Workforce Planning
Workforce planning has a significant role in delivering improved services and in the corporate management of councils, helping them achieve key priorities such as service transformation, efficiency gains and mainstreaming equalities. It can help councils:
- deliver improved services by linking corporate strategy to people plans
- determine what skills are required and how many employees are and will be needed
- better manage supply at national, regional and local levels to meet demand
- reduce competition between councils for staff
- collaborate to increase specific labour supply
- manage employment expenditure by anticipating changes
- provide information to predict and address peaks and troughs in supply and demand for specific skills
- retain employees and identify longer term workplace asset requirements
- implement diversity policies effectively
Crucially, to be fully effective, workforce planning needs to include longer term thinking about future corporate and service pressures and needs; councils need to put strategies in place to link service, financial and change management priorities with people plans.
IS activity in this area
The Improvement Service, with COSLA and the Society of Personnel Directors Scotland, is leading the initial stage of the national workforce and capacity planning project.
There are five main activity areas:
- Collating existing labour market analysis and workforce planning data approaches and making the information available to councils for workforce planning purposes; collecting information from councils to build a detailed picture of activity and resources within councils; and making links with other organisations involved in planning or development of particular job groups within councils.
- Working with councils to create national demographic data templates to gather consistent and relevant data. The Standard Occupational Classifications developed by the Office of National Statistics has been used as a basis for a common data template. Twenty-two councils have completed the template for four job groups that were consistently highlighted as being, or likely to become, problematic in terms of recruitment - planners, environmental health officers, solicitors and engineers.
- Supporting councils to collect and use information and develop their workforce planning. Meetings have been held with councils at various stages of the project and a number of councils have acted as ‘critical friends' to evaluate the practical implications for councils of the proposals. The IS is working with several councils on case studies.
- Analysis of data to identify resourcing and skills trends and other issues to improve councils' capability to interpret and apply data in their own workforce planning activity. The data will be used to help direct national workforce planning activities for the four job groups already mentioned and provide a framework on which to pilot analytical and modelling techniques for use within the wider workforce.
- Working with COSLA and stakeholders to promote local government requirements within universities, colleges and skills councils. Discussions are taking place with professional bodies, skills councils, academic institutions and the Scottish Government to address known and anticipated skills requirements and to develop partnership networks more generally.
Further information on workforce planning and the national workforce and capacity planning project can be found in our workforce planning leaflet. A report based on the detailed findings of the project will be submitted to a future COSLA leaders meeting.
For further information on the IS' work in this area, contact Dot McLaughlin or Lesley Broadley on 01506 775564.
