Workforce Planning, do you take the time to do it?

There is a lot to consider with workforce planning.

Workforce planning is about planning your workforce to avoid the negative impacts of having too many or not enough staff available or not have the right person for the right role with the right skills at the right time.   Beyond that is helps with achieving business goals, prepare for the future, plan recruitment and training activities and respond quickly, improve retention, reduce skills shortages and a host of other benefits.

When we are faced with having to reduce costs, need talent, managing demographic changes and flexibility it becomes important to be proactive instead of reactive.   Workforce Planning allows organisations to be proactive, which is so much better than reacting.

Workforce Planning allows the alignment of human resources with its strategic goals and objectives through the process of analysing, forecasting and planning workforce supply and demand by assessing gaps and determining talent management interventions to ensure that organisations have the right people, with the right skills in the right places at the right time.

It doesn’t need to be complicated but there is a lot to consider; understanding the organisation and its environment, analysing the current and potential workforce, determining future workforce needs, identify workforce gaps against future needs, actions to address shortages, surpluses or skill mismatches and mentor and evaluate actions.

There is many benefits to workforce planning including; possible decreased hiring costs, efficient resource allocation, strategic training and development and less talent gaps just to name a few.

The size and complexity of the organisation determines the complexity of the workforce plan; however, it is still the same process.  Maybe, you do, do a lot of it in your head but have you covered anything to ensure it is as accurate as possible and more importantly do you action it – as like with any plan, that is where the value lies.   Take the time out to undertake workforce planning for your business.

 

Related articles: The Future Workforce –  A lot to consider & plan!

 

Leisa Messer BBus(HRM); GradDipIR; FCPHR
Managing Director | HR Strategist
leisa.messer@hrbd.com.au
07 3890 2066
hrbd.com.au