1 Understand key contemporary labour market trends and their significance for workforce planning.
1.1 Explain how organisations strategically position themselves in competitive labour markets.
Competitor analysis, strengths and weaknesses of competitors’ employee experience; organisational positioning including the characteristics of an employer of choice; attitudes to reward and culture; employer branding; organisational image, ethics and reputation.
1.2 Explain the impact of changing labour market conditions on resourcing decisions.
Changing labour market conditions: differences between tight and loose labour markets; trends in the demand and supply of labour and skills; reasons for trends using analytical models such as political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental. Resourcing decisions: may be taken in relation to employer branding, recruitment methods, retention strategies, reorganisations, development decisions and long-term planning, critical incidents, national, international and global pressures and crises, changing faces and methods of working.
2 Understand the purpose and importance of workforce planning.
2.1 Analyse the impact of effective workforce planning.
Impact of forecasting demand for labour; forecasting internal and external supply of labour; identifying and analysing gaps between supply and demand of labour; strategies to address the gaps between supply and demand.
2.2 Evaluate the techniques used to support the process of workforce planning.
Techniques to forecast demand: managerial judgement, working back from costs, systemic approaches. Data used to forecast supply: promotion/demotion rates, transfer rate, employee turnover rate, factors affecting external supply, critical incident analysis.
2.3 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of recruitment and selection to build effective workforces.
Recruitment methods may include internal and external methods, informal and formal methods; advertising through different media such as employment agencies, educational liaison, social media, intranet sites, websites, newsletters, job bulletins, job boards, job centres, etc.
Selection methods may include application screening, selection interviews, ability and personality testing, job references, work samples, trial shifts and assessment centres, etc; how to conduct fair and objective assessment; impact of new and emerging technologies on recruitment and selection; diversity and fair access of opportunities for all; evaluation of the effectiveness, validity and reliability of recruitment and selection practices.
3 Understand the impact of employee turnover and the benefits of retention.
3.1 Discuss factors that influence why people choose to leave or remain in organisations.
Differences between voluntary and involuntary turnover; differences between avoidable and unavoidable turnover; push and pull factors.
3.2 Compare different approaches to retaining people.
Approaches to retention may include appraisal, training and development, lateral moves, flexible working and work-life balance, workplace characteristics, fair and equitable reward, career breaks, realistic job previews, job enrichment, etc.
3.3 Explain the impact of dysfunctional employee turnover.
Costs associated with dysfunctional employee turnover; methods of measuring employee turnover; direct costs such as recruitment and selection costs, time to process leaver and starter, induction and initial training costs; indirect costs such as loss of productivity by leaver and new starter, loss of skills, knowledge and morale in team, loss of return on any investment for the leaver.
4 Understand the importance of managing contractual arrangements and effective onboarding.
4.1 Assess suitable types of contractual arrangements dependent on specific workforce need.
Matching workforce need to contractual arrangements. How work can be delivered through different contracts: employee, worker, contractor; permanent, temporary, full-time, part-time, zero-hours; how work can be delivered and resourced in different ways including the ‘gig economy’.
4.2 Explain the benefits of effective onboarding.
Purpose of onboarding such as successful integration of new employees and reduced risk of ‘induction crisis’; the benefits of an effective onboarding programme, such as introduction to and appreciation of the organisation’s culture and norms, improved effectiveness in role, retention and reduced employee turnover.
