Creating a Long-Term Staffing Strategy

Published on May 9th, 2014 in Employers

Wouldn’t it be nice to know ahead of time what positions, roles, and functions your organization will need to fill in the future, instead of simply reacting every time you get a requisition or a request for a new job? While it’s impossible to predict this with complete accuracy, you can give yourself an advantage and stay 10 steps ahead of your hiring process with a long term staffing strategy.

Developing a staffing strategy, sometimes referred to as workforce planning, can help you better identify staffing gaps and determine the positions you need to fill both now and in the future. A long-term strategy will also let you lay the groundwork for future hiring, so you can have a talent pipeline ready to access as needed.

Here are some tips on creating a long-term staffing strategy for your organization.

Review your business plan

The best roadmap for a staffing strategy is your organization’s business plan, which should contain details about both short-term and long-term goals for the company. If your business plan hasn’t been updated in the past few years, now is the time to make adjustments.

Decide what your overall goals are — whether it’s to grow your business, expand into new industries, launch new products, or scale back in response to a market slowdown. Once you have an updated business plan, ensure that all managers are aware of it.

Investigate your real staffing needs

Ensure that you have an accurate portrait for the current staffing needs of your organization by generating a report that lists all occupations, hours, skills, and experience required for your open positions. Include the staff you’ll need to reach both your short-term and long-term goals.

Good sources for generating this type of report include the past few years of payroll and benefits, income statements, seasonal employment, and turnover rates.

Evaluate your current staff

There are several factors to consider regarding your current staff as you build a long-term staffing strategy. Retirement is a factor that will affect all staff eventually, and you should also consider succession planning and promotions, maternity leaves, moves between part-time and full-time employment, and unforeseen possibilities like terminations or staff leaving voluntarily.

With a good idea of staffing patterns you can expect over the next several years, you can start taking steps to address potential gaps and add staff as needed for company growth or expansion. Use your current staff evaluation and staffing needs report to generate a list of changes you’d like to see in your workforce, and plan for those changes appropriately.

Create a future staffing projection

With your analysis of the current staff data complete, you can build a long-term staffing plan that covers the next five to 10 years for your HR department. Include details such as:

• Planning for promotions. Be sure to factor promotions into your staffing budget, as well as the investments you’ll need to hire new low-level employees as staff are promoted.
• Restructuring for long-term goals. Some of your employees may perform better in other roles. Assess the skills and capabilities of your current staff, and reassign employees as needed to better suit your organization’s demands.
• Preparing for short-term gaps. You may need temporary or contract staff to cover seasonal business increases or large projects that are part of your organization’s future growth. Have procedures in place for hiring contractors or temporary staff when the need arises.
• Addressing turnover. If your company has a high turnover rate, you may consider incorporating more training or better benefits into your staffing budget to reduce turnover and save some of the expenses of new hires.

Review your plan annually

A successful organization is constantly changing. When you have a long-term staffing strategy in place, set aside time each year to review both your business plan and staffing strategy, and incorporate any changes you need to stay on track.

Developing a long term staffing strategy now can save you a lot of time, hassle, and money in the near future. Take the time to plan for your staffing needs, and you’ll find you spend less time reacting to staffing emergencies, and more time successfully managing your workforce. Contact us today at (513) 651-9500 or by email at [email protected] to find out more about how we can help you plan for your future staffing needs!