Do You Need Workforce Planning?
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Strategize, Strategize, Strategize
In order to keep a competitive edge in today’s cutthroat chemical industry, strategic thinking is a must. That being said, this is probably the most important and time-consuming part of the process. Enter, “Workforce Planning Committee”. Brainstorm with your team to come up with the best solutions to the challenges you will most likely encounter in the coming year. These action plans should be comprised of specific tasks that are ranked in order of priority. The more specific the tasks, the better. For example, if you are forecasting a peak production period in the second quarter, your first action plan should be to set a budget for hiring/training current staff. You may have ten or more tasks under that plan before it can be completed that could include such items as determining the exact number and skill sets of employees needed. While formulating your tasks and action plans it is important to keep in mind that there may be certain limitations that influence your decisions such as timeframes/deadlines, budgets, and available resources.
The objective behind these actions plans is to be as proactive as possible in order to avoid surprises. That is not to say that once you have a workforce plan in place, you will be impervious to all staffing issues, but you will be better equipped to deal with whatever comes your way.
Implement the Plan!
This folks, is where the rubber meets the road. The best plans in the world accomplish nothing if they are not executed properly. There are several things that need to come together in order to make all the hard work you’ve done thus far a success. Below is a step-by-step guide to ensure a smooth implementation of your ideas.
- Communicate and Educate - Hold mini-workshops with the key people on your staff to educate them on workforce planning, and how this new system is going to positively impact the company.
- Ensure Accountability - Consider including it as a point of discussion during annual employee reviews, or offer a bonus plan for stellar participation.
- Be Open to Feedback and Suggestions - Most times, mid-level management has the best idea of what’s going on at the ground level of a company and can offer very valuable information that will help the process succeed.
- Monitor and Revise the Plan - Reconvene with your Workforce Planning Committee on a regular basis to monitor progress, troubleshoot problem areas, and to make revisions to action plans and tasks.
Do you need workforce planning?
The primary reason for implementing a workforce plan is economics. If done well, workforce planning will increase productivity, cut labor costs, and dramatically cut time-to-market because you’ll have the right number of people with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time.
So, do you need workforce planning? A better question might be can you compete without it? Workforce planning works because it forces everyone to look to the future, while preventing surprises. It requires managers to plan ahead and to consider all eventualities. With a little effort and a lot of determination workforce planning could very well be the best thing to happen to your business!
