the last couple of years but understanding that new hires must be ready to go once the agreement is signed, HR manager Alicia Brooks must put together a cohesive hiring plan.

1. Forecasting can use statistical or __________ methods.

experimental

experiential

scientific

historical

judgmental

2. After forecasts of labor demand and supply are known, what comes next in the planning process?

Employee appraisals

Program implementation

Budget review

Goal setting and strategic planning

Program evaluation