Strategy & Policy

Manpower Planning Overview

Supply & Demand Analysis

​By Mansour Baker, SHRM-CP

Posted  16 February 2020

Introduction to Manpower Planning

Workforce Planning is the strategic alignment of an organization’s people resources with current and future business needs.

Workforce Planning Is

• A strategic management tool for aligning workforce capabilities with mission and goals
• Regular and systematic assessment of our ability to match workforce capabilities with organizational needs
• Integrated with strategic plans, line management priorities, budget process, diversity goals, human capital plans, union agreements, etc.
• A process that involves managers at all organizational levels and representatives from HR, strategic planning, and budgeting

Workforce Planning Is Not

• Just a data collection exercise
• A one-time event
• Just an HR activity 
• A process conducted by a small, isolated group

​Effective workforce planning methodologies will enable a company to develop a strategic road-map regarding its workforce.

​Manpower Planning Components

Strategic Business Definition

• Identifies core business areas to be covered by Workforce Planning
• Establishes scope of initial analysis

Supply Analysis

• Analyzes members of the organization who perform work
• Identifies demographic segments of the workforce, such as age, position, and functional alignment

Demand Analysis

• Analyzes the amount of work personnel must accomplish
• Indicates the amount of work by customer segment

Gap Analysis

• Utilizes information uncovered by the Supply and Demand Analyses to identify future trends that will affect the size of the workforce and the amount of work requested of it
• Predicts future workforce size and its ability to meet future demand

Road Map

• Develops a plan for addressing issues identified by the Workforce Planning Gap Analysis (e.g., recruiting, succession planning, retraining of existing workforce, etc.)

Exhibit 1

Manpower Planning Process

Workforce Supply Analysis

​A workforce supply analysis provides a data-driven model of a company current composition and characteristics.

​A workforce supply baseline analysis:

• Helps the organization better understand the workforce’s current and future characteristics and capabilities
• Uses existing workforce data to analyze and profile the current employee workforce in terms of numbers, demographics, and representation – essentially providing a snapshot in time

​Results from the supply analysis will:

• Allow leadership better to understand current workforce resources
• Identify areas that may require attention to ensure the future supply of particular workforce populations
• Inform the development of future target workforce objectives, including desired size, composition, and mix
• Allow a basis of comparison against the future workforce requirements may be assessed, so that key gaps may be identified and addressed

Exhibit 2

A structured approach should be utilized to develop the workforce supply analysis.

Workforce Demand Analysis

​Analysis of baseline demand provides a quantifiable, multi-perspective view of the utilization of core organization services.

​The workforce demand baseline analysis:

• Defines the core functions performed by the organization to address customer demands
• Provides a structured means to measure activity levels associated with the key functions performed in support of the company’s customer base

Results from the demand analysis will:

• Provide leadership with a consolidated view of services utilized by customers
• Highlight areas that may require attention to maximize efficiency in the delivery of services
• Inform the evaluation of future demand, including service composition and customer segmentation
• Allow a basis of comparison against which the future workforce requirements may be assessed, so that key gaps may be identified and addressed

Exhibit 3

A structured approach to integrate the data elements involved in the baseline demand analysis.

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