What is a staffing plan?

A staffing plan breaks down your upcoming staffing needs to guide your hiring process as you grow your workforce. It accounts for your current business situation and projected growth. Other factors include your short-term and long-term goals, business strategies and talent needs.

The human resources team typically manages staffing plans, but they may get input from hiring managers and other key employees. When you create a staff plan, you determine what types of positions you’ll need and how many new employees you’ll need to hire. 

What is a job proposal?

A job or staffing proposal details your staffing needs, particularly for one or more new positions within the organization. It details the new role and helps convince the people in charge that your company needs this particular position. Your staffing plan helps shape your job proposal by detailing what type of staffing you need to reach your company goals. 

What’s included in a staffing plan template

Your company’s staffing plan depends on your goals and staffing needs. Customizing a general staffing plan template ensures the document is relevant to your business and fully addresses your company’s needs. Elements to consider including in your plan may include:

• Department details
• Job categories
• Specific roles
• Total number of employees
• Estimated number of new employees
• Temporary or on-demand employees needed
• Job budgeting
• Training plans
• Leadership and promotion plans

How to create a staffing plan

The following steps will help you create a plan when staffing your team.  Start by creating a staffing plan template and customize it with data specific to your business. We’ll walk you through 7 steps to create a staffing plan.

1. Look at your business goals and anticipated needs

When you create a staffing plan, you’re predicting what staffing your company will need. Look at your organization’s current state and how that might change. 

Your company’s goals and objectives play a role in what it might need and where it’s going. Your strategic planning efforts often reveal information that helps you anticipate upcoming staffing needs. 

2. Perform an evaluation

Next, fully understand your current staffing situation. This includes how many people you currently employ, their positions, their skills and who may leave the company soon.   

3. Conduct a skills gap analysis

Performing a skills gap analysis identifies specific competencies you’re missing from your current team. Recognizing your staff’s strengths and areas of improvement could help you plan for new potential positions. 

4. Anticipate potential changes

Several business-related factors affect staffing. Those factors can be internal, such as changes you plan to make to your operations, or external, such as general industry shifts. Consider how your organization might change in the near future to get an idea of staffing needs. Factors may include:

• Upcoming product launches
• New projects
• Economic changes
• Industry changes
• Changing materials or labor costs
• Competitors
• Planned expansions

Researching these topics allows for more accurate forecasting for your organization. Use these details to determine the staffing you might need. For example, if you’re planning a new product launch by the end of the year, you’ll need a team to support that new product. Changes to industry regulations might mean you need a staff member to manage compliance. 

5. Create a staffing strategy

Hiring new employees is often part of a staffing plan, but it’s not the only way to address your company’s needs. One alternative is to train your current team to build the skills you’re lacking. You can strengthen your training and development program or build a manager trainee program. 

If you anticipate a temporary increase in workload, you could use contingent workers who are hired only for a specific project. Freelance and contract workers often fill the gaps when you need specific expertise but don’t have the need for a full-time employee. 

6. Compile the data

Using the information you gathered, compile it into a written staffing plan for your company. Detail the new positions and staffing strategies you’ll use to meet your anticipated needs. Our Predictive Workforce Planning Checklist outlines the steps you can take to forecast your organization’s future staffing needs.

7. Implement and monitor

Once you put your staff plan into action, it’s important to monitor it regularly. Identify the metrics that help you evaluate the effectiveness of your staffing plan. For example, track the employee turnover rate to understand if your retention strategies are working or the time-to-fill metric to assess how quickly you can fill open positions.Gather and evaluate those metrics to determine if your strategies are working effectively. You may need to adjust your plan to make it more effective. 

What’s included in a job proposal

Write a job proposal for a new position often starts with the components of the document. Just like a staffing plan, job proposals vary by company and position. Details to list in the job proposal may include:

• The position title
• The job classification
• Purpose of the new position
• Benefits of hiring for this position
• Duties and responsibilities of the role
• Qualifications for candidates
• Base salary

How to write a job proposal for a new position

These steps help you determine how to write a job proposal for a new position with your company.

1. Review your staffing plan

Your company’s staffing plan offers an ideal starting point for the job proposal. Within the staffing plan, look at the missing skills and talent on the current team. This helps you demonstrate how the role for your job proposal fills the gaps. 

2. Identify the target position

Clearly identify and define the role you’re including in the job proposal. This eliminates confusion and helps you plan additional details for the position. 

3. Break down the details of the role

This step takes research based on similar positions within your company and the typical details of that position. Include information on what type of role it is and what duties the selected candidate will have. Identify what you would expect from candidates based on the job requirements. 

4. Determine the value of the role

A job proposal should persuade upper management that the role is necessary. Include information about the value and benefits this position will offer the organization. You might include how it provides a solution for a current problem within your company. 

5. Create your implementation strategy

Detail how you plan to integrate this new role into the organization. This includes details about the hiring and onboarding process to ensure a seamless transition. It also offers details on how you’ll fit this position into the current team to share the workload. 

6. Write your proposal

Next, compile all this information into the written job proposal. Create an organized document that’s easy to read. The executive team can easily scan the information and get the data they need to make a decision on the job proposal when it’s well-formatted. 

Staffing plan template

Below is a staffing plan template for new positions. Adjust the information as needed to fit your needs.

Position:

Department:

Job Classification:

Key Benefits of Position:

Duties and Responsibilities:

Skills Required:

Number of Employees Required:

Estimated Start Date:

Duration of Position:

Recruitment Costs:

Onboarding Costs:

Steps For Recruiting and Hiring:

FAQs about staffing plans and job proposals

How often should you review your staffing plan?

An annual review keeps your staffing plan current and updated in most cases. However, industries that change quickly or major changes to your company might necessitate more frequent reviews. After any significant change, including quick growth, loss of business or a change in direction, review your staffing plan. These situations might change your needs for future hires. 

What are the benefits of creating a staffing plan?

Staffing plans prepare your company for future hiring needs. They help you anticipate new positions so you can start recruiting efforts early and shorten the hiring time. Use the plan to help fill skills gaps and strengthen your organization. A staffing plan can also help you with succession planning. 

What are the benefits of creating a job proposal?

A job proposal gets upper management on board with creating a new position. It lays out the needs for the role clearly, which can help shape the job description. Job proposals can help you hire the candidate who matches your needs.