Workforce Planning Toolkit [1 ed.] 9781869222079, 9781869221799

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WORKFORCE

PLANNING TOOLKIT

Lydia Cillie-Schmidt Workforce Planning Toolkit Covers.indd 1

11/9/11 11:07:12 AM

WORKFORCE PLANNING TOOLKIT By Lydia Cillie-Schmidt

2012

Copyright © Knowres Publishing and Lydia Cillie-Schmidt All reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the contents of this book do not, directly or indirectly, infringe any existing copyright of any third person and, further, that all quotations or extracts taken from any other publication or work have been appropriately acknowledged and referenced. The publisher, editors and printers take no responsibility for any copyright infringement committed by an author of this work. Copyright subsists in this work. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written consent of the publisher or the authors. While the publisher, editors and printers have taken all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this work, they take no responsibility for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of that person relying on the information contained in this work. First published in 2012 ISBN: 978-1-86922-179-9 Published by Knowres Publishing (Pty) Ltd P O Box 3954 Randburg 2125 Republic of South Africa Tel: (+27 11) 706 6009 Fax: (+27 11) 706 1127 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.kr.co.za Printed and bound: Replika Press Pvt Ltd, Haryana, India Typesetting, layout and design: Cia Joubert, [email protected] Cover design: Sean Sequeira, idDigital, [email protected] Editing and proofreading: Adrienne Pretorius, [email protected] Project management: Cia Joubert, [email protected]

CONTENTS About the Author____________________________________________________ v Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning____________________________1 Introduction ________________________________________________________2 What is Workforce Planning?___________________________________________2 Why is Workforce Planning a focus area?_________________________________3 The benefits of Workforce Planning______________________________________9 The barriers to Workforce Planning_____________________________________10 Critical success factors_______________________________________________11 The Workforce Planning roadmap______________________________________12 Conclusion _______________________________________________________21 Section 2: About the toolkit___________________________________________23 Introduction _______________________________________________________24 How the toolkit works________________________________________________24 Section 3: Tools for use during Phase 1 – Ensuring Organisational Readiness___27 Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning______________________29 Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative______________33 Tool 3: Bring to the surface all Workforce Planning-related processes in the organisation____________________________________________________37 Tool 4: Readiness assessment audit_____________________________________41 Tool 5: Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process_____45 Tool 6: Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process____55 Tool 7: The differences and similarities between Strategic Workforce Planning and Operational Workforce Planning________________________________61 Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning____65 Tool 9: Sample Workforce Planning Policy________________________________75 Tool 10: Stakeholder engagement planning format_________________________83 Tool 11: Determine scarce skills ________________________________________87 Tool 12: Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative_______________________________________________95 Section 4: Tools for use during Phase 2 – Creating context_________________101 Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction______________________________________________________103

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Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce________________________________107 Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider____________________________113 Tool 16: Sources that could be used to gather information about the external environment__________________________________________________121 Tool 17: Criteria to determine the relevance of information________________ 125 Tool 18: Translating strategic direction and internal/external factors into workforce requirements________________________________________ 129 Section 5: Tools for use during Phase 3 – Understanding current internal and external workforce_____________________________________________135 Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce_____________________________________________________137 Tool 20: Analysing the external labour market___________________________141 Tool 21: Typical process for doing a skills audit___________________________145 Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees_______________________149 Tool 23: Prioritising the required competencies__________________________157 Tool 24: Replacement risk assessment__________________________________161 Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce_____________________________167 Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers____________________________________175 Tool 27: Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce_____________________________________________________185 Section 6: Tools for use during Phase 4 – Futuring________________________193 Tool 28: Forecasting future work requirements___________________________195 Tool 29: Forecasting techniques_______________________________________203 Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process_________________________211 Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection_______________________217 Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model______________________227 Section 7: Tools for use during Phase 5 – Gap analysis____________________231 Tool 33: Gap analysis criteria_________________________________________233 Tool 34: Gap prioritisation___________________________________________237 Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps_________________241 Section 8: Tools for use during Phase 6 – Developing and implementing strategies to address workforce gaps_______________________________________253 Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps ________________________________________________________255

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Contents

Tool 37: Strategy selection ___________________________________________261 Tool 38: Workforce action plan _______________________________________267 Tool 39: Case for change: Business case_________________________________277 Section 9: Tools for use during Phase 7 – Monitoring and evaluation_________283 Tool 40: Monitoring and evaluation planning____________________________285 Section 10: Putting it all together_____________________________________291 Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment ______________________________________________________293 Tool 42: Workforce Plan format_______________________________________305 Bibliography ______________________________________________________315

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lydia Cillie-Schmidt is an independent consultant and owner of “The Talent Hub”, the focus areas of which are the design and implementation of talent management processes and systems, including acquisition, deployment, development and engagement. These processes are supported by leadership development programmes, assessment centres, psychometric assessments, the design and presentation of training programmes, coaching, mentoring, management of learnerships/internships, performance management, and succession development. Lydia has more than 27 years’ experience as an industrial psychologist and leader, working as a permanent employee for major corporate companies in South Africa. She worked at Vodacom for 11 years and for the last seven years of her tenure was the Head of Human Resources Development, taking responsibility for the total function and implementation of the company’s Human Capital Development strategy. Before this, she worked at organisations such as the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, Sasol and the SABC. In all these roles she was involved in the development and implementation of various talent management strategies. As an independent consultant, Lydia gained further experience in organisation design, including business process mapping and role profiling, as well as workforce planning. She is also a registered Industrial Psychologist and has completed a doctorate in Industrial Psychology, focusing on the use of narrative technique in management development. Lydia can be contacted at [email protected].

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SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION TO WORKFORCE PLANNING

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Introduction “In an increasingly fluid world, the ability to respond to fluctuations in the market, customer needs, the workforce, technology, as well as geo-political and social shifts, is key to organisational success” (Meyer, 2011). Organisations are again realising the importance of being proactive and flexible in an effort to deal with a constantly changing environment – there is a strong need to make the unpredictable more predictable. An important mechanism to ensure that the organisation is prepared for the future is a robust strategic planning process. Closely linked to this process are the efforts from the organisation to ensure that the right workforce is in place to implement the strategy. This has led to the current situation, where workforce planning has become the most critical Human Resources function (Aruspex, 2010). Although there is ample information available about workforce planning on the Internet, as well as in several publications, Angela Baron of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) stated in a press release on 7 June 2010 that “[w]orkforce planning provides the basis for better decision-making to meet the future needs of the business in terms of its people resource. While some organisations have these processes in place, for many there is still a ’knowing– doing’ gap when it comes to workforce planning. This is a shame, as it presents an important opportunity for HR to ‘raise the bar’ and ensure they are involved in strategic-level planning” (CIPD, 2010). We all seem to know “what” to do when it comes to workforce planning, but not exactly “how”. The aim of this toolkit is to give you a few ideas on the “how”.

1. What is Workforce Planning?

Workforce planning is defined in various ways and in its simplest form is viewed as having the right people with the right skills in place when the organisation needs them (Gerber, Nel & Van Dyk, 1993). For the purposes of this toolkit, the following definition will be used: “Workforce planning is about determining and shaping the capacity and capability of the workforce that is needed to achieve an organisation’s goal and direction” (State Government of Victoria, 2006). This definition encapsulates the idea that workforce planning is about: •

Identifying and predicting the organisation’s workforce requirements to meet the organisation’s goals and strategic direction (present- and future focused, using past trends, current reality, and future scenarios)

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Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning



•

Determining the number as well as the quality and timing of the workforce needed to achieve organisational goals

•

Taking action to ensure that the workforce is shaped to meet the requirements for organisational success. (Cillie-Schmidt, 2010)

Comprehensive workforce planning entails two focus areas: •

Short-term, tactical workforce planning, and

•

Long-term, strategic workforce planning.

Most organisations do short-term operational Operational Workforce Planning when they do annual headcount planning and budgeting, but very few are engaged in Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP). Strategic Workforce Planning is a more qualitative process, where the human resource implications of organisational strategy are considered and potential human resource gaps are then proactively addressed.

2. Why is Workforce Planning a focus area?

There are many internal and external forces that are prompting organisations today to prioritise workforce planning high on their strategic agendas. The following factors give us an idea of some of the driving forces for implementing effective workforce planning.

2.1 Demographic changes

According to Guthridge, Komm and Lawson (2008), birth rates are falling in the developed world and there is a rising rate of retirement. At the same time the emerging markets are producing a surplus of young talent; in fact, they graduate more than twice as many university-educated professionals as the developed world does. Although many organisations have been eyeing this source of talent enthusiastically, this source of talent poses its own set of challenges. For example, candidates for engineering and general-management positions exhibit wide variations in suitability because of issues such as poor English skills and uncertain quality of educational qualifications. (Guthridge et al, 2008).



Another important demographic phenomenon that makes the need for creative Workforce Planning somewhat challenging for organisations is the variety of generations working in organisations right now. Generational theory generalises the influence of similar experiences and significant

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

events on the generation of young people who were growing up at the time. Based on the various influences and subsequent characteristics, generational theorists have identified four generations in the workplace today: the Silent Generation (born 1930–1949); the Baby Boomers (born 1950–1969); Generation X (born 1970–1989); and Generation Y, or the Millennials (born 1990–2005). Different theorists in different countries may differ on the exact timeframes, so this is only a rough guide based on South African data.

“HR professionals say that the workers from Generation Y demand more flexibility, meaningful jobs, professional freedom, higher rewards, and a better work–life balance than older employees do. People in this group see their professional careers as a series of two- to three-year chapters and will readily switch jobs, so organisations face the risk of high attrition if their expectations aren’t met. Generation Y is therefore perceived as substantially harder to manage than its predecessors” (Guthridge et al, 2008).



Gender representation is an important demographic change that influences Workforce Planning. In 2010, for the first time, there are more women in the workforce than men in the United States of America (Benko & Anderson, 2010). In South Africa there is a concerted effort to increase female representation in formal employment.

2.2 Globalisation

Globalisation is a strong driver of the need for Workforce Planning. PricewaterhouseCoopers (2010) predicts that the growing importance of emerging markets will create a significant shift in mobility patterns, as skilled employees from emerging markets increasingly operate across their home continent and beyond, creating greater diversity in the global talent pool. Mobility strategies will need to become more sophisticated and complex as organisations meet growing deployment demands. (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2010).



To succeed in countries such as Brazil, Chile, India, and Africa, organisations must have employees who are willing and able to work abroad. They also require talented local people, with an international mind-set, who understand local ways of doing business and local consumers. It is not always possible to find employees meeting these criteria (Guthridge et al, 2008).

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Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning



Globalisation and the mobility of employees within this context necessitate the proactive planning of what type of employees and how many of them will be needed across the globe so that organisations develop the ability to move people proactively, strategically and transparently from all levels and functions and from role to role, as business and personal needs dictate.

2.3 Knowledge economy

Guthridge et al (2008) argue that knowledge workers form the fastestgrowing talent pool in most organisations and pose certain challenges as a result of their particular demands and characteristics. Knowledge workers are different because they create up to three times more profit than other employees do.



Yet the performance of knowledge-intensive organisations within the same industry varies significantly, which suggests that some of them struggle to extract value from this newly enlarged type of workforce. What’s more, the technology supporting its work has created faster and better ways to share information, and that further drives the demand for such workers and their potential impact (Guthridge et al, 2008).



Bersin (2010) argues further that organisations that have thrived have two things in common – they are very good at what they do, and they are organisations of experts. According to him, there is a drive for “deep specialisation” – building programmes that encourage and enable everyone in your company to become better at what they do. This type of deep specialisation comes from knowledge, skills and attributes, and is a combination of deep levels of expertise and a broad and deep range of experience (Bersin, 2010).



Building these knowledge masters for the future requires thorough analysis and planning.

2.4 The leadership gap

According to Bersin (2009), the leadership gap in organisations has actually become wider – driven largely by organisations’ tendency to lay off older, more senior workers. Bersin found a tremendous “reverse dumbbell” effect in leadership development. There is a distinct lack of leadership development in the executive ranks (almost one out of five organisations offers no coaching and development for executives at all) and also a tremendous lack of confidence in first-line leaders. This will

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

force organisations to invest more in leadership development, with a focus on these two areas.

Workforce Planning helps you to identify the size of the gap in your organisation and then institute the relevant plans to address the situation.

2.5 Technology

“Technology has moved ahead at light speed. Recessions always seem to be good times for new tools – and this one has given us integrated talent management suites, social networking, informal learning systems and a new generation of HR management systems solutions. SaaS (Software as a Service) is now a standard new approach for HR software and we will see this continue” (Bersin, 2009).



The availability of sophisticated data management techniques and an abundance of workforce data facilitates effective Workforce Planning.

2.6 Skills shortages and inadequate education levels

In South Africa and the rest of the world the need for specialised and new types of skills are increasing. Most South African organisations cite skills shortages as the main reason for doing Workforce Planning. Low education levels and poor Matric results in the South African context lead to a small pool of talent, despite the large number of unemployed people.



Another challenge in South Africa is the shortage of professional and managerial skills and the imbalances in terms of race and gender at these levels (Meyer, 2005). Workforce Planning is instrumental in planning how to deal with these shortages.

2.7 Economic trends

The Corporate Leadership Council (2010b) identified the following trends with regard to the global economy: •

Global economic contraction



Between 2010 and 2014, global growth was forecast to average just above 4%, in comparison with growth of 5% prior to the economic crisis.

•

Rising unemployment



Unemployment was expected to peak at over 8% of the labour force

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Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning

in advanced economies. The unemployment rate in South Africa is expected to increase to more than 26% during 2010.



•

Shaky consumer sentiment



Consumers were expected to maintain a conservative outlook with regard to the economy and would not increase personal spending significantly.

An uncertain economic scenario requires organisations to stay agile and be able to move quickly, decisively and effectively in anticipating, initiating and taking advantage of change (Meyer, 2010). Workforce Planning again assists in facilitating this flexibility.

2.8 Employee engagement and performance



The Corporate Leadership Council (2010b) reported a few interesting research findings with regard to employee engagement and performance: •

The number of highly disengaged employees had increased from 1 : 10 to over 1 : 5 employees since the first half of 2007.

•

The decline in employee engagement is decreasing overall productivity by 3–5%. While intent to stay is steadily increasing since 2007, and the number of employees exhibiting high levels of discretionary effort has increased in 2011, it is still to recover to the high levels experienced in 2007 before the economic downturn (Corporate Leadership Council, 2011).

•

Disengaged employees were 24% less likely to quit in 2008 than in 2006 and in nearly 27% of cases in 2009.

•

The disengaged were 45% less likely to quit in 2010 than in 2006.

•

One out of four high-potential employees planned on quitting in the next 12 months.

•

Only 10% of senior executives reported high discretionary effort in the first three months of 2010 compared to 29% in the second half of 2006.

Engagement is strategically important for organisations, as numerous studies have proved its impact on the bottom-line and sustainability. Workforce Planning therefore analyses this component as an important aspect in the process.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

2.9 The virtual workplace

Tucker, Kao and Verma (2005) describe the virtual workplace as a major influence on creating the need for better talent management. According to these authors, the definition of co-worker and the meaning of being “at work” are being completely redefined as workers across the globe connect via the latest communications technologies. Across the world and across industries, workers are being “freed” from their desks and “relieved” of their traditional nine-to-five schedules.



Tucker et al are of the opinion that virtual co-working and the virtual workspace are creating an “always on” workforce that sees no limits to jobs. Many workers are simply afraid to slow down, afraid to disconnect from work at all for fear of losing job security in an increasingly competitive global labour market. Unfortunately, the consequences of an “always on” workforce can be dire – “lousy employees: tired, depressed, mistake prone, resentful, and eventually burned out” (Tucker et al, 2005).



In order to deal with this dynamic effectively, organisations need to plan employment cycles and ensure business continuity at all times.

2.10 Organisation design trends

The introduction of the e-economy, virtual work, and transparent knowledge-sharing across organisational boundaries has also impacted the structured hierarchical type of organisations of the past. There is a move to a more flexible, “lattice-like” organisation design (Benko & Anderson, 2010). In this new organisation design, Workforce Planning is crucial to ensure the required flexibility.



“Together all these factors are creating workforces and workplaces that are diverse and very different to the past. This brings enormous, new challenges in managing a radically different workplace and workforce. Our approaches and models that worked in the past do not work any more. Different approaches are needed. Organisations need a roadmap for HR management in a talent market unlike any seen before so that employees can really become a source of sustainable competitive advantage for the organisation” (Guthridge, Komm and Lawson et al, 2008). Workforce Planning in this context is critical to ensure that the right number of employees, with the right skills, are available to deal with the changing organisation priorities.

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Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning

3. The benefits of Workforce Planning



Workforce Planning has several benefits, and when building the business case for Workforce Planning, organisations should highlight the unique benefits that they see for their organisations. The State Government of Victoria (2006) describes the benefits of Workforce Planning as follows: •

It allows organisations to respond quickly and more strategically to change, as the organisation and managers can recognise emerging challenges in the market, workforce and business.

•

It improves efficiency, effectiveness and productivity as employees possess the right skills and are a good fit for the job.

•

It facilitates strategic staffing and planning for future workforce requirements as the organisation can identify staffing needs in a timely manner, monitor attrition, and ensure that replacements are available to fill key vacancies.

•

It strengthens the organisation’s capability to support the achievement of business outputs now and in the future.

•

It encourages an understanding of the organisation’s workforce profile; HR strategies and policies are therefore aligned with maximising the capacity of the existing workforce and shaping the desired workforce.

•

It assists with the identification and management of people with the knowledge critical for effective and efficient business operations, and the organisation’s management of knowledge and maintenance of corporate memory.

•

It provides a mechanism for monitoring costs and directly linking expenditure of personnel against business outputs and outcomes.

There are several more benefits to Strategic Workforce Planning, and no HR function can risk neglecting this function as an important part of organisation strategy as well as the foundation of HR strategy. “It is clear that workforce analytics and planning are entering a new era of business impact – more than ever, practitioners are focused on identifying opportunities to use data for managing risks, equipping business leaders with the insights they need to take critical decisions, and creating a culture of analytics in HR” (https://informimpact. com/events/conferences/details/2010_Inform_Conference-NA).

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

4. The barriers to Workforce Planning



Organisations seem to face common barriers to implementing Workforce Planning effectively, as the same issues crop up repeatedly during discussions at workshops. Some of the barriers that are commonly listed are: •

Lack of integration with strategic planning

•

Lack of buy-in from the senior team

•

Lack of understanding of what exactly Workforce Planning entails

•

Inconsistent processes

•

No defined methodology and absence of structured procedures

•

The Human Resources function having to drive the process, with line managers not taking accountability

•

Inability to translate organisation strategy into workforce requirements

•

A focus on the analysis phase, gathering too much information, and not knowing how to translate the information into actionable items

•

Lack of supporting technology

•

Questions about the integrity of the workforce data available in the organisation

•

Knowing what to do, but lacking the skill to implement Workforce Planning practically

•

A shortage of resources to implement the process in terms of people, time and budget

•

Organisations functioning in crisis mode with no idea of how to elevate their way of doing in order to become more proactive

•

Lack of a proper business case for Workforce Planning, resulting in Workforce Planning not being prioritised as important and overall lack of buy-in.

There are many more barriers to effective Workforce Planning and it is important to highlight the specific barriers for your organisation and what you intend to do about them in your initial business case for Workforce Planning.

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Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning

5. Critical success factors



Workforce Planning initiatives have a better chance of succeeding if the following conditions are in place in your organisation: •

Workforce Planning is integrated with strategic planning. Lombardi and Bourke (2010) recommend that to achieve best-in-class performance, organisations must formalise workforce planning efforts and create a mindset of “no business plan without a talent plan”. They base this on the finding that 71% of the best-in-class organisations in their survey integrated a Workforce Planning strategy with the organisation’s strategic planning process.

•

A rigorous but flexible strategic planning process exists. It is very difficult to do Workforce Planning if the organisation has no strategic vision or definite plans for the future involving all aspects of the organisation.

•

Leaders must be willing to engage in some divergent, “big-picture” thinking and be willing to step away from the day-to-day concerns to create a future vision.

•

Workforce Planning is a collaborative effort, with the Human Resources function and line managers creating Workforce Plans together, with executive level buy-in and support.

•

Workforce Planning is driven and championed by senior management. Lombardi and Bourke (2010) found that 86% of best-in-class organisations had executive level buy-in for Workforce Planning efforts and that 28% of best-in-class organisations held the CEO or Board of Directors primarily accountable for Workforce Planning.

•

Workforce Plans are regularly reviewed. Lombardi and Bourke (2010) found that 55% of best-in-class organisations reviewed the results and related decisions of Workforce Planning at least quarterly, while only 20% of average organisations and 10% of the laggards do so.

•

The Human Resources function has extensive knowledge and skill in facilitating the implementation of the process.

As with the barriers, you have to identify the unique critical success factors for your organisation to ensure that workforce planning will be implemented successfully and include them in your business case so that they will receive the necessary attention.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

6. The Workforce Planning roadmap

The roadmap for workforce planning consists of the phases depicted in the figure below: Phase 1: Ensure readiness

Phase 7: Monitor and evaluate

Phase 2: Create context

Generic Workforce Planning Cycle

Phase 6: Develop and implement workforce strategies

Phase 5: Gap analysis

Phase 3: Understand current internal and external workforce

Phase 4: Futuring

Transversal work streams: Project management and change management

Figure 1: Workforce Planning roadmap

6.1 Phase 1: Ensuring organisational readiness

The aim of this phase is to ensure that the organisation is ready to embark on an effective Workforce Planning process and is especially important in organisations where Workforce Planning has not been done before. The first step during this phase is to determine the reason that the organisation would like to embark on a Workforce Planning initiative, as the rationale for the initiative is a fundamental starting point for building the business case. In organisations where there is already some activity around Workforce Planning, it is important to assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process and identify areas for improvement (Cillie-Schmidt, 2010).

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Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning



During this phase you have to create the necessary infrastructure across the organisation to support the Workforce Planning process, such as access to relevant data, having the right skills to support the process, and clarifying Workforce Planning roles and responsibilities.



A crucial aspect of ensuring the readiness for Workforce Planning is deciding the scope of the Workforce Planning process.

6.2 Phase 2: Creating context

“Context is the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event. A critical step in Strategic Workforce Planning is to understand the context in which the organisation operates: the things that are going on inside and outside the organisation that affect the organisation’s future. The effectiveness of the planning depends on the appropriateness and validity of the information that is used” (Chapman, 2007).



During this phase it is important to get a comprehensive picture of the organisation’s desired future and the internal and external factors that could impact on that future.

6.3 Phase 3: Understanding current internal and external workforce

This phase entails getting a comprehensive picture of what the internal workforce currently look like in terms of various metrics, for example, age, turnover, retirement eligibility, and so on, in order to identify the composition, characteristics and supply of current labour for the organisation, as well as the types of jobs and competencies available internally.



A detailed picture of the external workforce is also obtained. It is necessary to analyse the internal workforce to understand the potential future and current labour supply issues and conditions and to build this into Workforce Planning strategies (State Government of Victoria, 2006).

6.4 Phase 4: Futuring

Futuring goes further than forecasting and entails the consideration of various possible future states. Cornish (2004) defines futuring as “the act, art, or science of identifying and evaluating possible future events”. Sobrero (2004) views futuring as critical for effective anticipatory decision-making, continual yet timely improvements, and strategic plans that frame valued programmes. The term “Futuring” is used by the Human Capital Institute

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(2010) as well as Chapman (2007) to describe the future workforce that the organisation wants to target. During this phase, various qualitative and quantitative methods are used to get a future view.

6.5 Phase 5: Gap analysis

Although the word “gap” often has a negative connotation, it may also represent an opportunity during the Workforce Planning process. This is because the “gap” may represent an already existing problem, but could also denote a potential problem that may be prevented if action is taken timeously. The difference between the desired future state and the current state represents the gap. It is necessary to prioritise the gaps in terms of their importance and impact on the achievement of the organisation’s strategy. Once the gaps have been prioritised, it is necessary to determine the root causes in order to assist in identifying the most suitable strategies to address the gap.

6.6 Phase 6: Developing and implementing strategies to address workforce gaps

The next phase of the Workforce Planning process involves the development of strategies and action plans to address the prioritised gaps and their causes. At the most basic level, these strategies could involve any of a broad range of available people practices, for example, recruiting, development, retrenchment, retention, engagement, reward, recognition, and many others.

6.7 Phase 7: Monitoring and evaluation

Although it is mentioned last, monitoring and evaluation should be built into the Workforce Planning process from the start. As such, it is similar to the transversal work streams of project- and change management in that it spans all the phases. Monitoring entails the review of the implementation plan and strategies, and evaluation entails the analysis of the impact that the implementation of the Workforce Plan has had on the organisation (Cillie-Schmidt, 2010).

6.8 Transversal work streams

Transversal work streams span all the phases mentioned and should be considered and planned for throughout the process. Change management ensures the effective management of change and the impact on

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Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning

stakeholders through communication, training, consultation, targeted focus groups, and so on (DPSA, 2008). Project management entails the effective management of the workforce planning implementation process and includes ensuring delivery of all outputs and deliverables, managing effort, getting approvals, reporting and achievement of deadlines (DPSA, 2008).

6.9 Summary of the steps in the roadmap

The following table was designed based on a combination of inputs from the following sources:



State Government of Victoria (2006), Corporate Leadership Council (2009d), and Chapman (2007).

Table 1: Summary of the steps in the Workforce Planning roadmap Steps

Activities

Objective

PHASE 1: ENSURING ORGANISATIONAL READINESS Step 1: Assess

Step 1.1: Determine

Ensure clarity around the reasons why the

the current state

rationale for Workforce

organisation wants to focus on Workforce

of Workforce

Planning initiative in

Planning

Planning

organisation Step 1.2: Bring to the

Ensure clarity around current workforce

surface all Workforce

planning related activities with the aim of

Planning-related processes

creating one common workforce planning

at the organisation

framework for identifying and responding to strategic talent needs

Step 1.3: Conduct an

Identify the extent to which current workforce

assessment of current

planning activities enable line leaders and HR

Workforce Planning

to gain insights into strategic talent gaps that

effectiveness and readiness

impact the organisation’s ability to execute on its strategic plan and the readiness of the organisation to engage in workforce planning

Step 2: Build

Step 2.1: Build business

Outline the business-focused costs and

business case

case

benefits of strategic workforce planning to obtain buy-in and participation from key stakeholders e.g. functional and line leaders

Step 3: Create

Step 3.1: Align strategic

Integrate the strategic planning and strategic

supporting

Workforce Planning

workforce planning processes to ensure that

infrastructure

process with strategic

workforce planning not only reacts to but also

planning process

informs strategic needs and priorities

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Steps

Activities

Objective

Step 3: Create

Step 3.2: Clarify the

Ensure the organisation is both identifying and

supporting

relationship between

responding to ongoing staffing needs as well as

infrastructure

strategic Workforce

longer-term strategic talent gaps

(continued)

Planning and staff planning Step 3.3: Create HR

Provide access to the necessary data and

infrastructure to support

ensure HR staff expertise regarding the

Strategic Workforce

workforce planning process and establish

Planning

workforce planning team (if relevant)

Step 3.4: Engage Workforce

Engage line leaders, functional leaders, and

Planning stakeholders

HR leaders who are critical to diagnosing and responding to strategic talent gaps, and outline workforce planning objectives and responsibilities

Step 3.5: Determine the

Determining the drivers for the organisation’s

scope of the Strategic

decision to do Strategic Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning

will provide insight into the types of activities

initiative

that would work best and the people to involve. It will also help to identify which jobs or areas of the workforce will be analysed and assist with the allocation of resources

PHASE 2: CREATING CONTEXT Step 1:

Step 1.1: Review the

To develop a good understanding of the

Review the

organisation’s future

future mission, vision, business plans, goals

organisation’s

direction

and capabilities of the organisation, and the

future direction

implications these may have on the workforce

Step 2: Review

Step 2.1: Review external

The external environment needs to be scanned

external factors

factors that may impact on

to identify any factors and trends that may

that may

the organisation and the

impact on the organisation’s direction and its

impact on the

workforce

workforce. The identified factors and their

organisation and

impact on the organisation and the workforce

the workforce

can then be considered and addressed within the workforce plan and human resources interventions Step 2.2: Summarise the

It is important to avoid “analysis paralysis” and

relevant external factors in

focus only on those elements from the external

terms of their impact on

environment that will impact significantly on

the demand and supply of

the selected talent segments, organisation

the workforce

strategy, or workforce in general

– 16 –

Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning

Steps

Activities

Objective

Step 3:

Step 3.1: Translate the

Determine the implications of the

Explore the

strategy and the priority

organisation’s strategy, as well as the external

impact of the

external factors into

factors on the workforce

organisation’s

workforce requirements

future direction and the external factors on the workforce PHASE 3: UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL WORKFORCE Step 1: Analyse

Step 1.1: Analyse internal

Analysing the internal labour force will enable

internal

workforce characteristics

an organisation to identify:

workforce

and profiles

•

characteristics

The composition, characteristics and supply of current labour for the

and profiles

organisation (from internal and external sources), and •

The type of jobs and skills available internally

Step 2: Analyse

Step 2.1: Analyse external

Analysing the external workforce and labour

external

workforce characteristics

market data enables an organisation to

workforce

and profiles

understand the potential future and current

characteristics

labour supply issues and conditions, and to

and profiles

build these into workforce planning strategies

Step 3:

Step 3.1: Document all

To create a record of the data gathered for

Consolidate

the information gathered

analysis purposes

information

during previous steps and

from Phases 2

interpret the results

and 3

Step 3.2: Document all the

To provide an interpretation of the data

major findings as a list of factors that need attention Step 3.3: Map the items on

To determine the risks associated with each

a risk matrix

factor

Step 3.4: Decide what to

To prioritise each factor according to risks

address as indicated on the risk matrix

– 17 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Steps

Activities

Objective

Step 3:

Step 3.5: Consider the time

Considering the time horizon helps with

Consolidate

horizon when plotting risks

further prioritisation

information

Step 3.6: Use the highest

Feeds into the scenario planning process

from Phases 2 and 3 (continued)

impact factors for scenario planning in Phase 4: Step 4.2

PHASE 4: FUTURING Step 1:

Step 1.1: Understand

Forecasting future work requirements involves

Understand

future work requirements

identifying the type of work that will need to

future work

be performed to meet future organisational

requirements

goals, as well as how it will be performed

Step 2:

Step 2.1: Identify future

Identify what competencies employees

Identify future

competencies and

will need to carry out the work. The set

competencies

organisation capabilities

of competencies that describes the ideal

and organisation

workforce of the future is then captured within

capabilities

the future workforce profile

Step 3: Develop

Step 3.1: Decide on the

The models allow the exploration of the

forecasting

forecasting models and

relationship between different human resource

models

information that will be

issues and how variations in one component

used

will have an effect on the workforce under review

Step 3.2: Implement a

This allows the organisation to understand the

quantitative forecasting

future towards which it is currently heading –

model(s) to project internal

its “No Change Future State” – by forecasting.

and external supply and

The aim is to forecast internal and external

demand

supply and demand of critical skills, talent segments, and capabilities. The organisation is building a representation of what the future will look like if current practices continue. It may well create the “burning platform” required to place Strategic Workforce Planning on the strategic agenda; and second, it provides the benchmark or control group for measuring and comparing the impact of any actions you take to achieve your future workforce goals

– 18 –

Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning

Steps

Activities

Objective

Step 4: Interpret

Step 4.1: Develop

In order to make forecasting more realistic, a

quantitative

forecasting assumptions

range of assumptions concerning the future

forecasting

can be developed and incorporated into

data, develop

different scenarios

forecasting assumptions,

Step 4.2: Build scenarios

Each scenario depicts a different future state and helps the organisation predict and envision

and do scenario

future changes and what impact they will have

building

on the workforce Depending on the size and complexity of the scenario, they can be used to propose possible intervention strategies such as policy changes or increases/decreases in staffing levels and finances

Step 5: Define

Step 5.1: Select the

The targeted future is the future workforce

the desired

scenario that will be the

that your actions are going to be directed

future state –

ideal state with regard

towards, and you describe it in the same way

the targeted

to the workforce for the

as you described your current state – with a

future

organisation

mix of quantitative and qualitative descriptors, and with consideration of the needs of the employees as well as of the employer. Once a targeted future is identified, the organisation can define the gaps between its no change future state and its targeted future, which allows for focused, effective action planning

PHASE 5: GAP ANALYSIS Step 1: Identify

Step 1.1: Assess

Diagnose organisational gaps and shortcomings

and analyse

organisational risks/gaps to

with potential negative impact on strategy

gaps (e.g.

strategy execution

execution

differences

Step 1.2: Communicate

Ensure that business leaders are aware of

talent and capability gaps/

labour market and organisational gaps that

risks to business leaders to

might impact the organisation’s ability to

inform decisions

execute on strategy

Step 2: Prioritise

Step 2.1: Prioritise areas

Having identified the existence and nature

areas for action,

for action, based on

of the gaps or surpluses, they need to be

based on the

the assessment of risk

prioritised according to those that are most

assessment of

associated with the gap

critical to the organisation and the delivery of

between supply and demand)

risk associated

future goals

with the gap

– 19 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Steps

Activities

Objective

Step 3:

Step 3.1: Understand the

Understanding the reason for the gap will

Understand the

reason for the gap

assist with identifying potential directions for

reason for the

action

gap PHASE 6: DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES Step 1: Identify

Step 1.1: Identify potential

To identify the areas requiring management

potential

directions for action.

action to bridge the gap

Step 2: Select

Step 2.1: Select the best

To prioritise and select the best strategies to

and formulate

strategies to address

address strategic workforce gaps

workforce

critical gaps

strategies

Step 2.2: Formulate and

To create a workforce action plan that focuses

design the strategies

on the 3–5 strategies most effective at closing

directions for action

strategic talent gaps Step 3: Establish

Step 3.1: Establish the case

To create the sense of urgency required

the case for

for change

to get support and co-operation from key

change

stakeholders within the organisation

Step 4: Establish

Step 4.1: Establish success

Success criteria are objective measures used

success criteria

criteria

to assess how well the project’s objectives have been achieved (in terms of outputs and educational outcomes), and how well the project itself has run. The success or otherwise of planned actions or strategies implemented can only really be assessed if success and evaluation criteria are set up prior to the implementation

Step 5: Design

Step 5.1: Design action/

To create a workforce action plan that focuses

action/project

project plan

on the 3-5 strategies most effective at closing

plan

strategic talent gaps

Step 6:

Step 6.1: Involve relevant

To ensure all relevant stakeholders (both HR,

Implement the

stakeholders to ensure

other functions, and line stakeholders) who are

action/project

successful execution

critical to executing on the workforce action

plan

plan understand their role and responsibilities in executing on the plan Step 6.2: Project

To ensure the effective implementation of the

management

workforce plan

– 20 –

Section 1: Introduction to Workforce Planning

Steps

Activities

Objective

Step 7: Change

Step 7.1: Change

To ensure the optimal implementation of the

management

management to support

workforce plan and related changes

to support

implementation of plan

implementation of plan Step 8: Align

Step 8.1: Align strategies to

To ensure that the culture and values assist

strategies to

organisational values and

with achieving a number of important

organisational

culture

workforce planning objectives, e.g. attraction,

values and

recruitment, development, and retention

culture PHASE 7: MONITORING AND EVALUATIONE Step 1: Monitor

Step 1.1: Assess and

To track progress against workforce action

communicate progress

planning objectives and address shortfalls

Step 1.2: Revisit workforce

To ensure that the workforce action plan is

action plan

always aligned with strategic priorities and gaps

Step 2: Evaluate

Step 2.1: Evaluate the

To determine the impact of the strategies on

impact of the workforce

the organisation

plan

7. Conclusion

Workforce Planning has become an integral part of organisation strategy and provides the Human Resources function with an excellent opportunity to show how we can add value to the business as we facilitate the effective implementation of this crucial process.

– 21 –

SECTION 2: ABOUT THE TOOLKIT

– 23 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Introduction This Toolkit contains 42 tools in eight sections categorised according to the seven main phases in the Workforce Planning roadmap, plus a final section where everything is put together. The tools are based on practical experience by Workforce Planning practitioners, supported by the inputs of researchers and academics. The tools are designed to assist anyone involved in Workforce Planning with: •

Becoming familiar with the various steps and concepts involved in Workforce Planning

•

Providing a starting point for designing the organisation’s own tools and processes

•

A basis for facilitating interaction about Workforce Planning in the organisation as the tools could be used as frameworks for discussion.

You can select and adapt any of the tools provided to meet your specific requirements. The toolkit is not comprehensive and you might have to add to it based on your own experience and circumstances.

How the Toolkit works The tools provided in the Toolkit are divided into the following categories: •

Section 3: Phase 1: Ensuring organisational readiness

•

Section 4: Phase 2: Creating context

•

Section 5: Phase 3: Understanding the current internal and external workforce

•

Section 6: Phase 4: Futuring

•

Section 7: Phase 5: Gap analysis

•

Section 8: Phase 6: Developing and implementing strategies to address the workforce gaps

•

Section 9: Phase 7: Monitoring and evaluation

•

Section 10: Putting it all together

Each section of the Toolkit deals with the main aspects and steps that should be considered and followed when implementing Workforce Planning. Each tool is explained according to the following headings:

– 24 –

Section 2: About the Toolkit

•

An introduction to the tool and where it fits into the total process

•

The aim of the tool

•

A description of what the tool entails, and how and when to use it

•

Links to other tools

•

The tool itself

•

Specific references.

The tools are printed on A4 pages for easy reading, printing and copying. All the tools can be downloaded from Knowledge Resources, website at www. knowres.co.za. You may customise and adapt the tools to suit your circumstances. Copyright still exists.

– 25 –

SECTION 3: TOOLS FOR USE DURING PHASE 1 – ENSURING ORGANISATIONAL READINESS Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative Tool 3: Bring to the surface all Workforce Planning-related processes in the organisation Tool 4: Readiness assessment audit Tool 5: Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process Tool 6: Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process Tool 7: The differences and similarities between Strategic Workforce Planning and Operational Workforce Planning Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning Tool 9: Sample Workforce Planning Policy Tool 10: Stakeholder engagement planning format Tool 11: Determine scarce skills Tool 12: Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

– 27 –

Tool 1 Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning 1.1 Introduction

In creating readiness in your organisation for embarking on Workforce Planning, it is necessary to identify the main drivers for Workforce Planning in your organisation. Identifying these drivers will enable you to formulate the rationale for the Workforce Planning effort – a crucial start to the whole process. It will also assist you in creating the business case for Workforce Planning and communicating the purpose of the initiative as part of the change management process.

1.2 The aim of Tool 1

Tool 1 will assist you in confirming the aspects driving the need to embark on Workforce Planning in your organisation.

1.3 Description of Tool 1 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A questionnaire consisting

• Review each statement in

This is used before you

of statements reflecting potential drivers for Workforce Planning with a rating scale for each statement

the questionnaire • For each statement, rate the extent to which you believe this item is a driver for Workforce Planning in your organisation by indicating how strongly you agree (5) or disagree (1) with the statement • Add up the total in each category • Highlight the two categories of drivers with the highest scores • Highlight the five most important individual drivers

– 29 –

embark on the Workforce Planning effort, as part of creating readiness in the organisation. The tool can be used to create awareness for the need to do Workforce Planning, and all relevant stakeholders can be asked to participate and complete the tool

Workforce Planning Toolkit

1.4 Links to other tools • Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

1.5 Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning Circle the number indicating the extent to which you agree or disagree that each statement acts as a driver for Workforce Planning in your organisation. Driver A.

Strongly

Strongly

disagree

agree

Organisation strategy

1

The organisation’s strategic focus is changing

1

2

3

4

5

2

The organisation has added some new business

1

2

3

4

5

objectives to its portfolio 3

The organisation is expanding/contracting

1

2

3

4

5

4

The organisation is experiencing (or will experience) a

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

change in its markets or customer base 5

The organisation is embarking on major capital expenditure/projects

6

The organisation is changing its production/service technology

7

The organisation is experiencing increased competition

1

2

3

4

5

8

The organisation is embarking (would like to embark)

1

2

3

4

5

on productivity/quality/innovation improvements 9

The organisation structure is changing

1

2

3

4

5

10

The organisation is planning a merger/acquisition

1

2

3

4

5

11

There is a need to shift the organisational culture

1

2

3

4

5

12

The organisation is planning global growth

1

2

3

4

5

B.

The external environment

13

Current/new legislative requirements

1

2

3

4

5

14

New technology

1

2

3

4

5

15

The economic climate

1

2

3

4

5

16

Economic uncertainty necessitates a longer-term

1

2

3

4

5

approach 17

The growth of alternative business models

1

2

3

4

5

18

Globalisation

1

2

3

4

5

19

Social responsibility requirements

1

2

3

4

5

– 30 –

Tool 1: Determine the Drivers for Workforce Planning

Driver 20

The pressure to reduce the organisation’s carbon

Strongly

Strongly

disagree

agree

1

2

3

4

5

footprint and function “green” 21

Requirements for Black Economic Empowerment

1

2

3

4

5

22

Unemployment

1

2

3

4

5

C.

External labour market

23

Dealing with Generation Y in the workplace

1

2

3

4

5

24

Increased competition for talent

1

2

3

4

5

25

Widespread skills shortages

1

2

3

4

5

26

Young, inexperienced and under-skilled population

1

2

3

4

5

27

Scarcity of specialist skills

1

2

3

4

5

28

The leadership gap left by retiring Baby Boomers

1

2

3

4

5

29

The growth of the virtual workforce

1

2

3

4

5

30

The need for more flexible work arrangements

1

2

3

4

5

32

The rise of the knowledge worker

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

D. 33

Internal workforce issues The need to be able to move employees quickly as the business dictates

34

The need for transparency from both the organisation and employees

35

Employees’ need for clear career paths

1

2

3

4

5

36

Employees’ need for internal mobility

1

2

3

4

5

37

The lack of “ready now” replacements for critical/core

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

positions 38

The workforce profile does not meet legislative/ Employment Equity requirements

39

Inability to attract/retain critical/core staff

1

2

3

4

5

40

Lack of competence in certain areas of the organisation

1

2

3

4

5

41

A large part of the organisation is disengaged

1

2

3

4

5

42

Several vacancies in key areas

1

2

3

4

5

43

High staff turnover

1

2

3

4

5

44

The size and impact of the contingent workforce is

1

2

3

4

5

unknown

– 31 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Driver E. 45

Strongly

Strongly

disagree

agree

Human resources function Difficulty in determining how many employees are

1

2

3

4

5

needed now and in the future 46

Inability to address strategic talent gaps

1

2

3

4

5

47

Information about the workforce is not readily available

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

or does not have data integrity 48

Talent efforts in the organisation take place in an isolated manner

49

Long recruitment cycles

1

2

3

4

5

50

HR strategy is not aligned to company strategy

1

2

3

4

5

Add up the totals for each category and transfer them to this table: Category

Total

Maximum

% (Total divided

possible

by maximum possible x 100)

A. Organisation strategy

60

B. External environment

50

C. External labour market

45

D. Internal workforce issues

60

E. Human resources function

30

List the two areas that act as the biggest drivers for Workforce Planning in your organisation: 1 2

List the five individual items that according to you act as the biggest drivers for Workforce Planning in your organisation: 1 2 3 4 5

– 32 –

Tool 2 Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.” (Ben Stein)

2.1 Introduction



Clarifying the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative/continuous process is an important aspect of change management as it helps others to see the need for change and creates a sense of urgency regarding the issue. Kotter and Ratgeber (2005) explained eight important steps in any process of successful change, namely: •

Create a sense of urgency.

•

Pull together the guiding team.

•

Develop the change vision and strategy.

•

Communicate for understanding and buy-in.

•

Empower others to act.

•

Produce short-term wins.

•

Don’t let up.

•

Create a new culture.

If the rationale for Workforce Planning is not agreed on upfront by all stakeholders, it will be difficult to make the change later and you may also have difficulty in developing the change vision and strategy.

2.2 The aim of Tool 2

Tool 2 aims to assist you in clarifying and stating the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative/continuous process in your organisation.

– 33 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

2.3 Description of Tool 2 What is it?

How to use it

A framework of questions

When to use it

• Involve all the

This is used before you em-

which helps to clarify the

stakeholders in this

bark on the Workforce Plan-

rationale for the Workforce

activity

ning effort, as part of creating

Planning effort in the organisation

• Review the organisation’s

readiness in the organisation.

strategic plan and

The tool can be used to frame

objectives

the business case, as well as

• Review each question

the case for change

in the template against the background of organisational strategy • As a team, formulate the rationale statement at the end of all the questions

2.4 Links to other tools • Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning

2.5 Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative Aspects to consider

Answers

What are the main people implications of your organisation’s strategy over the next five years? List five to ten implications. Classify these implications into

Organisation design

the following categories: •

Organisation structure needed to execute the strategy (organisation design)

•

Number (capacity) of employees needed to execute the strategy

•

Competencies (capability) needed to execute the strategy

– 34 –

Number of employees (Capacity)

Competencies (Capability)

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

List the main implications with

Main implication

which you are ready right now to

How we are ready right now to deal with it

deal and how you will deal with them

List the main implications with

Implication

which you cannot deal right now, and where you will have to put strategies in place to be able to deal with them

To what extent do the drivers for Workforce Planning that you have identified in Tool 1 impact on the main people implications of your organisation’s strategy? Define the main problem(s) that you would like to address through the Workforce Planning process

– 35 –

Short-term strategy needed

Mediumterm strategy needed

Long-term strategy needed

Workforce Planning Toolkit

What three things do you hope to achieve by implementing Workforce Planning in your organisation?

Now use the information above to describe the rationale of your Workforce Planning effort: For example: We will implement Workforce Planning to ensure that we have the right number of competent Telecommunications Engineers available to maintain our number one market position in the converged business solutions market over the next five years OR We are implementing Workforce Planning to ensure that we determine the critical and core workforce segments that will help us to sustain our strategy and then implement workforce strategies to attract, develop and retain those segments.

– 36 –

Tool 3 Bring to the surface all Workforce Planning-related processes in the organisation 3.1 Introduction

Many organisations are already implementing some aspects of the Workforce Planning process in their organisations. The problem is, however, that these efforts are not integrated and they happen across various functions. One of the critical success factors for Workforce Planning to be effective is that it should be a collaborative, integrated effort. Lombardi and Bourke (2010) found, for example, that 71% of the Best-in-Class companies integrate their workforce planning strategy with the company’s strategic planning process, and that workforce planning is integrated with operations and financial planning.

3.2 The aim of Tool 3

Tool 3 aims to ensure clarity around current Workforce Planning-related activities with the aim of creating an integrated workforce planning framework for identifying and responding to strategic workforce needs.

3.3 Description of Tool 3 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A checklist with statements

• Review all the functions listed

This tool forms part of the

guiding you through some possible Workforce Planning functions/activities which are already in place in your organisation

• Make a tick next to those functions/activities that are present in your organisation • Add any functions that are unique to your organisation that may not be listed • Indicate who is responsible for each function/activity that you have ticked

– 37 –

“ensuring organisational readiness” phase, as it will help you to identify all the relevant stakeholders, as well as to what extent you will need to plan for integration and alignment

Workforce Planning Toolkit

What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

(Continued)

• Indicate to what extent the

(Continued)

functions/activities that you have ticked are aligned with the Workforce Planning effort in terms of inputs, outputs and objectives • If not aligned, indicate how you can achieve alignment/integration • Conclude with an overall strategy to ensure that all relevant functions/activities are aligned in a common Workforce Planning process

3.4 Links to other tools • Tool 4: Readiness assessment audit • Tool 10: Stakeholder engagement planning format

3.5 Tool 3: Bring to the surface all Workforce Planning-related processes in the organisation Functions/

Present in our

Area/

Is this aspect currently

How can

activities related to

organisation

function

aligned/ integrated

you ensure

responsible

with the other

alignment/

for this

Workforce Planning

integration?

aspect

activities in terms of

Workforce Planning

inputs, outputs and objectives? Yes Organisation-wide strategic planning

Operational business planning

– 38 –

No

Tool 3: Bring to the surface all Workforce Planning-related processes in the organisation

Functions/

Present in our

Area/

Is this aspect currently

How can

activities related to

organisation

function

aligned/ integrated

you ensure

responsible

with the other

alignment/

for this

Workforce Planning

integration?

aspect

activities in terms of

Workforce Planning

inputs, outputs and objectives? Yes Annual head count/ establishment planning Organisation design

Annual budget planning based on staff numbers Talent planning

Human Resources metrics and reporting Human Resources Information Systems

Strategic HR planning

Workplace skills planning Succession Planning

– 39 –

No

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Functions/

Present in our

Area/

Is this aspect currently

How can

activities related to

organisation

function

aligned/ integrated

you ensure

responsible

with the other

alignment/

for this

Workforce Planning

integration?

aspect

activities in terms of

Workforce Planning

inputs, outputs and objectives? Yes

No

Skills auditing

Job profiling

Recruitment planning

Retention and engagement efforts

Shift roster planning

Any other functions/activities related to workforce planning in your organisation

Describe your overarching strategy to ensure alignment or integration of all relevant functions and activities to ensure one common Workforce Planning process:

– 40 –

Tool 4 Readiness assessment audit 4.1 Introduction

Workforce Planning is an integral process in linking organisational strategy with human resources/talent requirements. It is not a process that can be done as a once-off – it has to become part of the organisation’s DNA. Careful planning for an effective, continuous implementation of Workforce Planning is necessary. The Human Capital Institute (2010) described, for example, how Starbucks planned their approach over a two- to three-year period before they institutionalised the process. The whole effort may be in jeopardy if you start with implementation before ensuring that the organisation is ready.

4.2 The aim of Tool 4

Tool 4 aims to guide organisations with regard to the aspects that should be in place before the Workforce Planning process can be entrenched in the organisation.

4.3 Description of Tool 4 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A checklist with the

• Review each element

This can be used at the

readiness elements that should be in place before implementing the total Workforce Planning process

• Indicate with a tick in the relevant column the status of this element in your organisation

end of the preparation and planning phase to verify that the organisation is ready to implement Workforce Planning

• Highlight the three categories where you still have to put in more effort to ensure organisational readiness for Workforce Planning

4.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 3: Bring to the surface all Workforce Planning-related processes in the organisation

– 41 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning

•

Tool 10: Stakeholder engagement planning format

4.5 Tool 4: Readiness assessment audit Readiness element

This

We are

This

element is

busy

element is

in place

getting this

not in place

element in

at all

place A.

Strategic alignment

1

The organisation’s strategy is clear and available to the Workforce Planning stakeholders

2

The rationale for Workforce Planning is clear and accepted by all stakeholders

3

The impact of Workforce Planning on strategy achievement is clear

4

All the processes/activities/functions related to Workforce Planning in the organisation have been identified and aligned/integrated

5

The organisation views Workforce Planning as a critical element of strategic planning and execution and it has been aligned as such

B.

Stakeholder engagement, commitment and competence

6

There is visible commitment to the implementation of Workforce Planning from all relevant stakeholders

7

All stakeholders are competent regarding the principles and processes of Workforce Planning

8

There is continuous engagement of the relevant stakeholders with regard to Workforce Planning

C.

Role clarification

9

Senior management take ownership and accountability for Workforce Planning

10

A role clarification session regarding Workforce Planning has been conducted and all stakeholders are clear about their roles and responsibilities

D.

Workforce Planning framework, requirements and scope

11

The Workforce Planning framework/process has been designed and agreed on by all stakeholders

– 42 –

Tool 4: Readiness assessment audit

Readiness element

This

We are

This

element is

busy

element is

in place

getting this

not in place

element in

at all

place 12

There is access to organisation-wide data on key workforce metrics such as demographic data, turnover data, job profiles, competency profiles, and so on

13

The workforce data has high integrity

14

The necessary tools and support have been created for the Workforce Planning process

15

The scope of Workforce Planning has been determined and agreed upon

E.

Resource allocation and project management

16

A dedicated team has been appointed to facilitate and manage the Workforce Planning process

17

There is a commitment in terms of budget and time requirements

18

A detailed project plan has been designed and

F.

Change management

19

A business case for Workforce Planning was pre-

approved to manage the process

sented and accepted by all relevant stakeholders 20

Change management is a planned consideration throughout the implementation process

Indicate the three categories where more work needs to be done to ensure that the organisation is ready to implement Workforce Planning: 1

2

3

– 43 –

Tool 5 Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process 5.1 Introduction

If your organisation is already implementing Workforce Planning, it is always prudent to review continuously the effectiveness of the current process and plan. Constantly reviewing what you are doing can improve the process and adjust it to the changing needs of the organisation. There are many tools available on the Internet to assist with this type of review. Some of the tools, like the one used by the State Government of Victoria (2006), are very extensive and provide you with a detailed analysis of your current processes. Others are brief (for example, the diagnostic assessment that the Corporate Leadership Council provides to its members to review Strategic Workforce Planning), and can be used to get a quick snapshot of the current situation and create awareness of the status quo.

5.2 The aim of Tool 5

Tool 5 aims to assist you in identifying the extent to which current Workforce Planning processes enable the organisation to gain insight into strategic workforce gaps and the effectiveness of the process followed to address these gaps.

5.3 Description of Tool 5 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A questionnaire where

• Review each aspect of the

This tool can be used as part

each activity/aspect of the Workforce Planning process gets assessed on a fourpoint rating scale

Workforce Planning process • Rate each aspect individually on the four-point scale • Calculate the total score for the assessment

of the process to review the current status of Workforce Planning in your organisation during the “ensuring organisational readiness” phase. It is also useful as part

• Use the guide at the end of

of an annual review of the

the tool to determine which

process to identify potential

category best describes your

areas for improvement

organisation’s effectiveness with regard to its Workforce Planning processes and practices

– 45 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

5.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 4: Readiness assessment audit

•

Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

•

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

•

Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model

•

Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps

•

Tool 39: Case for change/Business case

5.5 Tool 5: Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

Phase 1: Ensuring organisational readiness 1

Workforce Planning is integrated with the organisation’s strategic planning process

2

We have a mindset in the organisation of “no business plan without a workforce/talent plan”

3

Senior management reinforces the importance of strategic workforce planning

4

A solid business case forms the foundation of Workforce Planning in our organisation

5

The organisation’s strategy is transparent and communicated to all

6

We identify our organisation’s critical and core occupations i.e. those that contribute directly to performance and fulfilment of the mission and strategic objectives

– 46 –

Tool 5: Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process

Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

7

We determine the scope of the

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

workforce planning effort 8

We have designed a logical, repeatable, low-burden, high-yield workforce planning process

9

We have identified the information systems within our organisation that can provide accurate and reliable data necessary to support workforce planning

10

We follow a structured approach to ensure that the organisation is ready for the implementation of Workforce Planning. (Use the results from Tool 4 to rate your organisation with regard to this aspect)

Phase 2: Creating context 11

The workforce plan is based on a thorough understanding of the organisation’s future mission, vision, strategic objectives, business plans, capabilities and the implications this may have on the workforce

12

The workforce plan incorporates a review of external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

13

The context for workforce planning is summarised in terms of the national and international factors, labour market and organisational and general employee trends which could impact on the demand and supply of employees

– 47 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

Phase 3: Understanding current internal and external workforce 14

Our current workforce plan captures key demographic data to develop a profile of the current workforce (or selected talent segments)

1

2

3

4

15

The analysis of the internal workforce (or selected talent segments) includes an overview of capacity and capability

1

2

3

4

16

The analysis of the internal workforce includes profile data (e.g. current age distribution) as well as trend data (e.g. turnover rates over the past five years)

1

2

3

4

17

We identify a sophisticated array of workforce benchmarks and use them to monitor trends

1

2

3

4

18

We monitor the organisation’s competency framework for relevance on an annual basis

1

2

3

4

19

We assess the competencies and associate proficiency levels of our current workforce to determine our preparedness to meet today’s and tomorrow’s mission

1

2

3

4

20

Reports on internal workforce characteristics are comprehensive and readily available to all relevant stakeholders

1

2

3

4

21

We collect data relating to the external workforce from a range of sources, including labour market and industry sector trends, skills shortages, and relevant demographics

1

2

3

4

22

We collect data on our competitors’ workforce strategies relating to our workforce (or selected talent segments)

1

2

3

4

– 48 –

Tool 5: Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process

Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

23

We collect information relating

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

to the state of our contingent workforce (contractors, temporary employees, casuals, etcetera) and analyse trends and competitive forces 24

We summarise the data with regard to the current internal and external workforce in such a way that it provides a picture of the current supply

Phase 4: Futuring 25

We identify work that will be required in future, as well as work that will cease or be phased out over time

26

We define the critical competencies (i.e. functions, technical, leadership, managerial, supervisory, core) necessary to meet our mission and strategic objectives

27

We use forecasting methods to project the numbers and types of occupations and/or positions necessary to achieve our strategic objectives (i.e. we document the “demand” side of our workforce planning).

28

We project changes to the size, composition and stability of our workforce by reporting on historical accession and separation trends and estimating their future impacts

29

We clearly formulate our forecasting assumptions and test them for reasonableness

– 49 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

30

We use a combination of

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

qualitative and quantitative forecasting models 31

We use scenario building as a forecasting tool and assess the likelihood of a range of alternate scenarios

32

We select the preferred scenarios for our organisation

33

At the end of the futuring phase we have a clear picture of the projected demand and supply of employee numbers and capabilities at a specific point in time

Phase 5: Gap analysis 34

We identify the potential gap between the current workforce profile and capabilities and future workforce needs by comparing internal and external talent supply against talent demand in critical talent segments/capabilities

35

We identify areas of potential over and understaffing by skill/ occupation/talent segment

36

We do a risk analysis with regard to the gaps identified to set priorities according to the level of risk

37

We determine the reasons for the prioritised gaps

38

We communicate the insights from the gap analysis phase to all relevant stakeholders to inform business decisions

39

We customise the insights from the gap analysis phase for our line managers and highlight the specific financial implications for them

– 50 –

Tool 5: Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process

Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

40

We conclude the gap analysis

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

phase with a list of areas requiring management action to close the identified and prioritised gaps Phase 6: Developing and implementing workforce strategies 41

We select strategies to address the strategic workforce gaps from a wide range of potential solutions (build, buy, borrow, bind, bridge, boost and bounce – refer to Tool 39 for definitions)

42

Our strategies are integrated across key HR and business processes

43

Our strategies include short-, medium- and long-term approaches

44

Where necessary we establish a clear case for change

45

As part of the implementation plan we develop success criteria and establish methods for collecting information and measuring the criteria

46

Our proposed strategies are in line with the long-term organisation strategy

47

We allocate sufficient budget and resources to ensure the implementation of the selected strategies

48

We have project management methodology and processes in place to manage the implementation of the selected workforce strategies

– 51 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

49

We provide regular reporting to

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

leaders, managers and supervisor on the progress in implementing the workforce strategies 50

We have an organisational and staff infrastructure to support workforce planning; roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and communicated

51

Through the performance appraisal process, we hold leaders, managers, supervisors, and/ or staff accountable for fulfilling their respective roles in workforce planning

52

We have embedded our organisation’s values and culture in the new practices and systems that are addressing workforce gaps

53

We support the implementation of the workforce strategies by a change management approach to encourage and facilitate active, ongoing participation at all levels

54

The relevant stakeholders are involved throughout to ensure successful implementation

Phase 7: Monitoring and evaluation 55

We monitor the implementation progress of workforce strategies through regular review and followup, and take corrective action where needed

56

Our organisation has a comprehensive set of metrics to assess the effectiveness of workforce strategies in improving organisational performance

– 52 –

Tool 5: Assess the effectiveness of the current Workforce Planning process

Workforce Planning Roadmap activities

57

The metrics are included in our

Level of performance We are not We are doing

We are

This is

doing this

this, but there

effective

one of our

is room for

regarding

strengths

improvement

this aspect

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

organisation’s reporting framework and process 58

We have systems in place to determine regularly whether the strategies designed to address workforce issues have had the desired impact (e.g. retention target achieved)

59

We monitor and update the workforce plan based on changes to the strategic direction of the organisation, ineffective execution, or successes in closing gaps

60

We review the workforce plan on a quarterly basis Sub-totals: Total:

Instructions: Calculate the total for each column and then add all the sub-totals together to get an overall total. Using the guide below, determine which category best describes your organisation’s effectiveness with regard to its Workforce Planning processes and practices. Points

Description

1–95

Low Workforce Planning effectiveness

points

Your organisation has most likely just started with the Workforce Planning process and is still busy building the business case. You have some aspects of the Workforce Planning process in place. Alternatively, your focus is more on tactical Workforce Planning, where you identify human resources needs as they arise (i.e. immediate vacancies). Your organisation’s Workforce Planning activities are likely to be focused at a unit level and respond to the need to do annual head count and budget planning. The solutions that you implement are more focused on present needs and are largely reactive. A focused intervention to remedy the situation is recommended, linked to up-skilling all relevant stakeholders with regard to Workforce Planning.

– 53 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Points

Description

96–143

Fair Workforce Planning effectiveness, with improvement needed

points

You have fairly recently started with the implementation of Workforce Planning and the organisation is still in the process of refining all the components of Workforce Planning. Alternatively, your organisation is still implementing mainly operational workforce planning, where you still identify workforce needs as they arise (i.e. immediate vacancies). You may forecast some short-term trends using historical workforce trends and by analysing the status of the current internal workforce. Workforce Planning activities are largely focused at a unit level and in some cases, they may be organisation-wide (i.e. identification of mission critical occupations). The approach to Workforce Planning is in general reactive, with pockets of proactive initiatives to address strategic talent gaps.

144–191 points

Good Workforce Planning effectiveness Your organisation is performing effectively with regard to Workforce Planning, with a good balance between operational and strategic Workforce Planning. You have implemented the process a few times and the process is starting to become entrenched in the business. You do, however, still have a few areas that you would like to streamline and are consciously working on them. There is one consistent process followed across the organisation. The workforce strategies that you implement involve the development of targeted strategies to shape segments of the workforce in response to existing and emerging mission needs.

192–240 points

Excellent Workforce Planning effectiveness Your organisation serves as a benchmark for other organisations, and Workforce Planning is a source of competitive advantage. You implement both operational and strategic Workforce Planning effectively. You have entrenched the process in the organisation and all the relevant stakeholders are involved in its implementation. There is likely to be a mindset of “no business plan without a workforce plan”. You identify strategic talent needs and address the gaps timeously to ensure the sustainability of the organisation. Workforce Planning solutions involve the development of integrated strategies that shape the workforce as a whole in anticipation of existing and emerging strategic needs. Additionally, a well-defined infrastructure most likely exists to champion and manage Workforce Planning efforts.

References Specific to Tool 5 Department of Administrative Services, New Hampshire. 2008. Organizational Readiness Assessment for Strategic Workforce Planning. [Online]. Available: http://www. admin.state.nh.us/.../ Workforce.../Organizational%20Readiness%20Assessment.doc [Accessed 6 January 2011]. State Government of Victoria, 2006 Workforce planning toolkit: a guide for workforce planning in small to medium sized Victorian public sector organisations. Melbourne: State Services Authority.

– 54 –

Tool 6 Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process 6.1 Introduction

In an ideal world, Strategic Planning and Workforce Planning would be one seamless process. “Strategic Planning is the process of thoroughly analysing where you are with your business at a particular point in time and then developing a series of action programmes to get from where you are to where you want to be at some foreseeable time in the future” (Espey, 1991). Workforce Planning focuses on how to get the organisation where it would like to be in the future by focusing on the workforce that will be needed to get it there.



Stillerman (1991) describes strategy as the dynamic process of setting business goals and direction and the means for their achievement by addressing the following fundamental questions:

Where are we now?

Where are we going?

How are we going to get there? Using the techniques of: RATIONAL ANALYSIS:

THE CREATIVE SETTING OF:

•

External

•

Mission

•

Industry

•

Vision

•

Competition

•

Goals

•

Internal

•

Objectives

For: •

Strategy development

•

Strategy implementation

•

Competitive advantage

•

Strategic management

To achieve: Superior performance Figure 2: Strategic planning framework

– 55 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit



During the internal and external analysis phase of strategic planning, the workforce issues are considered along with all the other factors such as the value chain, finance, marketing and sales, operations, and so on. It is also considered during scenario planning and strategy development and implementation. This means that if organisations did optimal strategic planning, Workforce Planning would not be a stand-alone HR activity, but would form part of the strategic planning process.



“It is for this reason that Lombardi and Bourke (2010) recommend that to achieve best-in-class performance, organisations must formalise workforce planning efforts and create a mindset of ‘no business plan without a talent plan’. Lombardi and Bourke (2010) further support the stance that Workforce Planning should form part of the strategic planning (or business planning process) by suggesting that the business should be held accountable for the creation, maintenance and evaluation of the results of Workforce Planning, with the support and collaboration of HR” (Cillie-Schmidt, 2010).

6.2 The aim of Tool 6

Tool 6 will assist you in identifying the links between the Strategic Planning Process and the Workforce Planning process so that you can align the two.

6.3 Description of Tool 6 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A table with two columns

• Review the sequence

While you plan and prepare

indicating the links between

of activities during both

to do Workforce Planning

strategic planning and

processes

by drafting the project plan

Workforce Planning

for the Workforce Planning • Plan your project to optimise process the alignment of the two process by integrating Workforce Planning activities with the strategic planning process

– 56 –

Tool 6: Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process

6.4

Links to other tools

•

Section 1: Workforce Planning roadmap

•

Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction

6.5 Tool 6: Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process Generic Strategic Planning Process (Espey,

Corresponding actions on the Workforce Plan-

1991; Stillerman, 1991)

ning roadmap

Step 1: Ensure that the organisation has the

Phase 1: Ensuring organisational readiness

capacity and infrastructure to do strategic

Step 3: Create supporting Infrastructure

planning and to implement the strategic plan Step 2: Develop a strategic vision: Set demand-

Phase 2: Creating context

ing but achievable goals to answer the ques-

Step 1: Review the organisation’s future direc-

tion: “Where do we want to go?”

tion

Step 3: Conduct an external analysis to identify

Phase 2: Creating context

all the factors that might influence this vision.

Step 2: Review external factors that may im-

This includes an analysis to identify opportu-

pact on the organisation and the workforce

nities, threats, issues, scenarios and trends regarding the following aspects in the external environment: •

Political

•

Economic

•

International

•

Social

•

Cultural

•

Environmental

•

Technological

•

Business

•

Management

Step 4: Consider the implications of these find-

Phase 2: Creating context

ings on your organisation’s future direction

Step 3: Explore the impact of the organisation’s future direction and the external factors on the workforce

– 57 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Generic Strategic Planning Process (Espey,

Corresponding actions on the Workforce Plan-

1991; Stillerman, 1991)

ning roadmap

Step 5: Conduct an industry and competitor

Phase 3: Understanding current internal and

analysis. This includes:

external workforce

•

Industry structure

Step 2: Analyse external workforce characteris-

•

Industry dynamics

tics and profiles

•

Industry value chain

•

Industry attractiveness

•

Products and services

•

Markets

•

Competitors

•

Suppliers

•

Barriers

•

Substitutes

•

Competitive advantage

Step 6: Conduct an internal analysis to an-

Phase 3: Understanding current internal and

swer the question, where are we today. This

external workforce

includes identifying strengths, weaknesses,

Step 1: Analyse internal workforce characteris-

issues, scenarios and trends regarding the

tics and profiles

following: •

The organisation’s value chain

•

Financial overview

•

Marketing and sales

•

Organisation design

•

Management

•

Human Resources

•

Operations

•

Logistics

•

Technology development

•

Procurement

•

Innovation

•

Key capabilities

•

Overall business analysis

Step 7: Consider the implications of these find-

Phase 3: Understanding current internal and

ings on your organisation’s future direction

external workforce Step 3: Consolidate Information from Phases 2 and 3

Step 8: Do scenario planning to explore future

Phase 4: Futuring

possibilities, and select the preferred scenario

Step 4: Interpret quantitative forecasting data,

to achieve the strategic vision

develop forecasting assumptions, and do scenario building

– 58 –

Tool 6: Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process

Generic Strategic Planning Process (Espey,

Corresponding actions on the Workforce Plan-

1991; Stillerman, 1991)

ning roadmap

Step 9: Refine and finalise the organisation’s

Phase 4: Futuring

vision and strategic direction

Step 5: Define the desired future state – the targeted future

Step 10: Determine the gaps between the

Phase 5: Gap analysis

current situation and the ideal future state

Step 1: Identify and analyse gaps (e.g. differ-

and prioritise the key issues to answer the

ences between supply and demand)

question: “Which factors are key to the future direction and performance of the organisation?” Step 11: Define key objectives for the over-

Phase 5: Gap analysis

all organisation and each functional area in

Step 2: Prioritise areas for action, based on the

terms of precise, measurable and time-related

assessment of risk associated with the gap

criteria Step 12: Isolate/create the factors that are vital

Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

to the achievement of the key objectives of

gies to address workforce gaps

the organisation. These critical success factors

Step 4: Establish success criteria

represent specific conditions under which key objectives may be successfully attained Step 13: Develop strategic alternatives to

Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

answer the question: “How are we going to get

gies to address workforce gaps

to our desired future state?”

Step 1: Identify potential directions for action.

Step 14: Evaluate the various strategic alterna-

Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

tives in terms of all the preceding criteria,

gies to address workforce gaps

e.g. vision, mission, goals, external analysis,

Step 2: Select and formulate workforce strate-

internal analysis, key issues, and critical suc-

gies

cess factors Step 15: Select the strategic alternative that

Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

will achieve the best strategic fit in terms of:

gies to address workforce gaps

•

Key strategic issues and thrusts

Step 2: Select and formulate strategy

•

Optimal fit with the overall strategic analysis

•

Priority rating in terms of key objectives

•

Feasibility of implementation

•

The consequences and implications of each choice

•

Optimal commitment, through a participative process

•

Timeframe: Short, medium and long term

– 59 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Generic Strategic Planning Process (Espey,

Corresponding actions on the Workforce Plan-

1991; Stillerman, 1991)

ning roadmap

Step 16: Formulate strategic guidelines to

Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

create the bridge between strategy and action

gies to address workforce gaps

and to ensure execution:

Step 3: Establish the case for change

•

Develop detailed action plans

Step 5: Design action/project plan

•

Identify Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs)

•

Identify the major changes necessary to existing strategies, functions and structures

•

Identify how these changes will be implemented

•

Specify a time framework for implementation, monitoring and review

Step 17: Cascade strategy execution to the

Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

whole organisation e.g. through balanced

gies to address workforce gaps

scorecard

Step 6: Implement the action/project plan Step 7: Change management to support implementation of plan Step 8: Align strategies to organisational values and culture

Step 18: Incorporate strategy implementation

Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

in business plans

gies to address workforce gaps Step 6: Implement the action/project plan Phase 6: Developing and implementing strate-

Step 19: Execute strategy

gies to address workforce gaps Step 6: Implement the action/project plan Step 20: Regularly review and revise strategic

Phase 7: Monitoring and evaluation

plan and implementation as needs dictate

Step 1: Monitor Step 2: Evaluate

– 60 –

Tool 7 The differences and similarities between Strategic Workforce Planning and Operational Workforce Planning 7.1 Introduction

Workforce Planning can be implemented on a continuum, ranging from very short-term, tactical Workforce Planning to long-term, strategic Workforce Planning. Most organisations do short-term Operational Workforce Planning when they do annual headcount planning and budgeting, but very few are engaged in Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP), which is about analysing the human resource implications of organisational strategy and proactively addressing strategic human resource gaps.



Best-in-class companies do Workforce Planning that has a view of eighteen months or longer to align business demand for specific skills, capabilities and job roles with the available supply of talent, both internally and externally in the marketplace (Lombardi and Bourke, 2010). Organisations should, however, implement Workforce Planning at both ends of the scale, as Operational Workforce Planning feeds into Strategic Workforce Planning, and without SWP, the organisation would stay in a reactive mode. The two processes are, however, not dependent on each other, and can be implemented separately (although this is not recommended).

7.2 The aim of Tool 7

Tool 7 aims to assist the organisation in identifying the differences and similarities between operational and strategic workforce planning so that it can ensure that its workforce planning process will address both ongoing staffing gaps and longer-term strategic talent needs.

7.3 Description of Tool 7 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A table indicating the differ-

• Familiarise yourself with

When you design the total

the content of the table

Workforce Planning frame-

ences/similarities between operational and strategic workforce planning on a few selected dimensions

• Ensure that your workforce planning process address annual business plan needs as well as long-term strategic needs

– 61 –

work for the organisation

Workforce Planning Toolkit

7.4 Links to other tools •

Section 1: Workforce Planning roadmap

7.5 Tool 7: The differences and similarities between Strategic Workforce Planning and Operational Workforce Planning Purpose

Operational Workforce Planning

Strategic Workforce Planning

To determine how many employees

To determine strategic talent gaps and

should be used as the basis for:

strategies to address these gaps to

•

Annual budget planning

ensure successful implementation to

•

Recruitment planning

the organisation’s strategic vision

•

Annual workplace skills plan

Underlying

What are the staffing needs for the

What are the human capital

need

coming year, based on current business

implications of the strategic plan

plans?

and influential factors in the external environment?

Typical

•

Review current business plan

process

•

Identify workforce requirements

direction and factors in the

to achieve current objectives

external environment impacting

Project future workforce demand

on the organisation and workforce

•

•

based on past trends •

•

Assess future supply by focusing

•

Target positions with greatest impact – pivotal roles, “A” jobs

mainly on the internal availability

(Human Capital Institute, 2010) •

of employees

Review the organisation’s strategic

Analyse these selected talent

Define the gap (the difference

segments in terms of current

between forecasted needs for the

profile internally, as well as

coming year and available talent/

external profile •

competencies)

Define various “futures” (Human

•

Develop a plan to close the gap

Capital Institute, 2010), and select

•

Implement the plan

the preferred future •

Determine the gap between the preferred future and the current situation with regard to the selected talent segment

– 62 –

•

Develop plans to address these gaps

•

Implement the plans

•

Monitor and review

Tool 7: The differences and similarities between Strategic Workforce Planning and Operational Workforce Planning

Typical

Operational Workforce Planning

Strategic Workforce Planning

•

•

What staffing gaps does the

How ready is the workforce

diagnostic

organisation face in terms of the

(employee skills and capabilities)

questions

projected supply and demand?

and the organisation (alignment of structures and roles with strategic direction) to meet strategic objectives? •

What are the external and internal labour market risks regarding strategy execution?

Typical

•

Recruitment

The full range of talent levers, such as:

strategies

•

Learning and development

•

Organisation design

•

Talent acquisition (attraction,

to address the

recruitment, selection and on-

identified

boarding)

gaps

•

Performance management

•

Compensation and benefits

•

Job-design

•

Learning and development, including management/leadership development

•

Succession development

•

Career development

•

Mentoring and coaching

•

Employee wellness

•

Exit management

•

Outsourcing

•

Other

Typical

Aligns with annual business and budget

Aligns with strategic decisions and

planning

planning cycle with bi-annual or

typically has a three- to five-year

timeline

quarterly reviews

outlook with quarterly or bi-annual and reviews

Typical

•

Annual business plans

•

Strategic plans

data

•

Quantitative forecasts of staffing

•

External environment analysis

needs

•

External labour market analysis

Data on current internal staff

•

Internal labour market analysis

profile and competencies

•

Quantitative and qualitative

used for analysis

•

forecasts of internal and external demand regarding selected talent segments

– 63 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Operational Workforce Planning

Strategic Workforce Planning

Typical

Human Resources and/or finance

Executives and the board with Human

ownership

functions, line and business unit

Resources facilitating and line and

of process

managers

business unit managers implementing

Typical

•

Recruitment plans

•

outputs

•

Headcount budget

•

Headcount approval/restrictions

•

Skills development plans

Integrated talent management strategies

– 64 –

•

Strategic HR plan

Tool 8 Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning 8.1 Introduction

As there are many role-players involved in effectively implementing Workforce Planning, it is important that everyone understands their responsibilities. Many critical tasks could “fall through the cracks” if the roles and responsibilities are not clear.

8.2 The aim of Tool 8

Tool 8 aims to assist in clarifying the expectations of each stakeholder in the process and to provide a template that will form the basis of discussion about the roles and responsibilities of each participant in the Workforce Planning process.

8.3 Description of Tool 8 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A set of questions to clarify

• Consider who will be the

During the “ensuring

roles and responsibilities,

different stakeholders in the

organisational readiness”

followed by a list of roles

Workforce Planning process and

phase, as part of setting

and responsibilities per

list them

up the system and

stakeholder group

• Use the questions in Part A of

designing policies and

the Tool to decide which of

procedures. It is also

the stakeholder groups will be

important in communicating

responsible for what

your approach and its

• Use the list of roles and responsibilities for each role to create a template that will meet your organisation’s needs and expectations regarding Workforce Planning • Workshop these templates with the relevant stakeholders to obtain their input and buy-in • Finalise the roles and responsibilities as part of your organisation’s Workforce Planning Policy

– 65 –

implications to the relevant stakeholders

Workforce Planning Toolkit

8.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 9: Sample Workforce Planning Policy

8.5 Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning 8.5.1 Part A: Identifying the relevant stakeholders in Workforce Planning 1. Draft a rough list of all the stakeholders that may be involved in Workforce Planning in your organisation. No

Stakeholder

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. Keeping these potential stakeholders in mind, answer the following questions: No

Question

Party/function/role responsible

1

Who will be accountable for Workforce Planning in your organisation (who will ultimately carry the can for the success or failure of the initiative)?

2

Who will manage and administer the Workforce Planning process?

– 66 –

Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning

No

Question

Party/function/role responsible

3

Who will be the custodian of the Workforce Planning process?

4

What will be the role of the most senior person in the organisation (CEO, MD, President, etc) regarding Workforce Planning?

5

What will be the role of the management board in Workforce Planning?

6

Which roles already exist in the organisation regarding Workforce Planning? Describe their responsibilities

7

What will be the line manager’s role with regard to Workforce Planning?

8

What will be the role of the Human Resources function in Workforce Planning?

9

Is there a Human Resources Information System in place that will be involved in Workforce Planning? What type of information will the system provide?

– 67 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

No

Question

Party/function/role responsible

10

List the specific roles of any other role players not yet mentioned: •

•

•

•

•

8.5.2 Part B: Roles and responsibilities

Use the roles and responsibilities mentioned to clarify what your organisation might expect from the different roles. Tick what is applicable to your organisation.

Roles and responsibilities

√

A. The leader of the organisation 1

Takes ownership of Workforce Planning

2

Is ultimately accountable for the design and implementation of the Workforce Plan

3

Creates a mindset of “no business plan without a workforce plan”

4

Ensures a strong link between the workforce plan and the overall organisational mission and vision

5

Helps to identify and approve the scope of Workforce Planning

6

Communicates and reinforces the benefits to be gained from Workforce Planning

7

Ensures that the resources needed to complete Workforce Planning will be provided (and then provide those resources)

8

Includes Workforce Planning measures in the organisation’s performance indicators, e.g. balanced scorecard and reviews progress regularly

9

Holds all accountable for their role in Workforce Planning

10

Maintains visibility and communication throughout the Workforce Planning process

– 68 –

Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning

Roles and responsibilities 11

√

Provides high-level facilitation of the process (and/or works directly and indirectly with implementation team, if used)

12

Other roles and responsibilities:

B. Management team/board 1

Ensures a strong link between the workforce plan and the organisation’s strategic objectives

2

Approves the business case for Workforce Planning, including the desired Workforce Planning change, the reasons for it, the expected benefits, and the impact the change may have on employees

3

Communicates the vision/mission to middle managers, and provides excellent information and communication to them throughout the Workforce Planning process

4

Holds line managers reporting to them responsible for including workforce plans in their business plans

5

Participates at a high level in the Workforce Planning process

6

Determines the scope of the Workforce Planning process

7

Ensure that the Workforce Planning process is robust and meets business needs

8

Champions Workforce Planning in their respective areas of responsibility and across the organisation

9

Rewards and recognises line managers who implement Workforce Planning effectively

10

Change the process (or be prepared to) when it is not working, to deliver the best for the organisation

11

Takes corrective action regarding line managers who consistently fail to deliver on their role in the Workforce Planning process

12 13

Initiates and facilitates conversations about Workforce Planning processes Acts as role model for the process – this includes identifying strategic talent needs/ gaps in relation to the strategy, following up on workforce action plans, receiving feedback well and acting on it

14

Maintains commitment to Workforce Planning and communicates that commitment

15

Allocates adequate resources to ensure the implementation of the Workforce Plan

16

Develops goals and performance measures for Workforce Planning

17

Removes organisational barriers to Workforce Planning

– 69 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Roles and responsibilities

√

18

Monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of Workforce Planning

19

Other roles and responsibilities:

C. Line managers and supervisors 1

Work with HR to gather to gather data, identify gaps that exist in the current workforce when compared to future requirements, determine priorities in key areas, and offer creative strategies for action plans

2

Reach across functions and departments for cooperation regarding Workforce Planning

3

Assess workforce requirements in their area of responsibility and develops workforce action plans outlining issues and options for addressing workforce needs

4

Integrate Workforce Plans into the business plan, the department’s budget, Employment Equity plan, head-count management, and so on

5

Ensure implementation of the Workforce Planning process and resulting initiatives

6

Review progress regarding the Workforce Planning initiatives

7

Take corrective action to ensure achievement of Workforce Planning initiatives

8

Report to senior management on progress and Workforce goal achievement

9

Manages human and material resources to support the workforce planning process; request and disburse resources

10

Use the Workforce Planning process to generate greater alignment between the staff, their work, and the strategic goals of the organisation

11

Assign staff responsible for development, implementation, and maintenance of workforce plans in their areas of responsibility

12

Ensure that the staff responsible are aware of their responsibilities in the Workforce Planning process and that they have the necessary training, skills and expertise to develop workforce plans

13

Review and update Workforce Plans on a quarterly basis

14

Complete all documentation and inputs regarding Workforce Planning timeously and accurately

15

Demonstrate commitment, support and leadership regarding Workforce Planning

– 70 –

Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning

Roles and responsibilities 16

√

Other roles and responsibilities:

D. The finance function 1

Ensure correlation between the budget, budget projections, and workforce planning

2

Are primary researchers, with the HR staff, for gathering and disseminating financial and budgetary data and information for the workforce planning process

3

May hold leadership roles on workforce planning teams

4

Provide subject matter expertise in the area of finance and budget

5

Document financial resources needed to support workforce planning strategies and facilitate methods for acquiring and allocating funds to meet those needs

6

Other roles and responsibilities:

E. Human Resources management function 1

Facilitate the development and implementation of an enterprise workforce plan and strategies based on analysis of common gaps and strategies identified in the strategic plan

2

Work closely with line managers and supervisors as business partners to facilitate the development of unit-specific Workforce Plans e.g. identify needs, competencies and gaps that exist in the current workforce when compared to future work requirements, and assist in developing strategies, solutions and alternatives to address the issues

3

Act as primary researchers, with the Finance staff, for gathering and disseminating financial, budgetary and personnel data and information for the Workforce Planning process

4

Provide subject matter expertise in the area of Human Resources

5

May hold leadership roles on Workforce Planning teams

– 71 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Roles and responsibilities 6

√

Facilitate the design of a Workforce Planning process and system, e.g. develop organisation-wide demographics to identify past and current workforce trends and forecast future trends; provide assistance in analysing data; develop query tools; run reports for line managers; develop report templates; and assist line managers in developing division-specific reports

7

Develop and disseminate organisational summaries and reports on workforce trends including separation analysis, changes in workforce demographics, and so on

8

Design the Workforce Planning framework, policies and procedures

9

Maintain a Workforce Planning website with a repository of the organisation’s Workforce Planning policy and guidelines, Workforce Planning best practices; tools; information; and resources

10

Evaluate and provide feedback to line managers on their Workforce Plans using performance measures, metrics and benchmarks

11

Support and assist line managers in implementing their Workforce Plans utilising strategies in recruitment and retention, employee development, diversity, compensation, etc.

12

Provide input and advise regarding Workforce issues pertaining to Employment Equity and industry-specific Charters e.g. women in senior positions

13

Assist with change management efforts

14

Other roles and responsibilities:

F. The employees 1

Provide feedback and information as requested, e.g. complete skills audits

2

Participate in learning and development activities identified as part of the Workforce Plan

3

Other roles and responsibilities:

G. The strategy function 1

Ensure that workforce issues are analysed to the same extent as other internal functions during the strategic planning process

– 72 –

Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning

Roles and responsibilities 2

√

Ensure that all external factors that could impact on the workforce are analysed as part of the external analysis during the strategic planning process

3

Ensure that Workforce Planning is integrated with the strategic planning process and included in the strategic plan

4

Review and monitor the implementation of the Workforce Plan to the same extent as the strategic plan

5

Other roles and responsibilities:

H. Human Resources information management team or IT function 1

Provide information on current Workforce Planning data available

2

Develop report to provide the required data for Workforce Planning

3

Assist in automating the collection and reporting of Workforce Planning data

4

Other roles and responsibilities:

I. Talent manager or HR professional with responsibility for talent management 1

Ensure that the organisation has the right talent for its short- and long-term needs as identified during the Workforce Planning process

2

Consider the longer-term talent implications of different organisational scenarios during the Workforce Planning process and prepare plans to address possible needs

3

Use Workforce Planning tools to identify gaps and surpluses

4

Lead discussions across the organisation about the development of talent and talent pools as identified during the Workforce Planning process

5

Facilitate conversations with different stakeholders to ensure that the talent management strategy (resulting from the Workforce Plan) is implemented

6

Other roles and responsibilities pertaining to Workforce Planning:

– 73 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Roles and responsibilities

√

J. HR Business Partner 1 2

Coach line managers regarding Workforce Planning Work with line managers to scan the organisation/business environment to identify any possible future scenarios that will have workforce implications

3

Challenge the line manager’s assumptions about Workforce Planning

4

Provide quality assurance for line manager’s inputs to the Workforce Planning process and ensure that they are delivering to the right standards

5

Other roles and responsibilities pertaining to Workforce Planning:

References Specific to Tool 8 Cannon, JA & McGee, R. 2007. Talent Management and Succession Planning. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 393. CPS Human Resources Services. Sample Communication Plan outline. [Online]. Available: http:// portal.cornerstones4kids.org/stuff/contentmgr/files/f60cbf3cfe2b608503faf0cd45158728/ folder/sample_communication_plan_outline.pdf [Accessed 31 March 2011]. State of Minnesota. Workforce Planning Policy and guidelines. [Online]. Available: http://www. state.mn.us/mn/.../Workforce_Planning_Policy_and_Guidelines_ 103107083956_Workforce%20 Planning%20Policy.doc [Accessed 11 January 2011]. State of Vermont. Workforce Planning Toolkit. [Online]. Available: http://humanresources.vermont. gov/training/workforce_planning [Accessed 6 April 2011].

– 74 –

Tool 9 Sample Workforce Planning Policy 9.1 Introduction

“Any business plan deals with resource requirements, and, just as financial requirements need to be addressed, the business plan needs to ensure that the appropriate workforce mix is available to accomplish plan goals and objectives” (SHRM, 2010). To ensure that Workforce Planning becomes part of the way in which strategy is designed and implemented in the organisation, it is sometimes necessary to introduce a formal policy.

9.2 The aim of Tool 9

Tool 9 aims to assist the HR professionals responsible for Workforce Planning with the design of a Workforce Planning Policy for their organisations.

9.3 Description of Tool 9 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A sample Workforce Planning

• Review the sample policy

During the “ensuring

Policy

• Decide which elements are relevant to your organisation • Customise the selected

organisational readiness” phase, as part of designing policies and procedures. It is also important in communicating your

elements to reflect your

organisation’s commitment to

organisation’s situation

Workforce Planning

• Obtain input, approval and buy-in from the relevant stakeholders • Educate all relevant stakeholders in the approved Workforce Planning policy • Review the policy on a regular basis

– 75 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

9.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning

9.5 Tool 9: Sample Workforce Planning Policy

Your organisation’s logo

Workforce Planning Policy

Revision 1

Drafted by:

Approved by:

Recommended by:

Name

Signature

Date

1. Introduction The achievement of Organisation X’s strategic objectives relies on the attraction, development and retention of high quality staff. A range of factors, including a partly inexperienced workforce, linked to an ageing workforce, skills shortages, changes to legislation, the need to function with optimal efficiency, budgetary tightening, increasing competition and technological innovation, impact on the organisation’s capability to be competitive in attracting, developing and retaining high quality staff to meet its requirements. There is a compelling need for Organisation X to be proactive in addressing these challenges and avoid reactive management of its human resources. Workforce Planning is therefore a critical step in planning and shaping the requisite workforce to ensure strategic goal achievement. It forms part of the strategic planning process of Organisation X and informs the strategic Human Resources plan.

– 76 –

Tool 9: Sample Workforce Planning Policy

Through Workforce Planning, Organisation X is able to: •

Identify and document mission-critical occupations and competencies

•

Identify capacity (numbers) and capability (competency) gaps between the current and future workforce

•

Identify workforce strategies to reduce these gaps, that is, make decisions about structuring and deploying the workforce to best support the organisation’s strategic goals

•

Monitor and review the implementation and impact of these strategies.

2. Policy statement Workforce planning is an integral part of Organisation X’s strategic management process. Organisation X has a policy that any strategic plan/business plan is complete only once it includes a Workforce Plan. All Divisions are responsible for meeting the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in their Business Plans, and Workforce Planning is one of the KPIs. Workforce Planning is an annual process to assist managers in identifying the capacity and critical capabilities required in their workforce to deliver against their business plans and position the organisational unit to best meet future requirements. All Human Resource activities are informed by the Workforce Plan(s). The expected outcome for Organisation X is an integrated Workforce Plan that identifies current and future workforce requirements and possible gaps, allowing the organisation to plan changes to its workforce management strategies and policies effectively, in order to develop a workforce profile that aligns with the strategic intent of the organisation. 3. Policy objectives This policy has the following objectives: •

To explain the basic building blocks of Workforce Planning in Organisation X

•

To describe the various role players in Workforce Planning

•

To explain the annual Workforce Planning cycle in Organisation X

•

To ensure that all relevant stakeholders know how to approach Workforce Planning.

– 77 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

4. Application This policy applies to all employees, managers and supervisors. 5. Definitions For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply: 5.1 Workforce Planning at Organisation X has two components: •

Strategic Workforce Planning entails the strategic alignment of the organisation’s human resources needs with its strategic direction and focuses on critical and core roles in the organisation. Strategic alignment is accomplished by determining future workforce needs, analysing the current workforce, identifying the gaps between the present workforce and future needs, and implementing solutions to close such gaps, so that the organisation can accomplish its mission, goals, and objectives.

•

Operational Workforce Planning entails the annual head-count planning for budgeting purposes.

5.2 Workforce Planning Implementation Reports detail the goals, processes, activities, milestones, etcetera, associated with a Division’s workforce planning efforts, and are updated to reflect the results of plan implementation. 5.3 Human Resources describe the capacity (number) and the capability (knowledge, experience, and attributes) of employees required to meet the objectives of the organisation. 5.4 Competencies are a measurable pattern of knowledge, skills, behaviour, and other characteristics an individual needs to excel in work roles or occupational functions. 5.5 Knowledge identifies the bodies of information applied directly to the performance of a function. 5.6 Skills identify the developed capacities needed to perform a set of related tasks or activities. 5.7 Foundational competencies are the knowledge and skills important across all occupations in an organisation.

– 78 –

Tool 1: Determine the Drivers for Workforce Planning

5.8 Workforce gaps are areas where there is a difference between the required demand and actual supply of employees. 5.9 Strategic roles are critical to Organisation X’s business strategy and are vital for achieving strategic goals. Future success is compromised if these roles are not filled with extremely capable people. 5.10 Core roles are critical to some aspects of Organisation X’s strategy and relate to operational excellence. Current success is compromised if there are issues in critical roles. 5.11 Supportive roles are marginally critical to Organisation X’s strategy and keep the internal operation working smoothly, such as IT, operations and HR roles. These work activities no longer differentiate Organisation X from its competitors. 5.12 Non-core/misaligned roles are not critical to any aspects of Organisation X’s strategy and employees in these roles can be redeployed or outsourced. 6. Policy directives 6.1 During Organisation X’s strategic planning process, Human Resources is considered along with all the other factors such as the value chain, finance, marketing and sales, operations, etcetera, during the internal and external analysis phase. It is also considered during scenario planning and strategy development and implementation. No Strategic plan or Divisional Business plan will be approved without the inclusion of a Workforce Plan. 6.2 Strategic Workforce Planning is done as part of the Strategic Planning Process, and Operational Workforce Planning is done as part of the budgeting process. These processes are intrinsically linked and inform one another. 6.3 Operational Workforce Planning targets the total workforce, whereas Strategic Workforce Planning focuses on strategic or core roles as identified by the management team, based on the strategic objectives of the organisation.

– 79 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

6.4 Strategic Workforce Planning should always include: 6.4.1 An analysis of the external factors impacting on the particular talent segment in terms of attraction, availability, development and retention 6.4.2 An analysis of the current profile of the talent segment in the organisation 6.4.3 An analysis of the current supply/demand internal and external to the organisation 6.4.4 A forecast of the future internal and external demand and supply, based on strategic time-frames 6.4.5 The identification of the gaps between future demand and supply in terms of capacity and capability 6.4.6 The development and implementation of strategies to address the identified workforce gaps 6.4.7 The monitoring and evaluation of the progress and impact of the implemented workforce strategies. 6.5 All departmental heads must submit Implementation Reports on a quarterly basis.

Workforce

Planning

6.6 Workforce Plans will incorporate information as generated by Organisation X’s talent management processes and the talent management team will use the Workforce Plan as an input in all its activities. 6.7 All recruitment activities should be supported by the Workforce Plan. 7. Main responsibilities 7.1 Senior management team •

Conducts strategic planning

•

Translates the strategy into strategic workforce needs and includes Workforce Plan in strategy

•

Communicates Organisation X’s strategy to all relevant stakeholders

•

Holds all line managers accountable for Workforce Planning and reviews its effectiveness as part of the line manager’s Key Performance Indicators

– 80 –

Tool 9: Sample Workforce Planning Policy

•

Reviews the progress and impact of the Workforce Plan on a quarterly basis

•

Identifies the key or core roles to be included in Strategic Workforce Planning.

7.2 Line managers •

Implement Strategic and Operational Workforce Planning in their areas of responsibility

•

Identify critical or core roles and capabilities required to deliver on strategy in their areas of responsibility

•

Review labour forecasting requirements

•

Review labour supply impact

•

Identify gaps

•

Determine workforce needs and obtain annual approval to recruit, as well as approval for budget to address other workforce needs, e.g. development

•

Implement workforce initiatives to address gaps between supply and demand.

7.3 Human Resources •

Provide the tools for managers to determine the supply and demand of critical/core roles for Strategic Workforce Planning, as well as for the total workforce in Operational Workforce Planning

•

Provide profile and trend data from the Human Resources Information System

•

Analyse information and coach managers in its application

•

Facilitate the strategic discussion on workforce requirements

•

Work with managers to determine the gap between supply and demand – oversupply or undersupply of employees

•

Assess the need to improve or develop HR programmes/initiatives to meet workforce supply e.g. mobility (multi-skilling, change in life circumstances, preferred life balance changes), development programmes, graduate/apprenticeship/traineeships

– 81 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

Advise managers of cost effective options, deliver and evaluate workforce programmes/initiatives.

7.4 Related forms and procedures 7.4.1 Organisation X’s specific Workforce Planning model 7.4.2 Organisation X’s specific Workforce Plan format 7.4.3 Workforce Planning Implementation Reports 7.4.4 Organisation X’s specific Workforce Planning procedure.

References Specific to Tool 9 Australian Catholic University. 2008. Workforce Planning Policy Statement. [Online] Available: http:// www.google.co.za/#hl=en&source=hp&biw=1276&bih=533&q=workforce+planning+policies&a q=f&aqi=g-v1&aql=&oq=&fp=e4df4beae7dce3f3. [Accessed 17 February 2011]. Australian Catholic University. 2008. Workforce Planning Procedure. [Online} Available: http://www. acu.edu.au/policy/personnel/workforce_planning/workforce_planning/. [Accessed 17 February 2011]. Civil Nuclear Constabulary. 2008. Workforce Planning Policy. [Online] Available:  http://www.cnc. police.uk/files/workforce_planning.pdf. [Accessed 17 February 2011]. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2007. NOAA Workforce Planning Policy. [Online] Available:

http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/~ames/NAOs/Chap_202/202-1103.pdf.

[Accessed 17 February 2011]. The University of Western Australia. 2008. Workforce Planning. [Online] Available: http://www.hr.uwa. edu.au/hr/publications/workforceplanning [Accessed 17 February 2011].

– 82 –

Tool 10 Stakeholder engagement planning format 10.1 Introduction

There are many stakeholders in the Workforce Planning process and productive collaboration among all of them is necessary to ensure that Workforce Planning is successful. The Corporate Leadership Council (2010a) states that Human Resources Business Partners often face challenges when partnering with various stakeholders during the Workforce Planning process. “Common challenges include stakeholders not understanding their role in the workforce planning process, not prioritising workforce planning activities, or lacking the capabilities to effectively develop and execute the plan. These challenges often hinder or slow down plan development and execution” (Corporate Leadership, 2010). It is therefore imperative for all stakeholders to be proactively managed.

10.2 The aim of Tool 10

Tool 10 aims to provide a structure that can be used to identify all relevant stakeholders, to analyse their needs and possible barriers to engagement during the Workforce Planning process and to put strategies in place in terms of dealing with each stakeholder. The information generated by the structure can be used as a set of general hints to help you discover the key roles and individuals playing those roles, as well as potential problems impacting on their participation.

10.3 Description of Tool 10 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A template with blank

• Indicate the stakeholder’s

During the phase where

spaces where some

current level of involvement and

you ensure organisational

important aspects

commitment using a scale from

readiness for Workforce

pertaining to each

low to high

Planning and as part of

stakeholder involved in Workforce Planning are analysed and then used to put plans in place to ensure optimal stakeholder involvement

• Indicate the importance of each stakeholder’s participation, commitment and involvement in Workforce Planning using a scale from low to high

– 83 –

planning to clarify roles and responsibilities. This can also be done before finalising Workforce Planning policies and procedures

Workforce Planning Toolkit

What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

(Continued)

• Describe the stakeholders’ needs

(Continued)

in relation to Workforce Planning – what is in it for them? • Describe any issues or concerns that the stakeholders may have regarding Workforce Planning – where possible reflect their personal views • Describe any issues or concerns that you may have regarding the stakeholder’s participation and commitment to the process • Document the actions that you will take to ensure optimal involvement from the stakeholders with high importance to Workforce Planning • If you find that the template does not exactly match the needs of your initiative, modify the template to reflect reality more accurately

10.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 8: Clarify roles and responsibilities of all involved in Workforce Planning

•

Tool 9: Sample Workforce Planning Policy

10.5 Tool 10: Stakeholder engagement planning format

The stakeholders in the Workforce Planning process are varied and can range from parties with high involvement to parties with low involvement in the process. When using this template, try to identify all relevant stakeholders so that you can get a comprehensive picture of all involved. 10.5.1 Part A: Stakeholders from the external environment

In this section you will identify stakeholders external to your organisation that may have some involvement in the Workforce Planning process.

– 84 –

Example: SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority)

institution, etc

Name of person/

critical skills in our industry

The provision of information on the demand and supply of

Role in Workforce Planning

High

Level of involvement/ commitment needed from this stakeholder (low, medium, high)

Low

Current level of involvement/ commitment to Workforce Planning by this stakeholder (low, medium, high)

High

Importance to the success of Workforce Planning (low, medium, high)

– 85 – • Accurate forecasting on the internal demand and supply regarding critical and scarce skills

scarce skills in our organisation

• Information on critical and

• The creation of jobs in the industry

What does this stakeholder need to gain from Workforce Planning?

• That we do not supply them with information on time

information not available

• Relevant

• SETA’s information not up to date

concerns that you have about this stakeholder’s participation in Workforce Planning

concerns that this stakeholder may have regarding Workforce Planning (personal viewpoints where possible) • That our internal demand and supply forecasting is not accurate

Potential issues/

Potential issues/

• Discuss our information needs with them

• Submit required data on time

• Schedule regular meetings to keep them informed

What do you need to do to ensure effective involvement of this stakeholder?

Tool 10: Stakeholder engagement planning format

Role in Workforce Planning

Provision of profile and trend data regarding internal workforce

Name of person/ unit, etc.

Example: HR Information Systems Unit

Medium

Current level of commitment to Workforce Planning by this stakeholder (low, medium, high)

High

Importance to the success of Workforce Planning (low, medium, high)

Knowing that their information is useful and makes an impact on the bottom line

What does this stakeholder need to gain from Workforce Planning?

The information needed from him or her will entail extra, cumbersome work

Potential issues/ concerns that this stakeholder may have regarding Workforce Planning The integrity of the data

Potential issues/ concerns that you have about this stakeholder’s participation in Workforce Planning

Conduct a requirement specification workshop at the beginning of each Workforce Planning cycle

What do you need to do to ensure effective involvement of this stakeholder?



High

Level of involvement needed from this stakeholder (low, medium, high)

Workforce Planning Toolkit

10.5.2 Part B: Stakeholders from the internal environment In this section you will identify stakeholders internal to your organisation that might have some involvement in the Workforce Planning process.

– 86 –

Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

Tool 11 Determine scarce skills 11.1 Introduction

As part of the scoping process, some organisations might decide to focus their attention on planning for scarce skills. According to the Mining Qualifications Authority (2010), scarce skills refer to those occupations in which there is a scarcity or shortage of qualified and experienced people. This scarcity can be current or anticipated in the future, and usually results from the fact that either people with these skills are simply not available, or they are available but they do not meet the organisation’s employment criteria (Mining Qualifications Authority, 2010).



Various factors may cause the scarcity of skills and based on the main reasons for scarcity, the scarcity could be classified as relative or absolute. Relative scarcity means that suitably skilled people are available but do not meet other employment criteria. Absolute scarcity means that suitably skilled people are not available in the labour market at all. The following table describes examples of the two categories (Mining Qualifications Authority, 2010): Relative scarcity

Absolute scarcity

Geographical location, e.g. people are

A new or emerging occupation, i.e. there are

unwilling to work in rural areas

few, if any, people in the country with the requisite skills (qualification and experience) and education and training providers have yet to develop learning programmes to meet the skills requirements

Industry attractiveness, e.g. suitably skilled

Organisations, sectors and even the country

people are unwilling to work in particular

are unable to implement planned growth

industries, because they perceive that industry

strategies and experience productivity,

to be in decline or unsafe or otherwise

service delivery and quality problems directly

unattractive

attributable to a lack of skilled people

Equity considerations, i.e. there are candidates

Replacement demand would reflect an

with the requisite skills (qualifications and

absolute scarcity where there are no people

experience) from specific groups available

enrolled or engaged in the process of acquiring

to meet the skills requirements of firms and

the skills that need to be replaced

enterprises

– 87 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Relative scarcity

Absolute scarcity

Replacement demand would reflect a relative scarcity if there are people in education and training (formal and work-place) who are in the process of acquiring the necessary skills (qualification and experience), but where the lead time will mean that they are not available in the short term to meet replacement demand. This may also reflect employer demand for qualified and experienced people to fill occupations, i.e. people with suitable qualifications are available to enter occupations but performance at the employment level requires a certain amount of work experience which such graduates have not yet acquired



It is clear that scarcity of skills would have a tremendous impact on Workforce Planning and that it should definitely be a factor to consider when determining the scope of the initiative.



Line managers do, however, often identify a wide range of skills as scarce, and it is necessary to assist them in identifying true scarce skills.

11.2 The aim of Tool 11

The aim of Tool 11 is to provide you with some objective measure of what skills/occupations in the organisation can be classified as scarce. This will reduce unnecessary and unproductive debate regarding this issue.

11.3 Description of Tool 11 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A questionnaire that leads to a total score that could be used to indicate scarcity

• List the occupations in the business unit where the line manager is experiencing difficulty in attracting and retaining people

During discussions with line managers in charge of specific units to determine scarce skills in their units

• Take each of the occupations listed and complete the questionnaire per occupation • Calculate the total • Use the guide to determine whether the occupation represents a scarce skill or not

– 88 –

Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

(Continued)

• If there is disagreement with the classification, list the reasons for the disagreement

(Continued)

• Deliberate the issue to reach a final decision on whether the occupation represents a scarce skill or not • You can also change the norms that are used in the questionnaire to reflect the reality in your organisation better

11.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 12: Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

11.5 Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

Questionnaire The aim of this questionnaire is to help you to identify scarce skills in your business unit. Follow the steps as explained and at the end you will have a clear idea of the scarce skills in the business unit. Step 1: Listing of occupations List all the occupations in the business unit where you experience difficulty in acquiring and retaining people with the required experience and qualifications. Occupation number

Name of occupation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

– 89 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Step 2: Completion of questionnaire per occupation Take one occupation at a time and complete the following questionnaire for each occupation. Occupation name: Question

Tick the relevant answer in column A, B, C or D A

B

C

D

1

What is the % turnover in this occupation over the past three years?

Less than 5%

Between 5 and 10%

Between 11 and 15%

More than 15%

2

Are you predicting a turnover of more than 15% in the next two years in this occupation?

There will not be a turnover of more than 15% in the next two years

There is a slight chance that there will be a turnover of more than 15% in the next two years

There is a high likelihood that there will be a turnover of more than 15% in the next two years

There is a definite indication that the turnover will increase to more than 15% in the next two years

3

Will your business unit still have a demand for this occupation in the next three years?

Our need for this occupation will decrease

The demand for this occupation will stay at the same low level as currently

The demand for this occupation will stay at the same high level as currently

The demand for this occupation will increase in the next three years

4

Will the rest of the industry still have a demand for this occupation in the next 3 years?

The industry’s demand will decrease

The industry demand for this occupation will stay at the same low level as currently

The industry demand for this occupation will stay at the same high level as currently

The industry demand for this occupation will increase in the next three years

5

Is this a new or emerging occupation?

No, it is

The occupation has been in existence for the past six years

The occupation is new and has emerged in the past two years

The occupation is emerging and will become more important in the next year

Between 24 and 36 months

Between 12 and 24 months

Less than 12 months

6

What is the average tenure of people in this occupation in your organisation?

an old, established occupation

Longer than 36 months

– 90 –

Describe the reasons for your answer:

Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

Occupation name: Question

Tick the relevant answer in column A, B, C or D A

B

C

D

7

How long does it take on average to fill a vacancy in this occupation?

Less than 3 months

Between 3 and 6 months

Between 6 and 12 months

Longer than 12 months

8

How many suitable people apply when a vacancy is advertised?

More than 15 suitable candidates

Between 9 and 14 suitable candidates

Between 6 and 9 suitable candidates

Fewer than 5 suitable candidates

9

How available are candidates with suitable experience and qualifications in the labour market?

A large pool of suitable candidates is available

A medium pool of suitable candidates are available

A small pool of suitable candidates is available

A very small pool of suitable candidates is available

10

If there is only a small pool of suitable candidates available, are there business, industry and national initiatives to increase the pool of candidates?

Many national, industry and business initiatives to ensure the development of a suitable pool of candidates

Some national, industry and business initiatives to ensure the development of a suitable pool of candidates

Between 1 and 2 national, industry and business initiatives to ensure the development of a suitable pool of candidates

No national, industry and business initiatives to ensure the development of a suitable pool

11

If there were national, industry and business initiatives to ensure the development of a suitable pool of candidates, how long would it take for suitable candidates to become available as a result of these initiatives?

Less than 12 months

Between 13 and 15 months

Between 16 and 14 months

Longer than 24 months

12

Does the available pool of candidates meet the business’s EE requirements (race and gender)?

Many of the available candidates meet our EE requirements

An average number of available candidates meet our EE requirements

Some candidates meet our EE requirements

Very few candidates meet our EE requirements

– 91 –

of candidates

Describe the reasons for your answer:

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Occupation name: Question

Tick the relevant answer in column A, B, C or D A

B

C

D

Describe the reasons for your answer:

13

Are suitable candidates willing to join your organisation?

All the candidates would like to join our organisation

Most of the suitable candidates would like to join our organisation

There are some factors causing them to reconsider joining our organisation

None of the suitable candidates would like to join our organisation

14

Do you have to pay suitable candidates more than the average salary for similar levels in the organisation?

No premium to be paid

Some premium to be paid

Large premium to be paid

Very large premium to be paid

15

Do you currently have vacancies in this occupation?

No vacancies

Few vacancies

Many vacancies

All positions vacant

16

Does a relevant national/international body currently classify this occupation as a scarce skill?

No

Yes

Total number of ticks in each column

Step 3: Calculation of totals Calculate the total for all the answers to the questions: Column

Value

Number of ticks

Total (number of ticks X value of column)

A

1

B

2

C

3

D

4

Total

– 92 –

Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

Step 4: Determine scarcity of skills Determine whether it is a scarce skill or not based on the following key: Total

Description

51–60

Extremely scarce skill

41–50

Scarce skill

1–40

Not a scarce skill

Step 5: Reasons for disagreement, if any If you disagree with the classification, list your reasons:

Step 6: Final classification of occupation Indicate your final classification of this occupation by marking the relevant option with a tick (√): Classification Scarce skill Not a scarce skill

– 93 –

Tool 12 Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative 12.1 Introduction

A key differentiator between Operational Workforce Planning and Strategic Workforce Planning is the issue of scope. Operational Workforce Planning typically covers the whole workforce, whereas Strategic Workforce Planning focuses on some key workforce issues. According to the State Government of Victoria (2006), scoping the Workforce Planning initiative could involve: •

The entire workforce

•

Only mission-critical occupations, key employees/roles or branches

•

Only occupations and skills that are difficult to recruit or retain, or

•

A particular strategy to ensure that the right people are available to get particular work done.



The main driving force determining the scope of Workforce Planning is the organisational strategy that determines what type and what size of workforce is needed to achieve its objectives. For example, when the key issue is one of cost containment or staff monitoring, the scope of the Workforce Plan should be broad. “Where the issue is one of risk, the organisation then needs to define the critical workforce groups or areas that pose the greatest potential risk” (The state Government of Victoria, 2006).



It may be beneficial to focus on a part of the workforce and to implement a pilot programme as this focuses energy on a critical “pain point”, and resolving this issue provides the opportunity to attain a “win” and prove the case for Strategic Workforce Planning (Chapman, 2007).



The scope of Workforce Planning often also determines the approach. Among others, the following approaches to Workforce Planning may be followed, based on the scope:

– 95 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Approach

Description

Competencydriven Workforce Planning

In this approach the distribution and concentration of current competency sets for particular jobs are compared against those required for future effectiveness (Corporate Leadership Council, 2002)

The critical capability approach

This approach aims to aid organisations in translating business strategy into critical capabilities. This translation enables organisations to drive workforce planning around the talent implications of the critical capability gaps (Corporate Leadership Council, 2009)

The replacement planning approach

This approach assumes that the organisation chart will remain unchanged over time and endeavours to identify sufficient “back-ups” for critical positions in the organisation. This is usually depicted in a replacement chart that lists all the critical positions and the readiness of the possible replacements for that particular position

The needsbased approach to Workforce Planning

In this approach the organisation’s strategy is translated into workforce requirements. During the planning process the gap between the current workforce and the required workforce is identified and plans are then put in place to address the identified gaps

Critical role or talent segmentation approach

In this approach, it is important to identify the segments of an organisation’s workforce that are critical to success (Johnson, 2006). Talent segmentation is a way of providing focus to ensure that the organisation does not incur significant opportunity costs by targeting the wrong people and positions. Talent segmentation has two sides, namely demand and supply. Demand segmentation addresses what is critical to the business and prioritises work activities that create the most value and competitive differentiation. Supply segmentation addresses who is available in the labour force to meet the demand, and what value propositions the employer can offer to attract and engage these people (Johnson, 2006). This approach requires planners to classify work roles into the following categories: • Strategic/critical roles are critical to all business strategies and are vital for achieving strategic goals. Roughly 10 to 15% of roles are strategic. Future success is compromised if these roles are not filled with extremely capable people (Human Capital Institute, 2010; Johnson, 2006). • Key/core roles are critical to some business strategies and relate to operational excellence. Current success is compromised if there are issues in critical roles. Roughly 20 to 25% of jobs fall in this category (Human Capital Institute, 2010; Johnson, 2006). • Threshold/supportive roles are marginally critical to business strategies and keep the internal operation working smoothly, such as IT, operations and HR roles. This represents the majority of employees (60 to 70%) within the organisation who support and process work. These work activities no longer differentiate the organisation from its competitors (Human Capital Institute, 2010; Johnson, 2006). • Non-core or misaligned roles are not critical to any business strategy, and employees in these roles can be redeployed or outsourced (Human Capital Institute, 2010; Johnson, 2006).

– 96 –

Tool 12: Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

The factors determining scope are expressed in the following map: Total organisation

Talent segment • Critical

Phased approach

• Core • Level • Scarce skills • Contractors

Scope of Workforce Planning

Specific talent challenge • Age • Retirement

Specific strategy

• Skills shortage • Lack of skills Unit based • Key units

• Retention • Attraction • Representation, e.g. gender

Figure 3: Scope of Workforce Planning: a mindmap

12.2 The aim of Tool 12

Tool 12 aims to provide guidance in determining critical roles as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative.

12.3 Description of Tool 12 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

An example of a decision-

• Review the organisation’s strategy

During the phase of

making process using specific questions and criteria to decide whether a role is critical or not

and list the core objectives • Identify roles that may be critical in order to ensure the successful achievement of the objectives • Answer the initial questions regarding each of the identified roles • Decide whether the role is critical or not • Verify the decision by answering the second set of questions and arriving at a total score • Use the score to decide finally whether the role is critical or not

– 97 –

ensuring organisational readiness for Workforce Planning, when deciding on the scope of the initiative

Workforce Planning Toolkit

12.4 Links to other tools • Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning • Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative • Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

12.5 Tool 12: Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

It is important to take note of the fact that a critical role should not be confused with the concept of an important role. All roles are important to the organisation, but the word “critical” in the Workforce Planning context denotes a role where discontinuity cannot be tolerated and where it is traditionally difficult to ensure continuity. Following is an example of how to determine whether a role is critical or not.



Step 1: List the organisation’s strategic objectives



For example, a large telecommunications company has identified 10 key challenges: •

Subscriber acquisition and retention

•

Regulation

•

Company structure

•

Voice products

•

International expansion

•

Data services and new technology

•

Interconnection fees

•

Shareholders

•

Network quality

•

Human Resources.



Step 2: Identify the roles (starting with a verb) that will support these objectives



For the example we will choose:

– 98 –

Tool 12: Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative



•

Managing IT projects, and

•

Switching planning.

Step 3: What key roles are likely to emerge in future? •

Delivering m-commerce services



Step 4: Ask the following questions with regard to the identified roles



Managing IT projects Question

Answer

Can the organisation survive without this role?

Yes

What does this role uniquely contribute to the

Ensuring that IT projects get delivered

organisation’s mission?

on time and within budget

Could this role operate effectively if the leader

Probably

was gone? If the section responsible for these roles is

If closed, the various Divisions will drive

closed/outsourced/made redundant, what will

the projects themselves. If outsourced,

be the impact.

the role could still run effectively.

Will this role remain more or less the same over

Yes

the next 12 to 24 months? What is the seriousness impact if we do not ad-

Low

dress succession now? If we do not address the issue of succession

Low

now, what will the negative impact be over the next 12 to 24 months? If we ignore the issue of succession in this

Stay the same

role, will it become bigger or smaller or stay the same?

Based on this information, Managing IT projects cannot be viewed as a critical role. To make doubly sure, however, we also do a further risk assessment: Question

Answer

Value

What is the turnover rate in this role?

Low

1

What is the size of the internal pool?

Medium

2

What is the availability of external replacement staff?

Ample

1

What is the degree of specialised in-house exposure/development

Low

1

Total:

5

needed?

– 99 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

All roles with a result of 10+ should be considered as critical. This role does not fall within this parameter. .

Step 5: Ask the following questions with regard to the identified role Switching planning Question

Answer

Can the organisation survive without this role?

No

What does this role uniquely contribute to the organisation’s

Switching capability

mission? Could this role operate effectively if the leader was gone?

Probably

If the section/jobs doing these roles are closed/outsourced/

The network would not be able

made redundant, what will be the impact?

to function

Will this role remain more or less the same over the next 12

No

to 24 months? What is the seriousness impact if we do not address

High

succession now? If we do not address the issue of succession now, what will

High

the negative impact be over the next 12 to 24 months? If we ignore the issue of succession in this role, will it

It will become worse

become bigger or smaller, or stay the same?

Based on this information, Switching Planning can be viewed as a critical role. To make doubly sure, however, we also do a further risk assessment here: Question

Answer

Value

What is the turnover rate in this role?

High

3

What is the size of the internal pool?

Small

3

What is the availability of external replacement staff?

Scarce

3

What is the degree of specialised in-house exposure/development

High

3

Total:

12

needed?

All roles with a result of 10+ should be considered as critical. This role falls within this parameter. Value key: High/Ample = 3

Medium = 2

– 100 –

Small/low/scarce = 1

SECTION 4: TOOLS FOR USE DURING PHASE 2 – CREATING CONTEXT Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction_ Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider Tool 16: Sources that could be used to gather information about the external environment Tool 17: Criteria to determine the relevance of information Tool 18: Translating strategic direction and internal/external factors into workforce requirements

– 101 –

Tool 13 Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction 13.1 Introduction



In a situation where Workforce Planning is not incorporated into the strategic planning process, the HR professional responsible for facilitating the process will have to gather information about the organisation’s strategic direction. You could do a desktop analysis where various sources documenting company strategy can be consulted, such as: •

The organisation’s website

•

The organisation’s intranet with, for example, internal video-casts by the leader of the organisation and the leadership team

•

Annual reports

•

Strategy presentations and documents

•

Business plans

•

Balanced scorecards or key performance indicators

•

Budgets and budget motivations

•

The organisation’s vision, mission and value statements

•

The organisation’s technology plan

•

Business process flows.

It is always necessary to check these findings during an interview with the relevant people. The desktop review could be eliminated altogether by regularly having discussions with the organisation’s leaders about strategy and its implications for the workforce.

13.2 The aim of Tool 13

The aim of Tool 13 is to provide ideas on what questions to ask during a meeting with the organisation or unit’s leader to get more background on the strategic direction of the organisation and the possible implications for the workforce.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

13.3 Description of Tool 13 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A series of questions and follow-up questions that could be used during a strategic conversation with organisational leaders

• Select the questions that you would like to ask • The follow-up questions can be used interchangeably • Record the answers • The questions can be used during individual interviews or as part of facilitated workshops

During the creation of context for workforce planning, to make sure that the organisation’s future direction is clear

13.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning

•

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 6: Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process

13.5 Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic directions What is the organisation’s strategy for the next three to five years?

What do you want the product/service offering to look like in three to five years (given the strategic objectives, the likely resource constraints, shareholder drivers, legislation, etc.)?





Follow-up questions: • How will you measure the success of this strategy? • What benefits will the achievement of this strategy have for the organisation? • How will the strategy create sustainability and competitive advantage?

Follow-up questions: • What are the main reasons for the vision that you have for our product/ service offering? • What do we hope to achieve by having this vision for our product/service offering?

OR

What steps/actions will have to be taken to ensure that we achieve this strategy as planned?

What changes will be needed in the organisation to ensure that we can deliver the planned products/services?





– 104 –

Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction

Follow-up questions: • What are the implications for organisation design? • What changes will be needed to current business practices? • What are the critical success factors for the effective implementation of strategy? • What functions will be most impacted by the strategy and its implementation process? • Will the workload be different and if so, how?

OR

What are the potential barriers/obstacles/ enablers to achieving the strategy?

Follow-up questions: • What will the structure look like? • What areas of work will grow? • What areas of work will reduce or stop? • What areas will be delivered differently? • In what ways? • What are the implications for jobs/ roles? • What will be done in partnership? • With whom will the partnerships be made? What could prevent us from/help us in achieving the vision regarding the planned products/services?

 Follow-up questions: • What factors from the external environment could negatively impact on strategy achievement? • What factors from the internal environment could negatively impact on strategy achievement? • What factors internally and externally could assist in strategy achievement?



OR

What do we expect from the workforce to ensure strategy achievement?

Follow-up questions: • Are there any external threats that could prevent us from achieving our vision? • Do we have any internal weaknesses that could prevent us from achieving our vision? • Are there any opportunities in the external environment that will help us to achieve the vision? • Do we as an organisation have any strengths that we can build on to achieve the vision? What does the workforce need to look like to achieve our vision?





Follow-up questions: • How will competencies differ from current skill sets? • Will the number of staff needed increase/decrease? • Will we use different staffing models, e.g. more contractors? • What type of behaviours/attitudes will support strategy execution? • Are there specific talent segments that will be crucial to strategy execution?

Follow-up questions: • How many people will be employed directly? • What functions will be outsourced? • How many new staff will be needed? • How many fewer staff will be needed? • What are the implications for jobs/roles? • Which groups of staff are affected? • What are the implications for skills/ attitudes/numbers of staff needed/jobs/ roles, etc? • Where and how do attitudes/behaviour need to change to support new ways of working? • What sort of workforce composition do we need to ensure that the diversity of the workforce reflects the local community at all levels?

OR

Figure 4: Conversation guide to determine strategic direction

– 105 –

– 106 –

Tool 14 Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce 14.1 Introduction

“Context is the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event. A critical step in Strategic Workforce Planning is to understand the context in which the organisation operates: the things that are going on inside and outside the organisation that affect the organisation’s future. The effectiveness of the planning depends on the appropriateness and validity of the information that is used” (Chapman, 2007).



Creating the context for Workforce Planning entails gathering information on:



•

The organisation’s strategy and future direction and the resulting workforce requirements

•

The external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

•

The internal factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce.

The identification of the external factors impacting on the organisation and the workforce needs to be done in a structured way to ensure that all relevant factors are considered.

14.2 The aim of Tool 14

Tool 14 aims to provide an overview of three methods that can be used to provide a structure for the identification of external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce.

– 107 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

14.3 Description of Tool 14 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A summary of three data-

• Review the descriptions of

During the phase of creating

gathering methods

the three methods • Decide which method you

context for the Workforce Planning process as part of

will use to gather the data

determining the strategic

on external factors

direction and future of the

• Decide how the information

organisation

is to be collected and by whom (often a team approach is much more powerful than one person’s view (Morrison, 2010a and 2010b) • Identify appropriate sources of information. • Gather the information – it is useful to use a template as the basis for exploring the factors and recording the information (Morrison, 2010a and 2010b) • Identify the most important factors impacting on the workforce and the organisation

14.4 Links to other tools • Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction • Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

14.5 Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

There are three basic methods that can be used to gather information on the external factors that may impact on an organisation and the workforce. These are:

– 108 –

Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

•

PESTLE analysis

•

SWOT analysis

•

Porter’s five forces of competitive position.

Each of these methods will now be briefly explained.

14.5.1 PESTLE analysis PESTLE is an acronym for the following (Morrison, 2010a): Political: What is happening politically in the environment in which the organisation P

operates, including areas such as tax policy, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and reform, tariffs and political stability? Economic: What is happening within the economy, for example: economic growth or decline,

E

interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate, wage rates, minimum wage, working hours, unemployment (local and national), credit availability, cost of living, and so on? Sociological: What is occurring socially in the markets in which the organisation operates

S

or expects to operate, cultural norms and expectations, health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes, emphasis on safety, global warming? Technological: What is happening technology-wise that can impact on what the organisation

T

does, for example, mobile phone technology, Web 2.0, blogs and micro-blogs (Twitter), social networking websites?

L E

Legal: What is happening with changes to legislation? This may impact employment, access to materials, quotas, resources, imports and exports, taxation, and so on. Environmental: What is happening in respect of ecological and environmental issues? Many of these factors will be economic or social in nature.

Various other similar acronyms are also being used, including ETPS, STEP, PEST, STEEPLE and STEEPLED, where the aspects of demographics and ethics have been added (Wikipedia). A PESTLE analysis provides useful information at the start of the Workforce Planning process. It can provide the management team with background and context information about targets towards growth, new product development, and brand positioning (Morrison, 2010a). The opportunities and threats identified through this analysis can be fed into a SWOT process, and strategies can be identified to avoid or minimise the impact of the threats. Equally, strategies can be employed to build on the opportunities presented (Morrison, 2010b). Morrison (2010a) provides the following tips regarding the use of the PESTLE analysis method:

– 109 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

Get other people involved to gain multiple perspectives.

•

Involve expertise and resources that are already available within the organisation.

•

Incorporate your analysis within an ongoing process for monitoring changes in the business environment.

•

Obtain multiple views.

•

Avoid getting bogged down in collecting vast amounts of detailed information without analysing and understanding your findings appropriately.

14.5.2 SWOT analysis The acronym SWOT stands for (Morrison, 2010b): S

W

Strengths: Positive tangible and intangible attributes, internal to an organisation and within the organisation’s control. Weaknesses: Internal factors within an organisation’s control that detract from the organisation’s ability to attain the desired goal. Which areas could the organisation improve? Opportunities: External attractive factors that represent the reason for an organisation’s

O

existence and development. What opportunities exist in the environment which will propel the organisation? Identify them by their “timeframes”. Threats: External factors beyond the organisation’s control which could place the

T

organisation’s mission or operation at risk. The organisation may benefit by having contingency plans to address them if they should occur. Classify them by their severity and probability of occurrence.



In this phase of the Workforce Planning process, the emphasis is on the opportunities and threats, as you are concerned about the external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce. You may, however, complete the full analysis during this phase, as the information about the internal strengths and weaknesses will be used in the next phase, when the internal workforce is analysed.



The same pointers as for the PESTLE analysis should be taken into account when doing the SWOT analysis. Using the SWOT analysis on its own could lead to incomplete information or the organisation’s uncritically accepting the compiled lists rather than thinking about what is actually important in achieving objectives. It is also possible that the information is not prioritised clearly so that, for example, “weak opportunities may appear to balance strong threats” (Wikipedia).

– 110 –

Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

14.5.3 Porter’s five forces of competitive position

Porter’s Five Forces framework for industry analysis and business strategy can be used to identify external factors impacting on the organisation and the workforce. The framework focuses on five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Three of Porter’s five forces refer to competition from external sources and the other two refer to internal threats.



The five factors are (Chapman, 2005; Wikipedia Porter 5 Forces):

Factor

Examples

New market entrants: Profitable markets that yield high

• Ease of entry/barriers to entry

returns will attract new firms. This results in many new

• Geographical factors

entrants, which eventually will decrease profitability for

• Incumbent’s resistance

all firms in the industry.

• New entrant strategy • Routes to market

Supplier power: The bargaining power of suppliers is

• Brand reputation

also described as the market of inputs. Suppliers of raw

• Geographical coverage

materials, components, labour, and services (such as

• Product/service level quality

expertise) to the organisation can be a source of power

• Relationships with customers

over the organisation, when there are few substitutes.

• Bidding processes/capabilities

Suppliers may refuse to work with the organisation, or, for example, charge excessively high prices for unique resources. Buyer power: The bargaining power of customers is

• Buyer choice

also described as the market of outputs: the ability of

• Buyer size/number

customers to put the organisation under pressure, which

• Change cost/frequency

also affects the customer’s sensitivity to price changes.

• Product/service importance • Volumes, JIT (Just-in-Time) scheduling

Product and technology development: The existence

• Alternative prices/quality

of products outside the realm of the common product

• Market distribution changes

boundaries increases the propensity of customers to

• Fashion and trends

switch to alternatives.

• Legislative effects

Competitive rivalry: For most industries, the intensity

• Number and size of organisations

of competitive rivalry is the major determinant of the

• Industry size and trends

competitiveness of the industry.

• Fixed versus variable cost bases • Product/service ranges • Differentiation, strategy

– 111 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Although Porter’s Five Forces framework will assist in identifying some external factors impacting on the organisation, it may not cover all the aspects that are important in identifying future forces that may shape the organisation and impact on the workforce.

– 112 –

Tool 15 Potential external factors to consider 15.1 Introduction

During the Workforce Planning process it is necessary to scan the external environment to identify any factors and trends that may impact on the organisation and its workforce. If Workforce Planning forms part of the strategic planning, this action would have been part of that process. If this is not the case in your organisation, you have to incorporate this action into the stand-alone Workforce Planning process. Once you have identified the factors in the external environment impacting on the organisation and the workforce, they can be considered and addressed within the Workforce Plan and its resulting actions and strategies.

15.2 The aim of Tool 15

The aim of Tool 15 is to provide you with a template for doing a comprehensive PESTLE analysis in order to collect, summarise and prioritise focal areas in exploring the environmental factors impacting on the organisation and the workforce.

15.3 Description of Tool 15 What is it? A template with factors that are categorised

How to use it

When to use it

• Review the factors listed in each category

Once you have clarity on the organisation’s future

according to the PESTLE

• Decide whether the specific

direction, as part of the

framework, allowing you

factor has any relevance/

“creating context” phase

to indicate the relevance

impact on your organisation or

and impact of certain

workforce

factors

• If it is relevant, describe the specific aspects of that factor that has relevance/impact on your organisation and workforce • Indicate to what extent these specific aspects are impacting on your organisation/workforce

– 113 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

What is it?

How to use it

(Continued)

When to use it

• Prioritise only those factors with

(Continued)

a high impact/potential impact on your organisation workforce • Explain how those factors could influence the supply and demand regarding workforce numbers and skills • Make a final selection of the factors that should be included in the Workforce Plan

15.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

15.5 Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider External factor

Relevant?

Description of factor and

Degree of

Yes

its impact on organisation/

impact (high,

workforce

medium,

No

low) A. Political environment National, provincial and local government strategic mandates and policies International/national/local lobbying/pressure groups Local government rules/local bylaws, etc International wars, conflict e.g. terrorism National and local government terms and changes Elections International relationships/ attitudes towards home country – home country in relation to other countries

– 114 –

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

External factor

Relevant?

Description of factor and

Degree of

Yes

its impact on organisation/

impact (high,

workforce

medium,

No

low) Political climate in countries of interest (local and international) Governmental leadership Government structures Shareholder/ stakeholder needs/ demands Any other aspects not yet mentioned B. Economic environment National economic climate International economic climate Economic cycles e.g. growth/decline (local, national, international) Inflation Taxation issues (local and international) International trade/monetary issues, e.g. exchange rates Foreign and local investment patterns Government’s economic policy, objectives and incentives e.g. nationalisation, BBEEE Government’s economic controls National and local budgets Local and foreign trading cycles and trends Specific industry factors Local and international competition Customer/end-user drivers, e.g. Disposable income Job growth/unemployment Interest rates

– 115 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

External factor

Relevant?

Description of factor and

Degree of

Yes

its impact on organisation/

impact (high,

workforce

medium,

No

low) Business/consumer confidence index Balance of trade – import/export ratios Production and productivity levels Wealth creation and distribution Status of foreign suppliers and customers Availability of infrastructure, e.g. electricity, roads Analysis of own organisation’s statement of financial position and statement of comprehensive income, summarised in terms of: • Profitability • Liquidity • Volume • Pricing • Costs Any other aspects not yet mentioned C. Social environment Globalisation Urbanisation Population density The changing world of work e.g. knowledge workers, service workers, virtual work, organisation design, authority Generational factors e.g. Generation X, Generation Y, etc Impact of social grants on the system

– 116 –

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

External factor

Relevant?

Description of factor and

Degree of

Yes

its impact on organisation/

impact (high,

workforce

medium,

No

low) The influence of the media e.g. social media, freedom of speech National and international skill levels The education systems and its impact Ethnic/religious factors Major events and their influence Crime levels National and corporate governance issues Family construction e.g. average size, gender Gender/race considerations Lifestyle changes Immigration/emigration The health system and its impact Living standards Housing trends Fashion & role models Leisure activities Emerging/declining occupations Issues relating to the youth, elderly, disabled HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other illnesses of epidemic proportions Any other aspects not yet mentioned D. Technological environment Automation of work processes Introduction of new technology in industry

– 117 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

External factor

Relevant?

Description of factor and

Degree of

Yes

its impact on organisation/

impact (high,

workforce

medium,

No

low) Development of competing technology Status of associated/dependent technologies Introduction/development of replacement technology/solutions Maturity of technology Manufacturing maturity and capacity Information and communication technology e.g. Internet, social media, virtual worlds e-Commerce and m-commerce Access to information Technology access, licensing, patents Intellectual property issues New discoveries and research, e.g. nano-technology, neuro-science Alternative energy uses/sources/ fuels Rate of obsolescence Bio-technology, e.g. genetic engineering Transport technology Any other aspects not yet mentioned E. Legal environment Current local and national legislation Potential/planned amendments to current legislation/new and future legislation International legislation that could be relevant

– 118 –

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

External factor

Relevant?

Description of factor and

Degree of

Yes

its impact on organisation/

impact (high,

workforce

medium,

No

low) Regulatory bodies and processes Environmental regulations Labour legislation Social legislation Consumer protection Industry-specific regulations Industrial and corporate governance rules The Constitution, 1996 Health and safety regulations Any other aspects not yet mentioned F. The natural/ecological environment Carbon footprint Scarcity of natural resources, e.g. water Natural disasters, e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, etc Recycling and restitution Environmental impact, e.g. pollution Climate change e.g. global warming Consumer sentiment regarding the environment Any other aspects not yet mentioned

Take the ten factors with the highest impact and list them below: Factor

How will this factor impact

How will this factor impact

on the demand for certain

on the supply of certain

skills/occupations/number

skills/occupations/number

of employees?

of employees?

1 2

– 119 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Factor

How will this factor impact

How will this factor impact

on the demand for certain

on the supply of certain

skills/occupations/number

skills/occupations/number

of employees?

of employees?

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

What factors should be included in our plan to have a workforce with the right competencies and numbers available at the right time to achieve our strategic objectives?

References Specific to Tool 15: SWOT Analysis and PESTLE Analysis Templates. http://rapidbi.com/created/created/swot-pestletemplate/. Business Balls. PEST Market Analysis Tool. [Online]. Available: http://www.businessballs.com/ pestanalysisfreetemplate.htm [Accessed 10 February 2011]. The Times. SLEPT analysis. [Online]. Available: http://www.thetimes100.co.uk [Accessed 13 March 2011].

– 120 –

Tool 16 Sources that could be used to gather information about the external environment 16.1 Introduction

The gathering of information from the external environment that could have an impact on your organisation and the workforce is a daunting but essential task. If your organisation has the resources, it is usually more time effective to appoint an external service provider to gather the relevant information and present it to you. If however, you do not have the funds, you have to gather comprehensive data yourself to use during the Workforce Planning process.

16.2 The aim of Tool 16

Tool 16 aims to provide a limited summary of sources which can be used to gather information about the external environment that may have an impact on the organisation and the workforce.

16.3 Description of Tool 16 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A list of sources, categorised

• Use the list as a starting

The list of sources can be

according to the PESTLE

point to identify possible

used during the “creating

headings (Political, Economic,

sources of data

context” phase when you

Social, Technological, Legal

• Add your own sources

and Environmental)

gather information about the external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce. It could also be used during the analysis of the external workforce

16.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

•

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

– 121 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

16.5 Tool 16: Sources that could be used to gather information about the external environment The PESTLE headings are used to cluster the resources in this table: Factor

Potential sources

Political

Talking to representatives of or visiting the website of Department of International Relations and Co-operation (www.dfa.gov.za) News media Political analysis journals, for example, Oxford Journals (www.oxfordjournals. org/polana/) Inviting a political analyst to present his or her insights to the Workforce Planning team Books on politics (http://www.kalahari.net/books/884.aspx?keyID=c2c_1449119750-1-3-2415866&gclid=CNys0vKg3acCFUmDpAodI3Im9g)

Economical

dti (formerly known as the Department of Trade and Industry) (www.dti.gov.za) South African Revenue Service (www.sars.gov.za) Reserve Bank of South Africa (www.reservebank.co.za) South African Treasury (www.treasury.gov.za) Black Management Forum (www.bmfonline.co.za) International Business Women’s Forum of South Africa (www.iwfsa.co.za) Business Women’s Association (http://www.bwasa.co.za/) Websites and representatives of investment companies and banks Economics Departments of Universities Economic analysts, e.g. Mike Schussler National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) (www.nedlac. org.za) Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) (www.busa.org.za) Economy Watch (www.economywatch.com/world_economy/southafrica/) South African Government website (www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/economy) CIA – The World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/sf.html)

– 122 –

Tool 16: Sources that could be used to gather information about the external environment

Factor

Potential sources

Social

National Library of South Africa (www.nlsa.ac.za) Africa South of the Sahara – selected Internet resources (http://www-sul. stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/guide.html) Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org) Fahamu – Networks For Social Justice (http://www.fahamu.org) Department of Social Development (www.dsd.gov.za/) Department of Health (www.doh.gov.za/) Department of Basic Education (www.education.gov.za) Department of Education (www.education.gpg.gov.za/) National Association of Distance Learning and Open Education in South Africa (NADEOSA) (www.nadeosa.org.za) Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR) (www.saair-web. co.za) Centre for Education Policy Development (CEPD) http://www.cepd.org.za Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET) http://www.chet.org.za/ Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Western Cape http://www.cshe.uwc.ac.za/ African Studies Centre, University of Pennsylvania (http://www.africa.upenn. edu/Country_Specific/S_Africa.html) United Nations (www.un.org) World Health Organization (www.who.int) UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) (www.unaids.org) Treatment Action Campaign (HIV/AIDS) (www.tac.org.za/) South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) (www.saqa.org.za) South African Police (www.saps.gov.za/) Statistics South Africa (www.statssa.gov.za/) Department of Labour (www.labour.gov.za/) International Labour Organization (www.ilo.org/) Relevant Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training (UMALUSI) (www.umalusi.org.za/) Council on Higher Education (www.che.ac.za/) Human Sciences Research Council (www.hsrc.ac.za/) World Bank Education Statistics (http://go.worldbank.org/JVXVANWYYO)

– 123 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Factor

Potential sources

Technology

Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (http://academic.sun. ac.za/crses/index.htm) South African National Energy Research Institute (SANERI) (www.saneri.org.za/) Department of Science and Technology (www.dst.gov.za) Central Energy Fund (CEF) (www.cef.org.za) Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (www.stias.ac.za) White Papers by technology companies, e.g. IBM (www.ibm.com/) The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (www.csir.co.za/)

Legal

South Africa Government online (www.gov.za/) Online Government Gazette (www.greengazette.co.za/) Private companies providing copies of legislation via subscriptions, e.g. Acts online (http://www.acts.co.za/) Workinfo.com (www.workinfo.com) and http://www.labour.gov.za/legislation South African legislation relevant to the workplace is listed on these sites

Environmental

Department of Environmental Affairs (www.environment.gov.za/) Africa Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science (Access) (africaclimatescience.org/) EPA Climate Change site (www.epa.gov/climatechange) Global Warming (globalwarming.com/) Department of Water Affairs (www.dwa.gov.za/) Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) (www.nda.agric.za/) Department of Energy (www.energy.gov.za/) Department of Mineral Resources (www.dmr.gov.za/)

General

National Archives of South Africa (www.national.archsrch.gov.za) News24 (www.news24.com) Private research organisations (for a list of private research companies, go to (http://www.bizcommunity.com/Companies/196/19.html) Statistics South Africa (www.statssa.gov.za/) CIA – The World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/) US Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/main/www/stat_int.html) NationMaster.com (http://www.nationmaster.com/) Africa South of the Sahara (http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/ guide.html)

– 124 –

Tool 17 Criteria to determine the relevance of information 17.1 Introduction

One of the main barriers to Workforce Planning is “analysis paralysis”, where you gather too much information and do not know how to use and integrate it. Chapman (2007) states that only a few data elements are needed – the skill is in determining which of them have the most value for your organisation.



“Like all aspects of Strategic Workforce Planning, it’s ineffective to gather, filter and prioritise important data in a vacuum– you must engage with the business. An effective way to filter and prioritise your data (and to gather new insights) is to hold internal workshops with the specific purpose of gleaning information from your managers and key employees. People in the organisation are experts about the business, and workshops are the most cost effective and timely way of reviewing and prioritising the context data identified by you and your experts. These workshops require skilled facilitation in order to produce workable outcomes that are then factored into workforce profiling” (Chapman, 2007).



You could also use software solutions such as Aruspex’s CAPTure™ software as a tool for data analysis and processing once the data has been collected. If you do not have access to a software solution, you have to create a framework with decision criteria to help you to decide what information from the external environment to use in the Workforce Planning process.

17.2 The aim of Tool 17

The aim of Tool 17 is to suggest some criteria that you could use in deciding the relevance of information that you have gathered as part of the analysis of external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce.

– 125 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

17.3 Description of Tool 17 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A decision framework with

• At the top of the table, list

If you have gathered a large

a points allocation for the

all the external factors that

amount of information

different criteria

you have identified during

during the external analysis

the analysis of external

of factors that may influence

factors that may impact on

the organisation and the

the organisation and the

workforce and you do not

workforce

know what to include in/

• Answer the ten questions per external factor by

exclude from the Workforce Planning process

making a cross in the relevant block

• Use the scores in the circles to add up the total score for each factor

• Use the guide to determine whether the factor should be used as part of the Workforce Planning process or not

17.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 14: Summary of methods to identify external factors that may impact on the organisation and the workforce

•

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

•

Tool 16: Sources that could be used to gather information about the external environment

17.5 Tool 17: Criteria to determine the relevance of information

List the external factors at the top and answer the following questions regarding each by making a cross in the relevant block:

– 126 –

Tool 17: Criteria to determine the relevance of information

Criteria

External factor 1

1

This factor has a high impact on the future success of the organisation

2

This factor has a high positive/ negative impact on the future success of the organisation

3

This factor has a high impact on the desired Workforce to achieve the organisation’s strategic objectives

4

This factor has a high positive/ negative impact on the Workforce Planning process

5

If we ignore the impact of this factor the situation will get better/stay the same/get worse

6

If we ignore this factor during the Workforce Planning process we will be able to/ will not be able to achieve the organisation’s strategic objectives

External factor 2

External factor 3

External factor 4

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 

Negative 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 

Negative 

Positive 

Negative 

Get better 

Stay the same 

Will not be able to 

Get worse 

Will be able to 

Get better 

Stay the same 

Will not be able to 

Get worse 

Will be able to 

Get better 

Stay the same 

Will not be able to 

Get worse 

Will be able to 

Get better 

Stay the same 

Will not be able to 

Get worse 

Will be able to 

7

If we ignore this factor during the Workforce Planning process we will not /will have the correct number of people in place when we need them

Will not Will Will not Will Will not Will Will not Will have the have the have the have the have the have the have the have the correct correct correct correct correct correct correct correct number number number number number number number number of of of of of of of of people people people people people people people people in place in place in place in place in place in place in place in place        

8

If we ignore this factor we will not /will have people with the right competencies in place when we need them

Will not have people with the right competencies in place 

9

This factor will inform the Workforce strategies that we will implement as part of the Workforce Plan

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

10

This factor provides information on the future external supply and demand of employees

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Will Will not have the have correct people number with the of right people compein place tencies in place  

Will Will not have the have correct people number with the of right people compein place tencies in place  

Will Will not have the have correct people number with the of right people compein place tencies in place  

Will have the correct number of people in place 

Total

Use the following guide to decide whether to include the external factor in the workforce planning process: Total score

Recommended action

10

This is a critical factor that should be included in the Workforce Planning Process

11–14

This factor is of medium importance and you should carefully decide whether or not to include in the rest of the Workforce Planning process

15–21

This factor is of lesser importance and should not be included in the Workforce Planning process

– 127 –

Tool 18 Translating strategic direction and internal/external factors into workforce requirements 18.1 Introduction

The context for Workforce Planning is created by gaining a complete picture of the future mission, vision, business plans, goals and capabilities of the organisation, as well as identifying any factors or trends that may impact on the organisation’s direction and its workforce (State Government of Victoria, 2006).



A crucial step during this phase is to translate the organisation’s strategy and future direction, as well as the high-impact external and internal factors impacting on the organisation and the workforce, into future workforce requirements. This acts as a summary of all the data gathered during the “creating context” phase of Workforce Planning and provides the information to clarify the desired workforce state.

18.2 The aim of Tool 18

Tool 18 aims to assist you in identifying the workforce implications of strategic objectives or internal/external factors.

18.3 Description of Tool 18 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A template with some

• Look at the example of a completed

At the end of the creating

workforce implications

translation table at the end of this

context phase, once you

tool

have gathered information

listed against strategic objectives and internal/external factors, where you

• List all the strategic objectives and external factors at the top of the table • Take each strategic objective or

on: • The organisation’s strategy and future

have to describe in

internal/external factor and consider

detail the specific

the specific implications on the

practical implications

workforce elements listed on the side

that may impact on the

of each factor

of the table

organisation and the

• Be as specific and as comprehensive as possible in describing the implication

direction • The external factors

workforce • The internal factors that may impact on the

• Summarise the Workforce Planning implications

organisation and the workforce

– 129 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

18.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction

•

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

•

Tool 17: Criteria to determine the relevance of information

•

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

18.5 Tool 18: Translating strategic direction and internal/external factors into workforce requirements

Describe in detail in each block the impact of each strategic objective on the workforce. If the strategic objective has no impact on that particular workforce element, leave the block blank. Workforce impact

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

objective

objective

objective

objective

objective

objective

1

2

3

4

5

6

Workload/Number of employees e.g. more/less/the same. If more or less, specify Type of work Organisation design, e.g. structure, job design, systems and processes Competencies – new or adjustments Composition of workforce Talent acquisition (attraction, recruitment, selection, onboarding)

– 130 –

Tool 18: Translating strategic direction and internal/external factors into workforce requirements

Workforce impact

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

Strategic

objective

objective

objective

objective

objective

objective

1

2

3

4

5

6

Performance management Compensation and benefits Learning and development, including management and leadership development Succession development Career development Mentoring and coaching Employee wellness Exit management Third-party partnerships and outsourcing Work environment Knowledge management Implications for Workforce Planning

Describe in detail in each block the impact of each high-impact internal or external factor on the workforce. If the internal or external factor has no impact on that particular workforce element, leave the block blank.

– 131 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce Impact

Internal or external factor 1

Internal or external factor 2

Internal or external factor 3

Workload/Number of employees e.g. more/ less/the same. If more or less, specify Type of work Organisation design, e.g. structure, job design, systems and processes Competencies – new or adjustments Composition of workforce Talent acquisition (attraction, recruitment, selection, on-boarding) Performance management Compensation and benefits Learning and development, including management and leadership development Succession development Career development Mentoring and coaching Employee wellness Exit management Third-party partnerships and outsourcing Work environment

– 132 –

Internal or external factor 4

Internal or external factor 5

Internal or external factor 6

Tool 18: Translating strategic direction and internal/external factors into workforce requirements

Workforce Impact

Internal or external factor 1

Internal or external factor 2

Internal or external factor 3

Internal or external factor 4

Internal or external factor 5

Internal or external factor 6

Knowledge management Implications for Workforce Planning

Example of a completed translation table for one strategic objective: Workforce Impact

Strategic Objective 1: Introduce automated, end-to-end supply chain management system within the next twelve months

Workload/Number of

Affected by automation and use of Internet. Actions processed

employees e.g. more/less/

more quickly. Less staff needed. Currently several employees

the same. If more or less,

are involved in capturing supplier data. In future suppliers will

specify

maintain own data and supply chain staff will monitor and provide support

Type of work

Work will be more of a supportive and advisory nature and less administrative

Organisation design, e.g.

With the introduction of a help-desk for suppliers, the supply

structure, job design,

chain officer’s role profiles will have to be adjusted

systems and processes Competencies – new or

Supply chain officers will have to be more computer literate. They

adjustments

will have to know the software very well and be able to provide remote support via the telephone. It is also expected that they should manage the suppliers more proactively and advise internal clients on a more strategic level

Composition of workforce

The supply-chain department will change from having more administrative officers to more roles in help-desk support and supply-chain advisory services

Talent acquisition

All existing employees will have to be evaluated to determine

(attraction, recruitment,

their fit with the new requirements and be placed accordingly.

selection, on-boarding)

Where they do not meet requirements, appropriate action should be taken. All placed employees should go through an onboarding process. The impact of changes on current attraction and recruitment strategies should be investigated and would lead to changes

Performance management

All the performance agreements will need to be changed

Compensation and benefits

The new roles will have to be evaluated to determine the correct level and compensation

– 133 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce Impact

Strategic Objective 1: Introduce automated, end-to-end supply chain management system within the next twelve months

Learning and development,

Employees will need to be trained in the new system and new

including management and

competency sets

leadership development Succession development

Review the existing succession plan against the new requirements and adjust

Career development

The old procurement career paths need to be changed to accommodate the new supply-chain management system

Mentoring and coaching

Employees who have new or adjusted roles may need extra coaching and mentoring to get up to speed

Employee wellness

Employees may feel stressed or threatened by changes, and individual counselling or change management may be necessary

Exit management

Employees who do meet the new criteria and who do not want to be trained in the new system may have to be placed in other departments or may have to leave the organisation

Third-party partnerships and

The new system will be run in-house

outsourcing Work environment

The work environment will change from an open-plan office environment to an open-plan help-desk environment. Employees need to be prepared for this change. Flexible work hours to cater for a shift system could be considered

Knowledge management

Various performance support tools will be available on the system to ensure just-in-time knowledge delivery

Implications for Workforce

•

Planning

Determine exactly how many staff will be needed to deliver service in the new system

•

Determine exactly what type of competencies will be needed

•

Determine how many staff with what type of competencies will be available internally

•

Determine the gap between requirements (demand) and what is available internally

•

If necessary, determine external demand and supply

•

Develop strategies to address gaps, as well as put in place action plans to address all the workforce implications identified

•

Implement strategies and action plans

•

Monitor and evaluate

– 134 –

SECTION 5: TOOLS TO USE DURING PHASE 3 – UNDERSTANDING CURRENT INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL WORKFORCE Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce Tool 20: Analysing the external labour market Tool 21: Typical process for doing a skills audit Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees Tool 23: Prioritising the required competencies Tool 24: Replacement risk assessment Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers Tool 27: Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce

– 135 –

Tool 19 Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce 19.1 Introduction

As part of Phase 3 in the Workforce Planning process it is necessary to gather sufficient information in order to understand the current state of the internal and external workforce regarding supply and demand. You have to identify the composition, characteristics and supply of current labour for the organisation, as well as the types of jobs and competencies available internally. You should also include an analysis of the contingent workforce (consultants, contractors, temporary staff, seasonal staff, etcetera).



The analysis of the external workforce and labour market data allows the organisation to understand the potential future and current labour supply issues and conditions and to build this into Workforce Planning strategies (State Government of Victoria, 2006). Information about the external labour market can be used to contribute to the decision whether the organisation has to grow its own timber or buy talent from outside.

19.2 The aim of Tool 19

Tool 19 aims to assist you in identifying the types of data that you need to gather to create a better understanding of the current internal and external workforce.

19.3 Description of Tool 19 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

Two lists with examples of

• Review the types of data

As a first step in

profile and trend data, where you could indicate whether

listed

understanding the current

• Indicate whether these

specific types of data are

types of data are relevant

relevant to the Workforce

in terms of the Workforce

Planning need in your

Planning initiative in your

organisation

organisation

– 137 –

internal and external workforce

Workforce Planning Toolkit

19.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

•

Tool 12: Determine critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

19.5 Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce To understand the demand and supply regarding the current internal and external workforce, it is necessary to collect two types of data, namely demographic or profile data (a snapshot of the profile of the current workforce, for example, number of employees, age distribution, length of service, skills levels, etcetera) and trend data (providing a historical picture, for example, turnover, leave patterns, promotion and transfer patterns, etcetera). Typical data in these two categories are provided below.

19.5.1 Demographic/profile data Data for organisation/unit/talent segment/occupation/

Important in the context

role

of the specific workforce planning need? Yes

1

Total number of full-time employees

2

Number of vacancies

3

Number of contingent staff

4

Geographical spread of staff

5

Employment Equity statistics: race, gender, disability

6

Average Age/median age/age distribution/age distribution according to generational theory – Generation X, Generation Y, Baby Boomers, Millennials

7

Job families/occupational categories

8

Salary levels

– 138 –

No

Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce

Data for organisation/unit/talent segment/occupation/

Important in the context

role

of the specific workforce planning need? Yes

9

Talent/potential/developmental readiness classification

10

Performance rating distribution

11

Length of service (average/median/distribution)

12

Education levels/qualifications/professional registrations

13

Competency levels e.g. information from 360-degree feedback systems

14

Employee engagement levels

15

Average span of control

16

Workload ratios e.g. employees per client/output/other indices

17

Positions with or without ready candidates

18

Productivity levels

19

Average working hours

20

Other classifications according to the traits of the people who do the work e.g. working parents, highly ambitious people, etc

21

Any industry data e.g. demographics of people employed in the relevant industry

22

Number of people available in specific category in rest of country plus their average age, Employment Equity composition, qualifications, etc

23

The number and quality of qualified people produced by educational institutions

24

Current staff in rest of organisation qualified or studying in relevant field

25

Current staff in rest of organisation with relevant experience

26

Any other data important for your organisation

– 139 –

No

Workforce Planning Toolkit

19.5.2 Trend data Data for organisation/unit/talent segment/occupation/

Important in the context

role

of the specific workforce planning need? Yes

1

Voluntary (resignations) and involuntary (death, illness, retrenchments) turnover rates

2

Retirement patterns/Retirement eligibility analysis

3

Movement of employees in organisation (appointments/ promotions/transfers)

4

Internal versus external appointments

5

Appointments from succession pools

6

Number of employees employed from feeder pools e.g. graduation programmes

7

Exit patterns in terms of average length of service

8

Movement of qualified people in the industry

9

Trends in compensation and benefits

10

Trends in engagement levels (internally and externally)

11

Trends in the demand and supply of specific talent segments/occupations external to organisation

12

Changes in the employment value proposition for targeted segments

13

Leave patterns (sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, vacation leave, etc)

14

Any other trends important to your organisation

– 140 –

No

Tool 20 Analysing the external labour market 20.1 Introduction



The analysis of the external workforce and labour market is usually neglected or done in a superficial way. According to the State Government of Victoria (2006), a thorough understanding of the external work force and labour market will ensure that: •

Sufficient numbers of replacement staff are available to cover separation and growth

•

The contingent workforce is maintained at adequate levels

•

Intelligence is gathered to inform whether the organisation should recruit or develop people to address shortages.

It is also important to consider what your direct competitors, as well as competitors for the same talent segments, are doing to attract, develop and retain staff (Chapman, 2007). This means that you have to gather information across a broad range of factors when analysing the external workforce and labour market.

20.2 The aim of Tool 20

Tool 20 acts as a starting point for the analysis of the external labour market by providing you with some ideas on what type of information to gather about the labour market.

20.3 Description of Tool 20 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A list of questions, clustered

• Review the questions

During the analysis

in three categories, namely:

• Select the most relevant questions

of the external and

• The availability of essential skills • The attraction of essential skills • The general labour market

for your organisation/selected

internal workforce

talent segment/essential skills set

in order to gain an

from each category

understanding of the

• Gather the necessary data to be able to answer the questions • Incorporate the information into your Workforce Planning process

– 141 –

external workforce

Workforce Planning Toolkit

20.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce

20.5 Tool 20: Analysing the external labour market Gather information on the following when analysing the external labour market: • What is the demand for the essential skills for the organisation in the external market at entry, mid (competent) and expert levels? • What is the availability of the essential skills in the external labour market at expert levels? • What is the availability of the essential skills in the external labour market at competent levels? • What is the availability of the essential skills in the market at entry level? (E.g. how many graduating by when, how many completing learnerships,

Availability of skills

internships?) • What is your competitor's demand for these essential skills? • What are the demographics of the available essential skills in the labour market (age, race, gender, disability, etc?) • Is there an abundance or scarcity of the essential skills in the labour market? • Where are the biggest sources of the essential skills, e.g. universities, consulting firms, retired people, etc.?

• What are the average rates of pay/benefits regarding these essential skills in the labour market? • What factors are important in attracting these essential skills? • What are the specific characteristics of people with the essential skills that should be considered when promoting your organisation as an employer of choice?

Attraction of skills

• What are your competitors doing to attract these essential skills? • What are the constraints in your organisation regarding the attraction of these essential skills? • Do you know of passive candidates (people not currently looking for other jobs) that you could approach to attract to your organisation? • Is there high/low unemployment in the labour market • What is the quality of education? • Is the education system delivering the calibre of employees that your organisation needs in future?

General

• What other challenges/opportunities do you identify in the broader labour market?

Figure 5: Questions to ask when analysing the external labour market

– 142 –

Tool 20: Analysing the external labour market

References Specific to Tool 20 Local Government Improvement and Development. Workforce Planning Workshop: Exercise 2. [Online]. Available: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/aio/15502758 [Accessed 2 April 2011].

– 143 –

Tool 21 Typical process for doing a skills audit 21.1 Introduction The scope of Workforce Planning often also determines the approach. One of the approaches that could be followed is competency-driven Workforce Planning. In this approach, the distribution and concentration of current competency sets for particular jobs are compared against those required for future effectiveness (Corporate Leadership Council, 2002). A skills audit is a useful tool when trying to understand the competencies of the current internal workforce. The skills audit can also be designed to gather information on current employees’ strengths and development areas with regard to future competencies. “Skills Auditing is an ongoing process which is at the heart of both the training and development programme and the talent management function. Conducting a skills audit is not one of those tasks that can be done quickly and ticked off [on] your talent and skills development to-do lists. You must be well prepared and plan accordingly” (Kleynhans, 2008a). Your planning, preparation and implementation of the skills audit will be influenced by the type of method that you use to conduct the skills audit. Kleynhans (2008b) identifies five skills audit methods of conducting a skills audit, namely: •

Questionnaires

•

Assessment centres

•

Focus groups

•

360-degree reviews

•

Assessments by trained assessors.

If you want to obtain useful information on which to base your Workforce Planning, it is important to map and plan the skills audit process carefully before you embark on the project.

– 145 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

21.2 The aim of Tool 21 Tool 21 aims to provide a brief overview of the steps involved in conducting a skills audit.

21.3 Description of Tool 21 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A basic process flow-chart,

• Review the phases and

As part of the information-

detailing some of the main

steps in the flow-chart

gathering phase in order to

steps in conducting a skills audit

• Design a skills audit flow-chart for your own organisation

understand your internal workforce better, or as the main activity in your workforce plan, depending on how you have scoped the process

21.4 Links to other tools • Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative • Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce

– 146 –

Tool 21: Typical process for doing a skills audit

21.5 Tool 21: Typical process for doing a skills audit Basic Skills Audit Process

Project set-up Phase

Decision to conduct skills audit is made

Project team is selected and informed

Project team has kick-off meeting and decides on method of skills audit, e.g. ∞ Questionnaire ∞ Assessment centre ∞ Focus group ∞ 360 reviews ∞ Trained assessors

Project plan is finalised, including communication and change management plans

Project governance structure is finalised

Project team is trained on the selected method and implementation plan

All relevant stakeholders are informed of project and its implications via briefing sessions and other media

Preparation of Training and individual, job preparation of and staff, as well as organisational logistical data preparation

Information on the organisation structure, levels, job titles and job families are cleaned-up and corrected on HR information system if necessary

All managers attend briefing sessions about their role in the skills audit, the method used and implementation process and guideines

A job analysis is done to prepare the basis for the skills audit. This includes the identification of performance standards

Staff attend training sessions where the method and process is explained in detail

The results form the job analysis is captured e.g. in role profiles, competency profiles

The auditing instruments are developed based on the role profiles/ competency profiles

The auditing instruments are tested and piloted to ensure effectiveness and refinement

Support structures for staff needing assistance is setup, e.g. a helpdesk, intranet site with support tools

Regular formal communication about the process takes place

If it is a manual process: Plan the distribution, receiving, supporting and monitoring of audit documents. If it is an electronic process, plan the delivery and support

Project team/ assessors and relevant stakeholders are trained on the specifics of he auditing method and implementation process

Implement skills audit

Distribute/ administer skills audit documents/ assessments

Collect completed documents/ assessment

Do quality checking of the skills audit information and where necessary return to relevant people for correction/ completion

If manual process, capture information on relevant system

Run statistical reports to validate information

Consolidate results

Use results to develop training and development strategy, linked to organisation strategy

Develop training material and schedule sessions with line managers on how to give feedback to individual employees

Develop formal appeal mechanisms

– 147 –

Communicate results, integrate with relevant processes, monitor and review Communicate overall results to all employees

Train line managers on how to give feedback to individual employees and how to use the results in development planning

Line managers give feedback to individual employees and finalise individual development plans

Where necessary, employees can make use of appeal procedure

Individual Development Plans are summarised in organisational training plan

Project Close-out meeting takes place where process is reviewed and improvements for next time suggested Parties with allocated responsibility monitors the implementation of the training and development actions

Tool 22 Identifying potential sources of employees 22.1 Introduction The identification of potential sources of employees is necessary during the process of Workforce Planning when you are trying to get an overview of the internal and the external workforce and labour market. These souces are usually referred to as talent pools. “Talent pools are groups of people with whom an employer maintains a direct individual relationship for the purpose of future employment – both permanent and temporary - while not currently employing them” (Whitford, 2009). A company called Talent2 (www.talent2. com) defines a talent pool as “[a] community of qualified internal and external candidates who are actively interested in your organisation, your industry and your success, and are engaged over time to fill vacancies and refer people they know”. It is clear that these talent pools are made up of internal and external candidates. To understand whether the supply from these pools will be adequate to meet the organisation’s strategic objectives, you need to be able to identify these potential pools of candidates and then to analyse them. This helps to create highly-qualified, well-defined, and readily available groups of candidates for the organisation. It also changes the practice of sourcing staff on a case-by-case basis, as Workforce Planning helps to forecast future hiring needs by means of specific skills competency profiles, therefore allowing proactive recruitment.

22.2 The aim of Tool 22 Tool 22 aims to provide some ideas on which internal and external sources of candidates could be used once you have selected a specific talent segment for Workforce Planning.

22.3 Description of Tool 22 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A list of potential sources to

• Review all the sources

During the analysis of

supply your employee needs,

• Decide which source

the internal and external

with space to indicate what you currently know about each source

will be beneficial to your

workforce, so that you can get

Workforce Planning efforts

an understanding of all the

• Gather information to profile this potential source

– 149 –

potential sources of supply

Workforce Planning Toolkit

22.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce

•

Tool 23: Prioritising the required competencies

22.5 Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees Potential source

Description of source

Relevant

A description of

to your

the basic elements

organisation?

of this source

(Yes or No)

relevant to your organisation or talent segment e.g. age, race, gender, availability, attraction and retention factors

Alumni

“Alumni,

(Boomerang

boomerangs, can serve as a dynamic

hires)

resource, especially when it comes

often

referred

to

as

to attracting talent and branding the company” (Laurano, 2009). According to Sullivan (2009), Alumni programmes allow you to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with former employees who may some day provide significant value again, providing you with an opportunity to remain in contact and creating a mechanism to recruit them back quickly when needed. Recently retired

Retired workers present a pool of

employees

untapped talent. “Contact centers in particular can benefit from hiring older workers – not only do they have extensive professional experience, but retirees are better at

coping

with

the

emotional

stress and burnout that lead to reduced productivity and increased absenteeism” (Robinson, 2011).

– 150 –

Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees

Potential source

Description of source

Relevant

A description of

to your

the basic elements

organisation?

of this source

(Yes or No)

relevant to your organisation or talent segment e.g. age, race, gender, availability, attraction and retention factors

Contractors

“Most contractors have a wealth of experience across multiple projects, platforms, companies and, in some cases, sectors. The experience and expertise they bring can be highly valued and effective; they have learned from their past experiences and

benefited

from

previous

successes, and can usually bring this success to bear on your organisation. Appointing good contractors can improve the skills and approach of permanent employees by promoting best practice, offering mentoring potential and encouraging expertise sharing. By bringing new ideas and experience to the table, contractors will

enable

to

think

existing

employees

differently”

(Modis

International, 2010). Functional

Specialists and experts in your own

specialists and

organisation form an invaluable

experts

talent pool. Utilising this pool requires an accurate inventory of their skills and talent, plus the ability to forecast demand and supply.

Senior executives

The information about this pool will

and top talent

usually come from your succession planning programme. This is the most commonly-used source for senior positions and critical roles.

– 151 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Potential source

Description of source

Relevant

A description of

to your

the basic elements

organisation?

of this source

(Yes or No)

relevant to your organisation or talent segment e.g. age, race, gender, availability, attraction and retention factors

Geographically-

By knowing exactly what talent

defined groups –

resides in each region/country, you

e.g., by regions or

will know what the current supply

countries

options are

Demographically-

It helps to keep a record of all

defined groups

employees who have resigned to

– e.g., people in

pursue specific life tasks, such as

different life/career

studying further or raising children.

phases such as

Profiling this source will show when

adult students and

those people may be available again

parents taking leave

for formal employment.

Internal candidate

If your organisation is using an

databases

Applicant Tracking System (ATS), it

compiled over

will be easier to keep a record of all

time

candidates who applied for positions in the past. Although the candidate may not have been suitable for the advertised position at that time, the person may be highly suitable for other positions. It is important to understand what is available in the database as part of the Workforce Planning effort.

External and

The majority of job and resumé

commercially-

boards

available

Career Builder, etc) or external

candidate

recruitment companies will give you

databases

access to their candidate databases

(e.g.

Monster,

Hotjobs,

at a fee. From a Workforce Planning perspective you would not access the total database, but would target certain talent segments for analysis.

– 152 –

Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees

Potential source

Description of source

Relevant

A description of

to your

the basic elements

organisation?

of this source

(Yes or No)

relevant to your organisation or talent segment e.g. age, race, gender, availability, attraction and retention factors

Internal

If your talent management system is

candidates –

working well, you will have at least

specifically for

the following information on all

internal mobility

internal employees: •

Performance management data

•

Potential

•

Career aspirations

•

Location preferences

Your competitors’

Some organisations have a practice

employees

of increasing their talent pools by identifying and tracking their competitors’ top employees by hiring outside sourcing firms to contact these targeted employees and assess their receptivity to potential job opportunities with the benchmarked company (www.bestin-class.com).

Passive candidate

Some

pool

of their passive talent pool – top

organisations

keep

track

candidates who are not currently seeking

employment.

These

organisations build this with referrals from

current

employees

and

networking. Various ways are used to keep contact with the individuals in this pool. If you want to understand what the talent supply looks like, you also need to understand the profile of this source.

– 153 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Potential source

Description of source

Relevant

A description of

to your

the basic elements

organisation?

of this source

(Yes or No)

relevant to your organisation or talent segment e.g. age, race, gender, availability, attraction and retention factors

Universities

Best-in-class recruiting organisations have developed multi-level outreach programmes with universities to ensure that an optimal relationship with

potential

candidates

is

established and to position the organisation of

choice.

understand

as

an

These

employer

organisations

which

universities

deliver the type of candidates that they want and target those. Social media

“Social

contacts

beyond simply catching up with

networking

has

moved

former classmates. Today, social networking is a true business tool, particularly useful for service organisations that continually hire large numbers of people. Smart enterprises have embraced social networking as a talent management, recruiting and employer branding strategy”. The nature of the social network

allows

prescreening,

referrals

greatly

and

increasing

the quality of applicants” (Laurano, 2010).

Organisations

using

this

source usually appoint one person to manage all the networks, e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook.

– 154 –

Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees

Potential source

Description of source

Relevant

A description of

to your

the basic elements

organisation?

of this source

(Yes or No)

relevant to your organisation or talent segment e.g. age, race, gender, availability, attraction and retention factors

Professional

It is useful to build links with

organisations

professional

organisations

of

interest to your organisation, e.g. the Engineering Council of South Africa. By taking part in their activities for members, you build up a source of potential candidates. From a Workforce Planning perspective you also get useful information about the profile of its membership.

References Specific to Tool 22: HRM Advice. 2008. Recruitment Sources. [Online]. Available: http://hrmadvice.com/hrmadvice/hrprocesses/recruitment-and-selection/general-recruitment/recruitment-sources.html [Accessed 22 March 2011].

– 155 –

Tool 23 Prioritising the required competencies 23.1 Introduction “Competency-driven workforce planning compares the distribution and concentration of current competency sets for particular jobs against those required for future effectiveness. The advantage of competency-driven workforce planning is that it enables companies to execute future business strategy, identify their employees’ areas of weakness and employ targeted, proactive interventions. Competency-driven workforce planning also allows line managers to analyse narrow workforce problems with precision and speed” (Corporate Leadership Council, 2002). Whether your organisation follows a competency-based approach to Workforce Planning or takes competencies into account when profiling the current internal and external workforce, you have to be able to distinguish the competencies critical to the achievement of the strategic objectives from the rest. Before your organisation can prioritise the competencies, you have to identify the competencies. If you already have competency profiles, it is just a question of unpacking the organisation’s strategic plan and imperatives to identify specific, concrete tasks and associated competencies needed to achieve those now and in the future. If you do not have a competency framework in place you will have to use various methods (for example, critical incident technique, interviews, job profiling, repertory grid) to identify the competencies. Once you have prioritised the competencies you can complete an analysis of the different competency profiles per talent segment to reveal the extent of the capability gap that should be addressed to achieve the organisation’s strategic objectives.

23.2 The aim of Tool 23 Tool 23 aims to assist you in prioritising the competencies needed for strategy achievement so that the Workforce Plan can focus on critical competency gaps.

– 157 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

23.3 Description of Tool 23 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A template with space to

• Identify key business strategies

If you do a skills audit,

capture the organisation’s

• Write the key strategies for the

the prioritisation of the

strategic objectives

business unit or organisation over

competencies should

and the competencies

the next 3–5 years in the space

take place as part of

identified as relevant

provided at the top of the table

the design of the audit.

for the organisation/ talent segment. It then allows the scoring of the competencies in terms of their importance for the achievement of the strategic objectives in order to arrive at the highest-scoring competencies.

• List the competencies identified for the particular talent segment/total organisation in the space provided in the first column on the left • Score the importance of each competency to each strategic

This should also be done before you gather more information on the capability profile of the current internal and external workforce

objective by using the following key:

––Critical for our organisation to gain/maintain the competitive edge or to be best in class (3 points)

––Necessary for the organisation to continue to exist/be sustainable (2 points)

––Some importance, but not critical/ essential to ensure competitive edge or sustainability (1 point) • Determine which competencies have the highest scores across multiple strategic objectives • List the top 5 to 10 and concentrate on determining current and future gaps in this regard during the Workforce Planning process

23.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning

•

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 6: Alignment of Workforce Planning with the strategic planning process

– 158 –

Tool 23: Prioritising the required competencies

23.5 Tool 23: Prioritising the required competencies Competency

Strategic Objective

Strategic Objective

Strategic Objective

1

2

3

Total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

The following example illustrates what a completed table may look like: Competency

Strategic objective

Strategic objective

Strategic objective

1: Expansion into

2: Open new call

3: Open new

sub-Saharan Africa

centre in India

automated

Total

manufacturing plant in Durban Diversity

3

3

2

8

3

3

3

9

management Change management

– 159 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Project

3

3

3

9

1

2

2

5

Resilience

2

2

2

6

Innovation

3

2

2

7

management Presentation skills

In this example, the competencies that are more important to the strategic objectives (they have the highest scores) are: •

Diversity management

•

Change management

•

Project management

•

Innovation.

– 160 –

Tool 24 Replacement risk assessment 24.1 Introduction “When you identify back-ups for critical roles/certain levels assuming that the organisation structure will remain the same over a period of time, you are resorting to risk replacement planning. Two or three successors are considered for a particular position in replacement planning. Identification of talent in replacement planning is based on the feedback of senior management. Replacement planning is a form of risk management that focus on immediate and short term replacements” (Grover, www.ezinearticles.com). According to Byham (2008) the traditional replacement-planning systems, in which senior managers are asked to identify replacements for themselves – and sometimes for their direct reports – and estimate when those individuals will be ready to step up into the new role are not effective. The process of risk replacement planning is, however, often the starting point for a more integrated, developmentally-focused succession management process and as such it is worthwhile to investigate the typical process followed in order to implement the concept.

24.2 The aim of Tool 24 The aim of Tool 24 is to assess risks regarding continuity in the organisation by critically looking at the talent available to fill any vacant positions that may occur on senior levels and critical positions. This will enable the organisation to plan for replacement through either recruitment or development.

24.3 Description of Tool 24 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

This tool

• Identify critical roles and/or talent segments

When analysing the

explains the

• Once you have identified the critical roles and/or

internal workforce,

steps in doing

talent segments, record them in column A of the

this information will

a replacement

Replacement Risk Analysis Matrix below

assist in profiling the

risk analysis

current supply of

for a specific

candidates for critical

function/talent

and/or leadership

segment

positions

– 161 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

(Continued)

• Record biographical information. Next to column A

(Continued)

on the Replacement Risk Analysis Matrix record the name of the current incumbent in column B and the age of the current incumbent in column C. Do this for all the critical roles and/or talent segments. • Identify possible successors or replacements. (Consider the example criteria in the table below.) There are two types of replacements to identify, namely: –– Short-term replacements, i.e. the person who would typically act when the current incumbent is away –– Long-term replacements, i.e. the ideal candidate to take over the role, should this person develop all the requirements • Once you have identified the possible replacements or successors, write their names in column D of the Replacement Risk Analysis Matrix. • Record replacement status by using the suggested colour key and indicate the replacement status in column E of the Replacement Risk Analysis Matrix: • Record successor or replacement information on the various candidates in the Replacement Risk Analysis Matrix. –– Position (Column F) –– Age (Column G) –– Qualifications (Column H) –– Engagement date (Column I). • Present the risk profile to the relevant stakeholders and obtain their input. • Finalise the table. • Ensure that the identified candidates are prepared for the specific role.

24.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 12: Determine critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce

•

Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees

– 162 –

Tool 24: Replacement risk assessment

24.5 Tool 24: Replacement risk assessment

Planning process



Follow the steps as explained in 24.3 to complete the table below:

date

EE

Current position

Age

Replacement or successor detail

Age

incumbent position

Name

Current Critical

successors

Readiness level

Replacement status replacements or

B A

C

Possible

D

E

F

G

H

Qualifications

I

Engagement

Table 2: Replacement risk analysis matrix

– 163 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

The replacement status for a specific position could be the following: There is no employment equity successor/replacement available The replacement/successor is immediately ready The replacement/successor needs development There is no successor available Table 3: Criteria for selection of replacement/successor Name of candidate: Unit Critical role/Talent segment: Please rate the candidate on the following: Criteria

Score (Make a X in the relevant block) 1

2

3

4

5

Last performance rating

0 – 20%

21 – 49%

50 – 69%

70 – 89%

90 – 100%

Support of the organisation’s mission and values

No consistency

Some consistency

Acceptable consistency

More than acceptable consistency

Excellent consistency

Shows no leadership promise

Shows some leadership promise

Shows acceptable leadership promise

Shows more than acceptable leadership promise

Shows excellent leadership promise

• Value 1 • Value 2 • Value 3 Leadership Promise: • Is motivated and eager to lead • Accepts leadership responsibility • Mobilises resources/ people to action • Leads teams that have high engagement

– 164 –

Tool 24: Replacement risk assessment

Criteria

Demonstration of results:

Score (Make a X in the relevant block) 1

2

3

4

5

Demonstrates no results

Demonstrates some results

Demonstrates acceptable results

Demonstrates more than acceptable results

Demonstrates excellent results

No developmental orientation

Some developmental orientation

Acceptable developmental orientation

More than acceptable developmental orientation

Excellent developmental orientation

We would like the person to leave our organisation

It would be possible to continue business without this person

We would like to retain this person

We would put in an effort to retain this person

We would move mountains to retain this person

Will be ready within next 5 – 6 years

Will be ready within next 3 – 4 years

Will be ready within next 1 – 2 years

Will be ready within next 12 months

Is immediately ready

• Shows positive team/unit results • Displays objective indicators of success (e.g. productivity, quality) • Accomplishes major assignments Developmental orientation: • Has accurate self-insight • Is coachable, accepts feedback • Has history of learning from experience • Quickly learns new tasks in new situations • Self-initiates development activities Importance of retention/risk of leaving • Has a unique or in-demand skill set • Is a likely target of poachers Employee’s readiness for next level Total score:

– 165 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

As a guideline: Score

Recommendation

0–20

This person should not be considered as a replacement or successor at this stage

21–25

This person is a possible candidate, but may need more coaching and training

26–35

This person seems like a good replacement or successor

– 166 –

Tool 25 Analysing the contingent workforce 25.1 Introduction According to the Aberdeen Group (2011), contingent labour has evolved in recent years to include additional labour aspects such as independent contractors, statement-of-work (SOW) projects, and services. The Aberdeen Group (2011) estimates that nearly 20% of the average organisation’s workforce can be considered contingent. It is therefore imperative that organisations manage these contingent labour aspects in a more rigorous manner to ensure quality and effectiveness. The aim of Workforce Planning is to ensure that the organisation has the right number and calibre of people available to achieve its strategic objectives – including contingent labour. This means that your organisation should understand exactly how many of what type of contingent labour are currently utilised and also what will be needed for the future.

25.2 The aim of Tool 25 Tool 25 aims to provide a framework for the analysis of the current contingent workforce to get a thorough understanding of its profile and requirements.

25.3 Description of Tool 25 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A template with space

• Familiarise yourself with the

When you are gathering

to complete information

definitions of the four categories of

information to be able to

regarding the contingent

contingent workers

understand the external

workforce

• Select the categories of contingent labour relevant to your organisation • Review the type of information required per category • Gather the required information • Complete the template • Decide which of the information has implications for Workforce Planning and include in the Workforce Plan

– 167 –

and internal workforce

Workforce Planning Toolkit

25.4 Links to other tools • Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce • Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees

25.5 Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce The Aberdeen Group (2011) defines the following four categories of contingent labour: •

Temporary labour refers to individuals leveraged by the company who were engaged through a staffing provider, or example, personal assistants from Quest (an employment agency).

•

An independent contractor is an individual engaged directly by the organisation, for example, an industrial psychologist, hired to provide an employee counselling service.

•

Statement-of-work (SOW) labour refers to an individual or group of individuals engaged through a staffing or consulting company or other service provider on a fixed bid, deliverables, or other non-time-andexpense basis that is designed to end upon completion of the scope of work, for example, a group of consultants completing an organisation design project as described in the terms of reference when the company was contracted.

•

Services (and services procurement) are an individual or group of individuals engaged through a staffing or consulting company or other service provider on a fixed bid, deliverables, or other non-time-andexpense basis which recurs (such as security guards, maintenance, lawn care, etcetera).

Keep these definitions in mind when using the following template. Take each of the functional areas (for example, Finance, IT, Human Resources, etcetera) and/or the geographical areas of your organisation) and complete the following per area to reflect the current situation: Name of unit/function/geographical area Date

– 168 –

Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce

Analysis component

Detail

A. Temporary workers 1

Total number of temporary workers

2

List all the job roles fulfilled

1.

by the temporary workers

2. 3. 4. 5.

3

Which of these job roles represent critical skills/ occupations?

4

What is the profile of these

• Current number of employees • Average age • Annual voluntary turnover rates • Average performance rating • Average length of service 5

How much money does the organisation spend per annum on temporary workers?

– 169 –

Total

Female disabled

Male disabled

White female

Indian female

Coloured female

African female

White male

Indian male

Coloured male

African male

temporary workers?

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Analysis component 6

Detail

List any concerns/ opportunities for improvement regarding temporary workers

B. Independent contractors 1

Total number of independent contractors

2

List all the job roles fulfilled

1.

by the independent

2.

contractors

3. 4. 5.

3

Which of these job roles represent critical skills/ occupations?

4

What is the profile of these

• Current number of employees • Average age • Annual voluntary turnover rates • Average performance rating • Average length of service 5

How much money does the organisation spend per annum on independent contractors?

– 170 –

Total

Female disabled

Male disabled

White female

Indian female

Coloured female

African female

White male

Indian male

Coloured male

African male

independent contractors?

Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce

Analysis component 6

Detail

List any concerns/ opportunities for improvement regarding independent contractors

C. Statement-of-work (SOW) labour 1

Total number of workers engaged in Statement-ofwork (SOW) contracts?

2

What type of work is done

1.

through the Statement-of-

2.

work (SOW) contracts?

3. 4. 5.

3

Which of these job roles/ types of work represent critical skills/occupations?

4

What is the profile of the individuals engaged in Statement-of-work (SOW)

• Current number of employees • Average age • Annual voluntary turnover rates • Average performance rating • Average length of service 5

How much money does the organisation spend per annum on Statement-of-work (SOW) contracts?

– 171 –

Total

Female disabled

Male disabled

White female

Indian female

Coloured female

African female

White male

Indian male

Coloured male

African male

contracts?

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Analysis component 6

Detail

List any concerns/ opportunities for improvement regarding Statement-of-work (SOW) contracts

D. Services 1

Total number of workers engaged in outsourced/ insourced services?

2

What types of services are

1.

delivered?

2. 3. 4. 5.

3

Which of these services represent critical skills/ occupations?

• Current number of employees • Average age • Annual voluntary turnover rates • Average performance rating • Average length of service

– 172 –

Total

Female disabled

Male disabled

White Female

Indian Female

African Female

White Male

Indian Male

delivering services?

Coloured Male

individuals engaged in

Coloured Female

What is the profile of the

African Male

4

Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce

Analysis component 5

Detail

How much money does the organisation spend per annum on these services?

6

List any concerns/ opportunities for improvement regarding these services

Should you include any of these aspects that you have gathered information on in the organisation’s Workforce Plan? Write down the aspects and the reason(s) for inclusion of each aspect. Aspect

Reason for inclusion in Workforce Plan

– 173 –

Tool 26 Analysing workload drivers 26.1 Introduction Understanding the workload of a particular talent segment is important when planning for the right number (capacity) of employees in that particular talent segment. The understanding of the exact meaning of workload differs from organisation to organisation. In this toolkit we will use the definition by Ridoutt, Schoo & Santos (2006), who view workload as the time used and/or activities of staff in the performance of their duties. At the heart of workload measurement is a simple relationship, as shown in Figure 6 below (Ridoutt et al, 2006). Work-related activity



Workload



Labour requirements

Figure 6: Relationship model for workload measurement

Ridoutt et al (2006) used this simple relationship model to conceptualise the relationship between health service activity and labour, as shown in Figure 7 below. Health care activity





Workload





Labour requirements



Measured by:

Articulated as:

Measured as units

• Admissions

• Tasks

of labour:

• Surgical

• Functions

• Hours per task,

operations • Bed-days • Outpatients

• Units of care • Type of intervention

treated

case, episode • Hours per week/ year • Full-time equivalent (FTE)

• Laboratory tests Figure 7: Relationship between health service activity and labour

Various methods could be used to measure workload to inform the number of staff needed. Ridoutt et al (2006) identify four main categories of workload evaluation in the healthcare environment, of which the following two are generic:

– 175 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Broad method

Brief description

Advantages

Disadvantages

Ratio-based

This group of

• Simple to use and

• At the micro level,

methodology

workload assessment

category apply

ratios (especially if

• The only data required

externally set) make

comparatively simple

are the measures of

no accommodation

ratio of staff to

activity

for local variables,

methods utilises a

activity. Ratios can be

• At the macro level, the

instead applying

set at the service level

averaging-out process

the “average”

but are more often

may make the ratio

requirement. This is

externally referenced,

method more accurate

likely to be too low or

for example, from a

• Best used in

high in most settings • Fixed (or ignored)

set of professional

circumstances where

standards.

activity level and type

skills-mix issues are

are comparatively

not necessarily taken

stable

into account

• Standards set are

• The data collection

Procedure-

This group of workload

based

measurement tools

potentially good

for estimation of time

methodology

looks more directly at

benchmarks against

per procedure can be

the work performed to

which to assess

deliver the output in

productivity

terms of procedures,

• Times to complete

functions, and broader

procedures can be

areas of work or tasks.

assessed for different

The labour required

staff mix circumstances

to perform the

• Best used in

costly • If based on expert judgement, it could be contentious • Standard or average times to complete procedures or tasks

procedures (in units

circumstances where

may not reflect

of time) is estimated

the functions to

specific situations

through situation-

be performed are

and/or skills level of

specific studies or

comparatively set and

staff

professionally-set

routine

standards of practice.

Browne (2010) describes the basic steps in using workload to determine how many employees you need as follows: •

Step 1: Calculate specific productivity measures for employees. These measures, such as the number of biscuits a team of ten workers can produce in an eight-hour shift, or the number of words a copy-editor can edit per hour, enable you to quantify the number of employee hours required to get a specific amount of work completed. An example of identifying these specific measures is provided by Allen (2011) for the food preparation industry:

– 176 –

Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers

Meals per labour hour: Total meals/meal equivalents / total labour hours = __________________ meals per labour hour Example: 13 800 meals/meal equivalents / 1 975 labour hours = 7 meals per labour hour Minutes per meal: Total number of labour minutes x 60 minutes / total meals/ meal equivalents = ____minutes per meal Example: (1 975 labour hours x 60) = 118 500 / 13 800 = 9 minutes per meal Labour hours per meal: Total number of labour hours / total meals/meal equivalents = _________labour hours per meal Example: 1 975 labour hours / 13 800 meals/meal equivalents = 0,14 labour hours per meal

•

Step 2: Review the upcoming workload for your organisation in the short, medium and long term. Combine this information with the productivity rates at which the work can be completed in order to calculate your staffing needs.

•

Step 3: If you are running a production-related business, calculate how many employees it will take to accomplish the various projected workloads and plan your staffing on that basis. If you are running a service-related business, then calculate how many employees are needed to service customers over all business hours, including extra staffing seasonally and at other busy times, based on your experience with the business.

It is not always possible to use time-and-motion studies to determine how long it takes to complete a specific task. This type of study usually entails a direct and continuous observation of a task, using a timekeeping device to record the time taken to accomplish a task (Groover, 2007). It is not always possible to use this approach with knowledge workers, and it is more applicable to repetitive, production-orientated tasks. It is therefore necessary to investigate other techniques that could be used for knowledge and service workers.

26.2 The aim of Tool 26 Tool 26 aims to provide a brief summary of two methods (full-time equivalents and work synthesis) that can be used to calculate how many employees are

– 177 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

needed to deliver a specific service and/or product in a knowledge or service environment.

26.3 Description of Tool 26 What is it?

How to use it

A description of two tools that can be used to determine workload

• Read the description

When to use it During the analysis of

of the tool and the

the internal and external

suggested steps

workforce to calculate the

• Review the template and the completed examples • Select a talent segment in your organisation and

current workload. It can also be used during the futuring phase to calculate future workload

apply the method

26.4 Links to other tools • Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning • Tool 28: Forecasting future job requirements

26.5 Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers

The following methods can be used to determine how many staff members you need to complete the tasks needed.

26.5.1 Full-time equivalents (FTE) calculation

“A full-time equivalent is the number of hours that represent the length of time a full-time employee would work over a given time period, for example, a year or a pay period” (Hutchinson, 2009). It provides an indication of what an average, fully competent person will be able to achieve (DPSA, 2008). The standards for full-time equivalents can be expressed in hours (1 800 per year on average in South Africa), capacity (for example, 25 students per lecturer), or volume (for example, 150 applications per day).



If we take, for example, an organisation with a work week of 40 hours, one person working 40 hours would be one FTE. If there are two employees that both work 20 hours in a week, that total is 40 hours, and this also represents one FTE. If one person works 40 hours and another works 20 in a week, this calculates to 1,5 FTEs. However, if one person works 60 hours, that also calculates to 1,5

– 178 –

Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers

FTEs (Hutchinson, 2009). If an organisation has a standard 35 hour week, the FTE calculation should be based on 35 hours.

Hutchinson (2009) provides the following example of how this calculation can assist a company in deciding what type of Workforce to put in place:

Two companies competing against each other may both have 500 employees. Company A uses a standard 40-hour week for all its employees, and therefore has 500 FTEs. Company B may hire many part time workers, so that they use only 400 FTEs. Wage rates being equal, salaries will be 20% less than Company A, and therefore the company can sell their goods or services at lower prices or make a higher income.



The DPSA (2008) provides an example of how to calculate a standard FTE:

Full-time equivalent variables

Standard per annum

Standard per month

Total working days

261 working days

21 working days (average)

Public holidays

11 calendar days

1 (average)

Total leave (non-productive days)

22 working days

1,8 working days (average)

Total productive potential (total – holidays

228 days

19 days (average)

Total hours available (days x 8 hours)

1 824 hrs

152 hrs

Productivity standard (based on

75%

75%

1 368 hrs

114 hrs (average)

– leave)

environmental, safety, legislative and skills variables, what is the potential productivity of the average worker?) Full-time equivalent (standard/norm) = (total hours available x productivity standard for the average worker)



The following process and template can be used to calculate the FTE for a specific talent segment (DPSA, 2008): •

Step 1: Map the process that needs to be executed to task level (process, procedure, task, activity).

•

Step 2: Identify and list all the tasks.

•

Step 3: Determine the effort (total number of hours) required to execute the recurring tasks over a calendar year.

– 179 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

Step 4: Calculate the total number of hours required to execute the process.

•

Step 5: Determine the number of positions required by dividing the number of hours by the FTE standard.

Procedure/task

Effort required

Frequency

to

(hourly, daily,

equivalent

complete the

weekly,

(total hours/FTE

tasks/

monthly, bi-

standard)

procedure in

monthly, etc)

Total hours p.a.

Full-time

hours 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.



If we use this template to calculate the FTE for a Personal Assistant, it could look as follows:

Procedure/task

Effort

Frequency

required to

(hourly,

equivalent

complete

daily,

(total hours/FTE

the tasks/

weekly,

standard)

procedure in

monthly,

hours

bimonthly,

Total hours p.a.

Full-time

etc.) 1

Diary

1 hour

Daily

management 2

Dealing with

1 hour

Daily

telephone

228 days × 1 hour =

228 hours/75% =

228 hours

171 hours

228 days × 1 hour =

228 hours/75% =

228 hours

171 hours

228 days × 1,5

342 hours/75% =

hours = 342 hours

256,5 hours

228 days × 2 hours

456 hours/75% =

= 456 hours

342 hours

queries 3 4

Filing Typing

1.5 hours 2 hours

Daily Daily

documents

– 180 –

Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers

5

Taking minutes

2 hours

Weekly

at meetings

32,5 working

65 hours/75% =

weeks per annum ×

48,75 hours

2 = 65 hours 6

Making

32,5 working

130 hours/75% =

logistical

4 hours

Weekly

weeks per annum ×

97,5 hours

arrangements

4 = 130 hours

for meetings, travel, etc. 7

8

Preparing

2 hours

32,5 working

65 hours/75% =

document

weeks per annum ×

48,75 hours

packs

2 = 65 hours

Ordering office

2 hours

Weekly

Monthly

supplies 9

Office

2 hours

Monthly

maintenance

12 months × 2 = 24

24 hours/75% = 18

Hours

hours

12 months × 2 = 24

24 hours/75% = 18

hours

hours Total:



1 171,5

The FTE standard that we have calculated is 1 368 hours, and in this example we calculated that the personal assistant will need 1 171,5 hours to complete his or her tasks, which means that we need an FTE of 0,85 for this role. This means that the role will not keep one person fully occupied all the time and we need to look at either expanding the role or using more flexible work arrangements.

25.5.2 Work synthesis The aim of this method is to determine the variance between the actual time and effort spent on a task and the suggested time and effort based on the job description and responsibilities (DPSA, 2008). This method is ppropriate for analysing non-repetitive, high-level work (DPSA, 2008). The following steps and template can be used to implement this method (DPSA, 2008): •

Step 1: List all the tasks the employee executes during a month.

•

Step 2: List the detailed activities for each task and determine the time spent on the different activities per day.

– 181 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

Step 3: Determine the frequency of activities per month and calculate the effort per month on a specific task (multiply hours by number of days).

•

Step 4: Determine the required effort either by asking the person, or by consulting the line manager or content expert or a combination of both. You can also use the FTE calculations or industry benchmarks.

•

Step 5: Determine the variance (V) by dividing the effort per month (E) by the required effort (RE).

The following template can be used (DPSA, 2008): Key

Detailed

Hours

Days per

Effort

Required

Variance

result

activities,

per

month

per

effort

V = (E)/

area

volume

day

(D)

month

per

(RE)

and

(H)

(E) = (H)

month

x (D)

(RE)

Tasks

frequency of these activities

In the following example we will use just one of the tasks in the Personal Assistant example used in section 25.5.1. The full table needs to be completed to get the total variance. It may be a good idea to complete the first six columns of this table as information for the FTE calculations, as they provide very detailed information.

– 182 –

Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers

Key

Detailed

Hours

Days

Effort

Required

Variance

result

activities,

per

per

per

effort per

V=(E)/(RE)

area

volume and

day

month

month

month

frequency

(H)

(D)

(E)=(H)

(RE)

Tasks

of these

x(D)

activities • Review new

Diary

Respond

manage-

to all new

meeting

ment

meeting

request

requests

• Check time

in electronic diary

1

20

20

Accord-

The total

hour

days

hours

ing to FTE

effort per

20 hours

month is

for diary

40 hours but

availability of

manage-

according

line manager

ment in

to the FTE

total

calculation

• Confirm all meeting

it should be

requests and

20. There is

requirements

therefore

with line

a variance

manager

of 20 hours

• Respond to

that will

requests Set-up

• Note that all

meeting

mandatory

requests

meetings to be

in

chaired by line

electronic

manager

diary

have to be 1

20

20

hour

days

hours

• Take note of ad hoc meetings requested by line manager • Liaise with relevant stakeholders to determine suitable times • Check times with line manager • Send meeting requests • Monitor responses from relevant stakeholders

– 183 –

investigated

Workforce Planning Toolkit

References Specific to Tool 26 University System of New Hampshire. Calculating FTE for Part‐Time/Full‐Time Temp/Casual Hourly and Salary Employees. [Online]. Available: http://www.usnh.edu/banner/cheat-sheets/active/ calculate%20FTE%20for%20Hourly%20&%20Salary%20Manual%20Method.pdf [Accessed 21 February 2011].

– 184 –

Tool 27 Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce 27.1 Introduction

The analysis of the current internal and external workforce can yield a myriad factors and information to consider. It is therefore important to create a structure for your organisation in order to present and prioritise the information. The structure will depend on the scope of the Workforce Planning effort, as well as the original rationale of why you embarked on the process.

27.2 The aim of Tool 27

The aim of Tool 27 is to provide an example of a structure that could be used to organise and present the information gathered about the external and internal workforce, with a further example of how the information could be interpreted and prioritised.

27.3 Description of Tool 27 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A template to record all the

• Record all the information that

At the end of the

data gathered during the

you have gathered to understand

information-gathering stage

phase where the internal

the external and internal

in order to understand the

and external workforce is

workforce on the template

situation with regard to

analysed. The template

provided

the internal and external

is followed with a risk

• Interpret the results and list

rating table to identify

on the template in the spaces

the most important risks

provided all the factors of

from the picture gained of

concern/challenges

the current internal and external workforce

• Take all these factors and score them on the risk table provided • Decide what to address as indicated on the risk matrix • Consider the time horizon when plotting risks • Use the highest-impact factors for scenario planning

– 185 –

workforce

Workforce Planning Toolkit

27.4 Links to other tools • Tool 19: Typical data that could be analysed regarding the internal and external workforce • Tool 20: Analysing the external labour market • Tool 21: Typical process for doing a skills audit • Tool 22: Identifying potential sources of employees • Tool 23: Prioritising the required competencies • Tool 24: Replacement risk assessment • Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce • Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers • Tool 41: Putting it all together: Analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

27.5 Tool 27: Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce

Depending on the scope of the Workforce Planning effort, you have gathered information on a specific talent segment, a specific unit in the organisation, or the whole organisation. This in turn will determine what data you will now use to populate this template. Understand current internal and external workforce Provide details with regard to the following: • Total number of employees currently per talent

–– Current number of employees –– Average age –– Annual voluntary turnover rates –– Average performance rating –– Average length of service

– 186 –

Total

African female Coloured female Indian female White female Male disabled Female disabled

White male

Indian male

• Some statistics

Coloured male

segment/organisation/unit African male

1

Tool 27: Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce

–– % of staff in talent segment/ organisation/unit (Readiness of talent segment/various

Developmental

Solid citizen –

Ready to

Immediately

readiness

developmental

move to

ready to

limited

readiness long-

next level in

move to

term

the next 12

next level

groups in organisation to move to next level/into

months

critical positions) 2

List all the critical roles

Role 1:

with “ready Immediately”

Role 2:

successors

Role 3: Role 4: Role 5:

3

What are the engagement

High

Medium

Low

levels on average in this talent segment/organisation/unit? Provide more detail to explain the answer to the above question.

4

Provide an overview of the current competency levels within the talent segment/ organisation/unit: • Formal qualifications • Adherence to minimum requirements for the role • Levels with regard to required training/ registration/accreditation • Competencies required and

Competency required

average competence levels

– 187 –

Average competency level

Workforce Planning Toolkit

5

What attraction, recruitment and on-boarding challenges are you currently experiencing with regard to this talent segment/organisation/unit?

6

What retention challenges are you currently experiencing with regard to this talent segment/organisation/unit?

7

Based on all the information reflected so far, highlight the five most important challenges regarding the current state of this talent segment/ organisation/unit

1 2 3 4 5

8

Are you currently using any contractors, temporary or part-time employees to fulfil a role within this critical talent segment/organisation/unit? If yes, provide a detailed description of the number, type, and demographic profile of this contingent workforce. If you are using a contingent workforce, what are the risk factors in this regard that need to be highlighted for Workforce Planning?

9

Is there a pool of employees internally that could be appointed in this role? If yes, provide a detailed description of the potential internal pool (s) of candidates: • Job titles • Number of potential candidates

– 188 –

Tool 27: Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce

• Competence levels • Demographic make-up e.g. average age, etc List the major challenges with regard to this internal pool being a potential source of candidates for the critical talent segment 10

List external pools from where candidates for the critical talent segment could be sourced Provide a detailed description of the potential external pool(s) of candidates • Job titles • Number of potential candidates • Competence levels • Demographic make-up e.g. average age, etc • Aspects that will attract and retain them in your organisation List the major challenges with regard to the external pool(s) being a potential source of candidates for the critical talent segment

11

What are all the workload drivers relevant in this talent segment/organisation/unit? Do the workload drivers indicate a current over- or under-supply in the workforce?

– 189 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

List each challenge/concern that you have highlighted and evaluate its risk by allocating the relevant number associated with the two factors pertaining to risk, namely likelihood of occurring and seriousness of impact: Concern/challenge

Column B

Column C

Column D

The likelihood that this

Seriousness of impact

Total score =

concern/challenge will

on achievement of

BxC

become a reality

organisational strategy should this factor not be addressed

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Scoring key:

Scoring key

5

Almost certain

5

Catastrophic

4

Likely

4

Major

3

Possible

3

Moderate

2

Unlikely

2

Minor

1

Rare

1

Insignificant

Use the following matrix to interpret the total scores by identifying the score on the matrix:

– 190 –

Tool 27: Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce

The likelihood

Seriousness of impact on achievement of organisational strategy should this

that this

factor not be addressed

concern/ challenge will become a reality Insignificant

Minor

Moderate

Major

Catastrophic

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Almost certain

M

H

H

E

E

(5)

(5)

(10)

(15)

(20)

(25)

Likely

M

M

H

E

E

(4)

(4)

(8)

(12)

(16)

(20)

Possible (3) Unlikely (2) Rare (1)

L

M

M

H

H

(3)

(6)

(9)

(12)

(15)

L

M

M

M

H

(2)

(4)

(6)

(8)

(10)

L

L

L

M

M

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Key to interpret level of risk:

E

Extreme risk – detailed action/plan required

H

High risk – needs senior management attention

M

Moderate risk – specify management responsibility

L

Low risk – manage by routine procedures

– 191 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

List all your concerns with a high to extreme risk and include them in your Workforce Plan so that you can develop strategies on how to address them. Challenge/concern with a high to extreme risk rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

– 192 –

SECTION 6: TOOLS TO USE DURING PHASE 4 – FUTURING Tool 28: Forecasting future work requirements Tool 29: Forecasting techniques Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model

– 193 –

Tool 28 Forecasting future work requirements 28.1 Introduction Forecasting future work requirements involves identifying the type of work that will need to be performed to meet future organisational goals, as well as how it will be performed (State Government of Victoria, 2006). This activity forms part of forecasting the demand regarding the workforce at a specific point in the future and the result is a forecast of the type of competencies, numbers, and locations of employees needed in the future. Some of the inputs to identify future work requirements for the organisation include: •

Organisational business plans, vision and mission statements

•

Scorecards and performance agreements

•

Current workforce profile (including competency levels, composition and numbers)

•

Information gathered during the analysis of the external environment.

The State Government of Victoria (2006) identified the following techniques for forecasting future workforce needs: Techniques

Description

When to use

Focus group

Small group facilitated discussion

In highly specialised fields, in order

enables anecdotal evidence to be

to gain information quickly

obtained Delphi technique

Employee surveys of intentions can

Best conducted on a regular basis to

help predict likely outcomes and

ascertain trends; high reliability

identify impending changes Survey

Draws together subject matter

In specialised areas, in order to obtain

experts and engages them in

input from senior stakeholders

assessing likely impacts and their assessments of future directions and trends

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Techniques

Description

When to use

Force field

Small group brainstorm force field

Significant external barriers present

analysis

analysis to identify forces that promote and resist change

Scenario planning

Narrative statements of possible

Lack of clarity and ambiguity of

futures for the organisation

future

Once you have identified the future work that needs to be done, you also have to identify what competencies employees will need to carry out the work. “Competencies can be defined organisationally or on an individual basis. Identifying competencies on an organisation basis provides a means of pinpointing the most critical for organisational success” (Queensland Government). The set of competencies that describes the ideal workforce of the future provides management and staff with a common understanding of the skills and behaviours that are important to the organisation.

28.2 The aim of Tool 28 The aim of Tool 28 is to provide a framework for investigating future work requirements in terms of the type of work that will be done and the competencies that will be needed to perform this work.

28.3 Description of Tool 28 What is it? A structure with three parts

How to use it • Keep all the information

When to use it It can be used as part of

where Part A consists of sets

gathered during the

creating the context, where

of questions to stimulate

previous pages at hand

the future vision for the

thinking about the nature of

• Read all the questions

company is translated into

future work. Part B consists of

• Select the questions that

workforce requirements, or

a list of questions to stimulate

are more relevant to your

as part of futuring, when you

thinking on the competencies

situation and provide

are forecasting future demand

that will be needed to

answers to them, using

in terms of numbers and

perform the future work. Part

the techniques mentioned

competencies

C allows you to consolidate

above, e.g. focus groups,

the information

Delphi technique, etc • Summarise the main insights from the above in the space provided in Part C

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Tool 28: Forecasting future work requirements

28.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 1: Determine the drivers for Workforce Planning

•

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 11: Determine scarce skills

•

Tool 12: Determine critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction

•

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

•

Tool 18: Translating strategic direction and internal/external factors into workforce requirements

•

Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers

•

Tool 27: Consolidation of information gathered on the internal and external workforce

28.5 Tool 28: Forecasting future work requirements 28.5.1 Part A: Identifying future work requirements The focus of this part of the tool is on the work the organisation must perform in future and on the staff needed to perform that work. The aim is to identify future or new functions that will need to be performed, and how the work will be performed in order to achieve the goals of your strategic plan. You may also identify current functions which will not be necessary in the future as a result of changes in technology or responsibility in providing specific services.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

• How will the organisation structure and design change to ensure the achievement of the future strategy? • What are the consequences or results of these changes? • What will be the reporting relationships? • How will divisions, work units, and jobs be designed? • How will work flow into and out of each part of the organisation? • Are you creating or expanding business lines or services? Are you eliminating or scaling back business lines or services? Are you consolidating or centralising functions? Decentralising functions? Will functions or people be relocated or redistributed? • Are you restructuring the work? Will your distribution of workload Changes in change? Will the use of overtime increase / decrease? Will work process organisation improvements change the division of labour in the organisation? • Will your workforce be restructured? Will there be a new ratio of managers design to employees? Will there be a new balance of generalists and specialists? • Have the units through which the service is delivered been identified – division, department, team? • Have the work load and work mix been identified for individual service units? • Has an assessment of the size and composition of the team needed to deliver the service/strategy been identified?

The work/ roles

Changes in the external environment

Internal changes

• What type of work will be done in the future? • How will this new work be performed? • How does this work differ from current work requirements? • Are job functions changing? Which current job functions and workforce competencies are critical to the mission and goals of the organisation? Which will no longer be required in 3 to 5 years? • What new job functions and competencies will be needed in 3 to 5 years? • What are the key tasks within the new service delivery model/strategy? • Have the activities been broken down into skills, time, individual or team? • Have the standards/competencies required been identified including links with other activities? • How are roles constructed including duties and responsibilities? • Have new roles been identified? • How will jobs and workload change as a result of: –– technological advancements, –– economic factors –– the social environment –– political conditions –– environmental factors –– legislation • Will new customer/stakeholder demands require new performance? • Will increased competition for skilled staff require new staffing strategies? • Are there any changes in management standards, work methods, or reorganisation? • Will budget cuts or revenue shortfalls require reductions in force and reorganisation? • Is your workforce profile (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity) changing how employees relate to each other and to customers? Figure 8: Identifying future work requirements

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Tool 28: Forecasting future work requirements

28.5.2 Part B: Listing future competencies

After determining the future work functions and how they will be performed, it is necessary to identify the competencies employees will need to carry out that work (Kentucky Government Agency). Competencies entail the knowledge, skills, and attributes that, taken together, are critical to successful work accomplishment. i)

Changed functions or roles In this section list all functions or roles that will still be needed in future, but with some changes:

Changed

Nature of

Knowledge that

Skills that will

Attributes that

functions or

change

will be needed

be needed to

will be needed

to execute this

execute this

to execute this

function or role

function or role

function or role

effectively

effectively

effectively

roles

ii) New functions or roles In this section list all the new functions or roles that will be needed in future: New functions

Description of

Knowledge that

Skills that will

Attributes that

or roles

functions or

will be needed

be needed to

will be needed

roles

to execute this

execute this

to execute this

function or role

function or role

function or role

effectively

effectively

effectively

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

iii) Obsolete functions or roles

In this section list all the functions or roles that will not be needed in future:

Obsolete

Reason why

Knowledge

Skills inherent in

Skills inherent in

functions or

function or roles

inherent in this

this function or

this function or

roles

will be obsolete

function or role

role that must

role that must

that must still

still be retained

still be retained

be retained in

in organisation

in organisation

organisation

iv) Future competencies

Consolidate the information above by listing the top ten competencies needed for the successful implementation of the organisation’s strategy in future:

Future competency and definition 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Tool 28: Forecasting future work requirements

28.5.3 Part C: Integrating your insights regarding future work requirements

Integrate your understanding of the future work requirements by summarising the current and future situations in the following table:

Factor

Current situation

Organisation structure Type of work Workload Number of employees Competency sets Location of work Other factors

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Future situation

Tool 29 Forecasting techniques 29.1 Introduction “Forecasting involves the generation of a number, set of numbers, or scenario that corresponds to a future occurrence. It is absolutely essential to shortrange and long-range planning. By definition, a forecast is based on past data, as opposed to a prediction, which is more subjective and based on instinct, gut feel, or guess. For example, the evening news gives the weather ‘forecast’, not the weather ‘prediction’. Regardless, the terms forecast and prediction are often used inter-changeably” (Inman, 2011). Kirkwood (2011) defines Futuring as follows: “Futuring is the field of using a systematic process for thinking about, picturing possible outcomes, and planning for the future. Futurists are people who actively view the present world as a window on possible future outcomes. They watch trends and try to envision what might happen”. The term “Futuring” is used by the Human Capital Institute (2010a), as well as Chapman (2007), to describe the future workforce that the organisation wants to target. Futuring is a broader concept than the forecasting traditionally done in Workforce Planning and enables the organisation to look at the future in four different ways: •

The Possible Future – what could happen

•

The Plausible Future – what could realistically happen

•

The Probable Future – what is likely to happen

•

The Preferred Future – what we want to happen (Human Capital Institute, 2010a).

By viewing the future from all these angles, the organisation can identify its preferred future workforce and start to plan for that. A crucial element of Workforce Planning is therefore to forecast the future supply and demand regarding the workforce. The techniques that could be used to gain a future view can be classified into two main groups: •

Qualitative/judgemental: These methods rely primarily on the subjective but informed analysis of the stakeholders involved in the Workforce Planning process. Some of the techniques that are used in

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

this regard include: focus groups, managerial judgement, the Delphi technique, scenario planning, visualisation, and storytelling (Human Capital Institute, 2010a). •



Quantitative/mathematical: These techniques tend to use past trends and include techniques such as trend analysis, ratio analysis, regression analysis, time series analysis, and linear programming. They could also include survey data and some predictive analytics. The quantitative approach has limitations in the sense that the organisation mainly forecasts based on what has already taken place. This negates factors that have not yet emerged and does not allow the organisation to explore alternative scenarios. It has to be supplemented by more qualitative and creative approaches to look at the future (Chapman, 2007).

It is best to use a combination of the two approaches, as both on their own have limitations. If, for example, you use only a quantitative method, you may do your forecast based only on what has happened in the past, without considering future scenarios.

29.2 The aim of Tool 29 The aim of Tool 29 is to provide a brief list of the different qualitative and quantitative methods that could be used to get a future view of the potential demand-and-supply situation regarding the workforce.

29.3 Description of Tool 29 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A summary of the different

• Review the different

When you are forecasting

methods to get a future view of the workforce, categorised

methods

or developing a future view

• Gather more information

regarding the demand and

according to qualitative/

on each method by either

supply of the workforce, and

judgemental methods and

consulting a statistics

you have to design your own

quantitative/ mathematical

textbook or searching on

forecasting models

methods

the Internet • Select the methods that suit your organisation’s situation best

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Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

29.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process

•

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

•

Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model

29.5 Tool 29: Forecasting techniques 29.5.1 Qualitative/judgemental methods Method

Description

Polling

Kirkwood (2011) defines polling as a method that involves consulting with others, preferably experts, who are knowledgeable on the topic in question. It consists of a series of questions to elicit responses that are then collated to determine what the overall perception of the group is. This is best performed when the participants cannot interact with each other and bias their answers.

Gaming

“Gaming is a method of possible events where participants are placed in mock situations and are expected to make actual decisions based on the information and actions that are happening around them. Gaming possible events and situations with computer simulations is becoming more popular. Gaming assists with understanding how people will react in their roles and what possible outcomes of a given situation might be” (Kirkwood, 2011).

The Delphi technique

This technique uses a panel of experts to produce a forecast. Each expert is asked to provide a forecast specific to the need at hand. After the initial forecasts are made, each expert reads what every other expert has written and is, of course, influenced by their views. A subsequent forecast is then made by each expert. Each expert then reads again what every other expert wrote and is again influenced by the perceptions of the others. This process repeats itself until each expert nears agreement on the needed scenario or numbers (Inman, 2011).

The nominal group technique

This technique is similar to the Delphi technique in that it utilises a group of participants, usually experts. After the participants respond to forecastrelated questions, they rank their responses in order of perceived relative importance. Then the rankings are collected and aggregated. Eventually, the group should reach consensus regarding the priorities of the ranked issues (Inman, 2011).

Visioning

According to Kirkwood (2011), many futurists use the visioning method not only to forecast, but to encourage potential futures. Visioning involves discussing and creating preferred futures. The result of visioning is a plan of action for following through with the ideas that are generated.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Method

Description

Sales force opinions

According to Inman (2011), the sales staff is often a good source of information regarding future demand. The sales manager may ask for input from each sales-person and aggregate their responses into a sales force composite forecast. Inman (2011) does, however, indicate that caution should be exercised when using this technique, as the members of the sales force may not be able to distinguish between what customers say and what they actually do. Also, if the forecasts will be used to establish sales quotas, the sales force may be tempted to provide lower estimates.

Bringing the future to the present

This entails looking ahead to the future and painting a picture of what you want to have happen (Kirkwood, 2011).

Executive opinion

Sometimes upper-level managers meet and develop forecasts based on their knowledge of their areas of responsibility. This is sometimes referred to as a “jury of executive opinion” (Inman, 2011).

Experience hitchhiking

This involves gaining experience by “hitchhiking” with people who have gone through similar experiences already (Kirkwood, 2011).

Formal research

In formal research, surveys are used to establish potential workforce supply and demand. Such research usually involves constructing a questionnaire that solicits demographic, economic, and other information. Organisations usually appoint an external organisation to conduct the research.

Scenarios

Kirkwood (2011) states that scenarios are recognised as an effective method for forecasting the future and are beneficial in forecasting because they deal with the uncertainty of a situation. Scenario creation focuses on identifying what may happen. This allows for analysing the problem and determining what the consequences may be in light of the information available and in light of our own reactions to possible events. “Futurists often use five different variations of scenario building: (1) Continuation – things will continue much as they are now; (2) Optimistic – things will get considerably better; (3) Pessimistic – things will get considerably worse; (4) Disaster – things will go terribly wrong; and (5) Miracle – things going stunningly well” (Kirkwood, 2011).

29.5.2 Quantitative/mathematical methods

Categories of qualitative/mathematical methods There are two categories of qualitative/mathematical methods, namely: i)

Time series forecasts: This entails a projection of the past into the future. According to Inman, 2011), time-series data may have underlying behaviours

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Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

that need to be identified by the forecaster. In addition, the forecaster may need to identify the causes of the behaviour. Some of these behaviours may be patterns or simply random variations. Among the patterns are (Inman, 2011):



•

Trends, which are long-term movements (up or down) in the data

•

Seasonality, which produces short-term variations which are usually related to the time of year, or month, or even a particular day, as witnessed by retail sales at Christmas or the spikes in banking activity on the first of the month and on Fridays

•

Cycles, which are wavelike variations lasting more than a year that are usually tied to economic or political conditions

•

Irregular variations, which do not reflect typical behaviour, such as a period of extreme weather or a union strike

•

Random variations, which encompass all non-typical behaviours not accounted for by the other classifications.

There are various types of time series forecasting methods, based on the patterns mentioned above:

Method

Description

The naïve forecast

A naïve forecast simply uses the actual demand for the past period as the forecasted demand for the next period based on the assumption that the past will repeat in exact the same way. It also assumes that any trends, seasonality, or cycles are either reflected in the previous period’s demand or do not exist (Inman, 2011).

Averaging

To make a forecast using averaging, one simply takes the average of some number of periods of past data by summing each period and dividing the result by the number of periods. This technique has been found to be very effective for short-range forecasting (Inman, 2011).

Simple moving

The moving average technique forecasts demand by calculating an average

average

of actual demands from a specified number of prior periods. A moving average takes a predetermined number of periods, sums their actual demand, and divides by the number of periods to reach a forecast. For each subsequent period, the oldest period of data drops off and the latest period is added (Inman, 2011).

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Method

Description

Weighted average

A weighted average applies a predetermined weight to each month of past data, sums the past data from each period, and divides by the total of the weights. Generally, the more recent the data, the higher the weight, and the older the data, the smaller the weight (Inman, 2011).

Weighted moving

A weighted moving average is a moving average where each historical

average

demand may be weighted differently.

Exponential

Exponential smoothing gives greater weight to demand in more recent

smoothing

periods, and less weight to demand in earlier periods. According to Inman (2011), exponential smoothing is expressed formulaically: New forecast (F) = previous forecast (F) + α (actual demand (A) – previous forecast (F)).

Double

When time-series data exhibit a linear trend, the forecasting technique

exponential

must consider the trend as well as the series average. Ignoring the trend

smoothing

will cause the forecast always to be below (with an increasing trend) or above (with a decreasing trend) actual demand.

Additive and

There are two versions, multiplicative and additive, with the multiplicative

multiplicative

being the most widely used. In the additive model, seasonality is expressed

seasonal method

as a quantity to be added to or subtracted from the series average. The multiplicative model expresses seasonality as a percentage – known as a seasonal relative or seasonal index – of the average (or trend). These are then multiplied times values in order to incorporate seasonality. A relative of 0,8 would indicate demand that is 80% of the average, while 1,10 would indicate demand that is 10% above the average (Inman, 2011).

Markov Analysis

According to (Business Dictionary.com), the Markov analysis is a statistical technique used in forecasting the future behaviour of a variable or system whose current state or behaviour does not depend on its state or behaviour at any time in the past in other words, it is random. For example, in the flipping of a coin, the probability of a flip coming up heads is the same regardless of whether the previous result was heads or tails. In accounting, Markov analysis is used in estimating bad debt or uncollectable accounts receivable. In marketing, it is used in modelling future brand loyalty of consumers based on their current rate of purchases and repurchases.

ii) Associative or causal techniques



Associative or causal techniques involve the identification of variables that can be used to predict another variable of interest. For example, the number of customers may be used to forecast the demand for customer care employees.

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Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

Method

Description

Linear regression

Dizikes (2010) states that this method describes an unchanging

analysis

relationship between two (and not more) phenomena. As an example, Dizikes uses the question whether there is a connection between the time high school students spend doing French homework, and the grades they receive. These types of data can be plotted as points on a graph, where the x-axis is the average number of hours per week a student studies, and the y-axis represents exam scores out of 100. Together, the data points will typically scatter about on the graph. Regression analysis creates the single line that best summarises the distribution of points. Mathematically, the line representing a simple linear regression is expressed through a basic equation: Y = a0 + a1 X. Here X is the number of hours spent studying per week, the “independent variable”. Y is the exam scores, the “dependent variable”, since – we believe – those scores depend on the amount of time spent studying. Additionally, a0 is the y-intercept (the value of Y when X is zero), and a1 is the slope of the line, characterising the relationship between the two variables (Dizikes, 2010).

Multiple regression

If there is more than one predictor variable or if the relationship between

analysis

predictor and forecast is not linear, simple linear regression will be inadequate. In situations with multiple predictors, multiple regression should be employed.

Polynomial

“In statistics, polynomial regression is a form of linear regression in which

regression

the relationship between the independent variable x and the dependent variable y is modeled as an nth order polynomial. Polynomial regression fits a nonlinear relationship between the value of x and the corresponding conditional mean of y, denoted E(y|x), and has been used to describe nonlinear phenomena such as the growth rate of tissues, the distribution of carbon isotopes in lake sediments, and the progression of disease epidemics. Although polynomial regression fits a nonlinear model to the data, as a statistical estimation problem it is linear, in the sense that the regression function E(y|x) is linear in the unknown parameters that are estimated from the data. For this reason, polynomial regression is considered to be a special case of multiple linear regression” (Wikipedia. com).

Curvilinear

Non-linear relationships call for the use of curvilinear regression. That is

regression

where you employ some models that use regression to fit curves instead of straight lines. To use curvilinear regression analysis, you test several polynomial regression equations (http://www.analytictech.com/ba762/ handouts/curvi-web.html).

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Method

Description

Econometric

“Econometric methods, such as the autoregressive integrated moving-

methods

average model (ARIMA), use complex mathematical equations to show past relationships between demand and variables that influence the demand. An equation is derived and then tested and fine-tuned to ensure that it is as reliable a representation of the past relationship as possible. Once this is done, projected values of the influencing variables (income, prices, etc) are inserted into the equation to make a forecast“ (Inman, 2011).

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Tool 30 Scenario-building template and process 30.1 Introduction

According to Chapman (2007) getting a future view of the workforce has three components, namely: •

Quantitative futuring, where the organisation is gaining an understanding of the future towards which it is currently heading – the organisation’s “No Change Future State” – by forecasting

•

Qualitative futuring, which involves mainly scenario planning to map potential alternative futures in terms of capabilities and demographics to deliver the business strategy

•

Analysing the content of the futuring process and fine-tuning it to define a Targeted Future.



“Scenario building is a way of thinking about and preparing for alternative future environments. Scenarios provide pictures, or visions, of what the future could hold. The analysis should include an assessment of the likelihood and potential impact of the various scenarios and draw out implications and potential actions for the organization” (Connelly, Cranko, Ford, McGee & Meher, 2004). These authors state that the process of scenario building can be qualitative and/or quantitative.



If you want to develop scenarios, you first must identify the key issues and trends in the external environment. These key issues and trends are used to identify the major factors that may drive possible alternative scenarios. The identified issues and trends are used to underpin the construction of various scenarios. The scenario development process concludes by reviewing the consequences of each scenario for the organisation and identifying possible remedial/opportunistic actions.

30.2 The aim of Tool 30

The aim of Tool 30 is to describe the steps followed in building scenarios and to provide the templates used during scenario building.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

30.3 Description of Tool 30 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A description of the steps

• Review the steps and

During the Futuring phase

activities in each step

as part of doing qualitative

followed in scenario-building with the three templates

• Follow the steps

(Scenario Matrix, scenario

• Use the templates as

description table and risk

futuring

indicated in each step

analysis matrix ) that are used during the process

30.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

•

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

30.5 Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process 30.5.1 Steps in building scenarios

The steps in building scenarios can be depicted as follows (Human Capital Institute, 2010a; Connelly et al, 2004):

Create the

Plan the

Develop the

Determine

context

framework

story

impact

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

• Use the key

• Identify the

• Analyse the factors

• Map the scenarios

internal and

common factors

and assumptions

on a risk matrix

external factors

(strategic and

of each scenario

(see template

identified during

business initiatives)

in workshops and

the creation of

that must be

desk-based analysis

context phase

addressed in each

• Discuss possible ways in which the

• Developed

scenario • Describe different

the desired future

based on:

state for the

–– Quantitative

organisation

combinations of

may develop

outcomes, using

analysis – prepare

and impact the

the common

future projections

organisation and

factors identified

of historical trends

related ideas

– 212 –

that represents

scenarios should be

key issues identified

cluster together

below) • Select the scenario

Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process

Create the

Plan the

Develop the

Determine

context

framework

story

impact

Step 1

Step 2

• Probe each of the

• Using the different

–– Qualitative

priority issues

combinations of

analysis –

trends of the key

with 'what if?'

outcomes in the

examine, trends,

forces driving

questions.

matrix, outline

and new and

high-risk scenarios

3–4 rough pictures

emergent issues

are tracked by

about the future

and their possible

the organisation

impacts

to ensure that

• Select 2 or 3 key underlying drivers of change that

Step 3

• Give each quadrant

• The scenario

Step 4 • Ensure that the

could drive future

on the matrix

scenarios

a name that

narrative should:

future state is

characterises the

–– Describe the

achieved and

• Identify different possible outcomes

situation

scenario

–– Identify

for each factor • Plot on a Scenario

impacts on the

the desired

that undesirable futures are prevented

organisation and

Matrix (see

strategy execution

template below)

–– Identify 3 to 5 workforce impacts –– Tell a story • Capture the stories on the scenario description table • Review and revise the scenarios • Discuss implications and potential actions for the organisation Figure 9: Steps in building scenarios

30.5.2 Scenario Matrix template

Plot the selected factors from the external and internal analysis on a matrix to identify four potential scenarios. The Human Capital Institute (2010a) suggests that you use one unknown factor from the external environment (for example, growth in social media) and one unknown factor from the internal environment (for example, virtual work) to plot on the matrix.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Factor 1

Scenario 2

Scenario 3

Scenario 4

Factor 2

Factor 2

Scenario 1

Factor 1 Figure 10: Scenario Matrix template

30.5.3 Scenario description table Capture the narrative that you develop regarding each scenario, as well as its implications in the table below. Table 4: Scenario description table Scenario name

Change drivers/

Implications

Potential

underlying

Description

for the

actions by the

assumptions

organisation

organisation

1 2 3 4

30.5.4 Risk analysis impact matrix

Plot each scenario on the following matrix, based on the likelihood that the scenario will happen in future, as well as the seriousness of the impact on the organisation should the scenario be realised.

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Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process

Scenario to be addressed

Likelihood of occurring

High

Medium

Low Low

Medium

High

Seriousness of impact

Figure 6.4: Risk analysis impact matrix

Reference Specific to Tool 30 Netmba. Scenario Planning. [Online]. Available: [Accessed 16 March 2011].

– 215 –

http://www.netmba.com/strategy/scenario/

Tool 31 Example of scenario building and selection 31.1 Introduction

The building of various scenarios provides an opportunity to create a more vivid and creative background for thinking how to act in the future. In essence scenarios are descriptions of your organisation’s visions of the future and they reflect the relevant stakeholders’ assumptions, personal and group beliefs about the future. The advantage of group-generated scenarios is that they can help the various stakeholders to achieve consensus about the future.

31.2 The aim of Tool 31

The aim of Tool 31 is to apply practically the steps and templates provided in Tool 30 in order to present an example of scenario building. Please note that this example is not exhaustive and has been developed to give you a basic idea of the process to be followed.

31.3 Description of Tool 31 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

An example of how the

• Review the process and

During the Futuring phase

content of the example

as part of doing qualitative

scenario planning process can be approached and the relevant templates utilised

• Use the process and

futuring

templates in Tool 30 to build scenarios for your own organisation

31.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

•

Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process

31.5 Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection 31.5.1 Step 1: Create the context

As part of the earlier stages of Workforce Planning, you have identified

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

and prioritised certain external and internal factors of importance to the planning of your organisation’s workforce to achieve strategic objectives now and in the future. For the sake of this exercise, let’s assume that you are working at a commercial bank and have identified and prioritised the following top ten factors:



•

An increased focus on banking self-service

•

A specific strategic focus by the bank to understand your customers better and to resolve their issues via a “one-call only” system

•

A large number of IT systems projects with limited life-spans designed to operationalise these focus areas

•

The lack of female representation at the senior levels

•

Turnover very high in IT (< two years’ service)

•

Skill shortages worldwide in IT applications development

•

Women make up 60,1% of all tertiary students qualifying in Information technology

•

Proposed legislation changes the definition of employees. Most independent contractors’ status will change to that of employee with a right to the same benefits as those of full-time employees

•

Technology (especially mobile banking) is changing the way you do work

•

Work design trends – work/life, remote workers, off-shoring, etcetera.

The next step is group-related ideas which, taken together, may cause change in the environment or organisation. We can, for example, cluster the following factors together:

Cluster

Factors

1

•

An increased focus on banking self-service

•

A specific strategic focus by the bank to understand customers better and to resolve their issues via a “one-call only” system

•

A large number of IT systems projects with limited life-spans designed to operationalise these focus areas

•

Turnover very high in IT (< two years’ service)

•

Skill shortages worldwide in IT applications development

•

Work design trends – work/life, remote workers, off-shoring, etc

– 218 –

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

Cluster

Factors

2

•

The lack of female representation at the senior levels

•

Women make up 60,1% of all tertiary students qualifying in banking related qualifications

•

3

Proposed legislation changes definition of employees. Most independent contractors’ status will change to that of employee with right to same benefits as full-time employees

•

A large number of IT systems projects with limited life-spans designed to operationalise these focus areas



•

Work design trends – work/life, remote workers, off-shoring, etc

•

Turnover very high in IT (< two years’ service)

In this example there are quite a few factors that could drive future scenarios, for example: •

In cluster 1, the fact that the bank will rely more heavily on selfservice means that there will be a great need to develop the appropriate software applications to allow this to happen, but this may be impacted on by a shortage of the right IT staff.

•

In cluster 2 there seems to be an opportunity, with female staff becoming more available.

•

In cluster 3, the proposed legislation could have a negative impact on the need of the bank to use more contingent labour to complete time-specific IT projects, as the legislation will make it very difficult to employ independent contractors for shortterm contracts (6–12 months).



The next step is to map two priority factors (preferably one external and one internal) on the scenario matrix. The factors on the two axes must be independent of each other, because if one depends on the other, this invalidates the scenario logic. Two possible outcomes must be identified for each factor. The various combinations in the four boxes depict the key elements of possible scenarios. It may be necessary to complete the scenario matrix for some of the factors in all the clusters, to cover all the possible scenarios triggered by the internal and external factors identified.



In this example, a brainstorming session identified two areas of uncertainty for the bank, with the potential to produce quite different futures: regulatory intent, and staffing preferences. The scenarios will

– 219 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

emerge from a process of describing preferred and non-preferred worlds. This is represented on the scenario matrix, juxtaposing the two key factors in terms of labour legislation on the vertical axis, and staffing preferences on the horizontal axis. Factor 1: Legislation facilitates the use of independent contractors

Factor 2: The bank appoints several independent contractors to complete the large number of IT projects

Factor 2: The bank appoints more full-time staff to implement the large number of IT projects

Factor 1: Legislation prohibits the use of independent contractors Figure 12: Scenario Matrix, identifying areas of uncertainty

31.5.2 Step 2: Plan the framework



Now that you have plotted the two factors on the scenario matrix, it is necessary to identify the common factors (strategic and business initiatives) that must be addressed in each scenario. In this example, we would like each scenario to address: •

Cost-effectiveness

•

Staff engagement

•

Knowledge management.

Next, you need to describe the different combinations of outcomes, using the factors identified above, for example, a combination of Factor 1 (legislation prohibits the use of independent contractors) and Factor 2 (the bank appoints more full-time staff to implement the large number of IT projects) can be described as follows: •

This is not cost effective, as the bank may have to pay high attraction bonuses to get qualified staff and will have to pay full benefits to permanent employees.

– 220 –

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection



•

Staff engagement will initially be high, but may be affected once the project is complete and staff has to be re-deployed or retrenched.

•

Knowledge management will be effective, as permanent staff must adhere to knowledge transfer policy and procedure and capture all information on the system.

Using the different combinations of outcomes in the matrix, outline four rough pictures about the future for each quadrant. Give each quadrant a name that characterises the scenario. For example, the scenario above could be called “the corporate citizen”. The completed matrix will then look as follows:

The traditional corporate citizen

The agile corporate citizen:

• Not as cost effective as bank may have to pay high attraction bonuses to get qualified staff and will have to pay full benefits to permanent employees. Also not cost effective as bank has long-term commitment to employees and will have to re-train, re-deploy or retrench

• Cost effective as bank sources independent contractors at reasonable rate; does not have to pay attraction bonuses; pays only for services delivered. Once project is complete, no obligation to independent contractors

• Staff engagement will initially be high, but may be affected once project is completed and staff has to be re-deployed/retrenched

• Knowledge management by contractors usually not a priority. May not transfer knowledge

• Engagement from contractors usually high

• Knowledge management will be effective as permanent staff must adhere to knowledge transfer policy and procedure and capture all information on system The corporate citizen: • Not as cost effective as bank may have to pay high attraction bonuses to get qualified staff and will have to pay full benefits to permanent employees. Cost effective in the sense that bank adheres to labour legislation and will not have to pay fines • Staff engagement will initially be high, but may be affected once project is completed and staff has to be re-deployed or retrenched • Knowledge management will be effective as permanent staff must adhere to knowledge transfer policy and procedure and capture all information on system

The corporate anarchist: • Cost effective as bank sources independent contractors at reasonable rate; does not have to pay attraction bonuses; pays only for services delivered. May, however, be in trouble with the Department of Labour. May have to pay fines. May also have obligations to independent contractor once project is completed • Engagement from contractors usually high • Knowledge management by contractors usually not a priority. May not transfer knowledge

Factor 1: Legislation prohibits the use of independent contractors Figure 13: Completed Scenario Matrix

– 221 –

Factor 2: The bank appoints several independent contractors to complete the large number of IT Projects

Factor 2: The bank appoints more full-time staff to implement the large number of IT projects

Factor 1: Legislation facilitates the use of independent contractors

Workforce Planning Toolkit

3.5.3 Develop the story

Capture the details that you develop regarding each scenario, as well as their implications, in a table like the one below:

1

Scenario name

Change drivers/ underlying assumptions

Description

Implications for the organisation

Potential actions by the organisation

The corporate citizen

Adherence to restrictive labour legislation by employing permanent employees

The bank complies with restrictive labour legislation and employs permanent employees to work on the projects with a limited life-span. Once the projects are complete, the bank sits with a problem in terms of an over-supply of staff

• Not as cost effective as bank may have to pay high attraction bonuses to get qualified staff and will have to pay full benefits to permanent employees.

• Investigate legitimate outsourcing/ insourcing

• Cost effective in the sense that bank adheres to labour legislation and will not have to pay fines • Staff engagement will initially be high, but may be affected once project is complete and staff has to be re-deployed/retrained/ retrenched • Knowledge management will be effective as permanent staff must adhere to knowledge transfer policy and procedure and capture all information on system

– 222 –

• Lobby government to change labour legislation • Change recruitment practices to employ multi-skilled individuals

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

2

3

Scenario name

Change drivers/ underlying assumptions

Description

Implications for the organisation

Potential actions by the organisation

The corporate anarchist

Non-adherence to restrictive labour legislation by ignoring the implications regarding the definition of employee

The bank decides to ignore the definition of employee in the new labour legislation and employs independent contractors to complete the projects. After the projects, the bank sits with potential labour disputes as contractors claim the same benefits as permanent employees

• Cost effective as bank sources independent contractors at reasonable rate; does not have to pay attraction bonuses; pays only for services delivered

• Lobby government to change labour legislation

The new labour legislation incorporates feedback on the use of independent contractors and incorporates features that do not penalise an organisation for utilising contingent labour. The bank leverages this legislation and employs independent contractors to complete the projects

• Cost effective as bank sources independent contractors at reasonable rate; does not have to pay attraction bonuses; pays only for services delivered

The agile corporate citizen

Facilitative labour legislation allowing flexible staffing

• May, however, be in trouble with the Department of Labour • May have to pay fines. • May also have obligations to independent contractor once project is completed • Engagement from contractors usually high • Knowledge management by contractors usually not a priority

• Investigate alternative ways of sourcing projects • Create Service Level Agreements with contractors to ensure knowledge transfer

• May not transfer knowledge

• Once project is completed no obligation to independent contractors • Engagement from contractors usually high • Knowledge management by contractors usually not a priority. • May not transfer knowledge

– 223 –

• Leverage flexible staffing options • Create Service Level Agreements with contractors to ensure knowledge transfer

Workforce Planning Toolkit

4

Scenario name

Change drivers/ underlying assumptions

Description

Implications for the organisation

Potential actions by the organisation

The traditional corporate citizen

Facilitative labour legislation, but a staffing policy that is non-responsive to the opportunities provided by such legislation

The organisation does not utilise the flexibility of independent contractors and continues to employ permanent workers

• Not as cost effective, as bank may have to pay high attraction bonuses to get qualified staff and will have to pay full benefits to permanent employees

• Re-assess current employment practices

• Also not cost effective as bank has long-term commitment to employees and will have to re-train, re-deploy or retrench • Staff engagement will initially be high, but may be affected once project is complete and staff has to be re-deployed/ retrenched • Knowledge management will be effective as permanent staff must adhere to knowledge transfer policy and procedure and capture all information on system

31.5.4 Determine impact

Plot each scenario on the following matrix, based on the likelihood that the scenario will happen in future, as well as the seriousness of the impact on the organisation should the scenario be realised.

– 224 –

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

The corporate

Likelihood of occurring

High

citizen

Medium

The traditional

The agile corporate

corporate citizen

citizen

The corporate

Low

anarchist

Low

Medium

High

Seriousness of impact

Figure 14: Determination of impact

This means that the bank should implement the actions identified to address the “corporate citizen” scenario.

– 225 –

Tool 32 Example of a quantitative forecasting model 32.1 Introduction

“Simply put, workforce planning is about forecasting your current and future staffing needs in relation to your strategic business objectives, then addressing matters relating to the supply of labour, for example, are there candidates with the skills you require available? The final step is to get the right balance between labour demand and supply, so that you have the right number of employees, with the right skills, at the right time” (Rayner, 2011).



Labour demand forecasting identifies the quantity and quality of employee skill sets needed to meet strategic goals, while labour supply forecasting identifies the availability of staff required. Labour demand-and-supply forecasting is crucial as the organisation does not want a surplus of employees who are not being fully and effectively deployed, nor does it want a shortage of employees, which results in reduced productivity, performance and profitability (Rayner, 2011).

32.2 The aim of Tool 32

Tool 32 aims to illustrate the use of a quantitative forecasting model to analyse the supply of employees at a specific point in time.

32.3 Description of Tool 32 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A practical example of how

• Review the example

As part of the futuring phase

to do a basic internal supply

• Use a specific talent

in order to forecast internal

forecast to illustrate the basic

segment in your own

elements of the forecast

organisation to test the

model

model for application in your organisation

32.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

•

Tool 30: Scenario-building template and process

– 227 –

supply

Workforce Planning Toolkit

32.5 Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model

A basic forecasting model to determine the potential internal supply of staff in a particular talent segment could be depicted as follows: Current staffing levels

Minus

Projected outflow

Plus

Projected inflow

Projected internal labour supply

Figure 15: Basic forecasting model



For this example, we will use a specific talent segment in an organisation, namely the Chemical Engineers at Organisation X. The current total of Chemical Engineers in Organisation X is 100, and the forecast is that this number will be ideal to deal with the future workload, too. We will do only a twelve-month projection in this example.



The projected outflow is determined by examining the following:





•

The number of promotions that take place from this pool on average per annum

•

The number of voluntary terminations (resignations) on average per annum

•

The number of demotions on average per annum

•

The number of involuntary terminations (death, retrenchment, dismissal) on average per annum

•

The number of people eligible for retirement in the year of projection

•

The number of transfers out of the pool on average per annum.

The projected inflow is determined by examining the following: •

The projected number of transfers (based on history or the strategic plans of Organisation X) into this pool of Chemical Engineers

•

The projected number of promotions to this pool (based on historical averages or real plans for the year of projection)

•

The projected number of new appointments, based on historical averages.

All of this information will now be captured in the following table:

– 228 –

Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model

Current staffing levels

Projected –

Projected outflow

+

Projected inflow

=

internal labour supply

100

%

No

%

No

Promotions

4

4

Transfers in

1

1

Voluntary

12

12

Promotions to

1

1

0

0

New

12

12

14

14

91

terminations Demotions

appointments Involuntary

1

1

Retirement

5

5

Transfers out

1

1

23

23

terminations



The projected internal labour supply for mechanical engineers for the planned twelve-month period is 91. We arrive at that by subtracting the total of 23 from the projected outflow from a 100. That gives us a total of 77. We then add the 14 from the projected inflow to 77 to get to the total of 91. This means that Organisation X will have a shortfall of nine Chemical Engineers, as the total of 100 represents the ideal size of the talent pool.



This model can now be taken further by adding information from the projected external labour supply. For the projected external labour supply, Organisation X considered the following sources: •

Graduates from University

•

Passive candidates with whom the organisation keeps contact via professional organisations and social media.



If there are not many candidates available in these sources, Organisation X will have to put in specific actions to find more talent from alternative sources. If, however, these sources can provide an adequate number of potential candidates, Organisation X will put in a special effort to mine these sources.



You will find a useful Excel template at http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/ capitalambition/projects/workforcestrategy/workforceplanning.htm, which consolidates all the internal information which will enable you to do demandand-supply forecasting.

– 229 –

SECTION 7: TOOLS FOR USE DURING PHASE 5 – GAP ANALYSIS Tool 33: Gap analysis criteria Tool 34: Gap prioritisation Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps

– 231 –

Tool 33 Gap analysis criteria 33.1 Introduction

The gap analysis stage of the Workforce Planning process takes place once the organisation has a good understanding of the future workforce that is required, as well as a comprehensive picture of the current situation regarding the internal and external workforce. The difference between the future state and the current state represents the gap. A gap could therefore reflect an actual difference or a forecast difference. Examples of gaps are where the projected supply of the right skills is less than the forecasted demand (a shortfall) or where the projected supply is greater than the projected demand (a surplus). In addition to these quantitative gaps, there could be several gaps that could be described in qualitative terms, for example, engagement levels, the type of competencies required, strategic alignment, etcetera. Your organisation will need to decide what criteria (based on your strategy and desired future) to use to determine the gaps.

33.2 The aim of Tool 33

The aim of Tool 33 is to suggest some criteria that could be used to analyse the gaps between the current state and the ideal future state with regard to the workforce.

33.3 Description of Tool 33 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A table with suggested criteria

• Select the criteria that

During the gap analysis phase

and space to describe the

are relevant to your

when identifying the gaps to

situation in your organisation

organisation (based on the

be addressed in Workforce

rationale for Workforce

Planning

Planning and your strategic objectives) by ticking a yes/ no in the relevant columns • For the selected criteria indicate the difference you find between current and future state

– 233 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

33.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 2: Clarify the rationale for the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction

•

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

•

Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model

33.5 Tool 33: Gap analysis criteria

Select the criteria that you want to use to describe the difference between the current state and the future state and then describe the findings from your comparison of the current state against the projected and desired future state: Criteria

Relevant?

What difference did you find between current or

Yes

forecast “no change” future state and the targeted or

No

ideal future state regarding this criterion? Current state/

Targeted

The

Define

Forecast

future

difference

the gap

“no change”

state

future state Ideal number of employees, e.g. the

Projected

Projected

projected demand versus

supply

Demand

the projected supply Qualifications, e.g. the qualifications needed to achieve strategic objectives versus the current qualifications Competencies, e.g. the current competency levels versus the required competency levels Engagement levels, e.g. the current engagement levels versus the required engagement levels

– 234 –

Tool 33: Gap analysis criteria

Criteria

Relevant?

What difference did you find between current or

Yes

forecast “no change” future state and the targeted or

No

ideal future state regarding this criterion? Current state/

Targeted

The

Define

Forecast

future

difference

the gap

“no change”

state

future state Attraction difficulty, e.g. how difficult will it be to attract the right candidates in light of the investigation of the external labour market? Retention difficulty, e.g. what is the current turnover rate versus the ideal? Employment Equity representation in terms of: • Race • Gender • Disability (Current and projected levels versus required levels) Ready-now successors, e.g. current percentage of ready-now successors versus the required percentage Retirement, e.g. how many people are projected to retire in the next 5 to 10 years, and what type of gaps will that leave?

– 235 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Criteria

Relevant?

What difference did you find between current or

Yes

forecast “no change” future state and the targeted or

No

ideal future state regarding this criterion? Current state/

Targeted

The

Define

Forecast

future

difference

the gap

“no change”

state

future state Critical talent segments, e.g. is there a shortage or surplus of candidates in the selected segments, based on the analysis? Number of candidates available at certain levels in the organisation Other, as applicable to your organisation

– 236 –

Tool 34 Gap prioritisation 34.1 Introduction

According to the Human Capital Institute (2010a), not all the gaps identified during Workforce Planning are equal, and not all gaps need to be closed. It is therefore necessary to prioritise the gaps in terms of their importance and impact on the achievement of the organisation’s strategy. Once the gaps have been prioritised, you should determine the root cause for the gaps, as this information will help to identify the most suitable strategies to address the gaps.

34.2 The aim of Tool 34

Tool 34 aims to provide a structure for determining the priority status of defined gaps so as to inform decisions of what to include in the Workforce Plan, as well as the timeframe for planning in addressing the gaps.

34.3 Description of Tool 34 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A decision table

• Write all the defined gaps in the first column of the

During the gap

with scores allocated to certain aspects

table

analysis phase

• Indicate the current and/or projected future state in column 2

when prioritising the identified

of the decisions,

• Capture the desired future state in column 3

difference

adding up to a

• Determine the size of the difference between the

between the

total score that is

current/projected state and the desired future state

current/projected

then interpreted

and indicate in column 4 as being small, medium or

future states and

by using a guide

large, with the associated scores

the desired future

to interpret the scores

• Determine the importance of addressing the defined gap in terms of its impact on the achievement of strategic objectives, and indicate in column 5 • Calculate the total score for each defined gap by multiplying the score in column 4 by the score in column 5 • Use the guide provided to determine the priority status of the defined gap • Use this information to select the high-priority gaps for further investigation and inclusion in the Workforce Plan

– 237 –

state

Workforce Planning Toolkit

34.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 13: Conversation guide to determine organisation or unit’s strategic direction

•

Tool 33: Gap analysis criteria

34.5 Tool 34: Gap prioritisation Once you have defined the gaps, capture them on the following template and complete the table (Human Capital Institute, 2010a; Corporate Leadership Council, 2007): Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Column 4

Column 5

Column 6

Defined gap

Current

Desired

Size of

Importance

Total

state

future

the gap

to strategic

score

and/or

state

(Small

objectives

(score in

projected

= 1,

(Little

column 4

future

Medium

importance = 1

x score in

state

2, Large

Medium

column 5)

= 3)

importance = 2 Significant importance = 3)

1

2

3

4

5

6

– 238 –

Tool 34: Gap prioritisation

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Column 4

Column 5

Column 6

Defined gap

Current

Desired

Size of

Importance

Total

state

future

the gap

to strategic

score

and/or

state

(Small

objectives

(score in

projected

= 1,

(Little

column 4

future

Medium

importance = 1

x score in

state

2, Large

Medium

column 5)

= 3)

importance = 2 Significant importance = 3)

7

8

9

10

Below is an example of a table completed with regard to a few gaps to illustrate to you how it could be used.

– 239 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Column 4

Column 5

Column 6

Defined gap

Current state

Desired

Size of the

Importance

Total

or projected

future state

gap

to strategic

score

(Small = 1,

objectives

(score in

Medium 2,

(Little

column 4

Large = 3)

importance = 1

x score in

Medium

column

importance = 2

5)

future state

Significant importance = 3) 1. Employees

10% of

80% of

Large = 3

Small = 1

meet

employees

employees

as there is

(employees

minimum

meet

meet

a 70% gap

deliver service

requirements

minimum

minimum

now, but in

regarding

requirements

requirements

terms of future

qualifications

regarding

regarding

requirements

qualifications

qualifications

will struggle)

91

100

2. Shortage

Medium

of skilled

3

Significant = 3

6

Significant = 3

9

=2

chemical engineers 3. Lack of

10%

90%

Large = 3

ready-now

as there

successors

is an 80% gap

In this example, gap number 3 has the highest score and can consequently be viewed as a high priority. The following guide can also be used to determine the defined gap’s priority status: Score

Priority status

7–9

High priority: The gap should be addressed as an immediate priority in the Workforce Plan

4–6

Medium priority: Depending on the importance of the gap, consideration should be given to addressing the issue over the medium term in the Workforce Plan

1–5

Low priority: If this priority is included in the Workforce Plan, it is with the view to addressing it over the longer term

– 240 –

Tool 35 Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps 35.1 Introduction

According to Alexandrou (2011), the quality of our decision-making is influenced by the following factors: •

People want to make sense of situations fast, so they quickly define problems based on stereotypes and other unsubstantiated information.

•

People sometimes fail to see problems or opportunities owing to insufficient time or information gathering.

•

Organisations are complex systems, so decision-makers may have trouble identifying where the main causes of problems occur.

•

People sometimes define problems in terms of their solutions. An example of this is where someone says that the problem is that they need more control over their suppliers. The problem may be that suppliers aren’t delivering their product in time, but this statement focuses on a solution.



“The tendency to focus on solutions is based on a bias for action among business leaders as well as the need to reduce uncertainty” (Alexandrou, 2011). In Workforce Planning we tend to fall into the same trap, where we want to jump to solution creation before analysing the reasons for the problem or opportunity. Sometimes we may look at the workforce gaps from the perspective of our ready-made solutions and describe the problem in such a way that we can apply our existing solutions.



We have to be careful not to identify a symptom instead of a cause. We have to make an effort to find the real reasons for the workforce gap or opportunity. There may also be more than one cause contributing to the same problem, necessitating the identification of multiple root causes and the prioritisation of corrective action.



An important step during the gap analysis phase is therefore the identification of the reasons or the root cause(s) of the gaps in order to create effective corrective actions that will help to address the gap successfully. This means that we have to use structured tools to identify the reasons or root causes of the workforce gap or opportunity.

– 241 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

35.2 The aim of Tool 35 Tool 35 aims to provide a brief summary of some techniques that could be used to identify the reasons for the gaps or opportunities found during the gap analysis phase of Workforce Planning. It should be noted that there are many more techniques that have not been covered in this tool, as the aim is merely to create awareness of the need to use a structured methodology to identify the reasons for the identified workforce gap.

35.3 Description of Tool 35 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A brief summary of some of

• Review the techniques

During the last part of the

the techniques that could be

• Do further research of your

gap analysis phase, when

used to get to the root cause

own regarding alternative

identifying the reasons for the

methods

identified workforce gaps or

of the identified workforce gap/opportunity

• Select the methods that

opportunities

you will use • Implement the selected methods

35.4 Links to other tools • Tool 33: Gap analysis criteria • Tool 34: Gap prioritisation

35.5 Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps 35.5.1 Basic Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

At www.mindtools.com, it is stated that Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a technique that helps to answer the question of why a problem occurred in the first place. Root cause analysis seeks to identify the origin of a problem. It uses a specific set of steps, with associated tools, to find the primary cause of the problem, so that you can: •

Determine what happened

•

Determine why it happened

•

Figure out what to do to reduce the likelihood that it will happen again (www.mindtools.com).

– 242 –

Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps



Root Cause Analysis assumes that systems and events are interrelated and that an action in one area triggers an action in another, causing a ripple effect. By tracing back these actions, you can discover where the problem started and how it grew into the symptom you’re now facing (www.mindtools.com).



According to Robinson and Robinson (2008), there are three clusters of factors which could cause problems inside an organisation and which impact on performance, namely:



•

Factors external to the organisation: These factors are outside the control of anyone in the organisation, for example, a shortage of females studying engineering, or nationwide unemployment.

•

Factors internal to the organisation (work environment): These factors are within the control of management and the organisation and include issues such as clarity of roles and expectations, coaching and reinforcement, incentives, work systems and processes, access to information, people, tools, and job aids.

•

Factors internal to the individual (capability): These are the factors within individuals which ensure that they are capable of performing as needed, for example, skills and knowledge, and inherent capabilities.

At www.mindtools.com it is suggested that in order to maximise the effectiveness of the Root Cause Analysis it is helpful to get together everyone who understands the situation. A technique that is suggested here is called CATWOE. This technique requires you to look at the same situation from different perspectives, namely: C

Customers

A

Actors (people) who implement the solutions

T

Transformation process that is brought about

W

World view

O

Owner of the process

E

Environmental constraints

– 243 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit



Rooney and Van den Heuvel (2004) identified the following four basic steps in doing a root cause analysis:



Step 1: Data collection



The first step in the analysis is to gather data. Without complete information and an understanding of the event, the causal factors and root causes associated with the workforce gap cannot be identified.



Step 2: Causal factor charting



Causal factor charting provides you with a structure to organise and analyse the information gathered. The causal factor chart is simply a sequence diagram with logic tests which describes the events leading up to an occurrence, plus the conditions surrounding these events. During this phase you would ask questions like: •

What sequence of events leads to the problem?

•

What conditions allow the problem to occur?

•

What other problems surround the occurrence of the central problem?



“During this stage, identify as many causal factors as possible. Too often, people identify one or two factors and then stop, but that’s not sufficient” (www.mindtools.com).



Step 3: Root cause identification



During this step you can use a variety of techniques to identify the underlying reason or reasons for each causal factor. The technique that you select during this phase should allow you to answer questions about why particular causal factors exist or have occurred. The identification of root causes helps you then to determine the reasons for the workforce gap so that the problems surrounding the gap can be addressed in your Workforce Plan.



Step 4: Generation and implementation of recommendation



Following identification of the root causes for a particular causal factor, achievable recommendations for preventing their recurrence are then generated (Rooney and Van den Heuvel, 2004). This part of the process wil take place during the next phase of Workforce

– 244 –

Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps

Planning, namely the development and implementation of workforce strategies.

35.5.2 Cause-and-effect diagram (Fishbone diagram)

One of the tools that could be used during step 3 of the RCA process is the fishbone diagram. Rast (www.isixsigma.com) describes the classic cause-and-effect fishbone as having the gap or problem at the end (the stinky head of the fish), and the bones split up into various categories. At www.isixsigma.com the following examples of categories that could be used for the bones are suggested in various industries in order to create the fishbone diagram:

Service industries (The 4 Ps)

Manufacturing industries

Process steps (Examples)

(The 6 Ms)

• Policies

• Man (People)

• Determine customers

• Procedures

• Machines (including

• Advertise product

information systems)

• People • Plant/Technology

• Incentivise purchase

• Material

• Sell product

• Methods

• Ship product and provide

• Measurements

upgrade

• Mother Nature

Rast (www.isixsigma.com) depicts an example using the 6 Ms as follows in the fishbone diagram:

Measurements

Material

Man (People)

Project "Y"

Mother Nature

Methods

Machines

Figure 16: Fishbone diagram

– 245 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit







With each “bone,” you will attempt to find various potential factors that influence project Y (or the specific workforce gap) by asking: •

How does Man (People) negatively influence the gap?

•

How do Machines negatively influence the gap?

•

How does the Material negatively influence the gap?

•

How do the Methods negatively influence the gap?

•

How do the Measurements negatively influence the gap?

•

How does Mother Nature negatively influence the gap?

The specific steps to complete the cause-and-effect diagram can be summarised as follows (DPSA, 2008): •

Define clearly the effect or symptom for which the cause must be identified.

•

Place the effect, problem or symptom at the right-hand side of a straight line.

•

Use brainstorming or any other approach to identify possible causes. Group the causes into major causes under the different categories selected.

•

Each major cause is now written in a box and connected to the straight line (spine of the diagram).

•

Identify causes for each major cause in turn, and if possible identify further sub-causes for each cause identified. Continue doing this until each branch reaches a root cause (in other words, this is where the major cause starts).

The DPSA (2008) depicts the following completed example of a causeand-effect diagram:

– 246 –

Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps

Slippery road

Driver error Rain (water)

Ice Snow

Oil

Poor training Slow reflexes

Speed Fatigue Lost control of car

Alcohol

Accelerator Brake failure

Brake fluid

Broken steering

Nail

Rock Glass

Brake pads Mechanical failure

Puncture Flat tyre

Figure 17: Cause-and-effect diagram



Using the cause-and-effect diagram will help you to find more quickly and effectively  which critical factors are causing the gap identified during the gap analysis phase in Workforce Planning.

35.5.3 The five Whys

“The 5 Whys is a questions-asking method used to explore the cause/ effect relationships underlying a particular problem. Ultimately, the goal of applying the 5 Whys method is to determine a root cause of a defect or problem” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys). By repeatedly asking the question “Why?”, you can peel away the layers of symptoms, which can lead to the root cause of a problem. Although this technique is called “5 Whys”, you may find that you will need to ask the question fewer or more times than five before you find the issue related to a problem (www.mindtools.com).



The basic steps in using this technique can be described as follows: (www.mindtools.com): •

Write down the specific problem/workforce gap.

•

Ask Why the problem happens and write the answer down below the problem.

•

If the answer you have just provided doesn’t identify the root cause of the problem that you wrote down in step 1, ask Why again and write down that answer.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

•



Problem:

Loop back to step 3 until all the stakeholders are in agreement that the problem’s root cause is identified. Again, this may take fewer or more times than five Whys.

Bulsuk (2009a) uses an Excel spreadsheet to capture this information, as depicted in the following example: Processing of job requests delayed

Why 1

Why 2

Why 3

Why 4

Why 5

Root cause

Recurrence

There is no

There

The full

There was

We assumed

Insufficient

Develop a

computerised

was staff

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a lack of

that the

communication.

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solution to

resistance.

system were

communication.

benefits were

strategy to show

obvious.

the benefits of

prevention

handle job





not explained.





applications.

a computerised system. They feared

They thought

Because we

Insufficient

In the

being made

the computer

didn't tell

communication.

communication

redundant.

system was

them how it

strategy,

designed to

would help

emphasise how

replace them.

make their

the computer





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system will complement their jobs and assist them, and not replace them.

They were

They had always

All the work

No culture

Include change

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done it this

was done

of change

management in

about

way.

manually

and sense

implementation

prior to this.

of insecurity

plan. Also,

among staff.

assure staff that

changing

 the way they

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worked.

comprehensive training will be offered to allay fears of change.



The positive

We assumed

Assumptions

Develop a

aspects of

that the

made on our

communication

the change

benefits were

side led to

strategy to show

obvious.

insufficient

the benefits of

communication.

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were not

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communicated.

system. There was no

There was

The company

There was

Top

Poor work

Develop vision,

formal set of

no system

grew at an

insufficient

management

delegation

and co-ordinate

procedures

in place to

exponential

planning.

were so

and advanced

resources to free

to handle job

do so.

rate so that

busy fire-

planning.

up management

there was

fighting and

to engage

dealing with

in strategic

operational

planning. Hire

work,

more people as

as opposed

rather than

necessary, and

to being

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implement a

documented.

strategy.

computerised

requests, and procedures were passed on by mouth





no time to documebt



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anything.

system.

© Bulsuk 2009a (http://karnbulsuk.blogspot.com)

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Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps

35.5.4 Appreciative Inquiry (AI)

Appreciative Inquiry (often referred to as AI) is based on the premise that organisations change in the direction in which they inquire (www. new-paradigm.co.uk) and that questions tend to focus attention. Excessive focus on dysfunctions can actually cause them to multiply or become intractable. By contrast, when all members of an organisation are motivated to understand and value the most favourable features of its culture, it can make surprisingly rapid improvements (Wikipedia). “An organisation which inquires into problems will keep finding problems, but an organisation which attempts to appreciate what is best in itself will discover more and more that is good. It can then use these discoveries to build a new future where the best becomes more common” (www.new-paradigm.co.uk).



According to Egan and Lancaster (2005), Appreciative Inquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, organisations, and the world around them. “It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system ‘life’ when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capability to heighten positive potential. It mobilises inquiry through grafting an unconditional positive question often involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people. In AI, intervention gives way to imagination and innovation; instead of negation, criticism, and spiralling diagnosis, there is discovery, dream and design. AI assumes that every living system has untapped, rich, and inspiring accounts of the positive” (Egan & Lancaster, 2005).



Clark (2004) is of the opinion that appreciative inquiry builds on several assumptions, including the following: •

In every society, organisation, or group, something works.

•

What we focus on becomes our reality.

•

The act of asking questions of an organisation or group influences the group in some way.

•

What we want already exists in ourselves, our firms, our organisations, and our communities.

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Workforce Planning Toolkit



Bushe (2007) cautions, however, against the notion of thinking that appreciative inquiry is only about asking positive questions. According to him (Bushe, 2007), a focus on the positive is useful for appreciative inquiry but it’s not the purpose. The purpose is to generate a new and better future. Bushe (2007) is of the view that to design and facilitate appreciative inquiry effectively, you have to build the ability to generate into every activity through generative questions, conversations, and action.



Usually appreciative inquiry entails the use of a cycle of four processes focusing on the following (www.new-paradigm.co.uk): •

Discovery: The core task in the discovery phase is to appreciate the best of “what is” by focusing on peak moments of excellence – when people experienced the identified workforce problem in its most alive and effective state. “Participants then seek to understand the unique conditions that made the high points possible, such as leadership, relationships, technologies, values, capacity building, or external relationships. They deliberately choose not to analyse deficits, but rather systematically seek to isolate and learn from even the smallest victories. In the discovery phase, people share stories of exceptional accomplishments and deliberate upon the aspects of the history involving the particular issue that they most value and want to enhance in the future” (www.unescap.org). In the case of Workforce Planning, it will focus on the aspects related to the identified workforce gap that work well.

•

Dreaming: In the dream phase, people challenge the status quo by envisioning more valued and vital futures. This phase is both practical, in that it is grounded in the organisation’s history, and generative, in that it seeks to expand the organisation’s potential. Participants use positive stories in the same way an artist uses paints to create a portrait of the organisation’s potential (www. unescap.org). In Workforce Planning, this stage will entail envisioning the desired outcome regarding the workforce gap that has been identified.

•

Design: In the design phase, participants create a strategy to carry out their provocative propositions. They do so by building

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Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps

the necessary processes and systems for their organisation that may, for example, re-define approaches to leadership, governance, participation, or capacity building (www.unescap. org). In Workforce Planning, this step would form part of the next phase of strategy design and implementation. •

Destiny (or Deliver): “The final phase involves the delivery of new images of the future and is sustained by nurturing a collective sense of destiny. It is a time of continuous learning, adjustment and improvisation in the service of shared community ideals. The momentum and potential for innovation is high by this stage of the process. Because they share positive images of the future, everyone in the organisation re-aligns their work and co-creates the future” (www.unescap.org).

– 251 –

SECTION 8: TOOLS TO USE DURING PHASE 6 – DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING WORKFORCE STRATEGIES Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps Tool 37: Strategy selection Tool 38: Workforce action plan Tool 39: Case for change: Business case

– 253 –

Tool 36 Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps 36.1 Introduction

Once the gaps between the current and future states have been identified and prioritised, the next phase of the Workforce Planning process involves the development of strategies and action plans to address these gaps. At the most basic level, these strategies could involve any of a broad range of available people practices, namely buy, build, borrow, bounce, bind, and boost (Ulrich, Zenger, Zenger & Smallwood, 1998), also called the 6 Bs. Some organisations have added a seventh B, called bridge. Experience with Workforce Planning has also shown that another B should be added, namely blueprint.

36.2 The aim of Tool 36

Tool 36 aims to provide a brief explanation of the 8 Bs and examples of typical considerations when you include these strategies in your Workforce Plan.

36.3 Description of Tool 36 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A description of the eight

• Review the definitions of the

When you develop your

Bs with examples of the typical questions that you need to ask when including them in your Workforce Plan

different broad strategies • If you have selected any of the broad strategies as a solution to any of the workforce gaps, review the typical considerations for that strategy • Ensure that you have addressed the considerations in your strategy development

36.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 34: Gap prioritisation

•

Tool 37: Strategy selection

•

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

– 255 –

workforce strategies and formalise the detail regarding these strategies

Workforce Planning Toolkit

36.5 Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps Broad strategy

Blueprint

Buy

Definition

Blueprint represents the aspects of organisation design that should be put in place to ensure the effectiveness of the workforce to achieve the organisation’s strategic objectives

Buy represents the acquisition of staff and entails the recruitment of outside talent and the whole on-boarding process associated with this action. It also focuses on the identification, attraction and selection of the best-fit candidates for the organisation

Some examples of typical considerations

• Is the organisation structured effectively to ensure optimal talent utilisation? • Is the organisation design effective in terms of allowing flexible career development? • Does the work design support the employee profile? • What physical infrastructure needs are there? • Do the lateral processes in the organisation allow crossfunctional movement? • Do employees have the tools, systems and information to deliver excellence to internal and external customers? • Is the current/planned organisation design in line with the strategies and goals of the organisation? • Are the reporting relationships effective?

• How many staff required? • What are staff requirements in terms of competencies, attitudes, etc? • How will we identify staff? • What recruitment methods will we use, e.g. social media, passive candidate sourcing, referral programmes, etc? • How do we want to welcome people – are our onboarding programmes in place? • Do we have role descriptions? • What are our external talent sources? • What are our internal talent pools? • Is our Employment Value Proposition managed well to attract potential candidates? • How do we involve our line managers in the recruitment process?

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Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps

Broad strategy

Borrow

Definition

Some examples of typical considerations

Borrow

• Should we in-source/outsource?

focuses

• With whom should we partner to leverage

on the procurement of contingent or contract labour, as well as any other arrangements to transfer skills, knowledge or

the transfer of skills, knowledge or labour to the organisation from outside? • How do we participation in trade and professional associations to enhance mutual learning and benchmarking? • Do we have alliances with relevant stakeholders to facilitate innovation and knowledge creation? • Do we have industry and other types of staff exchange programmes from which to get an outside view? • Do we maintain relationships with former employees to manage knowledge exchange?

labour to the

• Do we have flexible work arrangements?

organisation

• What is the optimal ratio of independent

from outside

contractors?

• Do we have learnerships and

Build

internships in place? Build means that the organisation focuses on developing talent from within through various learning and development strategies

• What skills/capability gaps have we identified? • What development strategies do we employ – e.g. social learning, project-based learning, etc? • How do we facilitate informal learning? • Do we need to pay attention to mentoring and coaching? • Do we provide stretch assignments? • What type of on-the-job development support do we provide? • Do we use our leaders and customers in our development efforts? • Do we need to develop or source strategic learning programmes to address workforce gaps? • Are the gaps identified trainable? • How will we measure the impact?

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Broad strategy

Bounce

Definition Bounce involves the redeployment of talent from obsolete or redundant jobs, as well as people who are not meeting the requirements of the future organisation, or not performing. This could mean internal redeployment or removing the employee from the organisation altogether

Some examples of typical considerations

• What are the optimum staffing ratios? • What support mechanisms do we have in place for the affected? • How do we deal with the “survivors”? • Do we need to implement an involuntary downsizing exercise? • If yes, how do we structure the severance packages and processes? • Can we offer early retirement? • What innovative solutions can we put in place to prevent downsizing? • Is our performance management system effective? • Do we have performance improvement plans in place? • Are our disciplinary and incapacity processes effective?

• Do we have clear promotion policies

Boost

and criteria? Boost is about promoting/ moving the right talent into the right positions, as well as having the most effective reward and recognition strategies in place

• Do we have a robust talent review system? • How can we leverage 360-degree feedback tools effectively? • How do we optimise our succession development process? • What assessment tools do we have in place? • How do we define potential and readiness for promotion? • What should our reward and recognition system reinforce? • How do we leverage informal/non-financial incentives? • How do we make sure that individual preferences dictate reward and incentives?

– 258 –

Tool 37: Strategy selection

Broad strategy

Bridge

Definition

Some examples of typical considerations

Bridging involves the identification of talent at a very young age, e.g. in primary school, and then putting in place measures to ensure that the talented individual becomes part of the organisation when he or she is ready

• What early talent identification measures do you have in place? • How do you create a link with the early talent? • Do you need to have primary and secondary school bursary schemes? • Do you need to have a graduate scheme? • Do you have the need for a bridging programme between Grade 12 and university for your bursary holders? • Do we partner with the universities to develop the right talent? • Do we invest in specialised academies?

Bind means that the organisation puts in place strategies to retain the right talent and create engagement and commitment

• How do we promote work/life balance and flexible work practices? • How do we promote employee-wellness? • Should we put retention strategies in place? • Do we need an improved exit management process? • How do we manage the Employment Value Proposition (EVP) for increased commitment and retention? • Do we need to put in place employee engagement strategies? • Do we have to educate line managers regarding their role in retention and engagement?

Bridge

Figure 18: Strategies to address strategic workforce gaps

– 259 –

Tool 37 Strategy selection 37.1 Introduction

Once the organisation has clarity on the priority workforce gaps and their root causes, it is possible to design solutions to address these gaps and their causes. Some of the gaps that were identified could also represent opportunities that should be utilised to the organisation’s strategic advantage.



There is a wide range of strategies that organisations could use to address the workforce gaps and there is also a myriad factors that will influence which strategy or, more likely, which combination of strategies should be used. The State of Washington (2000) identified some of the factors that may influence strategy selection: •

Time: Is there enough time to develop staff internally for anticipated vacancies or new competency needs, or is special, fast-paced recruitment the best approach?

•

Resources: The availability of adequate resources will likely influence which strategies are used and to what degree, as well as priorities and timing.

•

Internal depth: Do existing staff demonstrate the potential or interest to develop new competencies and assume new or modified positions, or is external recruitment needed?

•

“In-demand” competencies: If there is intense competition for the needed future competencies it may influence whether recruitment versus internal development and succession is the most effective strategy, especially when compensation levels are limited.

•

Workplace and workforce dynamics: Whether particular productivity and retention strategies need to be deployed will be influenced by workplace climate (for example, employee engagement and commitment levels), workforce age, diversity, personal needs, etcetera.

•

Job categories: Do the current job categories and position descriptions reflect the future functional requirements and competencies needed? Does the structure of the job categories have enough flexibility to

– 261 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

recognise competency growth and employee succession in a timely fashion? Does it allow compensation flexibility?

Strategy selection ultimately depends on the nature of the workforce gap that has been identified and the causal factors associated with it, combined with some of the considerations mentioned above.

37.2 The aim of Tool 37

Tool 37 aims to provide a framework that could be used to determine the most appropriate strategies to address the identified workforce gaps and its causal factors.

37.3 Description of Tool 37 What is it? A table with potential

How to use it

When to use it

• Write the specific workforce gap

During the design of

strategies listed in the far

in the space provided at the top of

workforce strategies to

left column, with space

the table

address gaps and the

to evaluate the relevance of those strategies in addressing the workforce gap

• Review the examples of strategies

root causes of the gaps

provided in each category • Decide whether the category of strategies is relevant or not in addressing the workforce gap and indicate the degree of relevance in the relevant column • Specify the specific elements that should be included in the strategy in the right-hand column of the selection table

37.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 34: Gap prioritisation

•

Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps

•

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

– 262 –

Tool 37: Strategy selection

37.5 Tool 37: Strategy selection

To ensure that all the possible HR solutions and talent levers are considered when deciding on the best strategy to address each gap, the following table can be used: Workforce gap:

Example: Availability of telecommunications engineers in the conversion space to drive integrated business solutions not sufficient

Examples of potential

Not relevant

Some

Highly

Description

strategies

in addressing

relevance in

relevant in

of all the

workforce

addressing

addressing

components

gap

workforce

workforce

that should

gap

gap

be included in strategy

Blueprint: • Organisation structuring • Reporting relationships • Number of staff • Job design • Levels • Leadership • Role profiles • Lateral processes • Career paths • Cross-functional networks • Competency frameworks Buy: • Attraction • Person specifications • Recruitment methods • Selection • On-boarding • Employer branding • Employment Value Proposition • External sources • Internal talent pools

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce gap:

Example: Availability of telecommunications engineers in the conversion space to drive integrated business solutions not sufficient

Examples of potential

Not relevant

Some

Highly

Description

strategies

in addressing

relevance in

relevant in

of all the

workforce

addressing

addressing

components

gap

workforce

workforce

that should

gap

gap

be included in strategy

Borrow: • In-source/outsource • External suppliers/partners • Participation in trade and professional associations • Alliances with relevant stakeholders to facilitate innovation and knowledge creation • Industry and other types of staff exchange programmes • Relationships with former employees • Flexible work arrangements? • Independent contractors • Third-party partnerships Build: • Learnerships • Internships • Blend of learning methods • Special programmes • Coaching and mentoring • Informal learning • Stretch assignments • Social learning • Project-based learning • Leader/customer involvement • Customised programmes • On-the-job learning support • Rotation

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Tool 37: Strategy selection

Workforce gap:

Example: Availability of telecommunications engineers in the conversion space to drive integrated business solutions not sufficient

Examples of potential

Not relevant

Some

Highly

Description

strategies

in addressing

relevance in

relevant in

of all the

workforce

addressing

addressing

components

gap

workforce

workforce

that should

gap

gap

be included in strategy

Bounce: • Optimum staffing ratios • Downsizing • Alternatives to downsizing • Retrenchment process • Retrenchment services • “Survivor” programmes • Early retirement • Performance management • Disciplinary and incapacity processes Boost: • Promotion policies and procedures • Promotion criteria • Talent reviews • Succession management • 360-degree feedback • Assessment • Reward and recognition • Career management Bridge: • Talent sourcing mechanisms • Bursary schemes • Graduate programmes • Bridging schools • Specialist academies • University partnering

– 265 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce gap:

Example: Availability of telecommunications engineers in the conversion space to drive integrated business solutions not sufficient

Examples of potential

Not relevant

Some

Highly

Description

strategies

in addressing

relevance in

relevant in

of all the

workforce

addressing

addressing

components

gap

workforce

workforce

that should

gap

gap

be included in strategy

Bind: • Compensation and benefits • Work-life balance • Flexible work practices • Engagement and retention strategies • Employee wellness programmes • Team development • Quality of line managers • Exit management

– 266 –

Tool 38 Workforce action plan 38.1 Introduction

According to Chapman (2007), Strategic Workforce Planning is not a prescriptive, sequential or linear process, but there are seven fundamentals that every workforce plan will have, namely: •

Context

•

Current workforce profile

•

Quantitative future: workforce projections

•

Qualitative future: scenario plans

•

Analysis to define the targeted future

•

Action planning to achieve your goals

•

Progress monitoring.



In this context, the Workforce Action Plan is an important element of the overall Workforce Plan. Just as there is no “right” way to do Workforce Planning, there is no “best” layout for an action plan. Depending on the nature and needs of different organisations and depending on any other requirements by which they must abide, the way in which their action plans are laid out will differ. The primary purpose of the action plan is to be a useful tool for guiding all relevant stakeholders in implementing agreed-upon workforce strategies and support activities (Van Houten, Miyasaka & Agullard, 2006).



Typically, the Workforce Action Plan should be based on the principles of effective project management, including: •

Ensuring stakeholder buy-in, sponsorship and support

•

Building in effective change management and communication plans

•

Setting clear objectives, deliverables and timelines with milestones

•

Allocating clear roles and responsibilities

•

Allocating the necessary resources, such as budget, to implement the workforce strategies

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

Building in clear performance and success measures

•

Implementing a project governance structure with monitoring and measuring mechanisms.

38.2 The aim of Tool 38

Tool 38 aims to provide an example of a generic Workforce Action Planning template.

38.3 Description of Tool 38 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A template with

• Using the template below, develop an

During the development and

action plan

action plan for each workforce gap

implementation of workforce

components

• Modify the template as needed to fit

strategies

your unique context • Distribute copies of action plan to relevant stakeholders • Keep copies handy to bring to meetings and review and update regularly • Review the example for ideas on how to complete the template

38.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps

•

Tool 37: Strategy selection

•

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

38.5 Tool 38: Workforce action plan

Workforce action plan Part A: General Workforce Planning period: Name of targeted talent segment/ unit/organisation

– 268 –

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

Name of line manager responsible for implementation Project team

Communication Plan Who is involved? What methods? How often?

Part B: Action Plans per workforce gap 1. Workforce Gap 1 1.1 General description Description of Workforce Gap 1 Brief description of strategies to address Workforce Gap 1 Description of measures of success (how will you know that the gap has been addressed?) Description of success criteria (what things should be in place to ensure the success of the project?)

– 269 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

1.2 Action Plan for Workforce Gap 1 Specific

Action

Responsibilities

Timeline

Resources

Potential

Progress

objectives

steps

Who will do it?

By when?

Resources

barriers

against

(What do

What will

(Day/

available

What

plan

you want to

be done?

month)

and

individuals or

Are we

resources

organisational

meeting

needed

units may

deadlines,

(financial,

resist? How?

following

achieve?)

human,

the process,

political

etc?

and other)

2. Workforce Gap 2 2.1 General description Description of Workforce Gap 2 Brief description of strategies to address Workforce Gap 2 Description of measures of success (how will you know that the gap has been addressed?) Description of success criteria (what things should be in place to ensure the success of the project?)

– 270 –

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

2.2 Action Plan for Workforce Gap 2 Specific

Action

Responsibilities

Timeline

Resources

Potential

Progress

objectives

steps

Who will do it?

By when?

Resources

barriers

against

(What do

What will

(Day/

available

What

plan

you want to

be done?

month)

and

individuals or

Are we

resources

organisational

meeting

needed

units may

deadlines,

(financial,

resist? How?

following

achieve?)

human,

the process,

political

etc?

and other)

3. Workforce Gap 3 3.1 General description Description of Workforce Gap 3 Brief description of strategies to address Workforce Gap 3 Description of measures of success (how will you know that gap has been addressed?) Description of success criteria (what things should be in place to ensure the success of the project?)

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

3.2 Action Plan for Workforce Gap 3 Specific

Action

Responsibilities

Timeline

Resources

Potential

Progress

objectives

steps

Who will do it?

By when?

Resources

barriers

against

(What do

What will

(Day/

available

What

plan

you want to

be done?

month)

and

individuals or

Are we

resources

organisational

meeting

needed

units may

deadlines,

(financial,

resist? How?

following

achieve?)

human,

the process,

political

etc?

and other)

A completed example for one workforce gap may look as follows: Workforce Action Plan Section A: General Workforce Planning

1 April 2011 – 31 March 2015

period Name of targeted

Chemical Engineers across organisation

talent segment/unit/ organisation Name of line

Sipho Ndlovu

manager responsible for implementation

– 272 –

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

Project Team

Sandi Naidoo (HR Business Partner) Sipho Ndlovu (Project Leader) Sylvester Nkomo (Change management and communication specialist) Monica Smith (HR Information Systems Co-ordinator) Isabeu Botha (Talent Manager) Matimba Petit (Administration Co-ordinator) Ask Us (External Research Provider) Willem Swart (Manager: Strategic Planning) Errol Kasselman (Learning Academy Manager)

Communication Plan

Major objectives: Inform stakeholders about the purpose and objectives

Who is involved?

of the workforce plan in general and about the specific contents of the

What methods?

workforce plan.

How often?

Key audiences: •

Directors/Top management

•

Line managers

•

Employees

•

HR professionals

•

Union officials

Key Messages: •

Workforce Planning involves assessing future HR needs and determining the competencies needed in the future.

•

WFP is driven by strategic objectives.

•

WFP process is flexible in that as conditions impact objectives and HR needs change, the WFP will be changed accordingly.

The WFP Policy Statement: Launch the Workforce Planning process by having the head of your organisation/unit issue a policy statement that includes: •

The reasons for doing Workforce Planning and its role in the organisation’s overall strategic plan.

•

Critical success factors.

•

Overview of the WFP process.

•

Roles and responsibilities.

(Content for this section sourced from: http://portal.cornerstones4kids. org/stuff/contentmgr/files/f60cbf3cfe2b608503faf0cd45158728/folder/ sample___communication_plan_outline.pdf)

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Key communication methods: •

Monthly Individual briefing sessions by project team to all crucial stakeholders

•

Monthly Group briefing sessions by project team to all stakeholders

•

Ongoing maintenance of Workforce Planning site on intranet

•

Weekly Twitter feeds

•

Weekly messages on organisation’s Facebook

•

Bi-weekly e-news letters

Part B: Action Plans per Workforce Gap: Example 1. Workforce Gap 1 1.1 General description Description of Workforce Gap 1

40% of Chemical Engineers in managerial positions are eligible for retirement in the next five years

Brief description of strategies to

Develop succession plan for current employees to

address Workforce Gap 1

ensure that Chemical Engineering function is able to continue providing necessary services to organisation

Description of measures of success

•

Training plans for employees enrolled in the

(how will you know that gap has been

succession plan module to ensure that all

addressed?)

training is taking place •

Desk manuals completed timeously and accurately

•

Individual Development Plans revised and Implemented

•

Number of leaders in mentor/coach roles

•

Employee questionnaires regarding succession plan steps and implementation

•

Percentage of “ready-now” successors

Description of success criteria (what

•

Line manager buy-in and commitment

things should be in place to ensure

•

Talent review process

the success of the project?)

•

Resources for development

•

Transparency about process

•

Employee commitment

– 274 –

Learning Academy Manager

HR Information Systems Co-ordinator

Project leaders

Provide leadership training to interested and eligible employees

Provide technical training on new software system to all users of current talent review system

Require all employees in leadership, management, or supervisory positions to revise current desk manual or write desk manuals where none currently exist

Line managers, with assistance from Talent Manager

– 275 – 31 March 2012

31 July 2012

30 November 2012 Continuous

1 August 2012

Identify employees with the necessary potential interested in pursuing management path in Chemical Engineering

By when? (Day/

Timeline

In order to ensure the continuity of our chemical processes and innovations the organisation must ensure that adequately qualified and trained employees are available to apply for positions that will be vacated as a result of impending retirements

Who will do it?

Responsibilities month)

What will be done?

to achieve?)

Action steps

(What do you want

Action Plan for Workforce Gap 1

Specific objectives

1.2

Time from relevant stakeholders Graphic artist

Time from relevant stakeholders

Budget for training (to be advised)

Buy-in from senior management Talent Review System

Lack of time and commitment from subject matter experts

Computer literacy of some line managers

Budget cuts may have negative impact

Line managers may resist having to identify potential and categorise people

may resist? How?

(financial, human, political and other)

organisational units

What individuals or

Potential barriers

and resources needed

Resources available

Resources

following the process, etc?

Are we meeting deadlines,

Progress against plan

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

– 276 –

Examples adapted from State of Alaska (2008).

30 November 2012

30 November 2012

30 June 2012

month)

By when? (Day/

Timeline

Budget Time from relevant stakeholders

Time from relevant stakeholders

Time from relevant stakeholders

Lack of effective mentors

Time to update and implement Development Plans

Timing, as grant requests should have been submitted

may resist? How?

(financial, human, political and other)

organisational units

What individuals or

Potential barriers

and resources needed

Resources available

Resources

Reference Specific to Tool 38

Learning Academy Manager

Learning Academy Manager

Work with all Chemical Engineers to ensure that individual Development Plans of all employees are up to date, with accurate descriptions of needed competencies

Implement a mentorship/coaching programme for current employees

Learning Academy Manager

Who will do it?

Responsibilities

Explore grant options for training and education of current employees to prepare them for future openings

What will be done?

(What do you want

to achieve?)

Action steps

Specific objectives following the process, etc?

Are we meeting deadlines,

Progress against plan

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Tool 39 Case for change: Business case 39.1 Introduction

“Establishing the case for change is critical for the success of any planned strategies and changes. It creates the sense of urgency required to get support and co-operation from key stakeholders within the organisation. Senior management need to understand the issues and what needs to be done so that they support and champion workforce planning and change efforts” (State Government of Victoria, 2006).



The case for change needs to answer some of the following questions: •

What are the forces causing the change and what is the impact of these forces on the organisation’s future success?

•

Why is there a need for change?

•

What departments, units, teams, or individuals are affected and to what degree?

•

Do the forces causing change suggest a modest, incremental, or transformational change?

•

What are the consequences to the organisation of not responding effectively to these forces?

•

What is the change that needs to occur?

•

What do we need to accomplish or achieve as a result of the change?

•

What problem are we trying to solve?

•

What will the outcomes of the change look like?

•

What are the potential pros and cons of the change for the organisation, departments, units, teams, and individuals?

•

Who benefits and who loses?

•

Are customers or other stakeholders affected, and to what extent?

•

How will the losses be reduced, eliminated, or managed?

– 277 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

How will employees and other stakeholders be involved in developing the change vision and strategy?

•

How will the benefits from the change be realised?

•

What actions need to occur, when should they occur, and who should take the lead in taking them?

•

What is the implementation timeline?

•

How will the success of the planned change be evaluated?

•

What are the key indicators or measures of success?

•

What benchmarks along the way will be used to help track the progress the organisation is making?



The questions above were sourced from www.astd.org/NR/rdonlyres/ C6B422EF-D086-4A60.../Handouts.pdf.



An effective way to present the case for change is to develop a business case to ensure that fully-informed decisions can be taken before implementation relating to the need for Workforce Planning and the suggested implementation considerations, and to ensure that the roll-out is planned in detail.

39.2 The aim of Tool 39

Tool 39 aims to provide a framework with elements that should be included in a comprehensive business case that will motivate the case for change.

39.3 Description of Tool 39 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A standard business case

• Review framework

Once you have developed

development framework

• Select components that will

action plans for the strategies

which enables you to draft a comprehensive business case

be included in your own

to address workforce gaps

business case

to ensure that you create a

• Use the framework to design your own business case

– 278 –

burning platform for change

Tool 39: Case for change: Business case

39.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 4: Readiness assessment audit

•

Tool 10: Stakeholder engagement planning format

•

Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps

•

Tool 37: Strategy selection

•

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

•

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

39.5 Tool 39: Case for change: Business case The following Business Case framework was adapted from a business case template by the DPSA (2008) and information from the State Government of Victoria (2006). Component

Examples of elements that should be included in this component

Included in own business case? (Tick if relevant)

Executive summary

• Precise and brief description of problem or opportunity to be addressed • What the proposed Workforce Planning initiative will achieve • Impact on achievement of strategic objectives, service delivery, operations and staff and • Financial implications

Background

• What workforce gap, problem, need or opportunity has to be addressed • Describe the current situation • Describe the suggested Workforce Planning scope and rationale • Include useful statistical information relating to strategic objectives, service delivery, service users, performance • Inputs (staff, infrastructure and budgets, processes, etc)

– 279 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Component

Examples of elements that should be included in this component

Included in own business case? (Tick if relevant)

An outline of

• What needs to be done, and why

the proposed

• The options considered and the rationale for choosing the

strategies and actions

proposed solution • The proposal’s relationship to other existing policies, processes, programmes

Impact of

• What the proposed strategies/actions will deliver for the

the proposed Workforce

organisation, in terms of benefits and return on investment • The associated costs and resource implications for

Planning

implementing the strategies (in the form of a cost/benefit

initiative in

analysis)

terms of costs

• Impact on bottom-line, service delivery

and benefits

• Impact on staff: increase in or reduction of staff, internal reorganisation, training • Impact on infrastructure: information and communication technology, office space, furniture • Impact on external stakeholders: suppliers, service delivery partners • Availability of funding • Benefits of proposed initiative regarding strategy, leadership, service delivery, strategic agility, employee optimisation, supplier management, social impact, process efficiency and effectiveness, infrastructure optimisation (financial and non-financial), etc.

Risk

• The risks to the organisation if action is not taken

management

• Probability of and impact of key risks • Propose strategies to mitigate risks

The proposed

• An implementation plan and timeframe (including project

implementation

structure, timelines and reporting, change management,

framework

communication plans, evaluation criteria and performance measures) •

Roles and responsibilities of those involved in implementation

• Costs of carrying out implementation plan Consultation

• Who was consulted?

process

• What consultation processes were used? • What was the outcome of consultations?

– 280 –

Tool 39: Case for change: Business case

Component

Examples of elements that should be included in this component

Included in own business case? (Tick if relevant)

Monitoring and evaluation

• What indicators will be used to monitor and evaluate the initiative? • How will changes be monitored and evaluated? • Who will be responsible for monitoring and evaluation?

Review and

Describe by whom and how the business case analysis was

sign-off

reviewed and signed off

– 281 –

SECTION 9: TOOLS FOR USE DURING PHASE 7 – MONITORING AND EVALUATION Tool 40: Monitoring and evaluation planning

– 283 –

Tool 40 Monitoring and evaluation planning 40.1 Introduction When an organisation has developed and implemented its workforce plan, it is very tempting to consider it all done. “But without evaluations of both the plan and the process, the agency will not be able to determine if current and future workforce needs have been or will be met” (State of Alaska, 2008). According to Cillie-Schmidt (2010), the final phase of the Workforce Planning process involves the monitoring and evaluation of the Workforce Plan. Monitoring entails the review of the implementation plan and strategies and evaluation entails the analysis of the impact that the implementation of the Workforce Plan had on the organisation. The monitoring process provides information regarding the achievement of objectives and deadlines. It also informs the organisation as to what is working and not working during the whole process and recommends the adjustment of strategies where necessary. The monitoring phase entails a regular review of the Workforce Plan. Lombardi and Bourke (2010) found that 55% of best-in-class companies review the results and related decisions of Workforce Planning at least quarterly, while 20% of average companies and only 10% of the so-called laggards engage in this activity. The evaluation of the Workforce Planning efforts relates to the impact that the initiatives have made and provides important information with regard to the return-on-investment of the Workforce Planning process. The measurement criteria are decided as part of the strategy formulation process and would often entail a pre- and post-intervention measurement. Workforce metrics also form an important part of this phase. According to Jones (2008), today’s strategic planners are just beginning to measure success and it is therefore crucial “to ensure that you have the criteria in place to demonstrate results when they occur”. Monitoring and evaluation does not, however, exist in isolation. It is best to consider monitoring and evaluating as real-time assessments of what is going on, so that revisions can be made timeously, if needed, before a large expenditure of time and effort that, in the end, may not meet the needs of the organisation. “Therefore, the agency will want to monitor, evaluate, and

– 285 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

revise the process of developing the plan and the plan itself” (State of Alaska, 2008). This requires a commitment to this phase, as well as resources and a nominated person with responsibility for monitoring and evaluation. “There is no point in having an action plan if there is no one collating milestone information and no apparent senior-level interest in checking achievements” (NSW Premier’s Office, 2003).

40.2 The aim of Tool 40 The aim of Tool 40 is to provide a framework that can be used to plan the monitoring and evaluation of the Workforce Planning initiative.

40.3 Description of Tool 40 What is it?

How to use it

Two tables listing the

When to use it

• Review the elements and the

As part of finalising the

typical elements that

examples of monitoring and

documentation of the

should be considered

evaluation listed in the tables

Workforce Plan

when you design the

• Use the same headings to

monitoring and evaluation

complete the detail for your

framework for Workforce Planning, with some

own organisation • Include the monitoring and

examples of what the

evaluation frameworks that

content could look like

you have developed for your own organisation in your Workforce Plan

40.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 39: Case for change: Business case

•

Tool 42: Workforce Plan format

40.5 Tool 40: Monitoring and evaluation planning 40.5.1 Monitoring process planning elements

This template is an adaptation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework from the Guide and Toolkit on Organisation Design by the DPSA (2008).

– 286 –

Tool 40: Monitoring and evaluation planning

Elements to

Examples

Your own organisation’s

include during

detail

the planning for the monitoring process The reason you

To monitor the Workforce Planning

are designing

implementation process

a monitoring framework The data that you

• Timelines in the project plan

will use to measure

• The project plan

progress

• HR metrics as indicated in workforce plan, e.g. number of “ready now” successors • Success criteria • Benchmarking data

Methods of

• Progress meetings

collecting

• Progress reports (monthly/weekly)

information

• Data extraction from Human Resource Information System • Talent reviews • Workplace Skills Plan • Skills audits • Focus groups • Meetings with management • Lessons learnt reviews

How the results

• Monthly Workforce Planning status reports

gathered will be

• Quarterly Workforce Planning reviews

reported

during Strategic Planning reviews • A section on Workforce Planning in each business unit’s monthly report • Specific reports

Corrective action

• Deviations and variations to plan to be highlighted in progress reports • Corrective action plans to be instituted immediately • System to follow up on corrective action by implementation team

Timing of monitoring actions

• Should start as soon as implementation of Workforce Plan starts • Should happen on a continuous basis

– 287 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

Elements to

Examples

Your own organisation’s

include during

detail

the planning for the monitoring process Parties responsible

• Implementation team

for monitoring

• Line managers • Senior managers • Strategic Planning unit

Resources required to do monitoring

• Access to the Human Resources’ information system • Time • No additional budget required • One person in Human Resources to take responsibility

40.5.2 Evaluation process planning elements

This template is an adaptation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework from the Guide and Toolkit on Organisation Design by the DPSA (2008).

Elements to

Examples

Your own organisation’s

include during the

detail

planning for the evaluation process The reason you

To evaluate the effectiveness of Workforce

are designing

Planning

an evaluation framework The data that you

• Objectives set out in the business case

will use to measure

• The Balanced Scorecard

the effectiveness

• The succession Plan

of Workforce Planning Methods of

• Progress meetings

collecting

• Progress reports (monthly/weekly)

information

• Data extraction from Human Resource Information System • Talent reviews • Workplace Skills Plan • Skills audits

– 288 –

Tool 40: Monitoring and evaluation planning

Elements to

Examples

Your own organisation’s

include during the

detail

planning for the evaluation process Methods of

• Questionnaires

collecting

• Organisation performance assessments

information

• Cost-benefit-analysis

(continued)

• ROI (Return-on-investment) calculations

How the results

• Special report reflecting impact of

gathered will be reported

Workforce Planning • Presentations to management and other relevant stakeholders • Sharing success stories in organisation’s newsletter and on intranet • Podcasts to staff • Videocasts

Corrective action

• Special report on impact of Workforce Planning should include: –– What action is needed –– Who should take action –– By when –– Who will be accountable –– What follow-up will take place

Timing of

• After the first implementation period

evaluation actions

• On an annual basis • Once the total Workforce Plan has been implemented

Parties responsible

• An external service provider

for evaluation

• The Workforce Plan implementation team • An independent internal task force

Resources required to do evaluation

• Budget, if it is an external service provider or if funds are needed for some of the activities • Time • Access to staff and information

– 289 –

SECTION 10: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment Tool 42: Workforce Plan format

– 291 –

Tool 41 Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment 41.1 Introduction

If you have decided to use the critical role or talent segmentation approach to Workforce Planning, you will already have identified the segments of your organisation’s workforce that are critical to success. Talent segmentation has two sides, namely demand and supply. Demand segmentation addresses what is critical to the business and prioritises work activities that create the most value and competitive differentiation. Supply segmentation addresses who is available in the labour force to meet the demand, and what value propositions the employer can offer to attract and engage these people (Johnson, 2006).

41.2 The aim of Tool 41

The aim of Tool 41 is to assist you in gathering information and analysing the demand and supply with regard to critical and core talent segments. This tool assists you further in completing the total Workforce Planning process per talent segment.

41.3 Description of tool 41 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

A template with questions

• Review all the questions in the

This tool can be used

organised according to the phases in the Workforce

tool

to help you to compile

• Systematically gather all the

a Workforce Plan for a

Planning process,

information needed to answer all

critical talent segment.

with blank spaces for

the questions

It can be used as the

completion by the user

• Complete all the sections of the

only tool to complete

tool to finalise the total Workforce

a Workforce Planning

Planning process for a critical

process or in conjunction

talent segment

with other tools

– 293 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

41.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 12: Identify critical roles and functions as part of scoping the Workforce Planning initiative

•

Tool 15: Potential external factors to consider

•

Tool 25: Analysing the contingent workforce

•

Tool 26: Analysing workload drivers

•

Tool 29: Forecasting techniques

•

Tool 31: Example of scenario building and selection

•

Tool 32: Example of a quantitative forecasting model

•

Tool 34: Gap prioritisation

•

Tool 35: Techniques to identify reasons for workforce gaps

•

Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps

•

Tool 40: Monitoring and evaluation planning

•

Tool 42: Workforce Plan format

41.5 Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment Name of critical talent segment/role Workforce Planning period A. General description of talent segment or role A1.

What is the specific and unique contribution of this talent segment/role to the achievement of the strategic plan of the organisation?

B. Creating context B1.

Will there be any changes to this critical talent segment/role in the next five years to ensure strategy achievement regarding: •

The way in which the job is designed?

– 294 –

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

• The type of competencies needed to fulfil the role? • The workload associated with the role? • The business processes associated with this role? B2

Which external factors in the following categories could influence the supply and demand of potential candidates for this critical talent segment? • Political • Economical • Social • Technological • Legal • Environmental

B3

What factors internal to the organisation could influence the supply and demand of potential candidates for this critical talent segment?

C. Understanding current internal and external workforce Provide details with regard to the following: • Total number of employees currently

Total

Female disabled

Male disabled

White female

Indian female

African female

White male

Indian male

Coloured male

• Some statistics

Coloured female

in this role

African male

C1.

- Current number of employees - Average age - Annual voluntary turnover rates - Average performance rating - Average length of service • Potential profile of critical talent segment

– 295 –

Developmental Solid citizen – Ready to move Immediately Readiness Developmental to next level ready to move Limited readiness long- in the next 12 to next level term months

Workforce Planning Toolkit

C2.

What are the engagement levels on

High

Medium

Low

average in this talent segment? Provide more detail to explain the answer to the above question

C3.

Provide an overview of the current competency levels within the talent segment: • Formal qualifications • Adherence to minimum requirements for the role • Levels with regard to required training/registration/accreditation • Competencies required and average competency levels

C4.

What attraction, recruitment and onboarding challenges are you currently experiencing with regard to this talent segment?

C5.

What retention challenges are you currently experiencing with regard to this talent segment?

– 296 –

Competency

Average

required

competency level

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

C6.

Based on all the information reflected

1.

so far, highlight the five most important

2.

challenges regarding the current state of this talent segment

3. 4. 5.

C7.

Are you currently using any contractors, temporary or part-time employees to fulfil a role within this critical talent segment? If yes, provide a detailed description of the number, type, and demographic profile of this contingent workforce If you are using a contingent workforce, what are the risk factors in this regard that need to be highlighted for Workforce Planning?

C8.

Is there a pool of employees internally that could be appointed in this role? If yes, provide a detailed description of the potential internal pool(s) of candidates • Job titles • Number of potential candidates • Competence levels • Demographic make-up e.g. average age, etc List the major challenges with regard to this internal pool being a potential source of candidates for the critical talent segment

C9.

List external pools from where candidates for the critical talent segment could be sourced Provide a detailed description of the potential external pool(s) of candidates • Job titles • Number of potential candidates • Competency levels

– 297 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

• Demographic make-up e.g. average age, etc • Aspects that will attract potential candidates to and retain them in your organisation List the major challenges with regard to the external pool(s) being a potential source of candidates for the critical talent segment D. Futuring D1.

Use a mathematical forecasting technique and predict the future supply with regard

• Number of employees • Average age • Annual voluntary turnover rates • Average performance rating • Average length of service • Gender • Employment Equity profile • Promotions • Engagement levels • Potential levels • Turnover due to retirement • Competencies and competency levels • Qualifications • Average performance ratings D2

Do scenario planning and describe the following: • The two unknown factors that you have used to develop the scenarios • A description of scenario 1, based on an intersection of the two unknown factors

– 298 –

Year X

Year 5

Year 4

Year 3

period

Year 2

no changes occur during the planning

Year 1

to the internal workforce segment, should

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

• A description of scenario 2, based on an intersection of the two unknown factors • A description of scenario 3, based on an intersection of the two unknown factors • A description of scenario 4, based on an intersection of the two unknown factors Which of the above scenarios has a high likelihood of occurring within this Workforce Planning period and will have a major impact should it occur? Do you want the most likely scenario to occur? If yes, how will you ensure that it happens? If no, how will you ensure that it does not happen? D3.

Describe your preferred scenario with regard to this critical talent segment

Describe the factors that should be in place to ensure that this scenario happens as planned Based on mathematical forecasting techniques and certain qualitative forecasting assumptions, predict the

• Number of potential candidates that will be available • Average age of available candidates • Gender profile of available candidates • Employment Equity profile of available candidates • Engagement levels of available candidates

– 299 –

Year X

Year 5

Year 4

(pools)

Year 3

this talent segment from external sources

Year 2

future supply of potential candidates for Year 1

D4.

Workforce Planning Toolkit

• Potential levels of available candidates • Competencies and competency levels of available candidates • Qualifications of available candidates D5.

Describe the forecasting assumptions that you have used to make the prediction above

D6.

Based on the mathematical forecasting Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year X

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year X

your organisation?

Year 1

future demand for this talent segment in

Year 1

and scenario planning, what will be the

• Number of employees required • Average age required • Gender profile require • Employment Equity profile required • Engagement levels required • Potential levels required • Competencies and competency levels required • Qualifications required D7.

Based on your forecasting assumptions, what will be the future demand for this talent segment in the external labour market? • Number of employees needed by external market • Average age required by external market • Gender profile required by external market • Employment Equity profile required by external market • Engagement levels required by external market • Potential levels required by external market • Competencies and competency levels required in external market

– 300 –

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

• Qualifications required by external market D8.

What are your competitors doing with regard to attracting and retaining this critical talent segment?

E. Gap analysis

• Number of employees

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

• Average age

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

• Gender profile

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

• Employment equity profile

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

– 301 –

H. Priority gaps

G. Gap between C and F

F. Gap between D and E

E. External demand

shortages or surpluses

D. External supply

highlighting the biggest gaps in terms of

B. Internal demand

with regard to demand and supply by

C. Gap between A and B

Summarise the information gathered A. Internal Supply

E1.

Workforce Planning Toolkit

• Engagement levels

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

• Potential levels

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

• Competencies and competency levels

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

• Qualifications

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year X

E2.

Prioritise the gaps in terms of the biggest risk to the successful achievement of organisational strategy during this Workforce Planning period and list the five most important gaps to address

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

– 302 –

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

E3.

Identify and list the most probable

Reasons for the gaps:

reasons for each prioritised gap

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

E4.

Finalise the gaps that you would like to address in your Workforce Plan

F. Developing and implementing workforce strategies F1.

Indicate which of the following talent levers are applicable in addressing the gaps that you would like to address as part of your Workforce Plan • Talent acquisition • On-boarding • Performance management • Compensation and benefits • Job-design • Learning and development, including management and leadership development • Succession development • Career development • Mentoring and coaching • Employee wellness • Exit management • Third-party partnerships and outsourcing • Organisation structure • Work environment • Knowledge management • Other

– 303 –

Gap 1

Gap 2

Gap 3

Gap 4

Gap5

Workforce Planning Toolkit

F2.

Select the talent levers that will have the

Gap 1

highest impact on addressing the gap and

Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy

Gap 2

Gap 3

Gap 4

Gap 5

design a strategy for each in terms of: • The overall objective that should be achieved • The activities that should take place to ensure the objective is achieved • The parties responsible for implementation • Timelines • Key success criteria • Monitoring mechanisms G. Monitoring and evaluation G1.

Describe the issues that you encounter during the weekly/monthly/quarterly follow-up to monitor the implementation of the strategies to address the priority gaps regarding the critical talent segment

G2.

Describe the corrective action with regard to the challenges pertaining to the implementation of the strategies

G3.

Describe the measures that you are using to measure the impact of the actions on the organisation

References Specific to Tool 41 Australian Public Service Commission Agency. 2010. ICT workforce planning self assessment guide. [Online]. Available: http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications10/ictselfassessmentguide.pdf [Accessed 11 March 2011]. Human Capital Institute. 2010. Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit.Version 2. The Human Capital Institute. Washington, www.hci.org. NC Office of State Personnel. Workforce Planning Guide. [Online]. Available: http://www. performanceSolutions.nc.gov/workforcePlanning/WorkforcePlanningGuide.pdf [Accessed 15 February 2011]. Virginia Government. Department of Human Resources Management. Workforce Plan template. [Online]. Available: http://www.dhrm.state.va.us/workforceplanning.html [Accessed 12 April 2011].

– 304 –

Tool 42 Workforce Plan format 42.1 Introduction

“Workforce planning is a systematic, fully integrated organisational process that involves proactively planning ahead to avoid talent surpluses or shortages. It is based on the premise that a company can be staffed more efficiently if it forecasts its talent needs as well as the actual supply of talent that is or will be available” (Sullivan, 2002). Your organisation’s Workforce Plan merely entails the recording of the process that you have followed to assess the organisation’s staffing needs and the actions necessary to address these needs systematically. As workforce planning processes and needs differ from organisation to organisation, there is no recommended standard format for Workforce Plans.



As Sullivan (2002) states: “There is no standard format or formula for a workforce plan. Some workforce plans contain many components, while others contain just a succession plan for senior managers. There is no onesize-fits-all model. While there are some basic components that all plans should include, there are some supplementary components that can and will work better for some companies than others.” Ideally, the plan should be a part of the organisation’s strategic plan, but in most instances it is a standalone document.



Your organisation’s Workforce Plan would therefore be a document in which you record the Workforce Planning process and its outcomes in a brief, actionable format. If you have followed the process suggested in this toolkit, the Workforce Plan will have the following sections: •

Title page indicating the name of the organisation, logo, time period for the Workforce Plan and who compiled it

•

Executive summary

•

Table of contents

•

Background, where you include information from the business case, as well as any other information and actions from the ensuring readiness phase

– 305 –

Workforce Planning Toolkit

•

The context, where you briefly summarise the internal and external factors impacting on the internal and external supply and demand of staff

•

A brief outline of the current status of the internal and external workforce

•

The Futuring section, where you describe the forecasting techniques that you have used and the insights that you have gained from doing so

•

A description of all the gaps or opportunities that you have identified during the gap analysis stage, together with the prioritisation of the gaps and the main reasons that you have identified for the gaps or opportunities

•

An explanation of the strategies that you have identified to address these gaps or opportunities, plus the detailed implementation plans

•

A section on how you are going to monitor and evaluate the effective implementation of the Workforce Plan

•

A conclusion ending with a call to action

•

Annexures.

42.2 The aim of Tool 42

Tool 42 aims to show you a few examples of Workforce Plan formats to give you an idea as to how different organisations approach this document.

42.3 Description of Tool 42 What is it?

How to use it

When to use it

Examples of outlines that

• Review the different

At the end of the Workforce

were used by different organisations to document

examples • Design your own format

their Workforce Plans

Planning process when you have to record the Workforce

based on the process that

Plan for implementation and

you have followed

documentation purposes

42.4 Links to other tools •

Tool 36: Broad strategies that could be followed to address strategic workforce gaps

•

Tool 37: Strategy selection

– 306 –

Tool 42: Workforce Plan format

•

Tool 38: Workforce action plan

•

Tool 39: Case for change: Business case

•

Tool 41: Putting it all together: analysing and planning for a critical talent segment

42.5 Tool 42: Workforce Plan format 42.5.1 Sample format 1

This sample format was sourced from the following website: http:// dothr.ost.dot.gov/guide.pdf Sample workforce plan

OPERATING ADMINISTRATION:________________________________________ POINT OF CONTACT:_________________________________________________ Extension:________________________________________________________ A. INTRODUCTION (General comments from the Head of the Operating Administration). B. MAJOR ORGANISATIONAL MISSIONS / STRATEGIES / OBJECTIVES (from the Performance Agreement) that the Workforce Plan supports. (Steps 2 & 3) C. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS D. STAFFING DATA (three-year projections) (Steps 4 & 5) 1. Demand data 2. Supply data 3. Identification of gaps and surpluses 4. Critical skills analysis 5. Analysis of at risk occupations A. Key milestones B. Accountabilities C. Integration issues D. Development and implementation schedule E. Communication plan

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

42.5.2 Sample format 2

I.

This sample was sourced from the following website: wyomingworkforceplanning.state.wy.us/.../WorkforcePlanTemplate. doc.

Overview and executive summary

II. Assessment of current needs III. Assessment of future needs IV. Gap analysis/action plan V. On-going review VI. Gap analysis VII. Action plan and implementation VIII. Evaluate results IX. Appendix 42.5.3 Sample format 3 This sample was sourced from the following website: http:// workforceplanningtools.com.au/tools/workforce-planning / workforce-plan-template/ Table of contents 1. Introduction and overview; Links to our strategy; External environment; Internal environment 2. Current workforce profile 3. Future workforce profile 4. Gap analysis and closing strategies 5. Conclusion, review, evaluation strategy and next steps 6. Appendix A – Workforce Action Plan 7. Appendix B – Consultation and Communication Strategy

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Tool 42: Workforce Plan format

1. Introduction and overview 1.1 Background on organisation/project including core business functions •

Why do we need to undertake workforce planning? Why is it important? How does workforce planning benefit our organisation?

•

What are our goals for this Workforce Plan?

•

What are the performance measures for our Workforce Plan?

•

What is the scope of this Workforce Plan? Will it cover the entire workforce; mission-critical occupations or skill sets; occupations that are difficult to recruit or retain; or on a particular strategy/project?

•

What are our organisation’s strategic objectives (link to strategic plan) in terms of Our Vision, Our Mission, Our Goals, Our Strategic Priorities, Our Brands, Our Values, Our Core Competencies?

•

What functions need to be performed to achieve our strategic objectives?

•

What are our organisational strengths and development needs?

•

How does our strategic direction affect our workforce? What will we focus on? What are the workforce implications from our strategic plan?

2. External environment 2.1 What is happening in the external environment? What are the external drivers of change? What are the impacts on your workforce? •

Global factors

•

National factors

•

Industry factors

•

State/territory government factors

•

Regional/local factors.

2.2 What policies and initiatives (national, state, local) are being implemented? 2.3 What challenges are being faced (for example, skills/labour shortages, attraction and retention, funding)?

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Workforce Planning Toolkit

3. Internal environment 3.1 What is your current business planning process? What are the links between business planning and workforce issues? 3.2 What current initiatives, projects and services are being provided? What funding sources are accessed? 3.3 What is the organisational structure (insert organisational chart)? Who have you formed partnerships with (insert partnership map)? 3.4 What internal factors or issues are affecting your workforce? 3.5 What is the organisation’s current capability and capacity to deliver your products and services? 4. Current workforce profile 4.1 What is your current workforce profile in terms of demographics, numbers and job roles? What data sets are important to analyse (for example, date of birth, length of service, current job role, job categories and hierarchical levels in jobs)? And what are the relationships or correlations between the data sets? 4.2 What are the current skills and competencies of your workforce? What are your strengths and development needs? 4.3 What is the consultation with your current workforce telling you regarding workforce issues and what is working well or what could be improved? 4.4 What are the current workforce priorities, based on your workforce profiling and analysis? 5. Future workforce profile 5.1 What future products and services will be provided by the organisation (link to strategic plan)? 5.2 What will the future environment require? 5.3 Where are we headed? What is likely to change? What are the likely scenarios? 5.4 What is the workforce demand, forecast and supply analysis for the next 1–3 years?

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Tool 42: Workforce Plan format

5.5 Demand analysis identifies anticipated program and workload changes, desired workforce profile, workforce skills to meet projected needs and the organisations structure best suited to deliver outcomes. 5.6 Forecasts reflect projections for sales, production, technological change, improvements and the legal, compliance and regulatory environment. Use both qualitative and quantitative techniques including time series analysis. •

Supply analysis looks at your existing and future workforce supply with analysis and may consider occupations, job titles and descriptions, location, employment status, skills and competencies, performance level, length of service, age profile, retirement eligibility, diversity, turnover rates, exit interview information, destination of previous employees, recruitment trends and other trend data.

•

External labour supply data is useful to assist with analysis and forecasts including labour supply for specific job roles and types of workers, employment participation and unemployment rates, industry trends, affect of competitors, patterns of local employment and skill availability or shortages, attractiveness of the location, attractiveness of your organisation as an employer, impact of government regulations and structural changes in the labour market.

•

What future job roles will be undertaken? What skills and competencies are required over the next 1–3 years? What values and behaviours need to be demonstrated by your workforce? What performance measures need to be achieved?

•

What is the consultation with your workforce telling you regarding future workforce issues?

5.7 What are the workforce implications and issues? What are the future workforce priorities, based on your workforce analysis? 6. Gap analysis and closing strategies 6.1 What are the key areas of need/action to move from where the organisation is now to where it wants to be in terms of your workforce? 6.2 Compare the current workforce profile with what is required into the future – what’s different, what do we need more of, less of? What gap closing strategies are required to build the desired workforce?

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Workforce Planning Toolkit



Gaps generally fall into 1. workforce planning – capacity, 2. workforce development – capabilities and 3. human resource management – staffing.

6.3 Prioritise the "issues/needs" and populate the action plan, identifying gapclosing strategies. 7. Conclusion, review, evaluation strategy, and next steps 7.1 What are the key outcomes of your workforce action plan? 7.2 How will you evaluate the strategies in your workforce plan? 7.3 What are the next steps for implementation of your workforce action plan? 7.4 What may be the success factors and the barriers to implementing this workforce plan? Author, Title, Date

42.5.4 Sample format 4

This sample format is by Chapman (2007): A Real-World Approach to Planning the Right Workforce for Tomorrow’s Organizations. Part 2: Getting Down to Business: How to Workforce Plan (Aruspex).

Component

Page

What it is

Why you do it

Purpose

Part 1

Why you need to create a

Understand the value of

Workforce Plan

Workforce Planning

Commitment

Part 1

Sponsorship and support

Ensure your efforts succeed

Context

5

Understanding the

Forewarned is forearmed!

environment in which you

Don’t be tripped up by

operate

internal or external factors

Looking at your current

Do the right things for the

workforce in an effective way

right roles; consider the

Current view

7

needs of the employees as well as of the employer Quantitative futuring: forecasting

10

Examining the future

Know what needs to change,

workforce profile towards

and benchmark your changes

which your current trends are taking you

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Tool 42: Workforce Plan format

Qualitative futuring:

10

scenario planning Future view:

11

targeted future

Defining where you want to

Define the right workforce to

be, and where you might be

meet your strategic goals

Analysing forecasts and

Understand what you need

scenario plans in order to

to address to get to your

choose the future you want;

preferred future

fine-tuning the future; closing the gaps between where you will be and where you need to be Action planning

11

Defining a comprehensive

You won’t get there by

method to get you to your

wishing

preferred future

– 313 –

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