workforce planning

• reasons for staff changes

  retirement, promotion, maternity leave, work life balance, resignation, meet increasing demand for new products or services
• retirement

  some employees have reached the end of their working lives
• promotion

  some employees were promoted, creating vacancies in their old role
• maternity leave

  some employees leave temporarily to start a family
• work life balance

  some employees reduce working hours to seek a better balance
• resignation


  some employees have found employment elsewhere
• to meet increasing demand for new products or services

  more staff needed to achieve growth or achieve product portfolio
• recruitment

  process where a business seeks to hire the right person for a vacancy
• job analysis

  identifies roles and duties undertaken in the position
• job description

  explain the work to be done, title, location
• person specification

  individual qualities of the person required, can be essential or desirable
• types of recruitment

  internal and external
• internal recruitment

  hiring existing staff from the company
• advantages of internal recruitment

  abilities already known, they are familiar with the culture, require less training, quicker and cheaper process, boosts staff morale
• disadvantages of internal recruitment

  limited pool of candidates, no new ideas, creates another vacancy, unsuccessful candidates may feel demotivated and angry
• external recruitment

  hiring staff from outside the organisation
• advantages of external recruitment

  new ideas, large candidate pool, wider range of experience
• disadvantages of external recruitment

  no prior knowledge on how the job is performed, high advertising costs, slow and lengthy process
• selection methods

  application forms, CVs, interviews, IQ tests, fitness tests, psychometric tests, attainment tests, aptitude tests
• application forms

  background details and general questions must be answered to see if the candidate is suitable
• interviews

  one to one or panel interviews can establish if the candidate is suitable
• IQ tests

  measure the candidate's mental skills (numeracy, literacy, problem solving)
• fitness tests

  measure the candidate's physical suitability
• psychometric tests

  finds out the candidate's personality by asking a series of statements
• attainment tests

  measure's the candidate's demonstration of a learnt skill
• aptitude test

  measure's the candidate's natural ability related to the job