Introduction
Integrated planning is the foundation for assessing and understanding the
current and future needs of departments, agencies and the Public Service as a
whole.
Integrated planning is central to the successful implementation of the Public
Service Modernization Act and to the promotion of healthy organizations that
retain competent, committed and engaged employees across the Public Service.
Integrated planning is an important building block in continuously improving
and building the human capacity of the Public Service to deliver services to
Canadians (Results for Canadians). Integrated, rigorous planning can mitigate
risks associated with aging workforces, tight labour markets, technological
change, and so on. Integrated planning can help identify optimal strategies and
activities for such important HR management components as recruitment,
retention, learning, development, employee engagement, promotion, succession,
employment equity and official languages.
Some departments and agencies are recognized as having taken innovative
approaches to planning. Overall, however, there is widespread recognition at all
levels of government that over the last ten years, the HR planning capacity
across the Public Service of Canada has diminished. The time is right to
rigorously rebuild capacity in HR planning. The need for sound integrated
planning with business planning, has never been more important.
Why integrated planning?
- It aligns an organization’s workforce with the government’s
priorities, and the organization’s mission, strategic plan and budgetary
resources;
- It is central to the successful implementation of modern HR management as
referenced in the Public Service Employment Act;
- It supports HR strategies (e.g. training, career development, organization
design and classification) that are tailored to meet the current and future
needs of the organization;
- It supports the achievement of business excellence by promoting
initiatives to attract and retain an engaged, sustainable, competent and
diverse workforce;
- It leads to a supportive workplace and continuous learning culture through
planning efforts associated with both employee and organizational learning;
- It informs the development of business cases to justify resources
identified through current and future HR needs analysis;
- It assists managers in realigning their workforce (e.g. reduction,
expansion, change in business lines);
- It ultimately helps managers meet their responsibilities and
accountabilities;
- It helps develop and ensure sustained, strong leadership across the Public
Service; and
- It facilitates performance improvement and reporting through the
development of performance measures, which is an important aspect of any
planning-related
Defining HR Planning
HR planning is defined as follows:
Human resources planning is a process that identifies current and future
human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Human resources
planning should serve as a link between human resources management and the
overall strategic plan of an organization.
Integrated Planning Principles
Some key principles of integrated planning are as follows:
Planning takes place at all levels: Reflecting business needs and
strong people management practices, rigorous, integrated HR and business
planning takes place in all organizations and at all levels across the Public
Service.
Planning is information driven: Planning processes and decisions are
based on factual and timely information on current and future needs (demographic
data, environmental scans, employee feedback, labour market information, etc.).
Planning identifies risks and challenges: Planning processes identify
challenges and key risks in delivering on priorities, and outlines options to
mitigate critical issues.
Planning is transparent, values-based and well communicated: Plans are
communicated to employees and stakeholders.
Regular reporting on integrated planning takes place: Planning efforts
and results are reported on annually by all organizations.
Planning efforts are monitored, measured and evaluated: Processes are
established in all organizations to monitor performance and progress in
achieving HR objectives outlined in the integrated plan.
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