BY : Priya Sidhu
Workforce Planning & Proactive Recruitment
We see it happen all of the time – people leave, retire, or are terminated from organizations. Conversely, employees get promoted, switch to different roles, and teams win big projects. A lot of this happens at predictable rate, yet Hiring Managers are typically left scrambling at the 11th hour for new talent on their team. That’s why we’re talking about Workforce Planning in this blog post. Workforce Planning is the process of analyzing, forecasting and planning your workforce. In the sections below, we’ve broken down workforce planning into 5 simple steps to help your organization plan, prepare, and start proactively hiring exceptional talent.
1. Look into the past before looking into the future.
In order to assess future workforce needs, your organization should seek to understand how it previously handled workforce requirements. Some simple questions to ask your team are the following: How many openings in the last year occurred due to resignations, retirements, or internal movement? How long did it take to replace those individuals? And how long did it take to get the replacements to proficiency with their roles? Teams should also look back at major projects awarded and determine forecasted hires versus actual hires.
2. Evaluate the present.
Next, the organization should analyze its current workforce, specifically around the team’s current capacity, composition, and ability. The organization should also determine the current billability and utilization of specific departments, leading to an efficiency metric. It should also determine the schedule and pipeline of work in hand. This information should create an accurate picture of existing and forecasted gaps. From here, we are ready to make a forecast.
3. Forecast with the information in hand.
Now that we have all of the required information, your team should create three forecasted scenarios: worst case, most likely case, and best case scenario. Your team can also take this point to debate what factors would lead to each scenario, but its best to limit the discussion to 20 minutes! Remember again that your forecast should take account for people, their capabilities, and capacity. Not everyone will agree on the forecasts but keep in mind that this isn’t meant to be a crystal ball, but rather a general picture of where you will need to be proactive.
4. Identify gaps and create the plan.
With the forecast in hand, you’re ready to identify the gaps on your team. Your team should look to address the gaps through three main avenues: training, hiring, and outsourcing. Generally, you want to address the gaps in that order, but scenarios can vary based on your organization’s expertise and preference. From here, your team should identify where you will procure the training, talent, and outsourcing from in addition to a timeline. Finally, you want to get everyone on your team to buy in on the plan!
5. Implement and Iterate.
The last step is executing on your plan. Keep in mind, a million dollar execution is more important than a million dollar idea, so you need to have your team committed to the actions and timelines. Once you see the plan implemented, re-evaluate what has worked well and what hasn’t – not everything will go according to plan. Take your lessons learned, iterate the plan, and continue on the path to success.
Have a topic you’d like us to write about? Send your request to info@torustalent.com!
BY : Priya Sidhu
Workforce Planning & Proactive Recruitment
We see it happen all of the time – people leave, retire, or are terminated from organizations. Conversely, employees get promoted, switch to different roles, and teams win big projects. A lot of this happens at predictable rate, yet Hiring Managers are typically left scrambling at the 11th hour for new talent on their team. That’s why we’re talking about Workforce Planning in this blog post. Workforce Planning is the process of analyzing, forecasting and planning your workforce. In the sections below, we’ve broken down workforce planning into 5 simple steps to help your organization plan, prepare, and start proactively hiring exceptional talent.
1. Look into the past before looking into the future.
In order to assess future workforce needs, your organization should seek to understand how it previously handled workforce requirements. Some simple questions to ask your team are the following: How many openings in the last year occurred due to resignations, retirements, or internal movement? How long did it take to replace those individuals? And how long did it take to get the replacements to proficiency with their roles? Teams should also look back at major projects awarded and determine forecasted hires versus actual hires.
2. Evaluate the present.
Next, the organization should analyze its current workforce, specifically around the team’s current capacity, composition, and ability. The organization should also determine the current billability and utilization of specific departments, leading to an efficiency metric. It should also determine the schedule and pipeline of work in hand. This information should create an accurate picture of existing and forecasted gaps. From here, we are ready to make a forecast.
3. Forecast with the information in hand.
Now that we have all of the required information, your team should create three forecasted scenarios: worst case, most likely case, and best case scenario. Your team can also take this point to debate what factors would lead to each scenario, but its best to limit the discussion to 20 minutes! Remember again that your forecast should take account for people, their capabilities, and capacity. Not everyone will agree on the forecasts but keep in mind that this isn’t meant to be a crystal ball, but rather a general picture of where you will need to be proactive.
4. Identify gaps and create the plan.
With the forecast in hand, you’re ready to identify the gaps on your team. Your team should look to address the gaps through three main avenues: training, hiring, and outsourcing. Generally, you want to address the gaps in that order, but scenarios can vary based on your organization’s expertise and preference. From here, your team should identify where you will procure the training, talent, and outsourcing from in addition to a timeline. Finally, you want to get everyone on your team to buy in on the plan!
5. Implement and Iterate.
The last step is executing on your plan. Keep in mind, a million dollar execution is more important than a million dollar idea, so you need to have your team committed to the actions and timelines. Once you see the plan implemented, re-evaluate what has worked well and what hasn’t – not everything will go according to plan. Take your lessons learned, iterate the plan, and continue on the path to success.
Have a topic you’d like us to write about? Send your request to info@torustalent.com!