Workforce Planning key to proper resource planning

The development of a workforce plan is a critical component of any human resource strategy and one of the expected outcomes of human resource practitioners’ activities. Despite this, manpower or workforce planning, as well as succession planning has only recently enjoyed resurgence in popularity. To some extent this has been prompted by the need to develop employment equity and workplace skills plans and set numerical employment equity targets. The failure of many organisations to develop and implement workforce planning is rather indicative of the lack of strategic planning itself.

A workforce plan can be as simple or as complex as organisational needs require. The workforce planning can be conducted for a department, division or for the organisation as a whole. Whatever the level or approach being adopted it must nevertheless be integrated with broad-based management strategies.

There are multiple reasons to conduct workforce planning. The following are some common reasons for doing so:

• Helps meet the organisation’s competency/skill requirements.
• Provides focus for workforce demographics, retirement projections and succession planning.
• Provides a clear rationale for linking expenditures for recruitment, training, employee development, retention, and other human resource programmes to the organisation’s long-term goals and objectives.
• Provides managers with tools to address changes in programme direction that impacts that type of work being performed.
• Assists managers in creating a high quality workforce capable of continually growing and changing.
• Provides critical information for inclusion in budget requests and strategic plans.

The main drivers for workforce planning include:

• Labour market: Labour market trends have implications for recruitment and retention of staff, and organisations may face difficulties in some occupations.
• Political and policy change: including employment equity, black economic empowerment, skills development, local government initiatives, all of which have significant HR implications for service delivery and employment practices.
• Demographic and social change: Demographic change such as the ageing population or the impact of HIVAIDS can affect both the demand for services and workforce supply.
• Technological change: Technological change is leading to changes in service delivery, and changes in ways of working and the skills needed in the workforce.

Workforce planning links strategic planning, programme management, human resources, and budgeting decisions. It identifies the characteristics and competencies needed of people to achieve desired outcomes, and it facilitates those competencies being present in the workforce when and where they are needed.

At the outset it is important to note that there is no single model for workforce planning. Many organisations have developed their own models which meet the needs of that particular organisation and which are quite acceptable.

With sufficient time and study many HR practitioners could develop a model for their organisation - workforce planning is not a mystical or intuitive exercise, but rather a practical analysis of organisational needs.

Many of these activities are invariably being conducted to a greater or lesser extent within the organisation already, for example, formulating an organisation's employment equity plan requires an analysis of the organisations workforce profile, while the development of a workplace skills plan properly requires an analysis of competency gaps and integrating such workplace skills plans with the organisation's strategic plan.

If you have ever wondered whether it would be possible to plan your recruitment strategies better – then workforce planning is essential for you to meet the requirements of your business.

To register for the Workinfo.com Workforce and Succession Planning course – click here.

This course may also be offered in house nationwide.