Key Elements of Workforce Planning

Planning the structure of the workforce, now and in the future, is fundamental to any HR department. It’s important as an organisation to be prepared—and not just reacting to—human resource changes such as retirements and turnover. Putting in place a simple four step strategy, and using OrgChart software, can help both visualise a workforce as it stands today and lay the foundations for what’s needed in the future.

Analyze current talent

Taking a snapshot of the workforce today, focussing in on key metrics, is the first step to take before making proactive change. What are the important numbers that need to be scrutinised for planning purposes? An obvious one would be employees’ years before retirement. OrgChart offers a clear visual of employees in key positions nearing retirement age. This knowledge allows hiring managers to prepare resources to replace departing talent.

A second might be an audit of skills. Does the company have people with the right qualifications to be competitive in the marketplace? Managers need to analyze the skill level present in each department and be able to quickly drill down to each individual to uncover where further education or certifications are needed. OrgChart Now connects automatically with other HRIS to pull in and display this information.

Set goals for future needs

Are you growing or reducing overall staffing? What people are needed to execute on new projects planned for the future? Does the market look like it will demand more innovation and development, or will the focus be selling an existing product or service? The answers to these questions will drive the number and type of skilled employee you’ll need into the future. By displaying the whole organisational structure in an org chart, each department can be displayed and goals on growth or reduction depending on business objectives can be set.

Identify Talent Gaps

The difference between the now and the future state of the organisation is what’s going to drive action on workforce planning. Employees come and go constantly, not just with resignations but retirements, promotions and relocations. With them, they take experience, skill sets and qualifications that need to be replaced. Identifying, anticipating and filling open positions quickly and effectively must be the priority. OrgChart’s Open Positions functionality allows gaps in the organisation to be easily highlighted and visualised. Gaps are identified in real-time and a strategy for filling them can be put in place immediately.

Recruit and develop

Can the gap in skills be filled by recruiting from outside of the organisation or by beefing up skills of employees already present? And of course, all this has to come in under a budget. With OrgChart you can build “what-if” scenarios to analyze the effect changes may make on key variables such as salary and span-of-control. The collaboration planning modules in OrgChart Now allow multiple managers to synch up and test their ideas to come up with the best solution for departments or organisations as a whole.

Proactive planning using a deliberate strategy, real-time data and a solid organisational visualisation software can help companies prepare for future personnel needs by avoiding costly gaps for recruitment and training. Schedule a demo with one of our experts today on one of our award winning workforce planning solutions or read more on our website on the features that make planning more efficient.