Workforce Deployment Plan

                                                     (Figure 1- David Morris -2023)

What is the deployment process of employees?

Staff deployment is a personnel activity to ensure that the labor of the organization would be continuously in an optimal relation to the jobs and organizational structure. Staffing is a broader concept than the deployment. (Ram. 29, 2015)

Why is deployment planning important?

A deployment plan is a concise strategy that outlines processes and resources needed for a successful transition from hiring till leaving from the organization. It serves as a roadmap, minimizing risks and streamlining the release process.

 

What are the 5 key elements of workforce planning?

·       Setting strategic planning,

·       Analyzing your current workforce profile

·       Developing an action plan

·       Implementing the action plan,

·       Monitoring, evaluating and revising your plan.

 

Steps in the workforce planning process

1. Supply Analysis

The purpose of supply analysis is to evaluate the organisation as it currently exists – the skills and experience that are vital to your business. Analysis needs to cover both the number of employees and their skills, and factors, including workforce demographics and whether protected classes are represented. If you have a large number of employees nearing retirement age, or conversely, numerous younger employees with higher staff turnover, demographics will be particularly important.

Supply analysis also requires projections of staff loss, this may be because of resignations, internal transfers, retirements, involuntary terminations and promotion. This enables you to take into account the future supply of talent and where it may be needed. The workforce planner can then develop profiles of existing staff as it would look in the future if no action is taken regarding training, recruitment or outsourcing.

2. Demand Analysis

This analysis takes into consideration several business issues including new product lines, expansion and contraction of global markets, competitive forces, anticipated availability of workforce within geographic boundaries, alongside many other things. Internal and external issues should be considered during the demand analysis.

Analysis of internal influences could focus on whether the workforce has the skills sets required to perform new duties with a new product line (with limited training), or whether existing workforce remains loyal to the business if it has expected changes.

Analysis of external demand should consider whether staff are readily available and possess the ability and skills required by the evolving business. And consideration of what external pressures may change demand for products or services that could affect internal business decisions, and therefore affect workforce planning requirements.

Future composition of your workforce must also be taken into account, which can be done by answering questions such as the number of employees necessary to achieve your business plan objectives; what competencies or skills are required for the new business; what is the composition of the available workforce; what will the business need to do to attract prospective talent; and what will the business need to do to attract and retain a diverse workforce?

3. Gap Analysis

Gap analysis compares the supply model with the demand model in order to identify gaps between current workforce composition and future workforce requirements. A workforce planner may decide to war-game future scenarios and then select the future most likely to happen, setting contingency plans for alternative futures. The planner should also identify the staff needed who have the required skills, in conjunction with those employees who will no longer fit within the business because of their limited skill set.

Workforce planning tools

Workforce planning tools can help to bridge the gap between your current workforce position and where it goes in the future. The most commonly used tools include: ( David Morris- 2023)

• Organizational strategy – this is set out by your organization’s management team; this is used to map the current state of your organisation’s workforce across the boundaries of performance and potential.
• HR Analytics and performance – this is a HR software programme with an analytics and reporting platform that helps create data from all the decisions you make.
• Total comparison and benefits analysis – this essentially distils the price paid for top talent and how it currently reconciles with the wider market.
• Contingency planning – this can also be called “scenario planning” and means envisioning certain scenarios and how your organization will respond to them.

Putting together a workforce plan is as much art as it is science. And no single formula, method or strategy exists that will provide you with a “correct” workforce plan. However, with the aid of this guide and wealth of information available, the trick is about bringing it all together and interpreting it in a meaningful way.

Conclusion

Workforce deployment plan is a concise strategy that outlines processes and resources needed for a successful transition from hiring till leaving from the organization. This is important to each organization to control their recruitment budgets towards profit

 

References

 

https://www.davidsonmorris.com/workforce-planning/

(PDF) Strategic Workforce Planning (researchgate.net)

Workforce Planning Is Essential to High-Performing Organizations (shrm.org)

AMR Research, 2006: The Human Capital Management Applications Report, 2005–2010[15]

DMG Consulting: 2009 Contact Centre Workforce Management Market Report[16]

Workforce Asset Management Book of Knowledge (John Wiley & Sons Publishing, 2013)[17]