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Workforce Planning A Process

Karen Arnold

Kevin Williams

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Effective Workforce Plans

All share a 4-part theme:1. Supply Analysis

2. Demand Analysis

3. Gap Analysis

4. Solution Development

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State of CaliforniaDepartment of Personnel Administration

Workforce Planning Model

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Step 1: Review Strategic Plan

Workforce planning identifies human resource needs and strategies for meeting those needs in order to ensure you achieve your strategic plan goals.

Step 1 provides the context and scope for your workforce planning efforts

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Context of the Workforce PlanWhat impacts your efforts?

Direction of the agency – Strategic PlanCustomer expectationsEmerging developments in

technologyNew legislationChanges in fundingChanges in external environment

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Scope of the Workforce PlanNature of Scope:

Individual key positions Titles or title series Occupations

Scale of Scope: Single position Program area or division Agency as a whole

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Step 2: Identify Work Functions

Clearly identify the functions you will need to achieve the goals of the strategic plan (within the chosen scope)

Focus on the functions,not the people doing them

Start with a clear understanding of existing functions of the organization

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Step 3: Identify Staffing Requirements

Identify staff that will be needed to perform the functions within the scope. It includes:

The knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and personal characteristics or competencies staff must have to be successful in performing each of the functions

The number of staff needed with each KSA or competency set

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Step 4: Project Workforce SupplyProfile your current work force (as defined by your scope), and determine what the supply will be after expected attrition:

Past actual attrition may or may not be an accurate predictor of future attrition; it is one variable to consider

Estimated attrition rates should be based on a number of variables, including demographic factors and historical patterns of attrition

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Step 4: Project Workforce Supply (Cont’d)

In order to project your workforce supply, calculate past attrition by: Adding up the number of employees who left

the agency and dividing by the total number of employees

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Step 5: Analyze Workforce GapsCompare the expected staffing requirements (Step 3) with the projected supply (Step 4) and identify the gaps between the two:The gaps will be mainly in these areas:

Inadequate supply of qualified people in jobs that will likely remain the same

Inadequate supply of people with the competencies to perform functions needed in the future

Excess staff performing obsolete or declining functions, or functions likely to be outsourced

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Step 6:Develop Priorities, Solutions and

Implement

Develop potential solutions to meet staffing needs on your priority list and then implement the best solutions

Step 6 consists of three sub-steps:Prioritize the areas with the most pressing

needs Identify solutions to close the gaps in these

areas Implement your solutions

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Step 7: Evaluate the Plan

To ensure that the workforce plan is effective on an on-going basis:

Assess what's working and what's not Make needed adjustments to the plan and

solutions Address new workforce and organization

issues that might occur Establish how you will continue to monitor

the plan

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Why Change Readiness? Workforce Planning is a continuous, long

term process because:There are not enough people to fill the

positions being vacated by the Baby Boomers

The estimate is that it will be about 15 years before there are enough people to fill available positions

As this is a long term and significant program you need to understand the readiness of your organization for the change

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Change Readiness It is important to know where your

organization is right now in order to develop an effective Workforce Program

There is not a right or wrong answer – there’s just what is so at the moment

Complete the Change Readiness Assessment and be prepared to discuss your thoughts with your neighbor

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