Reference no: EM133044937

ABC Eye Care System, Madurai, represents the largest and most comprehensive eye care system, leading in the number of surgeries and number of patients much more than any other eye care facility in the world. What is special about ABC is that nearly 70 per cent of surgeries are free of cost for the poorest of India's blind population.

Lately, eye care services have become competitive and the industry making significant progress has led to voluntary attrition of manpower across different categories and centres. At ABC, apart from assessing reasons for attrition, preventive steps are also taken so that effective functioning of the services is not disrupted. It makes detailed assessments of manpower needs scientifically. This helps in its recruitments, training and transfers across departments.

It is a conscious decision which the organization has made to staff people in excess numbers in critical services to take care of contingencies and offering training programmes to build harmony and commitment among employees. Having employee strength of approximately 350 medical officers and consultants, more than a thousand mid-level ophthalmic personnel (MLOPs) and approximately 500 administrative staff, ABC fulfils all its manpower needs without any advertisement. Despite this policy, there always exists a large pool of applicants for recruitment. MLOPs, representing about 70 per cent of its workforce, are young women in the age group of 17-19, hailing from humble rural backgrounds.

Questions:

1. In the current case, do you think overstaffing by choice is the right strategy adopted by ABC Eye Care System? Explain.

2. Do you think the objectives of HR Planning at ABC are being met with this strategy?