1. Workforce planning

2. Workforce planning involves assessing the current and future labour needs of an organisation to get the...  right number of workers  with the right skills  in the right place  at the right time to help it meet its aims and objectives

3. Stages in workforce planning Audit the current workforce Analyse the future workforce in terms of both demand and supply of labour Identify any gaps Implement strategies to eliminate the gaps

4. Assessing current workforce needs Human resource data can be analysed to find out: How many employees work in each area of the business The skills and abilities of current staff The tasks and roles workers carry out

5. Analysing future workforce needs Supply of labourHow many of the current workforce are likely to retire or leave for other reasons? Will the current workforce have the right skills? Demand for labourHow many staff will be needed in different areas of the firm & what skills will they need? Organisational objectives Does the business intend to grow? Is it considering moving operations elsewhere? Forecast demand for products Is the demand for each of the goods and services offered likely to increase or decline? The external business environment Are more competitors due to enter the market? At what stage in the business cycle are we? Changes in technology Is new technology going to be introduced which may reduce the need for some workers?

6. Strategies for addressing workforce needs Workforce analysis may indicate that the organisation should: Increase the workforce through the recruitment of additional workers Reduce the workforce through natural wastage, redundancies or restructuring such as de-layering Develop the skills and abilities of the current workforce

7. Workforce activities Recruitment & selection  Draw up job description & personal specification  Advertise the post  Use appropriate selection methods  Appoint and carry out induction training Training and development  Identify individual training needs  Implement on or off-the-job training  Use appraisal systems to ensure continuous development of employees