Workforce planning: How many staff does it take to run an organisation?

Workforce planning is become an essential element in these lean times. In the first of this four part series George Blair looks at how many staff you actual need and how to increase their productivity.

Workforce planning is rapidly rising to the top of the HR agenda. Companies are being forced to consider the prospect of fewer people doing as much (and possibly more) work in an environment of declining revenues and increased competition. To take advantage of the slowly improving financial climate, organisations need to have the right employees for the climb back to economic health. 

Workforce planning is the art and science of forecasting the demand for different types of staff and matching this with supply – or – as is often termed: having the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time.