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Workforce Planning Toolkit

Workforce planning is having the right number of people with the right skills in the right jobs at the right time. Workforce planning is the business process that aligns staffing with the strategic missions and critical needs of the department. It also forecasts the department's future workforce needs to ensure your department will continue to have a talented competent workforce. See the State of California Workforce Planning Model for an overview of the workforce planning process.

Access the Workforce Planning Toolkit

More about the toolkit

The State of California Workforce Planning Model is highlighted in this toolkit. It is well thought out and researched, detailed, and conversant with the public sector in California.

Phase 1: Set the Strategic Direction for the Workforce Plan

Workforce planning depends upon, complements, and logically follows strategic planning. Strategic planning assists in mapping where you are, where you're going, and how you plan to get there.

Phase 2: Gather and Analyze Departmental Data for the Workforce Plan

Determining current and future workforce gaps is essential to ensure departments meet strategic goals, customer expectations, and maintain quality. Identifying staffing and competency gaps requires you to develop a profile of the current workforce, determine what the current and future needs are, and project what that profile will be in the future after expected impacts on each classification.

Phase 3: Develop the Workforce Strategies and Plan

Now that the workforce gaps have been identified, prioritize the areas where you have the most pressing needs so you can develop solutions. In order to use available resources wisely, it's essential to determine the most critical workforce gaps and develop solutions that enable you to continue to meet the department's strategic goals and critical business outcomes. Strategize recruitment and retention efforts to specific levels of staff that possess the right competencies.

Phase 4: Implementation Strategies

Implement the plan. The basis of the plan, as well as its elements, should be communicated to all employees. Include why and how it was developed, how it will be applied, and how it will impact staff. Follow the action plan and communication plan to ensure measureable progress will be made on each strategy in the plan.

Phase 5: Evaluate the Workforce Plan

Once you implement the plan, evaluate your efforts to ensure you are meeting your objectives, closing staffing and competency gaps, and efforts are benefiting internal and external stakeholders as well as the department as a whole.

When should a department use the Workforce Planning Model?

The Workforce Planning Model can be used when a department wants to begin or refine a workforce plan to ensure the department's critical missions and strategic plan objectives can be met.

The California State University is a unionized environment and as such may not be able to fully avail itself of all aspects of the robust workforce planning model. We are providing an overview of the model for informational purposes as well as utilization of some of the best practices. Work closely with your Human Resources department to ensure you are working within appropriate collective bargaining agreement guidelines.

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