Organizations frequently evaluate their finances, strategies, and headcounts when preparing for the future. A critical component of making plans for future business success is ensuring they have the appropriate number of employees and skill sets within their budget. You can decide whether or not your organization can benefit from this activity by learning more about planning in this area. This article will explore what headcount planning entails, how to do it, and what you'll need for a successful implementation.
What Is Headcount Planning?
The headcount planning process involves an organization's evaluation of its structure and membership to ensure it is in line with its objectives. Leadership determines each employee's roles and skills during this process to determine whether the organization is ready to carry out its strategies on time and within budget.
Professionals from various groups, including finance, human resources, and department managers, frequently participate in this process to ensure they have all the necessary information. The leadership team can decide whether they have the right people, whether they might need to restructure, and whether they should hire or fire people to meet their needs after careful planning.
Why Is Headcount Planning Important?
Instead of just filling in gaps as they appear, headcount planning ensures that you hire strategically and in line with your company's growth objectives. In essence, you are making your business proactive instead of reactive. Since headcount planning is future planning, it's wise not to wait until the last minute to ensure you have a plan.
Making informed budgetary decisions and ensuring you have the available cash flow to meet these hiring needs are made possible by having a map of all the roles you need to fill, when you're going to fill them, and the associated costs. This could span various fees, including job posts, training costs, recruitment agency retainers, etc.
As your employee base increases, your obligations as an employer change. For instance, in the U.S., the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that businesses with 50 or more workers must offer reasonably priced group health insurance. By beginning with headcount planning, you can effectively prepare for changes like these rather than discovering you've reached a crucial threshold.
How Do I Do Headcount Planning?
There are several phases to headcount planning, all of which are essential to its success. For the best results, it is vital to work through each step outlined below one at a time. If you miss even a single part of this process, your headcount planning may not be as effective as it could have been.
Step 1: Pinpoint Areas Needing Improvement
Planning for headcount frequently begins when a change opportunity in an organization is found. For instance, it might be evident that the business needs more salespeople to handle the demand for a new product.
Based on anticipated business performance and market changes, you can plan what you might use in the future using forecasting tools. With this knowledge, you can determine what information you might require regarding your employees' abilities, responsibilities, and general team structure.
Step 2: Organize Your Current Data
Countless data points can be used to determine if headcount adjustments are necessary. Some of the data typically used includes project spend, the current number of employees, revenue goals, designated budgets, employee skill requirements, employee salaries, and much more.
Each data point can influence the potential changes you might make. For instance, if you anticipate a smaller budget for the upcoming year, you may gather information on employee salaries, the number of employees, and projected spending to see if you can maintain the same structure while staying within the budget.
Step 3: Complete a Data and Teams Analysis
Following collection, data analysis and individual team structuring can assist you in determining potential changes to headcounts. This can be where you determine whether you have enough money budgeted to support your workforce, reveal skill gaps to handle future challenges, and identify hiring priorities or potential departures within specific departments.
Additionally, you can ensure that managers have an equal representation of people on their team to give them the assistance they need to carry out their duties or that highly skilled workers have a path toward leadership.
Step 4: Brainstorm and Create a Plan
Using the data, you could determine areas where the company needs to make changes. When preparing for the future, think about holding a brainstorming session where you can assess the possibilities. You might, for instance, review the budget to hire more full-time, part-time, or temporary help to handle an anticipated increase in volume.
You might also consider giving employees additional training, cross-training, promotions, salary adjustments, or restructuring. These can all assist you in modifying the staffing levels at the company to suit your requirements, depending on what the data indicates.
Step 5: Manage Change During Execution
Implementing the plan and managing change can ensure a seamless transition for current staff and any new hires your company makes. Management teams should think about effective communication strategies to ensure that their teams are aware of the strategy, how it fits with the company's goals, and their respective roles - especially if some of them are likely to change
It can also be beneficial to make sure that the leadership, finance, and human resources teams get together before implementing any changes so that HR can handle any staffing requirements and finance can provide budget information to ensure that each area of the business is in alignment.
Step 6: Schedule Frequent Reviews
Teams that regularly review their headcount plans will be more successful. A workforce that reflects the most current needs can help businesses adapt to these changes as markets and technology change frequently.
To determine whether the organizational structure is effective at achieving business objectives, it can be helpful to review the data regularly. For instance, store managers in a retail establishment might prepare for the holiday season every year to ensure they have the right staff to handle the increased volume.
Why Choose Certified Source for Headcount Planning?
It's one thing to create a headcount plan that works; another to carry it out. Setting aside money for the various costs involved is one of the process's most crucial steps; however, finding top talent can also be challenging. If you are struggling to meet headcounts, the team at Certified Source can help with our unique performance-based approach. To get started, find your nearest office or contact us today to find out what is possible.