Strategic workforce planning – a vital business activity

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to make the case for strategic workforce planning and to outline the key steps involved.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper begins with a discussion of the cost of redundancies to the economy and argues that much of this could have been reduced with better planning. It goes on to describe the key steps in workforce planning. It looks at practical ways to assess demand and replacement needs and utilise productivity ratios to convert delivery units into human resource requirements. It concludes with a discussion on the supply of resource and examples of actions that can be taken proactively to close foreseen gaps.

Originality/value

This paper is based on methodologies developed by the author and applied in practice.

Citation

Mayo, A. (2015), "Strategic workforce planning – a vital business activity", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 174-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-08-2015-0063