Introduction

Workforce planning connects to many of the most important decisions your service will make. Whether you are thinking about future demand, managing risk, redesigning a service or if a restructure is required, your workforce is central to how well your service can deliver.

Future plans and risk

Workforce planning does not work in isolation. It connects to many other areas of planning across the council, including:

• council priorities and strategic objectives
• service plans and transformation and improvement plans
• team plans
• risk management and performance reviews.

Workforce risks are often among the most serious risks a service can face. These include:

• difficulty recruiting to key roles
• shortages of specialist skills
• over-reliance on certain individuals
• future retirement pressures.

Spotting these risks early gives managers time to prepare and build in actions to reduce them, before they start to affect service delivery.

Redesign and restructures

Workforce planning plays an important role in shaping how services are structured. Redesign of services and restructures work best when they are based on a clear understanding of future demand, workforce skills and service risk.

Workforce planning helps managers understand:

• what roles will be needed in the future
• which skills and capabilities are becoming more important
• where gaps or risks may emerge
• how teams could be designed to meet future service needs.

When restructures are guided by workforce planning, they are more likely to be based on evidence and focused on long-term service goals. This helps avoid reactive changes that can put pressure on staff or fail to address the root cause of problems.

Workforce planning also helps managers:

• explain the reasons for change more clearly
• support staff through transitions
• identify development opportunities linked to future roles.

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