Staff Planning

Key issues regarding staff planning

There are a number of issues to consider when Staff Planning:

• When you establish a business and it starts to grow, you will need to assess how many people are required to run the business and what skills they will need.
• As your business grows you will need to consider job roles and how they are changing. It is important to give staff variety in their roles and ensure that their job suits their own skills and experience.
• Staff will need to be trained to carry out their jobs effectively. There will be many opportunities to develop and promote staff in the future. You will have to decide whether to recruit staff with the required skills or develop the skills of existing staff to fulfil new roles.
• Promoting staff internally will motivate others and provide scope for those at junior levels to develop.
• It will be necessary to take account of salary and training costs when forecasting cash flow and producing financial statements.
• Staff will need training in order to fulfil their roles effectively. Training need not be expensive and the long-term benefits will outweigh the costs. It can also act to motivate staff as it demonstrates that the management is taking an interest in staff development.
• When planning staff requirements you should take account of the recruitment process and the time it takes, eg advertising, interviewing, inducting and training a new employee. Staff planning should also take into account the amount of time it will take for new staff to carry out their job competently.