Workforce planning
Know what roles, skills and numbers you will need, before you need them.
Most labour gaps are not surprises. They are visible months ahead in the programme, if someone is looking. Workforce planning is that look ahead, turned into a plan that recruitment, labour supply and onboarding can deliver against.
Why plan the workforce with BSR Group
We plan for the people we will then have to find, onboard and mobilise. That keeps the plan honest about lead times and the market.
Fewer last-minute gaps
Demand mapped across the project timeline, so the roles that take longest to fill are started earliest and the peaks are seen coming.
Onboarding lead times built in
A worker hired on time but not site-ready is still a gap. We plan backwards from start dates through inductions, medicals, clearance and document collection.
A clearer view for the client
Roles, skills, numbers and dates in one picture that package managers, commercial teams and site leads can all work from.
What workforce planning covers
A practical forward view of labour demand and how it will be met, kept live as the programme changes.
Demand mapping across the timeline
Which roles, which skills, how many and when, mapped to the packages and phases in your programme.
- Role and skill requirements by package and phase
- Headcount profiles showing peaks and overlaps
- Scarce and long-lead roles flagged early
- Assumptions recorded so the plan can be challenged
Lead-time planning
Working backwards from each start date through recruitment, onboarding, clearance and site access to a realistic 'start looking' date.
- Recruitment lead times by role and market
- Onboarding, induction and medical windows
- Clearance pathways where the site requires them
- Accommodation and travel considered for travelling workers
Gap and risk review
Where the market, the timeline or the site requirements make a role hard to fill, and what the options are.
- Hire, contract, redeploy or upskill options set out
- Market availability assessed honestly
- Single points of failure identified
- Contingency for slips and overlaps
A plan that stays live
Programmes move. The plan is reviewed with you as packages slip, accelerate or change scope, and feeds directly into recruitment and labour supply.
- Regular reviews against the programme
- Changes reflected in recruitment and supply activity
- Progress visible through the BSR CRM
- Handover into mobilisation as start dates approach
Where this fits
Ahead of a package award
A contractor bidding for or about to start a package wants to know what workforce it will need, when, and whether the market can supply it at the rates assumed.
A programme that keeps hiring reactively
Every month brings an urgent request for people who should have been started three months ago. Planning replaces the fire drill with a pipeline.
Multi-year delivery with changing skill needs
As a project moves from civils into mechanical, electrical and commissioning, the workforce changes shape. Planning shows the transition before it arrives.
Questions
- How is workforce planning different from recruitment?
- Planning is the view ahead: which roles, which skills, how many, and when. Recruitment and labour supply then fill the demand that plan identifies, with enough lead time to onboard people properly.
- Why plan around onboarding lead times?
- Because a worker who is hired on time but not site-ready is still a gap. Right to work, tickets, references, medicals and site inductions all take time. We build those lead times into the plan so start dates are real.
- Who is this for?
- Contractors, package managers and programme teams who are hiring reactively and want a clearer picture of future labour requirements across the project timeline.
Want a clearer view of future labour needs?
Bring the programme. We will map the workforce demand against it and show you where the gaps and lead times are.