Getting Started
- Time period the plan covers:
- Years covered in the plan
- Consider breaking down by 1 year, 5 years and 10 years
- A message from leadership to all employees defining:
- What a workforce plan is
- Why it’s important
- Who’s responsible for developing the plan
- Contact info for employee questions
- Provide a high-level overview for the strategic direction of the organization:
- Mission
- Vision
- Values
- Goals and objectives
- Clearly state how the workforce plan supports and aligns to the organization’s strategic direction:
- What skills are needed in the workforce in 1 year to meet the organization’s goals and objectives? In 5 years? In 10 years?
- What is needed to build the workforce the organization needs to meet its goals and objectives? (See workforce gap analysis below.)
- Situational analysis:
- What is your organization’s current position in the marketplace?
- What opportunities exist in the next 5 years? 10 years?
- What challenges exist in the next 5 years? 10 years?
- What external forces that you can’t necessarily control might impact your organization over the next 5 years? The next 10 years?
- Process for developing the plan:
- Who is involved in developing the plan?
- What is the time period for developing the plan?
- How does development of this plan differ from the development of any previous workforce plans?
- Briefly describe the approach for developing the plan; what is considered first?
- Summary of stay interviews, exit interviews, employee surveys and other employee satisfaction information:
- Are there trends among employees leaving the organization?
- Are there common concerns among current employees?
- Are there common positive comments among current employees?
- Current workforce overview:
- Number of employees
- Location of jobs
- Supervisor-to-employee ratio
- Compensation and benefits
- Demographics of employees by gender, ethnicity, age, disability and veteran or criminal record status
- Vacancy and turnover by position or category during the past year
- Retirement eligibility for the next 10 years
- Current employee competencies
- Current organizational chart
- Projected organizational chart for 1, 5 and 10 years
- Position analysis:
- How essential is each position?
- Identify necessary knowledge, skills and abilities for each position
- Could positions be reorganized for greater efficiency?
- Key leadership analysis:
- Which employees are critically important in maximizing efforts of others toward achieving your organization’s goals?
- What is being done to prepare future leaders to take on these roles?
- What leadership preparation should be prioritized over the next 1 year, 5 years and 10 years?
- Workforce gap analysis:
- Compare your current workforce overview with the skills you will need in 1 year, 5 years and 10 years to meet the organization’s goals and objectives?
- What risks does the organization face if the gaps are not filled?
- What workforce gaps should be prioritized in the next 1–2 years? Over the next 3–5 years?
- Identify recruitment challenges:
- Are your recruitment efforts reaching and appealing to a diverse (gender, ethnicity, age, disability, veteran and criminal record status) audience of career seekers?
- Are your recruitment efforts resulting in a qualified and diverse pool of candidates for positions?
- Identify development challenges:
- Are current employees offered training and education to help them meet your organization’s current and future skills competency needs?
- Are training and education opportunities communicated consistently and effectively with current employees?
- What is the quality of training and education opportunities offered?
- Identify retention challenges:
- Are a significant number of current employees unsatisfied or not engaged?
- Are opportunities for career growth within your organization clearly communicated with current employees?
- Is there significant competition for employees in your industry?
- Identify institutional knowledge transfer barriers:
- Complexity in communicating highly specialized knowledge
- Organizational silos
- Knowledge hoarding
- Lack of a structure to encourage knowledge sharing
- Lack of communication about leadership expectations regarding knowledge sharing
- Outline workforce planning tactics that support your workforce strategy (see workforce plan implementation grid below):
- Assign each plan element and set deadlines
- Identify who or what department will own the workforce plan and develop a structure for ensuring its ongoing implementation
- Note challenges you anticipate in implementing the plan and how you will overcome them
- Outline how you will communicate about the development and implementation of the workforce plan to employees (see workforce plan communications grid below):
- Will you communicate with all employees at once or communicate with groups based on level of leadership, type of position or some other factor?
- Who should communicate with each group of employees?
- What are the most effective means of communication?
- How often will you provide updates on the development and implementation of the plan?
