Building Successful Organizations
Workforce Planning in HHS
November 1999
Office of Human Resources
Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget
Table of Contents
Forward
The Office of Human Resources, ASMB, has developed
Building Successful Organizations as a workforce
planning resource guide for the Department of Health and
Human Services. As such, this document provides the HHS
Operating Divisions with guidance and information on all
aspects of workforce planning.
Most importantly, this guide sets out the Department’s
expectations for workforce planning “ the linkages, the
key participants, and the outcomes of the workforce planning
process. Workforce planning in HHS is based on cooperative
efforts involving budget, human resources, and GPRA /
strategic planning. These linkages are essential for
workforce planning to function as a tool for making strategic
human resources decisions.
Because HHS is not a monolithic organization but one made up
of individual Operating Divisions with varying related
missions, the guide outlines a model for workforce planning
that can be adapted to differing organizations. The model
provides a means for Operating Divisions to develop a
workforce plan that meets their needs and also meets the
Department’s expectations. The approach is flexible
rather than a rigid process.
Finally, the guide distills considerable research on
workforce planning into a single reference document. The
steps in the planning process and planning considerations are
discussed in some detail to help organizations benefit from
the experiences of others, for while organizations vary,
problems concentrate in certain parts of the process.
The Office of Human Resources is prepared to provide
technical assistance to HHS Offices undertaking workforce
planning. To discuss approaches to workforce planning,
arrange for technical assistance, or request an on-site
visit, contact the Office of Human Resources at 202-690-6191,
or e-mail Dave Dunlap.
In its simplest terms workforce planning is getting "the right number
of people with the right skills, experiences, and competencies in the right jobs
at the right time." This shorthand definition covers a comprehensive process
that provides managers with a framework for making staffing decisions based on
an organization’s mission, strategic plan, budgetary resources, and a set of
desired workforce competencies.
Many organizations, both public and private, have developed models for workforce
planning. Putting aside variations in terminology, the processes are all very much
alike. All rely on an analysis of present workforce competencies; an identification
of competencies needed in the future; a comparison of the present workforce
to future needs to identify competency gaps and surpluses; the preparation of plans
for building the workforce needed in the future; and an evaluation process to assure
that the workforce competency model remains valid and that objectives are being met.
This process is simple in outline but depends on rigorous and comprehensive analysis
of the organization’s work, workforce, and strategic direction.
Workforce planning requires strong management leadership; clearly articulated
vision, mission, and strategic objectives; and cooperative supportive efforts of
staff in several functional areas. Strategic planning (GPRA), budget, and human
resources are key players in workforce planning. GPRA plans set organizational
direction and articulate measurable program goals and objectives. The budget
process plans for the funding to achieve objectives. Human resources provides tools
for identifying competencies needed in the workforce and for recruiting, developing,
training, retraining, or placing employees to build the workforce of the future.
The "why" of workforce planning is grounded in the benefits to managers.
Workforce planning provides managers with a strategic basis for making human
resource decisions. It allows managers to anticipate change rather than being
surprised by events, as well as providing strategic methods for addressing present
and anticipated workforce issues.
Some components of workforce planning, such as workforce demographics, retirement
projections, and succession planning, are familiar to managers. Workforce planning
provides focus to these components, providing more refined information on changes
to be anticipated, the competencies that retirements and other uncontrollable
actions will take from the workforce, and key positions that may need to be filled.
This in turn allows managers to plan replacements and changes in workforce competencies.
Organizational success depends on having the right employees with the right competencies
at the right time. Workforce planning provides managers the means of identifying the
competencies needed in the workforce · not only in the present but also in the
future · and then selecting and developing that workforce.
Public sector management is focusing on performance-based organizations. Achieving
measurable program results was the thrust behind Congress’s passage of the
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 · identifying in measurable terms
what government organizations intend to accomplish and basing future budgetary decisions
on achieving those goals. This emphasis on performance also shows up the National Partnership
for Reinventing Government’s efforts to establish Performance Based Organizations (PBOs)
and identifying "front-line organizations" · offices that are performing the
government’s key functions. The emphasis on performance based organizations is evident
also in the General Accounting Office’s study Major Performance and Management Challenges,
which notes:
"Only when the right employees are on board and are provided the training, tools,
structures, incentives, and accountability to work effectively is organizational success
possible.1"
Finally, workforce planning allows organizations to address
systematically issues that are driving workforce change.
One such issue is age and growing retirement eligibility. The HHS workforce is
universally aging and is slightly older than the government average. However, age
and retirement eligibility in the various Operating Divisions varies greatly. Nearly
one-third of the permanent civilian employees of HHS are eligible for either voluntary
or early retirement. But the percentages vary by Operating Division from a low of
23 percent to a whopping 72 percent in another. Workforce planning allows organizations
to project, at least statistically, retirement rates and to make plans for replacing
lost competencies.
In less clear-cut but equally effective ways workforce planning provides managers
with tools to address changes in program direction that impact the type of work being
performed (and hence the competencies needed) and allows managers to identify ways
in which technology may change competencies required in the workforce.
The overall benefits of workforce planning, then, are its ability to make managers
and programs more effective.
To be useful, a workforce plan must reflect the management
and environment of the organization for which it is
developed. For that reason, there is no prescribed format for
a workforce plan. Instead, the workforce planning process
focuses on the basic information needed for the planning
process and on the outputs of the process.
A workforce plan must document the workforce analysis,
competency assessments, gap analysis, and workforce
transition planning that makes up the planning process. These
data provide the documentation of the inputs and comprise the
basic output of the planning. This information establishes
the validity of any workforce plan by demonstrating the links
between workforce planning and program management, budget
justifications, GPRA goals, and human resources work
planning.
The primary beneficiary of workforce planning is program
managers. Workforce planning provides managers with a
strategic basis for human resource management decision-making
that is based on achieving program goals. Forecasting models
based on analysis of the workforce allow managers to
anticipate turnover and to plan recruiting and employee
development to move toward the workforce needed in the
future. Knowing the competencies in the workforce and knowing
the competencies that will be needed provides managers the
information needed to make strategic decisions.
In FY 1999 HHS will spend about five percent of its
discretionary budget, nearly $2 billion, on personnel
compensation. As the Government has achieved its downsizing
goals, the emphasis in budgeting has shifted from workforce
reduction to workforce management. The Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) increasingly emphasizes the link between
dollars and personnel and asks that agencies accompany
staffing requests with documentation that ties these requests
to overall staffing goals.
In order to meet this requirement, as well as to present a
strong justification to appropriators, the Budget Office has
asked HHS Operating Divisions to apply workforce planning
methods and techniques in developing staffing requirements.
The Budget Office expects that OPDIVs will include the
outputs of workforce planning (including their workforce
analysis) as supporting documentation in their budget
justifications. The goal is to combine budget, program
performance, and staffing priorities into a cohesive strategy
that is presented in budget justifications. This will
optimize the Department’s opportunities for success in
the budget process.
The GPRA goals and performance measures of HHS and the
Operating Divisions focus on the outcomes and results that
HHS and its partners work to achieve through the many health
and human service programs administered by the Department.
These goals are usually expressed in terms of a program’s
impact on its target population or improvements in population
characteristics. This has led OPDIVs to establish goals such
as the percentage of children who have received immunizations
for childhood illnesses and percentage of eligible children
enrolled in Head Start Programs. This focus is in line with
the intent of the Government Performance and Results Act.
With GPRA plans focusing on results among the populations
served, accomplishments in workforce planning do not rise to
the level of measurable program goals. However, workforce
planning provides the means for achieving these over-arching
program goals. Program goals will not be achieved without
"the right numbers of the right people in the right
place at the right time." Workforce planning is a
fundamental tool, critical to quality performance, that will
contribute to the achievement of program objectives. As HHS
components present and describe the strategies that support
the achievement of both long-term and annual program
performance goals in the strategic and performance plans,
they need to include management activities such as workforce
planning as essential components of a broad-based management
strategy.
However, we can not achieve program goals and measure
accomplishments without addressing the strategic tools that
support reaching those goals. Because of the sheer volume of
Federal program activities, managers cannot rely solely on
the GPRA performance goals as measures to assess program
performance. The Department has already adopted this type of
internal assessment for financial management, allowing
tracking at a level of detail that would not be feasible in
GPRA program performance plans. Internal performance goals
and measures for workforce planning would provide HHS
components with a means to track accomplishments related to
this important management strategy.
Human Resources offices are key players in implementing
workforce transition plans. Human resources staff can provide
program offices and managers with the tools for developing
new competencies in the workforce, training employees,
recruiting staff with core competencies, performing workforce
analysis, and developing succession planning models when
needed.
Plans for workforce transition are also input to workload
planning for human resources offices, pointing toward
activity levels for internal training, movement,
reassignment, and recruiting. This allows human resources
managers to plan work loads and activities and to provide
better service to managers. Making this partnership work
requires that human resources offices develop the full range
of human resources competencies among their staff, including
workforce analysis and strategic planning skills.
To be useful as a management tool, a workforce plan must have
legitimacy. It must be a plan developed by the organization
with the participation of managers and staff. Workforce
planning in HHS is based on a set of assumptions about how
organizations can make the generic process of workforce
planning their own and gain this legitimacy.
Assumptions
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Workforce planning in HHS focuses on outputs from the planning more than
on the process itself. OPDIVs are expected to adapt models, strategies, tools
and processes to their organizational environment and needs, concentrating on
planning outputs that are organizationally meaningful and which support program
objectives, budget requests, staffing requests, and strategic plans.
-
Workforce planning is an inclusive process, drawing together program management,
budget, strategic planning, human resources, and program staff and working in
partnership with unions.
-
Current operating cultures and management practices may resist formal workforce
planning. Special care must be taken to address these issues.
-
Training, coaching, technical assistance, and other support will be required as
OPDIVs prepare to use / adapt models, strategies, and tools.
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The capacity to do effective workforce planning will only be developed over time; it
is critical to begin carefully and to validate analysis at each step. Large
organizations should begin with a subset of the workforce and extend planning through
the remainder as skills and experience develop over time.
-
The workforce planning process will maintain links to program, budget, and strategic
planning to assure that the products of workforce planning meet program
managers’ needs.
In 1996 ASMB contracted with Logistics Management Institute, Inc. (LMI) for a
survey of the state of workforce planning in HHS. LMI studied the issues of
the availability of workforce data to feed workforce planning, and conducted
interviews in all of the Operating Divisions to determine their experience,
involvement and preparedness to do workforce planning. Their report indicated
that the OPDIVs had at least some of the data needed for workforce planning, and
all were generally supportive of the concept. The OPDIVs in general did not have
he expertise and staff to undertake extensive workforce planning projects at that
time, however (April 1997). Since the time of the LMI study several OPDIVs have
begun workforce planning or related efforts, including organizational assessments
and succession planning projects.
Impetus for workforce planning has come from the Assistant Secretary for Management
and Budget (ASMB), who required OPDIVs to include workforce planning information to
support staffing requests in their fiscal year 2000 budget submissions. ASMB
reinforced this effort by including centrally-developed workforce analysis as
part of the budget office’s preparation for the budget review process. The
requirement for workforce planning information to support budget requests will continue.
This HHS emphasis on workforce planning reflects a broader concern. A June 1998 letter
from the leadership of the House of Representatives to the Office of Management and
Budget says in part:
Finally, effective workforce planning is a critical element of effective strategic
and operational planning. We note that the [proposals of several agencies] have
all been based upon a premise that current federal personnel policies and
practices are excessively constraining. However, none of these agencies identified
critical human resource needs as part of their plans. These were not even included
as factors that might pose obstacles to accomplishing key agency objectives, even
though the deficiencies have already been noted in legislative proposals. OMB could
play an especially helpful role by ensuring that adequate plans to address human
resource management issues are integrated with other elements of the agencies’
strategic and performance plans.
With impetus from both within and outside the Department, several Operating Divisions
have already begun workforce planning or related projects.
The HHS workforce
planning model is based on the model of workforce
planning developed by LMI as well as public and private
sector organization models. While the terminology used in
different models varies, the content is remarkably
consistent. All rely on analyzing the present workforce,
identifying organizational objectives and the workforce
competencies needed to achieve them, comparing present
workforce competencies to those needed in the future, then
developing plans to transition from the present workforce to
the future workforce.
The model consists of four planning steps “ supply
analysis, demand analysis, gap analysis, and solution
analysis, plus an ongoing evaluation step.
-
Supply Analysis focuses on identifying organizational
competencies, analyzing staff demographics, and
identifying employment trends. Competency analysis
provides baseline data on the existing organization and
present staff. Trend analysis provides both descriptive
and forecasting models describing how turnover will affect
the workforce in the absence of management action. Trend
analysis is essential to the solution analysis phase.
-
Demand Analysis deals with measures of future activities
and workloads, and describing the competency set needed by
the workforce of the future. Demand analysis must take
into account not only workforce changes driven by changing
work but also workforce changes driven by changing
workload and changing work processes. Technology will
continue to have an impact on how work is performed and
must be considered in the demand analysis process.
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Gap analysis is the process of comparing information from
the supply analysis and demand analysis to identify the
differences “ the "gaps" “ between
the current organizational competencies and the competency
set needed in the future workforce. The comparison
requires the competency sets developed in the supply
analysis and demand analysis phases to be comparable
“ not independently developed. Gap analysis
identifies situations in which the number of personnel or
competencies in the current workforce will not meet future
needs (demand exceeds supply) and situations in which
current workforce personnel or competencies exceed the
needs of the future (supply exceeds demand).
-
Solution analysis is the process of developing strategies
for closing gaps in competencies and reducing surplus
competencies. A variety of strategies are available in
solution analysis including planned recruiting, training,
re-training, and placing employees. Solution analysis must
take into account employment trends which may work either
in the favor of or counter to the direction of planned
workforce change.
-
Evaluation involves a periodic and systematic review of
the workforce plan, reviewing mission and objectives to
assure they remain valid and making adjustments as
required by changes in mission, objectives, and workforce
competencies.
Workforce demographics and employment data are an integral
part of workforce planning. In the supply analysis process
demographic data provides "snapshots" of the
current workforce. Transaction data can illustrate employment
trends.
Workforce demographics “ occupations, grade levels,
organizational structure, race/national origin, gender, age,
length of service, retirement eligibility, and similar
information -- provide necessary baselines. Organizations can
develop valuable information on areas such retirement
eligibility at a given point in the future by projecting from
current workforce demographic data.
Personnel transaction data can be used to identify baselines
such as turnover rates and can provide powerful tools for
forecasting workforce changes due to actions such as
resignations and retirements. While projecting demographic
data can provide useful information on issues such as
retirement eligibility, trend data can provide powerful
predictors of how many employees will actually retire,
resign, or transfer. In conjunction with demographic data,
transaction data provides managers with a means of
forecasting opportunities for workforce change that can be
incorporated into the solution analysis phase of the process.
All HHS OPDIV human resources offices either have demographic
data on the workforce they serve or can obtain his data. They
also have or can obtain data on personnel transactions for
trend analysis.
Databases used to develop demographic information or to
perform trend analysis may include data covered by the
Privacy Act. Managers and personnel offices must take care to
prevent the disclosure of private information in these
databases.
Competencies are a set of behaviors that encompass skills,
knowledge, abilities, and personal attributes that, taken
together, are critical to successful work accomplishment.
Competencies may be defined organizationally or on an
individual basis. Identifying competencies on an
organizational basis provides a means for pinpointing the
most critical competencies for organizational success. These
are an organization’s core competencies.
Individual competencies are the those that each employee
brings to his or her function. Individual and team
competencies are critical components of organizational
competencies. If the individual competencies in the workforce
are not in accord with those needed by the organization,
workforce planning will point out these gaps.
A competency model is a map to display a set of competencies
that are aligned with an organization’s mission, vision,
and strategic goals. The competency model is future-oriented,
describing an ideal workforce. The competencies that make up
the model serve as the basis for employee management, since
they play a key role in decisions on recruiting, employee
development, personal development, and performance
management.
A competency model helps to bridge the gap between where an
organization is now and where it wants to be in the future.
This occurs in two ways. First, the competency model serves
as a guide for management in making decisions, since it is
based on the competencies that support the mission, vision,
and goals of the organization. Second, the competency model
serves as a map to guide employees toward achieving the
mission of their organization and their functional area. This
provides management and staff with a common understanding of
the set of competencies and behaviors that are important to
the organization. A well-developed and documented competency
model will serve as the basis for organizational training and
development activities as well as the means for identifying
competencies to be sought in new recruits.
Competencies are developed based on information collected by
studying what top performers do in the defined job context.
Competencies focus on the attributes that separate the high
performers from the rest of the workforce. Information can be
gathered in a variety of ways, including employee
questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews with managers
and employees.
Two key elements in identifying competencies are:
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Workforce skills analysis, a process which describes the
skills required to carry out a function. Conducting
workforce skills analysis requires the leaders of an
organization to anticipate how the nature of the
organization’s work will change, and then to identify
future human resource requirements. (This process spans
the supply analysis and demand analysis aspects of
workforce planning.)
-
Job analysis, which collects information describing
successful job performance. Job analysis focuses on tasks,
responsibilities, knowledge and skill requirements as well
as other criteria that contribute to successful job
performance. Information obtained from employees in this
process is used to identify competencies.
Click here to review a brief set of
workforce planning considerations.
The key elements in supply analysis have been discussed
above: workforce demographics, trends and current workforce
competencies. Taken together, this data provides the key
definitions of the current workforce in terms of its
composition, its organizational (as well as individual)
competencies, and the demographic baseline against which
change can be planned and measured.
Demand analysis deals with the workforce that will be needed
in the future. The workforce of the future is defined by the
mission, vision, goals and objectives of the organization.
This data should be readily available and codified as part of
the organization’s GPRA plan. This material forms the
basis for developing the model of the competencies needed in
the workforce of the future. The competency model is output
from the demand analysis process.
Organizations should make the demand analysis process as
inclusive as possible, given the time constraints that
inevitably affect the planning process. Employees will have
greater understanding and ownership of the competency model
if they are involved in the process of identifying the
competencies that go into it. In addition, since developing
the competency model is a visionary process, organizations
should take care to include diverse viewpoints to avoid
tunnel vision.
An important part of the demand analysis process is examining
not only what work an organization will do in the future, but
also how that work will be performed. Computer systems and
Internet technology will continue to impact how individuals
and organizations carry out their jobs and missions.
Organizations can not ignore this impact on their future work
and workforce.
Gap analysis is a process of identifying the differences
between the workforce of today and the workforce that will be
needed in the future. These differences may either reflect
competencies that will be needed in the future to a greater
extent than they are present in the current workforce, or
they may identify competencies that are more abundant in the
current workforce than in the future workforce. In either
event, organizations must identify the differences and make
plans for addressing them.
The means for addressing gaps is through solution analysis.
Solution analysis provides the strategic plan for addressing
competency gaps and surpluses. Solution analysis must also
take into account changes that take place in the workforce on
an ongoing, unplanned basis. This is where the trends
identified in workforce analysis (as part of the supply
analysis) come into play.
What is the most effective option for getting the work done
· contractors, flexible workforce, consultants, or
permanent workers?The workforce is never static. Demographic
data can provide only a snapshot of the workforce at a given
point in time. Trend data can quantify changes that take
place: retirements, resignations, transfers, etc. The changes
these actions produce may run in favor of solution analysis
or they may run counter to it.
For example, an organization may project less need in the
future for grants management and more need for general
financial management. The direction for the competency
transition is clear. However, if current staff with general
financial management competencies are eligible to retire, the
recruitment need for financial management competencies may be
greater than it appears. Conversely if staff expected to
retire or move are those with grants management backgrounds
and those with financial management skills are likely to
remain, the workforce transition may require less
intervention than would otherwise be expected. Organizations
need to factor this type of information into the solution
analysis process.
Solution analysis should be conducted in conjunction with the
human resources office. Much of the recruiting, training, and
re-training that are identified and planned in solution
analysis impact on the workload of the human resources
office. In addition, the human resources office can provide
validation to plans in terms of time frames, resources needed
for recruitment, availability of candidates, and potential
sources of candidates.
Functional Considerations
Workforce planning offers a means of systematically aligning
organizational and program priorities with the budgetary and
human resources needed to accomplish them. By beginning the
planning process with identified strategic objectives,
managers and their organizations can develop workforce plans
that will help them accomplish those objectives. At the same
time, these plans provide a sound basis for justifying budget
and staffing requests, since there is a clear connection
between objectives and the budget and human resources needed
to accomplish them.
To be successful, workforce planning requires the commitment
and leadership of top management. Senior-level managers must
lead the planning process, must assure that workforce plans
are aligned with strategic direction, and must hold
subordinate managers accountable for carrying out workforce
planning and for using its products.
Similarly, program managers must take responsibility for
leading the workforce planning process in their program areas
and offices. Program managers will gain the most immediate
benefits of workforce planning because the competencies of
their own staffs will become better aligned with strategic
goals and directions.
Workforce planning requires all parties to step away from
preconceived notions and to seriously consider change.
Workforce planning requires a vision of what is to be
accomplished, and what changes may be needed. Participants
must be able to discard personal considerations and to
perceive the shape of things to come. This need for an
objective view, along with the amount and depth of analysis
needed, has prompted some organizations to engage contract
support for all or part of the workforce planning process.
Using a contractor consultant in carrying out workforce
planning is optional, but may be desirable in some cases. An
experienced contractor may provide a level of expertise in
workforce planning that does not exist in the organization.
In addition, a contractor may have a more detached view of
issues than an organization’s employees and managers can
provide. The combination of experience and an outside
viewpoint can provide a legitimacy for workforce planning
that is not available to a strictly internal effort.
At the same time, organizations must factor into their plans
the cost of hiring a contractor and the time it may take to
provide that contractor with the necessary background to the
organization. The addition of a contractor to the project
will certainly impact on the workload and type of work
associated with the project.
Earlier we noted that evaluation and adjustments are implicit
in workforce planning or any planning process. Managers and
project leaders need to build an assessment process in to any
workforce transition plan they develop. Managers need not
only to consider whether planned workforce changes are taking
place, but also to review the assumptions on which the
transition plan is based. Strategic direction is influenced
both by internal program management and outside factors, such
as Congressional action. If an organization does not engage
in systematic formal review of its planning it runs the risk
of not responding to changes that occur incrementally from
within or more suddenly from outside.
Organizations need to consider how far into the future to
project when carrying out workforce planning. Managers need
to balance the certainty of short-range planning against the
need to plan for longer-range objectives. Longer time frames
may provide more flexibility in planning workforce transition
but also will require regular validation of the analysis of
future workforce needs. Shorter time frames run the risks of
requiring more drastic workforce transition management and of
missing coming changes by not looking far enough into the
future. A three to five year time frame for workforce
planning generally will provide a reasonable balance between
the two extremes.
What is an appropriate organizational level for developing a
workforce plan? There is no single answer to the issue of
appropriate planning levels. The most useful guideline in
determining planning levels is to make sure that the outputs
of workforce planning will relate to organizational or
programmatic strategic objectives. This would point to
carrying out workforce planning at on program-level basis, or
for staff organizations on a functional level basis.
Therefore it does not make sense to conduct workforce
planning at the Departmental level in more than the most
general terms. Hands-on program management does not reside at
the Departmental level (for the most part) and top-level
directions will already be reflected in strategic plans.
Similarly, it would usually make little sense to conduct
full-blown workforce analysis for small sub-units of an
organization.
The strongest influence on workforce planning from the
Departmental level lies in the human resources policy arena.
One example of a Departmental-level policy impacting
workforce planning is the Secretary’s commitment to
achieving staff reductions without reductions-in-force.
Another example of a Departmental level effort in workforce
planning might be leading a cross-OPDIV effort at employee
relocation in the event an OPDIV faced reductions that could
not be achieved through attrition.
Workforce planning in HHS is based on providing OPDIVs the
flexibility to adapt planning models and tools to their own
organization. This includes the flexibility to determine
planning levels that make managerial sense and that support
strategic plans objectives. Common sense can be applied here.
Detailed subordinate-level workforce plans in an organization
of 125 employees make as little sense as having only an
OPDIV-level workforce plan for the National Institutes of
Health. The size of an organization, how it is organized, how
programs are managed and budgeted all will impact on
determining workforce planning levels.
The concept of workforce analysis is one which needs to be
fully understood in order to appreciate the importance of
sound analysis in the workforce planning process. Workforce
analysis frequently stops with the consideration of
demographic information: occupations, grade levels, skills
and experience, age, retirement eligibility, diversity,
turnover rates, etc. This information is valid workforce
analysis and necessary to documenting the present workforce.
There is, however, much more that should go into workforce
analysis besides this sort of "snapshot"
information.
Trend data is extremely important to workforce analysis. Is
the turnover rate changing over time? Are there identifiable
factors influencing turnover? What types of positions have
been filled recently? These and other factors have a direct
bearing on the development of workforce transition
strategies, since they help predict the rate of change that
can be expected regardless of any planned changes. In
addition, identification of influencing factors provides
information on what the effects of various strategies may be.
In addition to going beyond demographic snapshots, workforce
planning also goes beyond the traditional permanent
workforce. Especially in the context of strategic plans and
GPRA plans, it is important to understand that there is not a
single workforce, but multiple workforces to take into
account. Workforce analysis needs to consider whoever
performs the work and provides service, even though the
ability to effect strategic change in that workforce may be
limited.
These other workforces include the "contingent"
workforce (more appropriately described as the
"flexible" work force), contractors, and even
external workforces that are essential to service delivery
and program success. The flexible workforce includes all of
the non-permanent federal staff “ persons on detail,
students, temporary and term appointees, summer employees,
interns, Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignees, etc. The
sources of the flexible workforce may, indeed, be limited
only by a manager’s imagination. The key difference
between them and the permanent workforce is that they are in
place only to meet specific workload, not as permanent
additions to staff. Frequently there is more opportunity to
meet short-term needs with the flexible work force than with
permanent staff. The same is true of contractors, who may be
able to bridge short-term gaps and to fill shorter-term needs
for specific expertise.
Consideration of external workforces may be appropriate when
a program depends on grantees, either private or at other
levels of government for service delivery. While these staffs
may be out of the direct control of the program office, they
may at the same time be vital to the achievement of GPRA
objectives focusing on service delivery. With those strategic
objectives in mind, program offices should consider workforce
interventions that may improve service delivery and the
achievement of strategic objectives.
Finally, workforce analysis should take into account other
human resource processes such as succession planning,
employee development, career development, and organization
development. Each has a part to play in the identification of
critical skills, forecasting potential vacancies, and
preparing both employees and organizations to meet future needs.
Appendices
| Activity |
Input |
Output |
Participants |
Supply Analysis |
Workforce demographic and transaction data
Workforce skills / experience data collection; workload
measurement inputs
|
Workforce profiles (such as age, grade, service, occupation,
permanent /temporary tenure, supervisory ratio, and diversity)
Trends / predictors (such as turnover, retirement rates, and
replacement patterns)
Workforce skills inventory; workload measurement data
|
Senior Management (commitment required)
Program Managers, supervisors, and staff
HR Office
Union representatives
Optional: contract support; internal consultant
|
Demand Analysis |
Management Assessment of program direction
GPRA Objectives
Strategic Plans
Budget Plans
|
Future workforce profile: skills, numbers, levels
|
Senior Management
Program Managers and supervisors
GPRA planning staff (if separate); budget formulation staff;
HR Office
Optional: contract support; internal consultant
|
Gap Analysis |
Supply Analysis data: Demographics, employment trends; skills
inventory
Demand Analysis data: Future skills needs; staffing levels
|
Analysis of differences between present workforce and future
needs; priorities for addressing change
|
Senior Management; Program Managers; supervisors
GPRA/Strategic Planning staff; HR staff
Optional: contract support; internal consultant
|
Solution Analysis |
Output from Gap Analysis: Identified "gaps" between
present workforce and workforce needed for the future.
|
Strategies / options for workforce transition
Analysis of interventions needed for transition
|
Senior Management; Program Managers; Supervisors
HR Office
Optional: contract support; internal consultant
|
While workforce planning is largely an internal process,
there are external forces operating on programs and
organizations that impact the workforce and the
organization’s objectives. These influences are
frequently both uncontrollable and high-impact, affecting
mission direction, program objectives, and overall funding.
Workforce planning efforts should include environmental
scanning to ascertain the potential impact external forces.
Evaluating the environmental impact and forecasting the
availability of skilled talent based on workforce needs
should focus on the following:
-
Customer expectations “ ability to respond quickly
to the changing needs and expectations of customers in
delivering quality services.
-
Worldwide availability and supply of labor “ ability
to accurately forecast the quality, cost and availability
of labor in all work locations (e.g., regional and
geographical locations).
-
Competition for labor “ economic growth, strength of
competitive industry to attract and retain workers we
need, when and where we need them.
-
Economic and environmental factors “ inflation
rates, economic growth, interest rates, unions,
unemployment rates, political climate.
-
Quality of workforce “ skill levels of less prepared
workers, and appropriate training programs developed to
prepare workers for changing skill levels of the next
generation of jobs.
-
Demographics, diversity, and Quality of Work Life “
new and necessary strategies to attract and retain the
new-age workforce.
-
Technology “ available databases, Web resources,
software and computers that make it easier to accurately
forecast headcount needs, as well as supply and quality of
workforce.
-
New competencies “ identification of new skills and
competencies that do not presently exist to develop new
recruiting, screening, and training tools for emerging
competencies.
Reports
Major Performance and Management Challenges and Program
Risks: A Governmentwide Perspective, (GAO/OCG-99-1),
United States General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C.,
January 1999 Available from the U.S. General Accounting
Office or through the Internet at http://www.gao.gov. This
report surveys upcoming management challenges in the
government. Workforce planning is covered in pages 101“
110: "Building, Maintaining, and Marshaling the Human
Capital Needed to Achieve Results."
Workforce Planning, Corporate Leadership Council,
Washington, D.C., June 1997,
Workforce Planning, Corporate Leadership Council,
Washington, D.C., May 1996,
Workforce Planning, Corporate Leadership Council,
Washington, D.C., December 1994
These three reports from the Corporate Leadership Council all
addressed current practices in workforce planning,
identifying the state of the art and best practices, mostly
in the private sector, although the findings and methods are
applicable to public sector organizations.
Books and Articles
Drucker, Peter, Managing for the Future, New York:
Truman Talley Books/Dutton 1992. The effective executive has
to be able to recognize and run with the opportunity, to
learn, and constantly to refresh the knowledge base.
Duane, Michael John, Customized Human Resource Planning:
Different Practices for Different Organizations,
Westport, CT: Quorum Books 1996. Theories and practical
applications for effective workforce planning including
forecasting, strategic objectives, program evaluation and
control, and organizational configurations are discussed.
Eastman, Lorrina J., Succession Planning: An Annotated
Bibliography and Summary of Commonly Reported Organizational
Practices, Center for Creative Leadership: Greensboro,
1995. Succession planning is crucial to the continuity of an
organization’s leadership. The author has selected and
summarized fifty-six works from a wide variety of sources,
which provide access to, and a general understanding of, the
nature and extent of the practical literature on succession
planning.
Ettore, Barbara, "Benchmarking: The Next
Generation", Management Review, June 1993, Vol. 82, No.
6, 10-16. The world of benchmarking is growing and changing
so rapidly, benchmarkers themselves have formerly banded
together in ho-to networks to share methods, successes and
failures. The International Benchmarking Clearinghouse
benchmarkers are defining their roles as they go along,
producing a high degree of job satisfaction and learning.
London, M., Bassman, E., & Fernandez, J., Human
Resource Forecasting and Strategy Development: Guidelines for
Analyzing and Fulfilling Organizational Need, Westport,
CT: Quorum Books 1990. Strategies for conducting forecasting
in relation to meeting organizational needs.
Wray, Grover, "The Role of Human Resources in Successful
Outsourcing," Employment Relations Today, Spring 1996,
Vol. 23, No. 1, 17-23. Companies are increasingly outsourcing
noncore activities to world-class providers that make the
activities their core competencies. HR’s role in the
outsourcing of any business process and the best management
practices that both the provider and client can implement to
ensure a successful transition are discussed.
There are an abundant number of management consultants with
varying degrees of experience in the field of workforce
planning. Selection of a contract consultant to assist with a
workforce planning project is a highly individual decision,
depending heavily on the project officer’s comfort with
the potential contractor.
The General Services Administration’s (GSA) Management,
Organizational and Business Improvement Services Schedule
(MOBIS) offers quick access to over 100 potential contractors
who provide consulting, facilitation, survey and other
management services. GSA advertises the schedule as providing
contractors who are knowledgeable of quality management
theory and practice and who have demonstrated they are
capable of providing expert assistance to agencies. Since all
the contractors are on schedule, the award process is
streamlined. For information on MOBIS, visit the GSA Web
Page. To find a list of contractors available through MOBIS
and a contact for more information, from the main GSA page
click on schedules, and on the next page click on
schedules e-library. This will take you to a search
page where you can enter MOBIS in the search criteria or
select schedule 874 from the pull-down box.
A second source of qualified contract assistance is the
Office of Personnel Management, which administers a
multiple-vendor contract aimed at providing agencies with
quality human resource-oriented consulting services. OPM
provides contract administration and charges agencies a
percentage fee to cover the administrative costs. For
information contact the Personnel Resources and Development
Center at the Office of Personnel Management.
Endnote
1. Major and Management
Challenges and Program Risks: A Governmentwide Perspective
(GAO/OCG-99-1), January 1999, p. 102
Comments, questions on this guide or on workforce planning?
Send e-mail to Dave Dunlap:
ddunlap@os.dhhs.gov.
Last updated February 2, 2001.
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