Classic Workforce Projects

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief history of workforce planning and outlines why system dynamics provides a natural approach to the major challenges of such planning. It describes three modelling projects as what we describe as ‘classical’ workforce planning problems. The first model involved developing a new profession from scratch. The second model involved establishing a trainer workforce from existing employees to train new (students) recruits and the third the development of strategies for maintaining a workforce of paediatricians in the light of the implementation of the European Working Time Directive. The common theme of these models is that the workforce is represented as a stock-flow chain linking the states of training and categories of staff. Further, they account for the classical dynamic issues of planning in the face of complexities arising from recruitment and training delays, meeting targets for staff in posts and coping with drop outs, leaving and retirement flows.