What is Workforce Analysis?

Workforce analysis is a research method used in the field of human resource management. This analysis is used to determine the workforce needs of the organization and to evaluate the qualifications of employees such as skills, experience, and education. In this way, employers can predict future needs, identify current shortages, and plan workforce planning.

In today’s business world, successful projects are based on good job analysis. Business analysis is a systematic process to understand the goals of an organization or project process and to identify the business requirements necessary to achieve those goals. This analysis is a critical step toward optimizing business processes, increasing effectiveness, and improving business efficiency.

The Importance of Workforce Analysis

Workforce analysis is critical for businesses to effectively manage their human resources and meet changing future needs. The importance of workforce analysis can be summarized as follows:

Personnel Planning: Workforce analysis helps businesses identify their future workforce needs. In this way, companies can increase operational efficiency by employing a sufficient number of employees with the right qualifications.

Productivity and Performance: Accurate workforce analysis allows to evaluate the competencies and performance of employees. As a result of this analysis, areas that need improvement are identified and productivity is increased.

Adapt to Changing Needs: Workforce analysis helps identify employee training and development needs to adapt to factors such as changing market conditions and technological advances.

Personnel Cost Control: Workforce analysis helps prevent costly situations such as overstaffing or personnel shortages and assists in keeping personnel costs under control.

Workforce Analysis Process

Workforce analysis is a process that requires a systematic and careful period The basic steps of workforce analysis are listed below:

1. Data Collection and Job Description: The first step is to collect the qualifications, competencies, working processes, and job descriptions of existing staff. It is important that the data that will form the basis for workforce analysis is healthy and accurate.
2. Workforce Planning: The business should identify future goals and projects and estimate employee needs accordingly. Changing market conditions and customer demands should be taken into consideration.
3. Staff Performance Assessment: The performance and competencies of existing staff should be included in the workforce analysis. This assessment helps to identify training and development needs.
4. The performance and competencies of existing staff should be included in the workforce analysis. This assessment helps identify training and development needs.
5. Recruitment and Promotion Plans: Based on the results of the workforce analysis, actions such as hiring new staff or promoting internal talent are planned.
6. Training and Development: In line with the deficiencies identified in the workforce analysis, training and development programs should be created for existing employees.
7. Monitoring and Compliance: The workforce analysis process should be regularly reviewed and updated. Analyses should be continuously monitored to adapt to changes in market and company conditions.

How to Do Workforce Planning?

Workforce planning is a strategic process for recruiting, training, and maintaining employees with the right competencies at the right time. The following steps and factors should be considered when conducting workforce planning:

1. Understanding the Company’s Strategic Goals: Workforce planning should be directly linked to the company’s goals and long-term strategies. Determining where the company wants to reach and what talent it needs to achieve these goals is a fundamental step.
2. Analyzing the Current Workforce: It is important to assess the skills and abilities of existing employees. This analysis helps you to identify what talent you have within the company, which positions are lacking and the potential for advancement of existing employees.
3. Identifying Future Workforce Needs: It is necessary to forecast which positions, competencies, and roles will be required in the future in line with the company’s strategic goals. This can be done based on changes such as entering new markets, launching new projects or improving existing business processes.
4. Determining Shortages and Gaps: Identifying the differences between the current workforce and future needs is one of the fundamental steps in workforce planning. To address these gaps, recruitment and training strategies are developed by determining which positions and competencies are needed.
5. Developing a Recruitment and Retention Strategy: Recruitment and training strategies should be developed to address gaps. The recruitment strategy includes job postings, recruitment channels and recruitment processes, while the development strategy covers the training and development of existing employees.
6. Performance and Progress Tracking: Workforce planning is not only a process but also a continuous cycle. The performance and progress of employees is regularly monitored and workforce planning is constantly revised. Thus, it can be quickly adapted to changing business needs.
7. Reviewing Technology and Innovations: Technological advances can affect the way of doing business and needs. It is important to consider current and future technology trends and innovations in the workforce planning process.
8. Support Employee Motivation and Loyalty: The success of workforce planning is also linked to maintaining and promoting employee motivation and loyalty. Career development opportunities, reward programs and supporting employee engagement can increase employee loyalty to the company.

Workforce planning can be an intricate process and every company’s needs are different. It is crucial to make data-driven decisions and align with strategic goals when planning the workforce. This process is an important step for the future success of the company and remains a strategic process that should be reviewed regularly.

What are Job Analysis Methods?

Job analysis methods are tools used to determine the needs, duties, and responsibilities of the job. Job analysis methods are applied in areas such as workforce management, job descriptions, performance management, recruitment process, and training programs. The job analysis methods described below are frequently used in this process:

1. Interviews: The job analyst determines the requirements, duties, and responsibilities of the job by interviewing the employees performing the job, business managers and other relevant people.
2. Observation: The job analyst observes the employees performing the job to determine how the job is done and what tasks are performed.
3. Questionnaires: Questionnaires can also be used for job analysis. Questionnaires are used to determine the skills and qualifications of employees.
4. Business records: Business records can be used by business analysts to determine how work is done and what tasks are performed.
5. Repetition of work: In this method, the people who did the work can determine how the work was done and what tasks were performed by redoing the work.
6. Analytical examination of work: Analytical examination of the work is also a method. In this process, the requirements and tasks of the job are analyzed and determined in detail.

What are the Data Collection Methods in Business Analysis?

The methods used for the data collection process in Business Analysis are as follows:

• Interview
• Observation
• Survey
• Board of experts
• Keeping a diary
• Document research
• Function analysis
• Location analysis

The most frequently used methods are Interview, Observation, and  Questionnaire

Interview Data is collected through interviews with employees of the institution or organization and at the same time, unclear issues are clarified.

Observation: Environmental factors are recorded by following the personnel working in institutions or organizations through video or physical observation.

Questionnaire: The person conducting the Business Analysis process collects information from employees with written questions and transmits the data obtained to authorized persons. It is frequently preferred because it is time efficient.