Workforce planning is the process to ensure the right number of people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time to deliver the short- and long-term objectives of the University of Waterloo.
The workforce planning process takes us from where we are now to where we would like to be through examining the critical gaps between our current workforce resources and future workforce needs.
Purpose
To support our future workforce by partnering with departments/units to determine workforce needs to meet operational and strategic goals and adapt to changes. We are a key strategic partner in supporting the University’s initiatives and department strategic plans in that workforce planning translates strategy into practice.
Workforce planning guides our leaders to respond to changes as they occur. It supports the alignment of people plans to reflect future work needs of the organization. This guidance includes providing workforce data analytics regularly for decision-making.
Core Principles
- Data-driven decision-making
- Importance of systems thinking to ensure broad support of direction and positive impact to stakeholders
- Exercising design thinking to broaden the understanding of what is possible
- Use of foresight methodology to envision the future need and how we will adapt to it
- Implementation of plans to support ongoing success aligned with strategic plan, research and scholarship, academic mission, and positive student experiences.
Workforce Planning Sessions:
We have a dedicated workforce planning team that supports leaders through a process designed to address changes impacting our ability to meet goals.
The method leads departments through four sessions that include systems thinking, design thinking, and scenario planning. The result is a comprehensive plan that has short-term and long-term objectives to meet future needs.
SESSION 1:
Understanding the Current State, Systems & Design thinking, & reimagining the future of work
In this session, the leadership team is provided with workforce data analytics including industry, region, University, and department-specific information. We discuss the current indicators that change is occurring and identify challenges to meeting goals. The session introduces both system and design thinking and how we will apply these concepts in planning for our future workforce. This session also includes a discussion on what the vision of the team is. This sets the stage for our future discussions.
SESSION 2:
Inputs, Drivers, and Scenario Planning
This session is a brainstorming session where we facilitate the gathering of all the changes that the team see around them. We discuss barriers to success, new work requirements, and group the indicators and trends into key change drivers. We first identify the change drivers, then generate solutions to solve them. These drivers are the focus of our next session.
SESSION 3:
Scenario Planning, Options, & Outcomes
In session three, we change the discussion to focus on possibilities. There is a summary of what is happening and what we expect to happen, and then start to discuss “what we might do.” This is a visionary exercise where design thinking is applied. There are no bad ideas, and all ideas are considered.
SESSION 4:
Preferred Outcomes backcasting
At this session, we regroup to discuss which options should be our preferred outcome. We plan for stakeholder feedback and backcast our ideas to ensure they are anchored to the University strategic plan, the academic mission, the student experience and support our research/scholarship activities.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Once all sessions are complete, an implementation plan is created to set short, medium- and long-term goals. A dedicated Human Resources Partner participates in Workforce Planning and supports the execution of the workforce plan, including change management. This results in translating strategy into day-to-day activities and goal setting at the team/individual level.
Regular touchpoints will be established to continue to monitor success and stay abreast of changes that could impact our ability to meet goals. This process should be revisited when multiple indicators exist that suggest revision to the workforce plan is needed.
Awards
University of Waterloo’s Workforce planning department received an Innovative HR Teams award from the Canadian Human Resources Reporter in 2022 for taking a unique approach to the future of work by conducting workforce planning with every department and unit at the institution.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss workforce planning and encourage you to reach out with questions or to book a meeting to get started.
For general inquiries, please contact: workforceplanning@uwaterloo.ca
Annette Denny
Manager, Workforce Planning
Emma Watson
Workforce Planning Advisor
Denise Baker
Workforce Planning Coordinator
Adrienne Elliott
Workforce Planning Advisor
“When looking at the future of work [...] Design thinking allows us the opportunity to think more broadly, opening our minds up to new ideas using foresight instead of using the past to predict and plan for our future.”