An Operational Process for Workforce Planning

Workforce planning is an activity intended to ensure that investment in human capital results in the timely capability to effectively carry out an organization's strategic intent. This report describes a methodology, developed by RAND at the behest of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy, for conducting workforce planning-a methodology applicable in any organization. The report identifies key factors contributing to successful workforce planning; examines the purposes of workforce planning; and lays out a process by which executives and line managers of business units can identify specific policies and practices for workforce planning. This process is designed to help an organization's leaders decide whether they want to engage in workforce planning, understand the mechanics of workforce planning, identify the resources needed, and mobilize the key participants to carry out workforce planning. The authors recommend that senior leaders explicitly delineate the roles and responsibilities of those involved workforce planning; that corporate headquarters develop functional specifications for a human-resource information system to support workforce planning; and that corporate headquarters evaluate the availability, costs, and benefits of comprehensive, integrated workload and inventory projection models for all categories of employees, and invest in such models. (See also MR-1684/2-OSD.)