Workforce Planning as mandated under Employment Instruction No: 20 is crucial in the work of the Public Service. It ensures that all Ministries have the necessary workforce to achieve its legislative and strategic mandate and that human resource decision making is evidenced based. A Workforce Planning three (3) half day Training was therefore held at the PSC Conference Room from the 27th to the 29th of August 2018 targeting the attendance of all Ministries.

Workforce Planning is one of the key deliverables of Human Resource Divisions for all Ministries in the Public Service. This Plan tells the organisation of what type of skills are needed to get the job done and ensures that the organisation has the right people, with the right skills, in the right job, at the right time. A good mixture of sixteen (16) participants attended this training steering towards achieving the following:

  • Understanding of each Ministry’s current Workforce Plan status;
  • Analysis of Workforce Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Reviews for each Ministry;
  • Application of principles, approaches and tools for effective Workforce Planning development;
  • Application of principles, approaches and tools for effective Workforce Planning projections;
  • Analysis of gaps, development of SMART gap-closing strategies and identification of professional development needs;
  • Exploring a way forward for effective Workforce Planning in the Public Service.

Participation calibre included Officer, Senior and Principal levels who were after the training recommended to Human Resource Coordinators (HRC) who attended the HRC Forum held on Thursday the 30th of August 2018 to take the lead in this important task. Reflection of learning was evidenced in the knowledge shared during:

  • group discussions and hands on activities conducted;
  • presentations conducted on the last day that impressively showecased application of principles and tools expected for effective Workforce Planning.

Developing every Ministry’s workforce is highly crucial in achieving strategic goals of the organisation. In doing so, the Workforce Plan looks at retaining good employees with needed skills, recruiting good employees with the needed skills, developing existing and new employees, retaining organisational knowledge, and reducing overstaffing.

The training was conducted by Kalena Sootagamalelagi Segi (Principal Training & Development Consultant) with Declan Faalavaau-Mulipola (Senior HR Planning Officer) as the Co-Trainer.

In closing, Sarona Esera, ACEO HRD thanked participants for taking the time to attend this important training and encouraged them to take the lead in Workforce Planning in their respective Ministries.  Gratitude was also conveyed to GEF and EWACC through MNRE for their continual support and contribution to the success of training programs.