The Workforce Planning and Talent Development (WPTD) branch is responsible for supporting workforce planning capability in the NSW Health system. While there are numerous mechanisms through which the branch does this, between 2018 and 2021 WPTD conducted a consultation process and developed several documents and strategies aimed at defining our approach to building workforce planning capability.
This consultation resulted in the development of the Action Plan: Building Workforce Planning Capability. The Action Plan was released in January 2020, containing targeted actions to address the challenges and opportunities identified in six focus areas for building Workforce Planning Capability.
This document provides detail on the current status of the action items in each of the focus areas listed in the Action Plan and outlines recommendations for next steps.
These were developed in collaboration with workforce planning representatives across NSW Health and will continue to be iterated and updated based on user feedback. The resources are currently available on SharePoint site with restricted access.
Partner with the university sector to develop and offer health workforce planning components in health management course.
Members of the WPTD branch supported the development of the Public Service Commission Strategic Workforce Planning Masterclasses that are now available across the whole of NSW Government to support workforce planning capability development.
It may be worth exploring offerings from alternate service providers and complete a gap analysis for NSW Health's purpose if deemed necessary.
No further action required.
The Workforce Planning Toolkit(action 1.1) includes materials that have been developed using a human centered design approach in a community of practice. This process facilitated capability development in the members as they participated in the discussion, co-design and testing of the materials.
The resulting materials take users through a step by step process to undertake workforce planning that is intended to develop their capability through the flow of work.
The Workforce Planning Collaborative has been established to continue the sharing of knowledge and resources to support workforce planning capability development in NSW Health.
[back to top]
PMP Health (external consultancy company) was engaged to undertake an evidence review to understand the size, role and challenges facing the role of those with workforce planning responsibilities at NSW Health. The report confirmed that the resources that undertake workforce planning are a small but critical workforce. This initial work informed the ongoing process of developing workforce planning capability in NSW Health.
The Workforce Planning Capability Framework Project Group was established to co-design the tools and resources (action 1.1). Although the project is now complete, members requested that the group remain active with support from the Ministry of Health given the value it provided them for their ongoing development. This group has changed its name to the Workforce Planning Collaborative to reflect the change of focus, ownership and sharing of responsibility.
This group is intended to provide an ongoing opportunity for those with workforce planning responsibilities to network and has been designed with a co-chair arrangement to facilitate sustainability.
The Workforce Planning Advisory Forum is a broader group of stakeholders with an interest in Workforce Planning. This group had been meeting regularly and the intention at this point is to maintain an annual event to update members on what is occurring, share resources and seek feedback to support continuous improvement within Workforce Planning.
No further action required
A project to enhance workforce data reach, quality and real time availability is in progress. This project is led by MOH working in partnership with eHealth NSW and LHD/SNs. A key deliverable from the project is a 5-Year Vision and Roadmap for Workforce Analytics in NSW Health. This is currently in draft and input from LHD/SNs is being gathered through discussion at various established forums. This document includes a draft roadmap of initiatives aimed at maturing NSW Health’s workforce analytics tools and capability over the next 5 years.
A number of these initiatives will provide improved access to data to support workforce planning. The next key milestone is the transition of workforce data and analytics from the current SMSR system to the new Corporate Analytics Platform. This will provide the foundational technology for more advanced analytics going forward. The transition to Corporate Analytics is scheduled for July 2021.
A capability framework for workforce planning was developed to align with the PSC Capability Framework and is available in the Workforce Planning Framework. A generic list of tasks typically expected of staff with workforce planning responsibilities was also developed as part of the project and is available on the SharePoint page.
The Workforce Planning Process and detailed implementation guide were developed to outline the steps typically required for workforce planning. The Workforce Planning Matrix provides guidance on timeframes for each phase of the process. All of these resources have been incorporated into the Workforce Planning Toolkit.
Conversations to identify opportunities for alignment of the Workforce planning process with other planning processes such as Clinical Service planning, Redesign and Infrastructure planning have occurred.
It may be worth investigating the student pipeline analytics for forecasting supply and demand needs. (as per 6.3)
Work is progressing to align the Workforce Planning process with other processes such as Clinical Service Planning, Clinical Redesign and Infrastructure planning (action 4.2)
Significant work has been undertaken to investigate the opportunities and challenges related to rural and regional workforce planning. Key outputs to date include: the Rural and Regional Workforce Immersion Visits Report and the Imagine Rural website. This work will continue to be progressed as part of the Rural and Regional workforce strategy - People Culture and Governance signature project.
The Workforce Planning Collaborative and Workforce Executive Committee will be the key points of engagement to ensure that this project continues to align with NSW Health's goals to build workforce planning capability.
This is being progressed as part of other initiatives.
LHD/SNs are responsible for enabling effective succession planning for those with workforce planning responsibilities. While some support will be through the tools and resources (1.1) and Workforce Planning Collaborative (2.2), there is potential for local strategies to identify a workforce pipeline and ensure skills transfer and development for this role.
Ongoing engagement with the Workforce Planning Collaborative to ascertain if any central support is required to ensure that succession planning for those with workforce planning responsibilities is occurring locally
The tools in the Workforce Planning Toolkit (action 1.1) have supported the development of local understanding about key stakeholders to engage in workforce planning conversations. These support those with workforce planning responsibility to identify key points of engagement locally.
LHD/N representatives from the Workforce Planning Collaborative (action 2.2) have formed a smaller working group to develop an overarching approach to illustrate the intersection points and how those with workforce planning responsibilities can engage with other planners to ensure workforce planning is conducted at all stages of planning.
It may be worth mapping interdependencies in Strategic Workforce Planning across the Ministry of Health and its different functions to demonstrate the complexity internally. This may support the strengthening of relationships to generate a greater understanding of interactions between policy and workforce implications
Continue to progress this work with Health Infrastructure and Health System Planning and Investment branch to increase clarity on the points where clinical service, infrastructure and workforce planning intersect.
The Workforce Strategy and Culture Unit will continue to progress the development of the System-wide common methodology for assessing cultural health - People Culture and Governance signature project. They will engage with the Workforce Planning Collaborative and Workforce Executive Committee as required to ensure that this project continues to align with NSW Health's goals to drive local process improvement related to workforce planning.
Being progressed as part of other initiatives.
A draft of the Health Workforce Plan 2021 – 2031 has been prepared following extensive consultation across the system. The plan is aligned to the Future Health Strategy due to be released later this year. The plan defines our vision, objectives and initiatives we will progress toward over three time horizons taking into consideration of the challenges we are likely to face. It also includes measures of success to support evaluation of these strategies. The draft is currently awaiting sign-off from Senior Executive at the Ministry of Health.
This is currently ongoing business traditionally undertaken by Clinical Design Leads.
Alignment of workforce planning initiatives with clinical redesign methodologies to enhance the development of workforce models of care.
The Workforce Planning Collaborative (action 2.2) supports the sharing of knowledge and resources across health agencies to promote a consistent approach and reduce duplication. This action can now be closed.
The Workforce Planning Toolkit (action 1.1) is available and will be made publicly available on the NSW Health website. This toolkit includes resources related to stakeholder identification and engagement. Some resources are currently under review to identify opportunities to align and incorporate the recently released PSC Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit and local resources.
Collaboration and continued strengthening of engagement with the education sector to gain a better insight into the education pipeline for workforce planning.
It may be worth exploring the student pipeline analytics for forecasting supply and demand needs (action 3.2)
Participation in the PSC Strategic Workforce Planning Masterclasses and Inspire Collaborative has increased visibility of workforce planning initiatives and opportunities for collaboration across NSW government agencies. An ongoing investigation is underway in the rural space for opportunities to collaborate with other government agencies. Being progressed as part of Business as Usual.