Effective workforce planning is crucial for building a workforce that will perform well in whatever task is assigned. Workforce planning becomes especially important in the face of fierce competition between enterprises. According to scientists, workforce planning can be a sustainable source of the desired competitive advantage. In this regard, it is imperative to understand the basic principles of the designated process. The initial task of workforce planning is to meet the human resource needs of the enterprise. Moreover, workforce planning must become the norm and an integral part of the company’s HR policy integrated into the overall business strategy.
The process of workforce planning consists of several stages: first, the manager must define the approach and determine the tools to use in the process. Next, the timeframe should be set to determine how often the planning will take place – for example, once a quarter, a year, or two years. The next step is the data collection carried out mainly through labour force surveys and other statistics, such as colleges and graduate information, immigration data, hospital statistics. The most important is the stage of team composition, when the manager forms the future team, relying mainly on the recruitment of employees following their speciality and trying to ensure that the team members complement each other’s professional qualities. One of the final stages is to determine the way of allocating resources between future employees – evenly among all team members or with the privileges to certain specialists.
The advantage of workforce planning is in consultation with various specialists to enrich the process. On the other hand, during the workforce planning process, managers can face challenges related to collection, quality and data exchange. Several tools are used in the process of workforce planning. For example, in Australia, managers often use the advanced Microsoft Excel models tool.
Another popular tool is scenario modelling, used to check the influence of the possible policy decisions of the state on future workforce supply and demand. In the Netherlands, most managers prefer a forecasting simulation model that considers data regarding demand and supply of the workforce and is based on the elaboration and trial of various simulated scenarios within the model. Then the New Zealand managers pay the most attention to current trends and pressure points, using reliable data and intelligence. Besides, various data modelling tools are widely used in the country.
In Scotland, the workforce planners use tools like workforce trees, skill mix analysers, nursing and midwifery workforce tools, and emergency department multi-professional tools. Finally, in Wales, the planners use six-step methodology complemented with numerous workforce, education and development services (WEDS) benchmarking tools. These are interactive workforce tool, skill mix analyser, age profiling tool, agency and locum tool. The managers also use advanced Microsoft Excel models in work.