It’s a common scenario: you want to be strategic about your staffing plans, but you don’t know where to start. The foundation of a great staffing plan is built on asking the right questions.
- Where are you now?
- Where do you want to be?
Setting Goals
Setting goals helps to establish your desired future state. Should you expand your services? Do you want to stabilize the services you have currently? Should you upskill talent in a certain department? Being clear and transparent about organizational goals helps gain support for the mission, set the correct path, and make sure you have the right people on board.
Determining Solutions
You’ll need to understand the factors that will affect your goals. Currently, an extremely competitive labor market may hinder your ability to hire as quickly as you’d like. A solution to the problem is to have a healthy forecast on headcount and start your recruitment process far earlier than you may have in the past. Another solution is to never stop recruiting! Maintaining a healthy pipeline of candidates ensures that you aren’t scrambling to fill positions when people leave your organization. And, you’ll want to evaluate those potential staff losses during your planning sessions. Being aware of the flight risks in your organization certainly helps with proactive recruitment strategy.
Evaluating Your Current Staff
In the evaluation of current staff members, you need to consider whether they have the skills required to take your organization to the next level. For instance, do you have a significant skills gap when it comes to technology? Well, you should definitely consider training for your current team, but you should also focus on hiring individuals that have a technology-savvy skill set.
Salary Considerations
Any staffing plan comes with budgetary constraints, so it will be important to understand where the dollars are best spent. Competitive wages should always be a focal point of discussion, especially in today’s labor market. You may also consider outside staffing agency assistance in your staffing plan if you don’t feel you have the internal resources to support your headcount needs.
Happy planning!