The aim of workforce planning is to enable the University to recruit, appoint and maintain an employee profile that best enables it to achieve its current and future business goals.

Forecasting future staffing requirements, particularly beyond one year, involves assumptions about likely future developments and trends. Critical to this process are the organisation's and work units' business plans, both short and longer term. Business plans take into account the University's strategic directions in relation to research, teaching and other business endeavours, expected availability of financial resources, current and expected student enrolments and current and planned course offerings and very much inform decision-making about future staffing requirements.

Workforce plans are formulated through a comparison of the present staff profile with the forecasted future requirements across a range of factors, such as: staff numbers, expertise, and skills and abilities, to reveal gaps and identify potential problems.

Once the gaps and potential problems have been identified through a comparison of the present with the predicted future requirements, the next step is the implementation of appropriate HR strategies to achieve the desired outcomes in a timely and effective manner.

Further Resources

• Strategic Workforce Plan [pdf]
• Strategic Workforce Planning Guidelines [pdf]
• Indigenous Employment
• Indigenous Employment Strategy [pdf]

For assistance and further information on any of the information available in this section please contact HR Services.

Updated: 10 November 2011