The importance of workforce planning
Workforce planning is all about making sure you have the right number of the right people, with the right skills available to your organisation so that you can carry out your business as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Optimum has tools and resources that can help you plan your workforce and develop you and your employees to meet your business needs and evidence competence.
Workforce Planning Toolkit
Build your own bespoke workforce plan using the Optimum Workforce Planning Toolkit.
Optimum has been working with NEREO (North East Regional Employers Organisation) to produce a Workforce Planning Toolkit that is practical and meets the needs of care provider settings.
Our new toolkit will help you to shape your workforce to meet the challenges of continuing austerity and an aging population. It is important that care providers know where they are now, where they need to get to and understand what actions will deliver the required development and outcomes. Clients need a care service that is flexible and prepared to upskill to meet their changing needs. Managers need a workforce that has the right attitudes, values and behaviours, who are equipped to deliver care needs now and adapt for the future.
The Workforce Planning Toolkit includes:
- talent management and succession planning tool
- workforce planning cycle template
- workforce plan reporting template
Download the Toolkit:
Workforce Planning Consultancy
The Workforce Planning Consultancy Programme will give you access to two hours of consultancy to be used as required to support:
- the introduction of the resources
- the production of your workforce plan
- the completion of your action plan
- signposting to resources and funding opportunities available, including an opportunity to receive match funding from Optimum for innovative initiatives
- coaching to achieve your action plan
Email: istraining@nottscc.gov.uk to book your place.
Performance-centred workforce plan
Local authority audits and Care Quality Commission inspections will expect health and social care providers to be able to identify what training their staff require and why they need it. It is important for your clients that your staff are equipped with the skills to meet their individual needs so when these change the skills of your workforce should be revised. The resources below will help you to show not only what learning is required, but also evidence what they already know and do so that you do not need to spend your training budget unnecessarily.
Competence assessment licenses
Working in partnership with Grey Matters, these e-assessment licenses are widely used to evidence the competence of your workforce and are an excellent way of identifying learning needs.
By requiring staff to take the assessments before and after learning events, managers are able to evidence the impact of any learning undertaken and use the reports to demonstrate outcomes in respect of CQC regulatory and local authority contractual requirements.
Evidence competence of your staff and record their safety to practice
- Read how The Grey Matter Group licenses help you to meet CQC requirments
- Grey Matters licence order form [Excel]
Training needs analysis toolkit
While your workforce plan identifies the people and skills that you need within your business your training plan identifies the training that each of your employees needs to develop those skills. A good training plan means:
- your staff get the best training for the skills they need
- you don't waste money on unsuitable training.
We've put together a free toolkit to help you work out what training your staff need. The information you get from this toolkit will help you:
- budget and plan your training over the next 12 months
- motivate individual staff knowing you are willing to invest in them
- provide evidence for CQC inspections and other audit visits.
Download the training needs analysis toolkit [Word]
Download the TNA Staff Self-Assessment Scores Plan [Excel]
Help us to help you
When you have worked through this toolkit you will produce a training matrix. Please send a copy of this matrix to istraining@nottscc.gov.uk. This will help us to identifying the training that you need and and the learning and development support that Optimum should be developing or signposting you to.
