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.
“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.”
Core Principles
Awards
- 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.
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.
