HR strategy and workforce planning for Chambers of commerce: matching a new president's plans to the team you have
Each new president brings a list of programmes. A simple yearly plan sets those wishes against the staff available, so the secretariat can say what fits, what needs help and what must wait.
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Share your requirementsWhy HR strategy and workforce planning matters in chambers of commerce
At the start of a term, office bearers announce a trade mission, an exhibition, a skills drive and a new publication. The secretariat has the same number of people as the year before. The director agrees to everything, the staff stretch, and by the middle of the year the quality of routine member service has dropped.
A workforce plan lists the programmes, the effort each needs in person-days and the periods when they fall. It sets this against the people available and the routine desks that must run. It then shows the gap in plain numbers of people and weeks. The executive group can decide to add a hire, a short-term helper, a partner or to drop an item.
How to set it up
1. List the committed programmes
Gather the president's wishes, standing committees and recurring events, and write each on one line with its dates and who asked for it.
2. Estimate the effort for each
With the person who will run it, estimate the days of preparation, running and wind-up. Mark the roles it needs, such as protocol, logistics or writing.
3. Set it against the routine load
Add the daily desks and deadlines that cannot stop. Show on one calendar the weeks when demand is higher than staff.
4. Offer the executive group choices
For each gap, present options: add a role, bring in help for the peak, move the date, or drop the item. Record the decision and the reason.
5. Revisit at mid-year
Check progress, update the load and tell the staff what has changed. Keep the plan short so it is used.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Count the programmes announced at the start of the last term and the staff added for them.
- Ask desk heads which weeks of the year are impossible for leave and why.
- Check whether any programme was dropped for lack of people, and who decided.
- Compare the number of member complaints in event months with quiet months.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach HR strategy and workforce planning in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
One calendar and one table of programmes against people are enough. Its purpose is to show the executive group the effect of their choices, not to predict every task.
Show the plan, the gaps and the options. Most office bearers respond to a clear picture and prefer a choice between help and delay to a sudden fall in service.
Sometimes, for specific tasks such as hosting or review. Brief them, name a coordinator and do not rely on volunteers for routine desks, because their availability depends on their own business.