Workforce planning is a core business process which aligns changing business needs with people strategy. It can be an effective activity that does not need to be complicated, and can be adjusted to suit the size and maturity of any business. At its core, workforce planning will enable sustainable performance through better decision-making about the future people needs of the business.
Workforce planning is the process of balancing skills labour supply against demand. It includes analysing the current workforce, determining future workforce needs, identifying the gap between the present and the future, and implementing solutions so that a business can accomplish its mission, goals, and strategic plan.
The goal? Getting the right number of people with the right skills employed in the right place at the right time, at the right cost and on the right contract to deliver on the short and long-term objectives of the business.
What are the benefits of workforce planning?
Workforce planning processes are hugely beneficial and can help:
- Reduce labour costs in favour of workforce deployment and flexibility.
- Identify and respond to changing customer needs.
- Identify relevant strategies for focused people development.
- Target inefficiencies.
- Improve employee retention.
- Improve productivity and quality outputs.
- Improve employees’ work-life balance.
- Make recommendations to deliver strategic value through talent.
Workforce planning will vary in timeframe, scale and the roles covered.
It can be seen in straight forward activities such as the need for a restaurant to be appropriately staffed, or that sufficient people are recruited to fulfil a specific project or deadline. Alternatively, it can be a longer-term plan to ensure the right talent is in the right roles and better understand what future workforce will be needed.
Workforce planning should be linked to the business’s goals and be part of the strategic planning process. It is an opportunity for senior leaders to engage with and set the agenda for workforce change.
How do I implement workforce planning effectively?
Workforce planning, while effective, will only add value if it is implemented positively and successfully. Key considerations include:
Generate consensus on the plan – A collaborative approach is vital. It needs wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders to enable all parties to agree and understand the rationale for the actions being taken.
Ensure clear allocation and understanding of responsibilities – It is essential that everyone involved is clear about what their responsibilities are and what action is required.
Provide support for managers – Line managers will need support from management and other key stakeholders to fulfil their responsibilities, including having the skills and understanding to participate fully in the planning process and act on the outcomes. Skills to interpret data, to input good quality information and analyse performance are key.
Review and capture learning – Clear and robust mechanisms are needed to review and capture learning and feed this back into the process. Evaluation criteria will depend on the objectives. As workforce planning is about trying to predict the future, evaluation needs to look at outcomes of the decisions and their results.
Data is kept over time – This allows, for example, snapshots of workforce composition at the same date each year to be easily extracted. Relevant workforce data relies on keeping information on joiners, leavers, and movers in each year.
Key actions for workforce planning
When putting a workforce plan together, the following points are critical to ensure successful and effective implementation:
- It starts with the business strategy and plan.
- It should be ‘future-focused’ to enable the business to deliver the business strategy.
- It should be flexible enough to deal with constant change.
- It is a dynamic process and should be subject to constant feedback and review.
- It is not just about numbers. It is also about skills, potential and how these are deployed and organised.
- It encompasses the whole business and requires buy-in at all levels to be effective.
- It brings together operational and strategic planning processes.
Workforce planning is dynamic and has many moving parts. While there is no single formula that will provide a ‘correct’ workforce plan, with the right approach and right data, the result will produce solutions that allow the business to accomplish its mission, goals, and strategic plan.
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