Your Workforce Summary

Studying the past is the key to understanding the future – especially when it comes to effectively staffing your business.

So as you prepare for the year ahead, start by taking a look back.  Use PrideStaff’s tips for creating a workforce summary that will help you accurately plan for your staffing needs:

Identify skills gaps. 

For each department in your organization, list the types of job skills your business required in the past year.  Were you easily able to find candidates with the exact proficiencies needed? Next, consider how factors such as demographics, technological changes, economic factors and labor trends will likely impact your ability to find the right talent in the year ahead.  Determine the gaps between your “supply” (i.e., existing employees and available candidates) and your “demand” (i.e., the skills you will need) in the coming year – and create a plan for closing those gaps with proactive recruiting or training.

Identify peaks and valleys in your business. 

Take a look at the highs and lows in your business over the past year.  Were you ever caught short-handed when an unexpected surge in business occurred?  Or, did you hire people, and then struggle to keep them busy because the spike in activity turned out to be brief?  To manage your peaks and valleys in the upcoming year, consider using temporary help to meet upticks in demand without committing to more direct hires.

Identify seasonal fluctuations. 

Similarly, examine the predictable changes in your annual business cycle.  Do you have one or more busy seasons? If so, PrideStaff’s Workforce Growth Solutions can help you staff them more effectively on a just-in-time basis.

Identify bottlenecks. 

Finally, identify the places work got “stuck” when things became busy for you over the past year.  Try to pinpoint the departments, positions or processes that created bottlenecks and impeded workflow.  Moving forward, develop plans for preventing log jams by reorganizing workflow processes or adding temporary help to manage the extra capacity.

If you’d like help with the process, PrideStaff is here for you.  As a true partner in your business, we’ll work with you to develop a comprehensive plan to cost-effectively staff your business – and achieve your goals.  Contact your local PrideStaff office today to schedule a free workforce planning consultation.