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Workforce planning at UniSA

• Why Workforce Planning?
• What is Workforce Planning?
• Identifying Future Workforce Characteristics at UniSA
• Who is responsible for Workforce Planning?
• Advice and Support

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Why Workforce Planning?

UniSA will face a series of challenges in the management of its workforce over the next few years including:

• building research capacity and institution performance more generally
• adapting to significant changes in the higher education policy environment occurring at State and Federal level
• renewing the academic workforce in response to strategic goals and in the context of likely labour market volatility that will follow an increase in retirement of an ageing academic workforce
• building individual and workforce capability
• responding to the challenges of implementing our on-line strategy and increasingly global engagement
• improving the alignment of business strategy with the budget framework.

Predictions of the future policy environment, combined with labour market trends suggest the institution will confront major challenges in recruiting and retaining high performing staff in areas critical to the success of the institution’s mission and strategic goals. This is likely to require a more complete approach to planning for, and attracting, retaining and developing our future workforce.

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What is Workforce Planning?

Every successful business knows the importance of having a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan. Implementation of a Workforce Plan is equally important. Without talented people and people management systems in place it is impossible to achieve business goals and objectives.

Corporate Leadership Council research provides the following definition of workforce planning

In workforce planning, an organisation conducts a systematic assessment of workforce content and composition issues and determines what actions must be taken to respond to future needs. The actions taken may depend on external factors (e.g. skill availability) as well as internal factors (e.g. age of the workforce). These factors may determine whether future skills needs will be met by recruiting, training or by outsourcing the workforce.

Corporate Leadership Council, Strategic Workforce Planning, Washington: Corporate Executive Board (October 1998)

Workforce planning provides a snapshot of the present staffing situation, it helps identify the future and assists in planning how to get there.

• Workforce planning must align with corporate and local area business planning and incorporate business objectives and organisational conditions.
• The workforce planning process is cyclical and must be well documented.

There are three major activities involved with workforce planning:

1. Developing and analysing data that identify human resource needs at the local level
   The University currently provides a broad workforce profile across a number of human resource indices through the Annual Workforce Profile Report and data specific to the local area can be gathered by using UniSAinfo reporting.
2. Developing responses to identified human resource needs
   Objectives and strategies to address identified workforce gaps should be developed into action plans for the local level.
3. Attraction and Retention of Talent
   There are five elements to this activity:
   • Identifying Core Skills
   • Recruitment and Selection
   • Reward and Recognition
   • Professional Development
   • Performance Management

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Identifying Future Workforce Characteristics at UniSA

Workforce attributes considered vital for the implementation of strategic plans of the University can be gleaned through various policy and corporate documents. Documents that impact upon workforce strategy and development include the Corporate Plan 2008-2010, the University’s Statement of Strategic Intent and University's Strategic Plan .

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Who is responsible for Workforce Planning?

The development of a workforce planning framework and the implementation of workforce planning across the University is the responsibility of the HR Unit.

Key accountabilities for workforce planning include:

Senior Management Group:

• Support for the integration of workforce planning strategies into the corporate planning activity.
• Consideration of new workforce planning priorities and review of existing priorities on an annual basis.

Heads of Schools, Directors of Units and Research Institutes:

• Integrate workforce planning into local planning cycles, utilising workforce planning statistics.
• Identify appropriate strategies/initiatives to meet workforce planning outcomes.
• Manage local implementation of workforce planning strategies/initiatives.

The focus for the HR Unit includes:

• Providing strategic human resource advice and support in relation to the continuing development of workforce planning activities within the University.
• Further development of tools to support workforce planning at the local level.
• Informing local workforce planning discussions through the provision of local workforce data.
• Providing corporate workforce planning reports.
• Coordinating organisation-wide workforce planning initiatives.

Local HR Managers:

• Facilitate the development of local workforce plans.
• Assist managers in the collation and analysis of local data.
• Provide policy advice.
• Provide advice to managers on the most appropriate HR activities to address identified workforce gaps (e.g. professional development, recruitment and selection, attraction and retention strategies, induction, performance management).

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Advice and Support

Support to management includes:

• A management information and reporting facility (UniSAinfo Reporting - UniSA Restricted - Corporate Planning - Workforce Planning) to provide local information about workforce planning priorities. Access to this information is restricted and can be requested through Planning and Assurance Services - UniSAinfo Reporting information.
• This Workforce Planning website which provides general information about workforce planning and support to managers in analysing their local data and developing strategies for each priority.

Contact us:

For enquires about workforce planning, the website or for additional support or information please contact:

Greg Charnley - Manager: Remuneration and Workforce Strategy
Bernice McGrath - Consultant: Remuneration and Workforce Strategy
Corinne Stone - Senior Consultant: Information Management

Your local HR Manager can also provide support and assistance:

Portfolios - Liz Thornley 
Business  - Louise Seaman
Education, Arts and Social Sciences - Kerry Cox
Health Sciences - Justene Knight
Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment - Jo-Ann Spry

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