Plan your workforce

• Where do you want business be in 6-12 months, 2 or 5 years?
• What is the vision and mission for your business?
• What are the external opportunities and threats to your business?
• What internal and external factors influence your current and future labour demand and supply? 
• What is the composition, characteristics and competencies of your internal workforce (including contractors and temporary staff)?
• Can you readily source the labour you need? Is this likely to change in the future? 
   

• What future work and business requirements does your business need to accomplish its mission and plans?
• What products and services will you provide and what staff skills and competencies will you need to produce them?
• Will changing technology or legislation impact your workforce? How?
• Can you forecast or develop scenarios for your future workforce requirements?
• What are staff telling you about current and future workforce issues?
   

• What are the gaps between your current workforce and the workforce you need for the future?

Prioritise your gaps and come up with ways to address them. Your workforce planning actions should align with your business values and culture. Your workforce planning actions could include:

• Employer brand
  Consider your company’s brand and reputation. How can you use it to recruit your future workforce?
• Recruitment referrals
  Think about both formal and informal ways to recruit staff, such as encouraging staff to refer family and friends to apply for jobs.
• Retention and turnover
  What is the optimal turnover rate, what are the reasons staff leave and which staff do you seek to retain?
• Internal redeployment
  Can you reassign staff within the business?
• Training and development
  Are there any training and development programmes available to address employee skill gaps?
• Succession planning
  Determine a succession plan for key roles.
• Career and talent development
  What career pathways are available within the business? Consider coaching and mentoring programmes.
• Casual and temporary staff
  Consider the role of casual and temporary staff in your workforce.

• Monitor and evaluate workforce plan actions. How much have they helped you achieve your business objectives? Which actions were most effective?
• Analyse emerging issues and adjust the plan’s actions as necessary.