Workforce Planning Methodology 

The workforce planning methodology is the specific approach or set of principles and procedures used to conduct the planning process.

Common methodologies include: 

The Strategic Alignment Model: Ensuring every people initiative directly supports a business objective. 

Scenario Planning: Developing plans for multiple possible futures (e.g., high growth, recession, new competitor). 

Skills-Based Planning: Focusing on forecasting specific skills and competencies rather than just job titles. 

Driver-Based Planning: Identifying key business drivers (e.g., sales volume, new store openings) and modeling how changes in these drivers impact workforce demand. 

The chosen methodology depends on the organization’s industry and goals.

Workforce Planning Metrics 

You can’t manage what you don’t measure.Workforce planning metrics are the key performance indicators that track the health of your talent pipeline and the effectiveness of your strategies. 

Essential metrics include: 

1. Headcount and Cost Forecasting Accuracy Time-to-Fill critical roles
2. Voluntary Turnover Rate (especially for key talent)
3. Internal Mobility Rate
4. Skills Gap Percentage
5. Retention Rate for high performers 
6. Productivity per FTE. 

Tracking these metrics over time provides objective data to refine your forecasts, demonstrate ROI on people initiatives, and prove the tangible impact of workforce planning on business outcomes like revenue and operational efficiency.

Workforce Planning Dashboard 

A workforce planning dashboard is a visual display of the most important metrics and insights needed to monitor the health and progress of your workforce plan.

It consolidates complex data into easy-to-understand charts, graphs, and KPIs. A typical dashboard might show real-time data on headcount vs. budget, turnover trends, open requisitions, time-to-fill, internal mobility rate, and critical role readiness. 

By providing a single, at-a-glance view, dashboards empower leaders to quickly identify trends, spot potential problems early, and make informed, timely decisions about their talent strategy without digging through spreadsheets.