DECISIONS AND ORGANISATION

Workforce planning: from workload to decision.

The decision starts from the workload and from the capacity actually available. Recruiting is one of the options, compared with the others.

THE HUMX TEAM
~3 MIN READ

Workforce planning connects the workload with the capacity and the skills of the team. Four steps lead from volume to a decision you can stand behind.

The framework, in four steps

STEP WHAT YOU ESTABLISH

Demand The workload estimated for a clear period: orders, projects, client requests.

Capacity The working capacity available in the same period, not the number of people.

Skills Which skills are critical for that volume and who has them today.

The gap What remains uncovered, expressed in capacity and skills, not only in posts.

Headcount and working capacity are distinct measures. Real capacity takes into account the actual availability in that period, the time needed for training and the fact that new colleagues reach the team’s pace gradually. Do not assume that every contracted hour is a productive hour.

An illustrative example: a manufacturing company with order volumes that vary by quarter. In the high-volume quarter, two critical skills sit with three people, and one of them has planned leave. The gap is not “one more person”, but covering that skill in those particular weeks.

Three scenarios, written briefly

SCENARIO ASSUMPTIONS AND SIGNAL

Base volume Demand stays in the usual range. The signal: variation within the limits of the last comparable periods.

Confirmed growth Additional volume with a contractual basis or firm orders. The signal: commitments made, not estimates.

Temporary peak High volume over a bounded period, with a return expected. The signal: the duration and the date of return, written down.

Write the scenarios and their assumptions before the decision. When the signal you are watching appears, check whether the assumptions still hold and confirm the option that fits.

The options, compared

Compare four directions: clarifying priorities, improving the flow, training in additional skills and recruiting. Assess the time required, the cost, the skills available and the continuity of the work. The options can be combined; a clear need for new skills can justify recruiting alongside the other measures.

The distinction that matters: a temporary peak and a structural need call for different decisions. For a bounded peak, cover is organised for that period. For a need that remains after the return to base volume, the decision is structural. The factsheet from the CIPD on workforce planning describes aligning the organisation’s needs with the people and skills available.

The working sheet

Eight lines, filled in for each period analysed.

The period analysed, with start and end dates.

The estimated workload and the source of the estimate.

The skills that are critical for that volume.

The available capacity, with actual availability included.

The gap to cover, in capacity and skills.

The option chosen, out of the four compared.

The owner of the decision.

The date on which it is revisited.

Review the sheet at intervals that suit the activity and compare periods to see whether the gap repeats.

The practical step

Choose the next period and fill in the sheet for a single team. If the decision is to recruit, see what the recruitment process looks like; to compare offers, see what you compare in a recruitment budget.

Let’s clarify what you need.

We start from your workload and establish where the real gap is.

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