BUILDING CONTINUITY IN WORKFORCE PLANNING

 

WORKFORCE PLANNING

Workforce planning aims to maintain operational efficiency, productivity, and employee well-being in the face of disruptions, challenges, or emergencies to keep employees in good spirits for consistency in their productivity. It is the responsibility of the employer or the HR manager to build and maintain a consistent workflow through various HR duties such as hiring, training, and managing talents.

The human resource is the most important among all the other factors of production because the workforce largely determines a thriving business. The gathering of every other factor of production without the worker comes to nothing and so the human resources of any firm need to be taken very seriously at the decision-making table. Effective workforce planning checks the attrition rate.

In essence, the activities of recruitment, training, and talent management among others are carried out in the light of creating a work environment that fosters a harmonious working environment for employees to thrive first at their work and ultimately grow the fortunes of the business.

 

WORKFORCE CONTINUITY

The continuity of a workforce in an institution means a consistent delivery of work by the right amount of skilled and experienced employees over a long period of time without ‘feeling’ the drop-offs of exiting staff and the fill-ins of new workers. It refers to the strategic process of ensuring that an organization has the right talent in the right capacity, at the right time, and in the right positions to achieve all set objectives optimally.

This business attribute is a basic requirement for any thriving business especially in the services sector. It is a fundamental recipe to succeed in any competitive business environment as it gives it leverage for consistent productivity.

 

REASONS FOR WORKFORCE CONTINUITY AND BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS

These are a few notes to assess with regard to the need for continuity of work in any organization. A break in the workforce means a break in business. Business Impact Analysis talks about what a firm stands to lose when it falls short of any of the following all-important business tenets.

1.       Stability in Business. Show me a business that loses its key employees to the next available thing and I will show you a business that never graduates from the start-up status. To be stable is to remain firm and fixed, unlikely to give way at the least threat.

2.       Consistency in Delivery. When clients get accustomed to a particular taste and style, which forms part of the firm’s brand, it becomes difficult for the clients to accept something new every now and then with the frequent changes of the workforce. Even though there will be standards to be adhered to, the application of individual expertise would result in some kind of change in the final output.

3.       Knowledge Sharing. Knowledge sharing refers to the process of exchanging information, ideas, and experiences among individuals, teams, communities, or organizations. It involves the transfer of both explicit (documented) and tacit (undocumented) knowledge from one person to another. The longer a group of individuals work together as a firm, the more they think alike in contributing ideas to enhance the products they produce. Frequent new team members would find it difficult to build rapport with existing staff and as a result, knowledge sharing would be a difficult practice.

4.       Maintenance of Business Secrets. It may not be a manufacturing recipe but a strategy upon which a business thrives, the frequency at which staff members leave the business for other firms renders a threat to the secret because you may never know who will want to divulge the code of work as a means to avenge him or herself disregarding NDAs, if one existed.

5.       High Goodwill. High attrition rate naturally yields bad-mouthing from former employees and the society in which the firm is established and this can go a long way to discourage would-be clients and employees from doing business with the firm.

6.       Cost Efficiency. The cost an organization incurs in training and skilling an employee benefits the firm as long as that staff remains with the firm, the replacement of an employee by a new one at short intervals means the business entity is preparing to invest anew in the equipping of a staff who may not be as good as the exited one.

 

STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING

Strategy is a very detailed web plan that links intentions and actions to expected goals. It is not casually put together by anyone who finds themselves with the pen of the firm but a comprehensive document prepared by members of the management team of the business where specific decisions are made with the backing of senior management with evaluation systems to check its implementation. Here are a few:

1.       The Business Vision. Where do you see your business in the near future given that all determinant factors are equal? What caliber of staff will help you transition from plan to actualization? How do you intend to bring them in? What are your standards? These are critical questions every strategic business person would have to answer when putting up a business.

2.       The Financial Capacity. What kind of good work life can the business offer the staff such that it wouldn’t negatively affect the core operations of the business. This is very important to create a very harmonious working environment that is rewarding for employees which will keep staff in a firm for the longest foreseeable time.  

3.       Career Development. Every employee would love to remain in a business that provides room for progression in their field of work. Seminars, workshops and trainings of staff to add value to their expertise is a great determinant for the success of any business. This is the kind of workplaces employees want to be a part of and grow with. The firm must communicate in clear terms what employees stand to benefit when they join.  

4.       Contingency Plans. To every good plan prepared for success, there should be a secondary plan which is designed to redirect the resources to at least reach the basis of the goals of the firm. As they say “life happens”, key employees unfortunately die, are diagnosed with deadly diseases, or resign and none of these should run the business to a halt. One of the effective systems to run is to cause each key staff to reproduce themselves in younger and promising employees who will take over after the senior ones leave. Another is training a few skilled employees who can add other roles long enough until a substantive staff is employed.  

 

CREATING AN EMPLOYEE COMMUNITY

We call a succeeding employee space a community because it is a place where each member sees another as a stakeholder in the common interest they share and so will do everything to see the other party succeed. Here, employers and employees do not live as enemies but as affiliates of a common goal.

1.       Set Standards. Standards are everything. What do you want to see in your firm? Write them down in clear and unambiguous terms – they will guide how work is done.

2.       Encourage Open Communication. Teamwork excels wherever people feel free to express their thoughts and opinions, especially on things that affect them. When staff ‘A’ is not abhorred when he reaches out to senior staff ‘B’, he will feel needed and a recognized member of the community and give off his or her best.

3.       Reward Initiatives and Excellence. When an individual is just verbally appreciated for a good step or act, it gives them a sense of importance and belongingness from the community of people there. Everyone loves to be praised especially when it is obvious they have accomplished a feat. If it must be done well in order to be relevant, it is also important for the exceptionally well-done job to be celebrated.

4.       Aside from Expertise Hire Potential. Many recruiters look out for a very rich resume which often means to them talent or skill but for a healthy community of workers, it will be strategic for some promising applicants to be employed along with the proven ones because the great guys often don’t stay for long – they are the ones who are headhunted.

5.       Encourage Diversity. You may be shocked to realize the qualities of an employee you earlier taught was an outlier will be the equipped one with the solution to an emerging business threat. It is important for every community of employees to have a few people with diverse backgrounds; either by ethnicity, nationality, or place of training.  

6.       Prioritize Integration. The means by which a new employee joins an already existing team is very important and is highly connected to the success of the work of the new entrant. This is where impressions about the firm and about individuals are made and they go a long way to affect all relationships at work.

7.       Inculcate Job Flexibility. When an employee is given the opportunity to go about their work such that they are able to take care of other needs, it grows their engagement and commitment to the firm, and tend to deliver their best. Continually and collectively, a stronger firm is built for greater success.  

 

In a fast-evolving world of work, it is very important for any competitive firm to ensure they do not lose out on the benefits the firm stands to enjoy from their employees. There are external factors that affect the fortunes of businesses - these are outside of the reach of any firm, and for that reason, all internal systems that can be appropriated to promote the fortunes of the firm must be taken very seriously. Other supplementary works that may accompany this work are our articles on ‘AN ENGAGED EMPLOYEE’ and ‘GETTING THE BEST FROM TODAY’S EMPLOYEES’ in our earlier publications, please do check them out. Thank you.

25^th MARCH, 2024

THE COLLEGE BUSINESS CONSULT

thecollegebc@gmail.com