This information will be needed when you determine your gap and analyze strategies and action items to address those gaps.

This section will focus on gathering information to analyze how the projected workforce supply will look by applying projected retirements and turnover to the current workforce. It will be based on workforce demographics and employment trends. Demographics include occupations, grade levels, organizational structure, race/national origin, gender, age, length of service, retirement eligibility, and similar information and will provide the necessary baselines for analysis. Trend analysis provides both descriptive and forecasting models which describes how turnover will affect the workforce in the absence of management action. Analysis can provide powerful predictors of how many employees will actually retire, resign or transfer. Workforce demographics data will provide a snapshot of your organization by organizing workforce data from the Federal Personnel Payroll System (FPPS) or Data Warehouse.

In order to analyze your current workforce and obtain a snapshot of your organization, you should collect data, as applicable, for each occupational series or for significant occupational series/grouping to determine the following:

1. How many employees at each organizational level?
2. What is the grade structure for these series?
3. What is the average education level/grade/step/time in position for employees in this field?
4. What is the turnover rate? Are employees leaving DOI to transfer to other Federal agencies or private organizations?
5. Are employees in this field moving around within DOI?
6. Are employees retiring when eligible?
7. What is the predicted retirement count for the next five year?
8. What is the average age and years of service at retirement?
9. What are the gender/racial/age/disabilities statistics for this field?
10. How are volunteers utilized?
11. Can any of the work be outsourced?

Information needed to analyze the workforce and answer all the questions cited above is available through electronic systems, such as FPPS, BRIO, FEDSCOPE (www.fedscope.opm.gov), and through the FPPS Data Warehouse. In special instances the Department can also assist with historical information from the Office of Personnel Management’s Central Personnel Data File (CPDF).

Using the information below, you can obtain data sufficient to determine turnover rates, analyze retirement trends, anticipate future retirements, analyze the current total workforce, determine recruitment practices, and provide a snapshot of the entire series:

Steps for Collecting Data: – Obtain electronic human resources reports from FPPS that includes the following data elements:

• Title:

The title of each position within a career field.

• Series:

Information for the entire occupational series will be available, allowing you to analyze each occupation within the series separately or together.

• Grade:

This field allows you to analyze the current grade structure, percentages of higher grades versus lower grades, average length of service in a grade and the average grade of retirees.

• Date of Birth (DOB)

The DOB is needed to analyze retirement eligibility, average time-in-grade and age of new hires, retirees, etc.

• Service Comp Date (SCD):

SCD data is critical for analyzing retirement trends and years of experience for employees in certain grades and series

• Gender:

This information is useful in determining the gender structure of the career field, the typical hiring trends of males and females, and the career paths of both.

• Race and National Origin (RNO):

This information is useful in determining the race or national origin of employees. Employees of mixed race or national origin should be identified with the race or national origin with which they most closely associate themselves.

• Type of Appointment:

The type of appointment under which an employee is serving (competitive, excepted, Senior Excepted Service, temporary limited appointment, Temporary Appointment Pending Establishment of a Register (TAPER), seasonal, etc.).

• Date of Retirement Eligibility:

Gives the date employees will be eligible for retirement.

• Nature of Action Code (NOAC):

The NOAC will give you inclusive information regarding promotions, reassignment, lateral moves, accessions, conversions, and separations. You can then analyze trends for hiring, promotions, retirements and employee movements within DOI, either individually or grouped by series.

The Plans and Systems Division has developed reports from the Federal Personnel Payroll System (FPPS) that provide the information needed as cited above, with the FPPS Customer Support Center. These reports are available for your use (using the information fields identified above) and you can easily access to them by requesting the appropriate report number. However, when requesting these reports, you will need to update the "series" field to the series applicable to your analysis and use your organization code.

Now that you have collected the information above, you are ready to begin analyzing this information to answer the questions outlined in Section 4.1.

Follow these steps to prepare your data for analysis of your current workforce:

1. Information is obtained from FPPS.
2. From report: copy data (select, copy and paste) into a spreadsheet (either Excel or Lotus)
3. In Excel or Lotus: block the data – then convert data to columns by choosing the following from the file menu: Data – Text to Columns – Next - Finish. The columns will then be divided by each data element.
4. Once data has been converted to columns, block and copy all the text (or data).
5. Then, open up a new worksheet
6. Name the variable (or columns) the same as they appear in Excel or Lotus. For example: If the order of data elements is "grade, series, DOB, etc.", then name the sheet the same (grade, series, DOB, etc.).
7. After the columns are named, paste the data from Excel. This creates a smooth transmittal of data because both columns match.

You are now ready to begin analyzing the data.

In order to understand whether your organization will have the skills needed in the future, you need to determine the skills/competencies of the current workforce. [Note: We recommend you not do analyze competencies until the second iteration of workforce planning in your organization. The first time you do workforce planning, concentrate on occupational series. This will allow you to access historical data and build a base-line from which your can later refine your requirements using a skills/competency analysis.]

Two key elements in identifying skills/competencies are:

• Workforce skill analysis, a process that described the skills/competencies required for today’s work.
• Conducting workforce skill/competency analysis requires the leaders of an organization to anticipate how the nature of the organization’s work will change, and then to identify future human resource requirements. (The process spans the supply analysis and demand analysis aspect of workforce planning).
• Job analysis, which collects information describing successful job performance.
• Job analysis focuses on tasks, responsibilities, knowledge and skill requirements as well as other criteria that contribute to successful job performance. Information obtained from employees in this process is used to identify skills/competencies.

1. Identify the job skills/competencies that will be required for future positions in your organization. A matrix can be used as a tool for identifying the skills/competencies that are or will be required for specific positions. This step will likely have been done at some point in the strategic planning, prior to the gap analysis.
     
2. Determine whether current employees possess the skills/competencies that will be required by the identified positions. This is the data likely to be missing other than in anecdotal ways or based on assumptions related to current grade and series. A skills assessment/competencies tool can be used to measure individual employee competencies.
     
3. Analyze the difference (if any) between current employee skills/competencies and future organizational needs.

The results of the skills analysis will help to identify potential retraining needs that employees in certain "excess" or "surplus" positions may require in order to transition into other positions within the organization. It will also help establish the focus of recruiting and training efforts.

Note: Many competency and skills analysis models, including automated tools, are available through commercial vendors.

After determining the projected workforce that your organization will have based on retirements and natural attrition, complete the "Projected Supply" columns on the Gap Analysis Form in Table 5.1 contained in Step Five.

The information collected in step 1 will be used in this step to determine your organization’s future needs in terms of specific skills/competencies needed, FTE’s, etc. The mission, vision, goals, and objectives of the organization, which you have already identified in the previous steps, help define the workforce needed in the future.

An important part of the future needs forecasting process is the examination of the needed anticipated occupations, work the organization will do in the future, and how that work will be performed. In particular, computer systems and Internet technology will continue to impact how individuals and organizations perform in the future. To determine the organization’s future needs, list needed skills based on the strategic plan, technology innovations, etc, based on the information collected in Step1. Coordinate with a human resources management specialist who can identify the relevant series.

Also, agencies must incorporate the impact of the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR Act) on the future workforce. The FAIR Act requires agencies to yearly submit an inventory of all activities performed by Federal employees, those inherently governmental and those not inherently governmental in nature (i.e., commercial in nature). The FAIR Act seeks to achieve economy and enhance productivity and quality through competition to obtain the best service at the least cost to the American taxpayer. Federal policy regarding performance of commercial activities is outlined in OMB Circular A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities (www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/).

The following questions will assist in identifying anticipated changes:

1. What changes are expected over the planned time period in mission, functions, strategic goals, and objectives? Will the program or organization’s method of doing business change?
2. What are the budget trends and patterns?
3. Do projected funding levels support positions and objectives?
4. Are there any changes expected in the number of FTEs?
5. What factors in the internal and external environment will impact decisions (legislative changes, departmental initiatives, social/economic trends, etc.)
6. What is the nature of the work to be done, in terms of volume, location and duration?
7. Can these services be contracted (FAIR Act or outsourcing)?
8. Will the use of retention allowances decrease critical turnover and help retain important skills?
9. Can volunteers be utilized to a greater extent?
10. Can the organization be restructured by using E-Gov? Can the organization be delayered? Can employees be moved closer to customers?

Once you have identified the anticipated changes, ascertain how these changes will affect:

• The amount, type, duration and location of work to be completed.
• Organizational structure and design
• The mix of skills/competencies
• The supervisors/manager to non-supervisory employee ratio
• Diversity initiatives
• Increasing/decreasing workforce demands
• Moving work to contingency workers and contracts

Document your projected need by title, series, grade, competency, and location, on the Gap Analysis Form on page 22.

The gaps are identified as result of an analysis of the differences between the forecasted human resources needs and future human resource supply. This analysis reveals human resources surpluses and deficits in raw numbers, and will assist you with further planning for addressing these gaps.

If you have not already completed the Projected Need and Projected Supply on the Gap Analysis Form as indicated in the previous steps, complete the Gap Analysis form to identify gaps in meeting your future and current workforce needs.

Calculating the gap is important for identifying personnel and/or skills/competencies in the current workforce that will not meet future needs (need exceeds supply). It will determine whether the current workforce exceeds the needs of the future – supply exceeds need. There are also situations where the supply will meet the future needs, thus resulting in no gap or a difference between supply and need of zero. Depending upon how the supply and needs were determined and the level of specificity, the gap can be identified by specific title, series, grades, competencies, locations, etc. or any variation needed. The comparison requires that the skills/competencies sets developed in the supply analysis and demand analysis phase be comparable – not independently developed.

Once you have identified the gap between future needs and projected workforce supply, you must consult with management to prioritize the significant gaps that have the most impact on organizational goals. Be aware that management may decide that having large "gaps" in particular series or skills may not be as important as planning for the anticipated retirement of a subject expert.

You can now begin developing strategies and action items for addressing those gaps. When developing strategies, these are examples of some issues to consider:

• The cost associated with the strategies for addressing competency or skill gaps
• How to keep corporate knowledge from being lost?
• What skills are currently vital to the accomplishment of the agency’s goals and objectives?
• How is the agency addressing skill imbalances due to attrition, including retirement over the next 5 years?
• Are there ways to maximize recruitment in order to minimize training needs of new employees?
• Explore training, retraining, relocation, or recruiting options for filling competency gaps.
• What retention strategies are necessary and most feasible?
• What are the costs of these retention strategies?
• Are there alternative training mechanisms (training, education)?
• Can needed skills be obtained through sharing of resources?
• Cost-effectiveness of contracting, outsourcing or using volunteers.
• Implementation of career development programs.
• Are there ways to restructure by using E-Gov; delayer; move employees closer to customers?

As stated in the previous section, prioritize and identify critical positions. Then, determine how each position will be filled.

Determine strategies and specific action items to address gaps. Strategies are broad categorical statements whereas action items identify the specific person(s) responsible for implementing the strategy and when it will be accomplished. Examples of types of strategies to consider for addressing gaps include:

Strategy: Addressing Gaps with Surplus employees

• Review the list of surplus positions available as outlined on your gap analysis worksheet. Then, review the skills of each of those positions. Once you have completed the analysis, determine which positions can transition into the gaps to be filled. To do this, consider: (1) Are these skills transferable to the positions/work requirements to be filled? (2) Can any of the positions to be filled by retaining employees (career development)?
• After you have identified positions to be filled and surplus positions, identify and document: (1) positions that can be converted into trainee positions (2) positions with the same skills needed; (3) positions that can be easily reclassified to the positions needed.

This action item(s) could indicate that you would establish a memorandum of understanding with a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) or the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, etc., institution as a means to develop a minority pool of candidates.

Strategy: Use Intern Programs to recruit

The Department has a systematic way for acquiring and developing entry-level employees for mission-critical career fields. These programs include:

• Information Technology (IT) Development Program
• Acquisition Intern Program
• Biological Sciences Development Program
• Office of the Secretary Management Intern Program

1. Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) authority: Action item could indicate that you will increase the use of IPAs to bring molecular biologists and biomedical information system researchers from universities
2. Presidential Management Intern Program (PMI Program)
3. Student Career Experience Program (SCEP)
4. Severely Physically Handicapped and Mentally Retarded Persons
5. Disabled Veterans
6. Veterans Readjustment Appointments (VRA)
7. Outstanding Scholar Program

1. Development of a formal mentoring program for trainees and junior employees
2. Use of volunteers
3. Other agency agreement (contractual)
4. Recruitment and relocation bonus
5. Creative compensation packages (special salary rates)
6. Expanded outreach efforts (e.g. job fairs, advertising, internet posting, employee referrals)
7. Special hiring authorities (on the spot hiring)
8. Augmentation of work/family programs (e.g. flexible and varying work schedules; telecommuting as appropriate; student loan repayment)
9. Automated hiring systems

Workforce Planning Summary  |  DOI Workforce Planning Model  |  Introduction  |  Step One – Strategic Direction Setting  |  Step Two – Supply, Demand, & Discrepancy 
 Step Three – Develop Action Plan  |  Step Four – Implement Action Plan  | Step Five – Monitor, Evaluate, & Revise  |  Summary  |  Appendices

Once the strategic direction has been established (Step 1 of the Workforce Planning Model), the workforce supply and demand realities have been identified (step), and the action plan developed (Step 3), the finalized plan can be implemented.

4.1 Management, Leadership, and Support

Successful workforce planning requires the commitment and leadership of top management. Senior-level managers must lead the planning process, must assure that workforce plans are aligned with strategic direction, and must hold subordinate managers accountable for carrying out workforce planning and for using its products.

Workforce planning offers a means of systematically aligning organizational and program priorities with budgetary and human resources needs. By beginning the planning process with identified strategic objectives, managers and their organizations can develop workforce plans that will help them accomplish those objectives. At the same time, workforce plans provide a sound basis for justifying budget and staffing requests, since there is a clear connection between objectives, the budget, and the human resources needed to accomplish them.

Using a contactor consultant in carrying out workforce planning is optional, but may be desirable in some cases. An experienced contractor may provide a level of expertise in workforce planning that does not exist in the organization. In addition, a contractor may have a more detached view of issues than organization’s employees and managers can provide.

The combination of experience and an outside view point can provide legitimacy for workforce planning that is not available to a strictly internal effort. However, care should be exercised on the recommendations from an outsider who may not understand the organizational culture and Federal requirements and realities. In addition to the cost of hiring a contractor, organizations should factor in the time it will take to provide the contractor with necessary background information on the organization.

Bureaus may also consider partnering with other bureaus or agencies to achieve their workforce planning goal. Partnering allows bureaus to share resources including budgetary, labor, knowledge, experience, lessons learned, etc. This may reduce the bureau’s cost of hiring a contractor.

Given the increasing mobility that defines today’s workforce, it is essential that organizations design, develop, and implement recruitment, hiring, and placement programs that are continuous, innovative, and targeted. These programs should be aligned with and supportive of the organization’s strategic direction and provide a reflection of the organizational culture. The plan should outline the actions, steps, and timeline that:

• Identify and "brand" the organization
• Create marketing materials reflecting the "brand"
• Determine timing, where, how, and when the marketing is conducted
• Identify competencies that will be targeted in the process
• Ensure candidate assessment tools are in place and "just-in-time" training regarding those tools is available.

Research has demonstrated that today’s average employee stays on a particular job for average of 36 months. To avoid critical retention/succession situations created by this cycle, supervisors, managers, and organizational leaders must know and understand what valued employees want and need to become long-term assets, applying accumulated knowledge to the accomplishment of the agency’s goals. A progressive retention plan should:

• Determine those employees who are critical to accomplishment of organizational goals.
• Develop an infrastructure to provide constant feedback between these critical employees and supervisors/managers to determine what they want and need to become long-term assets to the organization.
• Develop a means of providing incentives and/or working conditions designed to retain valued employees. This system must provide an accurate measurement of the actual return on invest concerning the retention of valued employees.

Workforce planning can also aid in the implementation of Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act. The Fair Act directs Federal agencies to submit yearly inventories of all activities performed by federal employees, those inherently governmental and those not inherently governmental in nature (i.e., commercial in nature). The FAIR Act seeks to achieve economy and enhance productivity and quality through competition to obtain the best service at the least cost to the American taxpayer. Workforce planning can identify current work that can be moved to the private sector and help in delayering the management infrastructure in the Department.

OMB Circular No. A-76 provides guidance, policies, and procedures on implementing the FAIR Act that are to be used when the Government determines that a cost comparison between in-house (agency), contract or interservice support agreement (ISSA) performance is warranted. When implementing the FAIR Act, the following cost estimates should be considered:

In-House Costs

• Personnel
• Materials and Supply (raw material, parts, components, office supplies)
• Other Specifically Attributable (depreciation, cost of capital, rent, maintenance and repair, utilities, insurance, travel, etc)
• Overhead
• Additional (office and plant arrangements, transport, employee recruitment, training, relocation, and other expenses)

• Contract/ISSA Price
• Contract Administration
• Additional (transportation or purchased services resulting from unusual or special circumstances that may be encountered in particular cost comparisons)
• One-time Conversion
• Gain on Assets
• Federal Income Taxes

OMB provides additional information regarding the Fair Act and OMB Circular No. A-76, on their website at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/

The Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) requires agencies to prepare annual performance plans that set measurable goals defining what will be accomplished during a fiscal year. The DOI GPRA goals and performance measures focus on the outcomes and results DOI bureaus, offices and partners work to achieve through their many programs. These requirements have led bureaus and offices to establish goals such as the percentage of abandoned land reclaimed. An outcome-focused goal, such as this, is in agreement with the intent of GPRA.

Workforce planning provides the means for achieving overarching program goals. Program goals will not be achieved "without the right number of people with the right competencies in the right place at the right time." Workforce planning is a fundamental tool, critical to quality performance, which will contribute to the achievement of program objectives. As DOI bureaus and offices develop strategies that support the achievement of both long-term and annual program performance goals in the strategic and performance plans, they need to include management activities (such as workforce planning) as essential components of a broad-based management strategy.

In order to meet a goal (such as reclaiming abandoned land), as well as to present a strong justification to appropriators, DOI bureaus and offices should apply workforce planning methods and techniques in developing workforce requirements. The Budget Office encourages bureaus/offices to include outputs of workforce planning (including their workforce analysis) as supporting documentation in their budget justification. This will optimize the Department’s opportunities for success in the budget process.

4.7    Budget Submission Requirements

OMB sets requirements in OMB Circular A-11 to provide the link between dollars and personnel. A-11 requires agencies to submit the following type of information in their budget requests to Congress. Effective workforce plans should include information and documentation in each of these areas:

Required FTE’s and Grades Costs (broken out by full-time permanent and other than full-time permanent status). Include all positions including student programs (SCPE, STEP, WTOP, Coop, Summer Aids, etc.)

Customer Service Costs. Project costs for information collection, support tools, training, etc.

EEO Program Costs. Project costs involving training, awareness activities, recruiting programs, etc.

Workforce Training and Development Costs. Projected costs for tuition, travel, per diem, instructors, classrooms, equipment, books, training material, etc.

Award Program Costs. Annual sum of organization’s performance management plan projects for award program. This will usually be a percentage of the total personnel compensation program (i.e. 1% of total personnel budget).

Executive Selection and Development Program Costs. Project cost for program administration, contractor support, training, travel, per diem, etc.

Bonus and Allowances Costs. Project costs for recruitment bonuses, relocation bonuses, and retention allowances.

Relocation Costs. Project costs for transportation, per diem, transportation of household goods, storage and care of household goods, allowances for home sale/purchase expenses, temporary quarters subsistence, reimbursement of income taxes, moving expenses, relocation service charges, etc.

Recruitment Program Costs. Project costs for publicity material, program administration, travel, per diem, school recruitment fees, etc.

Downsizing Costs. Project costs or voluntary separation incentive program (buy-outs), early-out retirements, severance pay, etc.

The WFP plan, especially the strategies and action items, should serve as a roadmap for managers to ensure the right people are in the right locations at the right time in order to achieve the organization’s long-term and short-term goals. The outcomes should be continuously evaluated to determine progress in addressing the gaps and, specifically, where adjustments to the strategies and action items are needed.

5.2 Assessing Accomplishment and Effectiveness of Outcomes

There are many different methods to obtain feedback concerning the achievement of accomplishments and the effectiveness of outcomes. This information can be obtained via meetings, surveys, focus groups, review of accomplishment reports, etc. Regardless of the method, examples of questions to ask in order to determine whether the strategies and action items are effective include:

• Were the actions and strategies completed and do they fulfill the goals?
• Did the action plan accomplish what was needed?
• If not, have the organization’s strategies upon which the plan is based changed? Were their other factors preventing the obtainment of the goal?
• Are the assumptions of the need and supply models still valid?
• Have the conditions changed such that the strategies need to be revisited?
• Is there a need to modify the action items?

After the above analysis has been conducted, steps should be taken to remedy problems in implementing action items. Examples include:

• Timeframe for implementation of action items may need to be changed
• Content of action items may need to be adjusted
• Deletion of action items because they may no longer be valid and/or feasible, e.g. budget, reorganization, etc.
• Persons responsible for action item may need to be changed

Changes to the action items must be communicated to responsible individuals in a timely manner to allow for questions and clarification. Similarly, achievement of action items should be reflected in the organization’s annual accomplishments and ultimately the fulfillment of strategic goals.

The WFP process is a continuous process of forecasting, clarifying, and identifying organizational workforce needs, assessing competencies, and implementing appropriate interventions. The process should be continuously evaluated to determine how well each of its component parts are functioning and where adjustments are needed.

Feedback should be obtained from participants and customers, including managers and top-level officials to determine the effectiveness of the WFP process in producing a useful product. This information can be obtain via a variety of information gathering methods such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, review of the quality of the workforce plan, etc. When ascertaining the effectiveness of the WFP process, examples of questions to ask include:

• What was expected from this process?
• Did this process produce a plan that is useful to managers in support of the organization’s strategic goals?
• What worked and why?
• Did the process work well as a team effort?
• If some of the steps did not work, how did you proceed?
• What didn’t work and how could it be improved?
• Was there enough time to conduct WFP?
• Were the appropriate offices involved?
• Were adequate resources provided?
• Were the costs and saving estimates accurate?

In addition there may be external and internal forces that precipitate changes to the process. Examples of these include reorganizations, redistribution of resources, new and/or changes to information data systems, budgetary and strategic planning cycle changes, etc.

1. Appropriate actions should be taken to address process inefficiencies.
2. Any changes to the processes and subsequent impacts should be fully discussed and analyzed with the multi-disciplinary team to ensure the changes do not create unforeseen roadblocks.

3. Modifications to the processes should be communicated to everyone as soon as possible to ensure sufficient time for training and/or questions.

Workforce Planning Summary  |  DOI Workforce Planning Model  |  Introduction  |  Step One – Strategic Direction Setting  |  Step Two – Supply, Demand, & Discrepancy 
 Step Three – Develop Action Plan  |  Step Four – Implement Action Plan  | Step Five – Monitor, Evaluate, & Revise  |  Summary  |  Appendices

Workforce Planning Summary  |  DOI Workforce Planning Model  |  Introduction  |  Step One – Strategic Direction Setting  |  Step Two – Supply, Demand, & Discrepancy 
 Step Three – Develop Action Plan  |  Step Four – Implement Action Plan  | Step Five – Monitor, Evaluate, & Revise  |  Summary  |  Appendices   | Download in PDF Format