Forward Thinking, Governance, Policy, Professional Development

Workforce Development Planning Project

In recent months, Vicsport has been a piloting a new project with 3 State Sport Association (SSA) to facilitate the creation of Workforce Development Plans, with the support of Vicsport preferred suppliers of Human Resource support,  HR Advice Online.

Workforce development planning is all about planning for the future of an organisation and making the most out of current inputs in order to achieve desired outcomes. It is “a strategy and associated set of procedures by which an organisation, sport or program’s future staff and volunteering needs are identified, allowing organisations to implement specific action plans to address those needs.”

Each SSA involved was selected after first expressing interest in the project through an open EOI process, available to all Victorian SSAs.

The project framework sees SSAs involved in 3 combined sport workshops, supplemented by 1-on-1 meetings with HR Advice Online to further develop their plans. This process is based on previously successful project based work that Vicsport has undertaken in recent years and aims to ensure that each organisation the best chance to successfully develop and implement a plan that will have ongoing benefits for their sport.

As a new initiative, this project is a learning opportunity for all organisations involved. It ensures there is sufficient opportunity to learn from one another as well as focus on organisation specific issues. Ultimately the project will continue to evolve throughout the course of the program. The skills that will be developed and harnessed throughout the entire process will assist with ongoing planning throughout the organisations.

The initial workshop took place on Tuesday 10th February. During the 3 hour session the SSAs involved were provided with an overview of the workforce development planning process (see right), given the opportunity to discuss their overarching goals for the whole program and clarify what they wanted to achieve at the end of the process. This also ensured that each SSA had an opportunity to learn from one another, gain ideas about what they should be doing and how they can each start the planning process.  Whilst each SSA has original and individual ideas, the planning aspect will be adapted to suit the needs of each organisation.

Since this time each SSA has met and communicated with HR Advice Online on multiple occasions to seek their advice and guidance on the data and information required to develop their plan. From this, each organisation has developed a draft Workforce Development Plan.

On April 21, all organisations came together as part of the second workshop in the process to share and discuss their draft plans and the process undertaken to date. This combined approach again saw SSAs share ideas and strategies to further develop their draft plans. It also allowed both Vicsport and HR Advice Online to gain valuable feedback about the process undertaken and support provided so far. This feedback will inform the development of industry guides and templates to be shared across the sector.

With the third and final workshop scheduled for June 9th, Vicsport looks forward to concluding the project with all organisations involved and sharing the learning’s and developed resources throughout the sector to aid the strategic growth of SSA workforces.

[1] SSA Workforce Development Planning Workshop #1 Workforce Planning Model & Process

Workforce Development Planning Process Overview

Step 1

Determine the organisation’s individual strategic direction.

Step 2

Analyse the demand, supply and gap in the market.

Step 3

Establish solutions that will assist in reducing shortages as well as surpluses which may be affecting the functionality of the organisation This can include the number of staff, volunteers or program personnel and required skills.

Step 4

Communicate the work force plan and to implement the strategies to reduce the gaps and surpluses which were identified in the previous stages.

Step 5

Assess what has been working and what should be changed and make adjustments to the plan.

 

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