Supercharge your workforce planning strategy, while keeping your people smiling

Understanding current and future workforce needs will be more important than ever in a tight labour market that shows no signs of easing. Different industries face unique challenges, and for managers of roster-driven, shift-based employees – also known as ‘deskless workers’ – workforce planning is particularly challenging, says Nathan Miller, managing director, UK and Europe at Humanforce. “Effective workforce planning is perhaps even more critical for shift-driven or deskless workplaces,” he says, “Indeed, although it helps at a strategic level in terms of budget and resource allocations, it also helps at a functional, day-to-day level.” Workforce planning allows HR and managers to be proactive with staff rostering, ensuring talent surpluses and shortages are avoided. This is especially crucial in industries such as health and care, with precise staff-to-patient ratios and other regulations or industries requiring at least one qualified employee on a specific work shift.“HR technology provides such a rich pool of employee data,” says Miller, “One of HR technology’s strongest attributes is its ability to track and analyse large amounts of data. When it comes to workforce management, this means you can spot trends, such as late starts or cost overruns, and use these findings to improve your processes.” Humanforce’s Workforce Analytics features robust, integrated metrics that allow you to instantly see what’s really happening in your business, in real-time. With inbuilt reports, including project costs, tardiness reporting, hours worked to hours rostered ratios, causes of unauthorised timesheets and more, you can make data-driven decisions aligned to your organisational and revenue goals.A good workforce plan enables HR to better understand employee qualifications and experience, where, when and how they prefer to work. Understanding employees like this is essential for motivation, development and retention. This workforce plan will also help source the right talent when needed. Humanforce’s Workforce Planning ChecklistPlanning and preparationThe planning and preparation phase is all about the who, where, what, where and when of work. It’s important to understand internal and external influences on your workforce. This means being aware of customers’ needs, analysing emerging trends and translating this into ways to fulfil talent requirements. It’s also about understanding what skills are required and where best to recruit talent. “Ensuring you have the right person/role in the right place at the right time and receiving the right pay forms the building blocks of workforce planning in deskless workplaces,” says Miller. Risk diagnosis and analysisYour talent strategy will have risks, so this phase is about assessing them. Consider using a ‘strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats’ (SWOT) analysis, including factors such as legislative, industry, social and technological changes. This analysis will also factor in talent supply and demand - tech can help here, too. “Workforce analytics tools enable you to look at historical data to predict future demand. That means you can create more effective, more efficient work rotas and schedules to effectively match consumer demand in your industry. During peak times, you’ll be prepared and have more staff ready to work, and the same applies to quieter periods,” says Miller. ExecutionThe execution phase combines supply, demand and gap analysis insights to determine an implementation roadmap. “It’s about really knowing what your employees need to do their jobs as effectively as possible,” says Miller. In the case of deskless workers, we know that many employers can’t offer the same level of flexibility as employers of deskbound workers. Miller adds: “They can’t really offer hybrid or remote work options. That’s the nature of the work these people do: they have to be on the ground to do it. A nurse can’t do their job from home, nor can a child-care teacher or retail assistant.” So one solution might be offering greater flexibility in work schedules, providing workers with a roster well in advance so they can be better prepared. Monitoring and modifyingThe plan shouldn’t be set in stone and must be open to constant evaluation and, if necessary, modification. “A workforce plan is never static; it’s constantly evolving as resources change, company objectives shift, and the make-up and needs of the workforce evolve,” says Miller. “Tracking key metrics and analytics is vital to adapt and ensure your workforce plan is on track.” Initially, this might seem overwhelming, especially given the range of metrics that can be tracked. “It’s best to select three to five key metrics that matter the most for your organisation,” says Miller. “Prioritise those areas that have the most scope for improvement (for example, employee productivity, absenteeism, engagement and health and wellbeing) and will have the most impact and then track them over time.” Outcomes should be continuously evaluated to determine progress in addressing gaps and identifying where adjustments to strategies and action items are required. For further information and tips on mapping talent to business needs in a ‘deskless’ workforce, download Humanforce’s workforce planning checklist here.

Supercharge your workforce planning strategy, while keeping your people smiling

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