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Do You Need Workforce Planning?

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As an employer it’s important to be aware of everything that is going on in your business. But, this is
only a small part of your role and one that should take very little of your time. With the right team,
your managers should feed you with all the information you need.

There’s a good reason for this, you should be focused on the future. That’s knowing where the
company is heading, what type of competition and issues you may face, and the best way to do your
workforce planning.

Yes, workforce planning should be done by every business.

What Is Workforce Planning?

In simple terms, this is the study of what employees you have, what you are likely to need, and how
to fill the gaps. It’s not always as simple as hiring extra people.

In fact, if you’re considering hiring extra people you should be seeking employers assistance from a
professional. This will ensure that all your hiring and firing is within the confines of the law, you
don’t want an employment tribunal messing up your business plans.

This is a complicated subject and all HR personnel should be involved. The key is to know what your
current output capability is and what production is likely to be needed today and in the future.

In order to calculate these figures, you’ll need to know your market and what things are likely to
affect consumer purchases in the future. This will give you a good indication of what the demand will
be in the future and allow you to ensure you have enough staff to meet production needs.

This can work the other way as well, allowing you to reduce staff in order to save costs when sales
are likely to be lower.

Why You Need It

Workforce planning is not an exact science. You’re basing your decisions on what you think the
markets will do compared with the productivity levels you currently have and are capable of.

That means you need to allow room for error, the best way of doing this is to have staff on low hour
contracts so that you can increase them when you need to.

But, if you get your workforce planning right you’ll be able to maximize your productivity and
minimize your wastage. This means you’ll be improving your bottom line, which is a valuable goal for
any business.

Bizarrely, be prepared for hiring and firing needs in advance can actually help with staff retention
and morale. By having a core team that stays with you regardless of what the market is doing, you’ll
be providing them with job security. All you need to do is ensure that their input is appreciated and
you’ll have a happy and productive team.

That improves staff retention rate which also has a positive knock-on effect on your bottom line.

Don’t forget that you don’t have to hire and fire people, sometimes redeploying them is a good idea,
keeping the talent pool available for when you need it.

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