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Workforce mapping helps an organisation understand its strengths and weaknesses to help with planning the availability of resources, organising skills and training events, and so on. It also helps to improve the learning of the workforce as a whole, to increase opportunities for employees and enhance the organisation’s productivity. The following is useful for thinking about local authority organisational mapping and workforce planning.
This toolkit provides a useful guide to workforce planning in the voluntary sector Voluntary Sector Social Services Workforce Unit (VSSSWU): Workforce Planning - A Toolkit for Voluntary Sector Social Services in Scotland.
Of course in high-pressure political environments, operational workforce planning rightly becomes a priority and the immediate focus will be to make sure, for example, that statutory responsibilities are met. At this point, operational planning is of paramount importance and should feed into strategic, long-term workforce planning.
It is also important in workforce planning to have baseline data to understand the profile of the current workforce. A range of practical tools, templates and checklist questions are used in workforce planning systems. Here we offer a sample which may be a useful starting point or a way of building on the current tools used.
Workforce Planning checklist
This checklist has been designed to help organisations challenge current workforce planning processes. It also highlights areas that could potentially be improved and helps identify alternative and more effective practices.
Download: toolkit / wfp-checklist-integration.docx
Workforce Planning Model Part One – Introduction
A workforce planning process which is a step by step guide, including preparation and securing support; establishing the current position (supply); identifying future needs (demand); establishing the gap; developing strategies; review and evaluation.
Download: toolkit / wfp-model-part-1.pdf
Workforce Planning Model Part Two – The Guidance and Implementation
A process to carry out workforce planning, including what workforce planning is required to establish supply; essential sources of information that will help in terms of identifying future service and skill requirements (demand); suggested areas of strategy development in order to meet future business needs, particularly sign posting wider organisational strategies around downsizing, process redesign and improvement; Political, Economic, Social, Technological and Environmental (PESTLE) analysis, etc.
Download: toolkit / wfp-model-part-2.pdf
Workforce Planning – workbook
This workbook has been designed as part of the Public Sector Leadership Framework (PSLF) and also as a standalone resource. It provides a clear understanding of the need for, and the role of, workforce planning and organisational design. It includes an overview of the process of developing a workforce plan, and a variety of workforce planning techniques.
Download: toolkit / wfp-workbook.pdf
Planning for the future by the Scottish Social Services Council is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://learn.sssc.uk.com.