It ensures the right number of people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time to deliver short- and long-term organisational objectives.
Components of workforce plans:
1. A skills audit of the current workforce
2. Data about labour turnover, absenteeism & wage rates.
3. Market research data and sales forecasts which will indicate the number of employees required.
4.Recruitment requirements (or redundancy requirements).
5. Training & development programmes. (including retraining & redeployment).
Assessing internal and external influences on workforce plans.
These should include:
Corporate objectives
Decisions made by other functional areas e.g. Operations & innovation
Legislation:
Labour market trends including migration:
Issues in implementing workforce plans:
Employer / employee relations
Costs
Corporate image
Training requirements - all of these can have positive and negative effects. Can you think of any? The video above addresses these issues.
The value of using workforce plans:
If the planning process is carried out effectively workforce plans will play a significant part in achieving corporate objectives.
