CIPD’s insight
Workforce planning (2021)
Workforce planning is a core business process which aligns changing organisation needs with people strategy. It can be the most effective activity an organisation can engage in. It doesn’t need to be complicated and can be adjusted to suit the size and maturity of any organisation. It can provide market and industry intelligence to help organisations focus on a range of challenges and issues, and prepare for initiatives to support longer term business goals.
This factsheet examines the concept of workforce planning. It distinguishes between strategic and operational workforce planning, `hard` and `soft` workforce planning, which work together to generate and analyse information before planning actions. It also explores the stages of the workforce planning process and highlights key issues and action points for implementation.
https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/organisational-development/workforce-planning-factsheet
Workforce planning guide (2018)
World economics, technology, demography and changing social attitudes are constantly influencing how we resource our organisations. The need for the right people, with the right skills, in the right roles, at the right time and at the right cost rings true now more than ever. With concerns over skills shortages and increasing competition to attract ‘talent’ to our organisations, considered workforce planning is an imperative that will keep businesses ahead of the curve. Workforce planning is a business process to align changing organisation needs and people strategy. It doesn’t need to be complicated, and any necessary complexity can be adjusted to suit the size and maturity of your organisation. Workforce planning will often be triggered by a specific event and/or a change to the structure of an organisation, such as through a merger, acquisition or a transformational change project. However, a focus on broader workforce planning will be important to your organisation at any given time.
https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/organisational-development/workforce-planning-practice