Workforce Planning: Definition and Best Practices in HR

From 20-30 FTE

Company size to start

12-24 months

Planning horizon recommended

Quarterly

Plan review frequency

10-15%

Healthy internal mobility rate

Definition

Workforce Planning, or headcount planning, is a strategic process that analyses human resource needs in the medium and long term to align with business objectives. It anticipates workforce changes, identifies skills gaps and plans HR actions to address them.

The 6 Steps of Effective Workforce Planning

1. Analyse Business Strategy

Understand strategic objectives over 12-36 months. Which projects? Which markets? Which new activities? These orientations directly dictate skills and headcount needs.

–Frequency: Annual

2. Audit Current Resources

Precise current state: headcount by department, available skills, age distribution. Identify key resources and at-risk people (retirement, internal mobility).

–Frequency: Annual + quarterly updates

3. Project Future Needs

Translate business objectives into concrete HR needs. Anticipate role changes from digitalisation and automation. How many people? Which skills? When?

–Frequency: Annual

4. Gap Analysis

Compare current resources vs future needs. Identify skills gaps, potential overstaffing, roles in tension. This analysis reveals where to concentrate effort.

–Frequency: Annual

5. HR Action Plan

Concrete actions to address gaps: external hires, training to deploy, internal moves. Prioritise by urgency and business impact.

–Frequency: Annual with quarterly review

6. Monitor and Adjust

Quarterly review to adjust for business and market changes. Track indicators: hire completion rates, training effectiveness, turnover.

–Frequency: Quarterly

Workforce Planning for Different SME Contexts

Approach by Business Context

SME Context	Primary HR Challenges	Priority Actions
Rapid growth (doubled headcount in 2 years)	Structure growth, middle managers	Anticipate hires, train managers, support functions (HR, finance, IT)
Digital transformation	Role evolution, digital skills	Map current skills, training plan, upskilling programme
Seasonal business	Predictable temporary needs	Seasonal worker pool, anticipate hiring, accelerated training
Generational transition	Retirements, knowledge transfer	Multi-year overlap, hire successors, document knowledge
Restructuring / Reorganisation	Skills redeployment	Internal mobility, retraining, workforce planning, formalised GPEC

Key Indicators to Drive Your Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning KPIs

Age distribution pyramid
Balance across age groups - anticipate retirements and generational mix
Turnover by role
Some roles structurally higher turnover - factor into planning
Critical skills ratio
Number of staff holding each strategic competency
Average recruitment duration by profile
3-6 months for some roles: anticipate accordingly
Internal mobility rate
10-15% healthy - indicates organisation evolving its talent
Recruitment plan realisation rate
% planned hires actually completed on schedule

0/6 effectué(s)0%

Frequently Asked Questions about Workforce Planning

From what organisation size is workforce planning relevant?

From 20-30 staff, structured planning becomes valuable. Below that, informal approach may suffice. From 50 people, it is essential for managing growth. Above 100, a SIRH with workforce planning module becomes very beneficial. For micro SMEs (10-20 people), focus on 2-3 strategic hires and critical skills mapping.

What is the difference between Workforce Planning and GPEC?

GPEC (Skills and Employment Anticipation Management) is the French equivalent term for Workforce Planning. GPEC sometimes carries administrative connotation (legal requirement for companies 300+ staff in France, methodology agreement every 3 years), whilst Workforce Planning emphasises business strategy dimension. In SMEs, both approaches merge and can be implemented in streamlined form without formal GPEC legal requirement.

How to involve managers in workforce planning?

Managers are essential — they know ground needs. Run annual 2-3 hour workshops to gather their projections. Ask simple questions: missing skills in your team? Upcoming projects? At-risk staff? Train them in workforce planning basics and tie planning quality to their annual objectives for commitment.

Do I need specialist software for workforce planning?

To start, a well-structured Excel spreadsheet suffices. Create tabs: current headcount by department, staff competencies, recruitment projections and departures, training plan. Above 100 staff or multiple sites, a SIRH with workforce planning module aids management. Tools like Aurelia help centralise skills data, talent pool and recruitment pipeline feeding workforce planning.

How to manage uncertainty in workforce planning projections?

Uncertainty is inherent to forecasting. Three practices help: work in scenarios (optimistic/realistic/pessimistic) with different business assumptions; review your plan quarterly to adjust to new data; focus on broad trends and critical skills rather than precise figures that will be revised anyway. Be 'approximately right' on strategic directions rather than 'precisely wrong' on detailed forecasts.

Structure Your Workforce Planning with Aurelia

Consolidated headcount and skills view, recruitment need anticipation, HR indicators and talent pipeline to transform HR into strategic partner.

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