Informative Essay on Workforce Planning
Group 2 Manage Workforce Planning Autism Victoria – Workforce Plan By James Watts, Jessica Lim, Luke Farrugia and Kair Aueil For Jan Kelly 06/04/2012 Table of Contents 1. The Necessity of Workforce Planning3 2. Overview of organisation3 2. 1. Autism Victoria’s services3 3. Strategy3 3. 1. Autism Victoria’s Vision3 3. 2. Autism Victoria’s Values3 3. 3. Autism Victoria’s Mission4 3. 4. Autism Victoria’s Strategic Priorities4 3. 5.
SWOT Analysis4 4. External Factors4 4. 1. Global Factors5 4. 2. National and Regional Factors5 4. 3. Challenges5 5. Internal Environment6 5. 1. Business Planning Process6 5. 2. Internal Changes6 5. 3. Labour Issues6 5. 4. Organisational Structure6 6. Current Workforce Profile7 7. Future Workforce Profile7 8. Gap Analysis and Closing Strategies7 9. Conclusion and Recommendations8 10. References8 1. The Necessity of Workforce Planning
Workforce planning is a comprehensive process that provides managers with a framework for making staffing decisions based on an organisation’s mission, strategic plan, budgetary resources and a set of desired workforce competencies. (Dessler, Griffiths & Lloyd-Walker 2007 pp78) Workforce planning allows managers to anticipate changes in the external and internal business environment and how they will impact their organisation’s workforce needs.
It also provides a basis for managers to devise strategies to tackle said changes and generate the maximal amount of value for their dollar. As Autism Victoria is a non-profit organisation, it relies heavily upon government grants and funding. The limitations on this form of income make it imperative that Autism Victoria invests every penny wisely. And because the hiring and payment of workers is so costly, significant effort must be put into the workforce planning process in order to ensure that it isn’t costing the company more than it benefits it. . Overview of organisation Autism Victoria, trading as Amaze, is a member-based not-for-profit organisation and is the peak body for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) in the state of Victoria. Their aim is to improve the quality of life for people affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders, their family and carers. They also provide a range of services to individuals and agencies with an interest in Autism Spectrum Disorders (including Asperger Syndrome and PDD-NOS). 3. 1. Autism Victoria’s services Autism Victoria offers the following services: free phone support for individuals and organisations affected by ASD * certified and customised training programs for professionals and businesses * information and education sessions for individuals and families including the Early Days workshops * autism accreditation for services, schools and practitioners * administration of the FaHCSIA “Helping Children with Autism” funding on behalf of government * information Services – Autism Library, Spectrum Magazine, eSpectrum newsletter, online resources, Fact Sheets and more 3.
Strategy 4. 2. Autism Victoria’s Vision That all people affected by an ASD have the best quality of life outcomes possible 4. 3. Autism Victoria’s Values * Diversity * Co-operative spirit * Willingness to learn * Background in dealing with an ASD 4. 4. Autism Victoria’s Mission To provide the best quality range of information, advice and support to families and individuals and advocating for systemic change, the establishment of networks, links and communities and the provision of training and accreditation to the service support system. 4. 5.
Autism Victoria’s Strategic Priorities Autism Victoria’s most recent Board of Directors meeting yielded 5 priorities for this quarter. They are: 1. To confirm and enhance the role of Autism Victoria as the Peak Body on Autism Spectrum Disorders in Victoria 2. To ensure Autism Victoria is a robust and functional organisation 3. To develop and adopt a number of diverse income streams to ensure the financial viability of the organisation 4. To provide comprehensive quality information and advice on all matters related to Autism Spectrum Disorders 5.
To take direct action to improve the provision of service and standards to people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder 4. 6. SWOT Analysis 4. External Factors There are several external factors which currently have an influence on Autism Victoria’s workforce planning considerations. Some of these external factors have a positive influence; others, negative. In this section, several strata of external factors will be discussed. 5. 7. Global Factors As Autism Victoria is a state organisation, there aren’t many global factors currently affecting it. The most notable factors would be the new developments in ASD diagnosis and treatment.
The American-developed DSM-X diagnostic tool will be replacing the current DSM-IV version, and this has the potential to cause a great deal of uncertainty in the diagnosis of ASDs. Autism Victoria predicts that 20% of would-be autistics would be failed to be diagnosed. This would lead to a large population of ASD symptom carriers being deemed unfit for access to quality knowledge and care. One potential global factor that could be beneficial for Autism Victoria involves a conference that is currently being held by them every two years. This conference is streamed into 9 regional centres in Victoria.
With the advent of new media technology that is available today, they would have the opportunity to stream the conference live into surrounding nations, spreading knowledge and awareness much more effectively. Autism Victoria is constantly on the lookout for new research and technologies which have the potential to benefit their cause. This would greatly influence their workforce planning process, as technological knowledge and skills would be a crucial part of assessing an applicant’s suitability. The advent of this technology may even create new job positions. 5. 8. National and Regional Factors
A national factor which has the potential to affect Autism Victoria is the introduction of a new National Disability Insurance Scheme by the Victorian Coalition Government. It is still unknown whether this new process will have a positive or negative effect on Autism Victoria and their beneficiaries. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has released an Autism State Plan for Victoria, which is committed to supporting all children affected by an ASD. In conjunction with Autism Victoria, they have been promoting the spread and knowledge of ASDs through the Victorian school system.
Autism Victoria is also constricted by the funds and resources they have at their disposal. Though the amount of funding they have received has increased greatly over the last few years, there is still room for growth, as there are still a large number of ASD sufferers in Victoria. 5. 9. Challenges There are several challenges that are currently being faced by Autism Victoria. In Australia today, 1 in 100 children is diagnosed with Autism. This places a large demand on the services and support Autism Victoria provides. Funding and manpower is a significant part of the fulfilment of these demands.
Autism Victoria’s CEO organises a quarterly board meetings in order to discuss a wide range of matters. The current purpose of their next meeting, which is due to happen as of now is to develop a paper for the government underling what policies Autism Victoria believe should be changed or added. They also prepare papers on how much funding is needed. Recently Autism Victoria has been lobbing with education ministers to get the amount of experience teachers get with autistic people while studying to become teachers increased.
There are currently no guidelines on how much time teaching students get hands on with Autistic children, with many universities offering no hands on time with Autistic children while studying teaching. This is something that the current CEO of Autism Victoria believes strongly in and is trying to get changed. 5. Internal Environment 6. 10. Business Planning Process Every year Autism Victoria holds their Annual Planning Day. This is a day where planning for the next year is done. The strategic plan is revised by the Board of Directors, and all managers are required to do SWOT analysis of their departments. . 11. Internal Changes As Autism Victoria as an organisation has had enormous growth within the past 3 years, during the increase in size of Autism Victoria’s operations they have had hire many new people to meet the demands of the organisation and the community. As a result, current offices have become cramped and there is no free office space within their current offices, due to this they are currently looking at moving to a new larger office. 6. 12. Labour Issues Autism Victoria’s only current problem with labour is an oversubscription.
They recently encountered a problem in which 100 applicants applied for a new position that Autism Victoria had made available, this in turn created a problem of having to interview lots of applications. The CEO of Autism Victoria states that they only interviewed the people that where in the yes category because there where so many applicants it was not worth there time to interview the maybes as well. 6. 13. Organisational Structure At the head of the organisation structure of Autism Victoria is the current CEO Murray Dawson-Smith. Below him 5 work teams which are headed by respective managers. There are roughly 5 staff per work team.
Autism Victoria’s Organisational Chart: 6. Current Workforce Profile The current workforce employed by Autism Victoria is more than adequate to perform the tasks and operations necessary at the organisation. Though the company is expanding and will be able to hire more employees, the supply of workers desirous to gain employment at Autism Victoria far exceeds the demand for employment by the organisation. This means that Autism Victoria has a great deal of control over both the internal and the external elements of hiring and promotion, and the luxury of choice when it comes to filling any position within the organization.
The internal supply of workers, however, is largely tapped out. Though the workforce is highly qualified, experienced, and performs their tasks/fills their roles in a manner that meets or exceeds expectations, individuals at the organisation are also well-suited to and satisfied with their current positions, making internal promotion or lateral movements to fill vacancies and new positions undesirable and an ineffective and inefficient way to meet current workforce needs.
External supply is also quite extensive, meaning Autism Victoria has many choices when it comes to filling current workforce needs. A high level of experience is not actually a requirement for considering employment, as extensive training is available for the right candidate. When seeking employees in the external workforce, then, personality, values, and ability to fit in with the other individuals at the organization are the key considerations. 7. Future Workforce Profile
The most significant difference between the current and future workforce profiles at Autism Victoria is the planned expansion of the organisation, which will enable it to hire fifteen more individuals. As the organisation is devoted to providing autism assistance services, the new hires will need to be willing to work in this environment and to receive ongoing training and development towards providing individuals with autism and their families with always-improving services; however current knowledge or experience in the area is not really required.
Even so, there are many applicants on file in the external workforce with experience, knowledge, and a strong desire to work at Autism Victoria, such that if the experience and knowledge considerations were to become more important in the future this would not present a problem to the organisation in the slightest. The desire to work for Autism Victoria in the wider external workforce is so strong, in fact, that the company should not have problems filling any open positions for some time, even with the company’s emphasis on ability to personally integrate with the other members of the organisation in a productive fashion.
Such strong embedded cultures can be prohibitive to outsiders, but with a large pool to choose from this should not be an issue. In addition, former employees will and do apply for open positions. Even in the external workforce, then, there are potential employees known to be a good fit with the organization. The supply of available employees in the external workforce is more than enough to meet the organization’s needs. 8. Gap Analysis and Closing Strategies Autism Victoria is in a good state to fulfil their current strategic obligations.
However, with the impending relocation on the horizon, they will need to focus on expanding their workforce capacity in order to cope with the coming staffing demands. This will not require a large increase in staff-seeking expenditure or effort, as Autism Victoria already has the exposure necessary to warrant oversubscription. Another area Autism Victoria should focus on is increasing the technological capabilities of its workforce. With the advent of new diagnostic and treatment tools, a workforce capable of utilising these developments stands to retain its usefulness far into the future.
Autism Victoria can promote this focus by developing technological training programs for its staff. An increase in funding is imperative to secure the aforementioned developments. Thus, it necessary for Autism Victoria to continue to promote government funding at every available opportunity, as this provides a layer of buffering in the event that said developments fall through and contingency plans must be introduced. 9. Conclusion and Recommendations Autism Victoria has had the good fortune of rapid expansion within the last 5 years, and has thus far been capable of adapting to the changing environment of the industry’s workforce.
But in order to secure its place in the future and fill out its expanding business scope, Autism Victoria will have to take the following actions: * Increase its workforce by 15 staff in order to adequately expand into its new location * Develop a training program to education staff in the use of the DSM-V diagnostic tool * Secure a 50% increase in government funding through the lobbying of ministers It is reasonable to believe that through the use of these recommendations, Autism Victoria stands to perform exceedingly well in the industry in a period out to 2020. 0. References Dessler, G, Griffiths, J & Lloyd-Walker, B 2007 Human Resource Management, 3rd edn, Pearson Education, Australia
