Aim
The aim of this module is to work out the roles and capabilities your workforce needs in the future to deliver its strategy.
You’ll get the most out of this module if you’ve developed some future scenarios and developed a strategy map.
Objectives
By the end of this module, you’ll have identified your workforce’s future needs including:
- capabilities
- roles
- the type of work expected for each role
- the supply and demand factors that will impact your workforce.
And you’ll have plotted the roles you need against these 4 role types:
- specialist
- delivery
- generalist
- project.
Suggested reading
Before you do this module, we recommend you read:
VPS capability framework (PDF, 185KB)
Activities in this module
Activity 1: Skills and roles
To do this activity, you’ll need:
Skills and roles template (PowerPoint, 1.1MB)
If you don’t have a strategy map, you can still use the questions in this activity to reflect on what skills and roles you need.
How to do this activity
Step 1: Transfer your processes and systems to the new template
Using the strategy map from the previous module transfer the processes and systems onto the template.
Step 2: Complete the template with these questions
Complete the template by answering these questions:
- What capabilities do you need to undertake the process?
- What type of role would do that work (noting it’s ok to keep this at a high level rather than a detailed position title)?
- What would this role deliver?
- What would drive the volume of this work, such as seasonality, number of customers and so on?
Step 3: Repeat the process
Repeat the process above transferring the capability and assets from the strategy map to complete the template
Activity 2: Role profiles
In this activity, you’ll map the roles you have identified against 4 role types:
1. Specialist role
This is a role that an expert would do.
They would have lots of experience or specialised qualifications in a particular area of knowledge.
2. Generalist role
This is a role that has general knowledge and experience in an area and may work across several areas.
3. Delivery role
This is a role that does the day-to-day work of the area.
They’re often front-line service delivery or customer and community-facing.
4. Project role
This is a role that often:
- involves research or design to produce a product or service
- are temporary and last until a solution is produced
- produce work that becomes part of the normal duties of the team.
How to do this activity
To do this activity, you’ll need the:
Completed skills and roles template (PowerPoint, 1.1MB)
Role profile template (PowerPoint, 1.1MB)
Step 1: Map roles
Look at the roles you identified on the Skills and roles template (PowerPoint, 1.1MB) for:
- Process and systems
- Organisation capability and assets.
Map these roles onto the matrix in the Role profile template
This will give you an idea of the mix of your team.
Step 2: Reflect on the role mix
When you consider your mapped team and the work it produces, reflect as a group on this question:
- is this the right mix of specialist vs generalist roles and project vs delivery roles to deliver the required work in the future?
How to run this module as a workshop
To run this module as a workshop, use:
Design: module 1 workshop slides, facilitator guide and speaking notes (PowerPoint, 1.6MB)
Workshop facilitator tips for this module
If you run this as a workshop:
- get people to think about the capabilities your workforce needs in the future and avoid focusing on the present
- focus on capabilities and what would drive work volume rather than pay grades
Workshop timeframes
Prepare workshop: 30 minutes
Run workshop: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour and 30 minutes