6 Phases of Workforce Planning
Workforce planning ensures the right employees with the right skills are at the right place and time to achieve the business’s goals.
WHAT IS WORKFORCE PLANNING?
Workforce planning is a critical business process that helps organizations connect their people strategy with changing work demands. Workforce planning is the most valuable action a company can perform. It is a plan that Workforce planning can tailor to any business regardless of size and maturity. Furthermore, resource planning provides market and industry knowledge to assist companies in focusing on various challenges and concerns and planning activities to support long-term corporate objectives.
This article discusses strategic, operational workforce planning, and hard and soft workforce planning, all of which collaborate to create and evaluate data before making decisions. Additionally, it delves into each stage of the planning phase and highlights the key issues and execution steps.
WHY IS WORKFORCE PLANNING IMPORTANT?
Workforce planning looks different in different industries and organizations. It could vary in duration, scope and the roles covered. Workforce planning is essential because it aids in protecting the primary day-to-day activities of the organization.
Workforce planning is fundamentally about allocating people with the right skills to the right job. This allocation could be either a long or short-term plan—HR managers associate resource planning with talent arrangement. The output feeds into resourcing schedules that line managers execute.
In the 1980s, when workforce planning was a new concept, it was perceived to be rigid and inflexible. On the contrary, the interpretations of resource planning have evolved and have become more flexible and less rigid regarding forecasting. Therefore, resource planning is a tool adopted by many businesses.
BENEFITS OF WORKFORCE PLANNING
- Workforce planning helps in reducing labour costs by favourably deploying the existing crew.
- Crew planning can improve employee retention positively and pays close attention to productivity.
- Planning helps in improving the work-life balance of employees
- Producing and deployment schedule helps budgie the gap between labour supply and active projects.
Human resource planning ensures all employees are actively employed; in other words, it aids in targeting inefficiencies in the work process.
6 PHASES OF WORKFORCE PLANNING:
1. STRATEGIC PLANNING
At this phase, you need to understand three aspects:
(a) the operating environment.
(b) the critical mission goals.
(c) organizational structure.
At this stage, you need to ask questions like where the current organizational environment is and whether it would change in the future? Further, you need to look into what resource planning can implement tools and plans to increase the productivity of the employees?
2. SUPPLY ANALYSIS
Recognize and analyze the current force’s available skills, capabilities and talents. It would be best if you also considered the attrition rates and other related factors such as the employee’s perspective on job security, satisfaction etc. From the analysis, executives can project an accurate forecast of employee deployment.
3. DEMAND ANALYSIS
Identify what current skills will become obsolete and your business’s steps to futureproof your employees to keep them relevant. By predicting and pre-planning for the future, you can develop adaptive plans for fulfilling future goals.
4. IDENTIFY THE GAPS
Recognize the gaps between workforce demand and supply. For instance, future roles may require employees who are digitally aware and technologically knowledgeable. To level the gaps, employees must train regularly or outsource talent.
5. DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN
An agile workforce that can adapt to change will aid in developing a change-ready organization that can proactively reorganize as needed. Moreover, the right group of employees’ initiatives and activities should identify personnel gaps and help your firm achieve its strategic goals.
6. MONITORING CHANGES
Monitor the performance of the solutions implemented and their impact on the gaps identified. Design detailed evaluation processes to measure your team’s progress. You can spot the pitfalls early through continual monitoring and formulate a contingency plan.
RELATED READINGS
Getting People Right (GPR) is an educational website providing professionals from all types of businesses with practical education in human resources and leadership. To keep evolving your leadership toolkit, additional GPR resources below will be useful:
Gap Analysis: The 4 Steps of How To Conduct One
What Is A Contingency Plan?
