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Place the right people with the right skills in the right positions at the right time

Based on feedback from local employers, Worcestershire County Council, alongside Worcestershire Growth Hub and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, commissioned Winning Moves to develop a Workforce Planning Platform to give local businesses the tools, knowledge and means to plan for their current and future workforce development needs.

Workforce planning helps to ensure that an organisation has the right people, with the right skills, in the right positions at the right time. The process involves forecasting future workforce needs, identifying gaps, and developing strategies to fill those gaps. Effective workforce planning allows businesses to align human resources with their long-term goals, which in turn leads to improved overall performance and adaptability. 

Evidence suggests that while businesses recognise the importance of workforce planning, many still overlook this critical function, which can lead to significant operational challenges, including skill shortages, reduced productivity, and strategic misalignment.

Key Features 

Working with the Council, Winning Moves provided an end-to-end service, from designing the content and structure, to programming the tool, and maintaining and protecting the portal to ensure it continues to operate at optimum levels into the future. The final product incorporates features that makes it easy to use, flexible, and impactful.  The platform provides:

  • Step-by-Step Guidance: The tool provides detailed instructions for assessing company culture, current and future workforce capabilities, and creating plans to build a robust culture and strong workforce.
  • Practical Advice: Resources and support documents provide more information on workforce planning and share best practices about overcoming common industry challenges and skills shortages. 
  • Flexibility: The platform is highly user-friendly, allowing businesses to work through it at their own pace. An assessment tool recommends the options most aligned with current and specific business needs.
Workforce Planning Tool 2.Png

No Cost to Use, High Return on Investment

The Worcestershire Workforce Planning Platform is completely free to use. Worcestershire enterprises can register for the platform at any time, create workforce plans at their own pace, and monitor their progress.

This innovative tool provides the data-driven insights, user-friendly interfaces, and real-time monitoring capabilities that businesses need to effectively plan and manage their workforce. By using the platform, businesses can future-proof, building resilience and agility into their organisation. 

Benefits to Businesses

By utilising the platform, businesses can:

  • Strengthen their Workforce: Identify and address gaps in skills, behaviours, and competencies to build a stronger, more resilient team.
  • Strengthen Working Practices: Analyse and improve current working practices to enhance recruitment and retention.
  • Prepare for the Future: Anticipate future industry trends and challenges, and plan accordingly to stay ahead and achieve business goals.
  • Optimise Resource Allocation: Ensure they have the resources needed to innovate, grow, and sustain the business in an ever-changing environment.
Workforce HR Function

Phil Newton of PSE Offline Marketing wanted to address the gaps in his team structure, such as work distribution, skills gaps and a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities.  As a busy team, they often found themselves dealing with issues reactively.  He turned to the Workforce Planner Tool to help the company become more strategic in managing and planning their workforce, now and in the future.  The tool helped them become more efficient and improved the team experience, which in turn drove better results for their clients.

I would recommend this process to other businesses, especially SMEs in the growth phase like ours. It gave us a new perspective, the tools and support to improve our current team, and a clear pathway for building the team we need to support our future needs.

Phil Newton PSE Offline Marketing

If you have a business in Worcestershire, you can access the planning tool, free of charge, here. 

GC Insight provides bespoke online portals that bring together high-quality learning tools and resources, alongside available business support and funding opportunities. Practical and easy to understand, the content is delivered through a user-friendly website that is easy to navigate. If you would like to discuss your needs, contact mark.modena@gcinsight.co.uk.