Workforce Planning Playbook
Contents
Foundations
Strategic workforce planning matches workforce supply (the people available, internally or externally) to workforce demand (the work that needs doing) over a defined planning horizon, and identifies interventions to close the gap.
The four-phase framework
ANALYSIS → FORECASTING → PLANNING → ACTUATION
The first two phases identify the demand-supply gap. The last two close it. Each phase has a decision gate.
The seven-layer calculation model
Workforce planning is a stack of seven calculation layers. Every output traces through these layers back to source data and stated assumptions.
| Layer | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1 — Baseline | Current state: headcount, FTE, demographics, age, tenure, location, employment type, plus loaded labour cost per FTE and productive hours per FTE. |
| 2 — Demand | Work to be done each year, in FTE-equivalents. Four sub-models: asset-driven, project-driven, service-driven, strategic. Productivity adjustment applied for AI uplift. |
| 3 — Supply | Workforce available if no intervention. Roll forward year by year: closing = opening − attrition − retirements + recruitment + mobility. |
| 4 — Gap | Demand minus supply, by capability and year. |
| 5 — Interventions | Close the gap with four levers: Build, Buy, Borrow, Automate. |
| 6 — Cost roll-up | FTE × loaded cost (escalated) + contractor + recruitment + training − productivity savings. Split opex/capex. |
| 7 — Outputs | 5-year FTE trajectory, labour cost forecast, productivity assumptions, capability investment cases, sensitivity ranges. |
Mobilise — establish the right people, authority, and starting data
Goal: Pass Gate 1 — executive endorsement of mandate, scope, resourcing.
Key activities
- 1.1 Charter & Scope — draft and sign off the project charter. Use Prompt 01.
- 1.2 Convene Steering Group — establish the formal governance forum.
- 1.3 Mobilise Working Group — secure dedicated members.
- 1.4 Adopt Methodology — produce a 1-page document codifying how planning will run.
- 1.5 Data Audit — inventory data availability, quality, ownership.
- 1.6 Stakeholder Map — identify who needs engaging, when, how.
- 1.7 Kickoff Workshop — align on scope, methodology, decision rights, RACI.
Discover & Baseline — build the evidence base
Goal: Pass Gate 2 — Steering Group accepts baseline, capability framework, demand/supply driver assumptions.
Key activities
- 2.1 Workforce Baseline Build — current-state picture: headcount, FTE, demographics, turnover, retirement risk.
- 2.2 Capability Framework v1 — skills taxonomy across four dimensions plus AI overlay. Use Prompt 03.
- 2.3 Leader Interviews — 12-15 structured 60-minute interviews. Use Prompt 02.
- 2.4 Demand & Supply Drivers — catalogue all drivers shifting workforce demand or supply.
- 2.5 Data Quality Assessment — issue formal Data Confidence Statement.
Forecast & Gap — produce the modelled outputs
Goal: Pass Gate 3 — Steering Group reviews gap analysis; executive briefed on emerging strategic options.
Key activities
- 3.1 Demand Model Build — 5-year demand from four sub-models. Use Prompt 04.
- 3.2 Supply Model Build — 5-year supply roll-forward. Use Prompt 05.
- 3.3 AI Productivity Scenarios — three scenarios (Low/Medium/High) layered on demand. Use Prompt 06.
- 3.4 Gap Analysis — demand minus supply by capability and year.
- 3.5 Risk Rating — 11-dimension capability risk framework. Use Prompt 07.
- 3.6 Capability Segmentation — Strategic / Core / Requisite / Non-core.
Plan & Decide — turn analysis into decisions
Goal: Pass Gate 4 — executive (and Board where escalated) selects workforce-shape direction.
Key activities
- 4.1 Build / Buy / Borrow / Automate Scenarios — intervention mix per capability. Use Prompt 08.
- 4.2 Strategic Options Paper — 2-3 options for workforce shape. Use Prompt 09.
- 4.3 Inclusion Impact Assessment — model representation impact. Use Prompt 10.
- 4.4 Compliance & Ethical Mapping — Fair Work, EA, ethical considerations.
- 4.5 Executive / Board Decision Workshop — present, decide, document.
- 4.6 Detailed Intervention Plan — translate selected option to delivery plan.
Synthesise & Hand Over — produce final inputs
Goal: Final inputs approved. Project complete. Hand-off to budget or pricing model.
Key activities
- 5.1 Financial Inputs — 5-year FTE, labour cost, contractor, productivity. Use Prompt 11.
- 5.2 Sensitivity Analysis — variation in key assumptions.
- 5.3 Methodology Document — durable artefact for ongoing operation. Use Prompt 12.
- 5.4 Executive Sign-Off — final briefing and approval.
- 5.5 Handover — formal hand-off to financial model team.