Workforce Planning Manual

Planning for human resource needs is one of the greatest challenges facing managers and leaders. In order to meet this challenge, a uniform process that provides a disciplined approach for matching human resources with the anticipated needs of the Company is essential. 

Workforce planning is a fundamental planning tool, critical to quality performance that will contribute to the achievement of programme objectives by providing a basis for justifying budget allocation and workload staffing levels. As Companies develop strategies to support the achievement of both long-term and annual performance goals in the strategic plans, workforce planning should be included as a key management activity. WFP must be directly linked to broad-based management strategies that encompass several processes. 

• Alignment of Workforce planning needs with Employment Equity numerical targets set out in the Company's Employment Equity Plan and Report (Form EEA2); 
• Identification of skills development training requirements to ensure that future workforce requirements are met; 
• Development of a clearly written recruitment policy. 

Components of Workforce Planning 

A review of several models has shown that, although WFP will vary depending upon the needs of an organization, the general processes appear to be alike. All rely on: 

• Integration of other planning processes. In particular, strategic planning, budget, and human resources are key players in workforce planning. The budget process provides information on the allocated funding to achieve objectives. Human resources provides tools for identifying skills/competencies needed in the workforce, recruiting, career development, training, retraining, outsourcing, etc. in order to build the workforce of the future. 
• Workforce Supply - Analysis of projected workforce supply based on projected retirements and attrition data on the current workforce. 
• Forecast Workforce Need - Identification of skills/competencies needed in the future; 
• Gap Analysis - Comparison of the present workforce skills/competencies to future needs to identify skill/competency gaps and surpluses; 
• Strategies - Development of strategies and action items to address needed or surplus skills 
• Evaluation - A dynamic evaluation process that ensures the workforce model remains valid and that objectives are being met in support of the organization’s performance goals. 

Why Do Workforce Planning? 

There are multiple reasons to conduct workforce planning: 

• Employment Equity Numerical Targets: To meet employment equity numerical targets for designated groups 
• Budget Justifications: To identify future staffing budget requirements both in terms workforce management and workforce reductions. Managers and department heads need to include the outputs of workforce planning (including their workforce analysis) as supporting documentation in their budget justifications. The goal is to combine budget, program performances, and workforce priorities into a cohesive strategy that is presented in budget justifications. 
• Strategic basis for human resource decisions. WFP helps the organization as a whole forecast future conditions and develops objectives for the human resource programs to meet organisational needs. It allows managers to anticipate change as well as provide strategic methods for addressing present and anticipated workforce issues. Changes in skills, competencies, and key positions can be anticipated as a result of retirements and natural attrition. 
• Links expenditures to organization’s long-term goals and objectives. Human resources are expensive. The higher the percentage of the budget comprised of human resources-related costs, the more important is the need to plan. The cost of employee turnover, replacement, retraining, and retention further increases these costs. WFP can reduce these costs by ensuring more efficient and effective recruitment, training, and retention. It also provides other benefits such as background information for position management and succession planning; better identification of training and development needs for the long-term; linkage of training with performance goals; more cost effective programs; more useful information on EE and workforce diversity. 
• Links recruitment, development and training decisions to organizational goals. WFP provides a clear rationale for linking expenditures for recruitment, training, employment development, retention, and other human resource programs. 
• Address changes in program direction that impacts the type of work being performed and/or how the work is being performed. WFP will help to identify work that can be contracted out to the private sector (outsourcing) and opportunities to delayer management. Lastly WFP allows managers to identify ways in which technology and other business changes impact the skills required in the workforce. Automation will continue to have a profound impact on the way we do business. It will enable us to conduct our business with ever increasing efficiency. Advances in computer hardware and software will allow us to extensively use interactive and intelligent systems. Major changes to the personnel data system, office processes, and training methods can be expected.

Contents

Chapter 1 Workforce planning 
Annexure 1 VP of HR 
Annexure 2 Succession planning 
Chapter 2 A guide to strategic human resource planning 
Chapter 3 Unit standards applicable to workforce planning 
Annexure 3 Preliminary workforce planning checklist 
Annexure 4 Workforce planning models 
Chapter 4 Workforce Planning Model 
Chapter 5 Phase 1 Workforce planning 
Annexure 5 Outline for setting strategic direction 
Annexure 6 Environmental impact analysis 
Annexure 7 Strategic plan impact analysis 
Annexure 8 Strategic planning checklist 
Annexure 9 Structured Interviews 
Annexure 10 Summary of workforce plan 
Annexure 11 Workforce planning team members 
Annexure 12 Financial Services Charter 
Annexure 13 Focus groups 
Annexure 14 Workload assessment (i.e. Employment Status Analysis (permanent, contract, temporary and outsourced) 
Annexure 15 Employee Retention Survey & Focus Group 
Annexure 16 Workforce aging analysis (USA State of Washington Task Force Findings) 
Annexure 17 Aids impact analysis 
Annexure 17b Aids Statistics 
Annexure 18 Workforce Analysis 
Annexure 19 Costings analysis 
Annexure 24 Workforce planning readiness checklist 
Chapter 6 Phase 2 Workforce planning 
Annexure 20 Competency and Skill Assessment 
Annexure 21 Competency dictionary 
Annexure 22 Selected Human Resource Metrics for Workforce Analysis 
Annexure 23 Gap Analysis Template 
Chapter 7 Phase 3 Workforce planning 
Annexure 25 Communications 
Annexure 26 Development of strategies and action items 
Annexure 27 Example of Developmental Needs Assessment 
Annexure 28 Examples of strategies 
Annexure 29 Human Capital Standard for Success 
Annexure 30 Implementation considerations 
Annexure 31 Learning and development activities 
Chapter 8 Phase 4 - workforce planning 
Annexure 32 Project Initiative Inventory Template 
Annexure 33 Project management templates 
Annexure 34 Relationship between workforce planning and other strategic plans 
Annexure 35 Simple Workforce Planning Questionnaire 
Annexure 36 US Forestry Manpower Plan 
Annexure 37 Workforce Planning Overheads 
Chapter 9 Definitions 
Chapter 10 References