HR strategy and workforce planning for School Furniture Makers: two seasons, one head count plan
Orders arrive before the school year starts, then slow. A workforce plan by month shows how many welders, painters and packers you need, and when, so you do not hire in panic or carry idle people.
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Most of the year's orders land in a few months. Without a plan, the owner hires in a hurry, takes whoever turns up, and pays rush wages. After delivery, work drops, and people are sent away or sit idle. Good welders and painters leave in the quiet months because there is no work or pay, and they do not return next season.
Good looks like a sheet that lists expected orders month by month, the number of people needed in each section, and who is permanent, seasonal or called back. Repair, mould and stock jobs are planned for slack weeks, so core people stay on the books. Payment delays from institutions are factored into when wages can rise.
How to set it up
1. Chart last year's orders by month
From invoices and dispatch records, note how many desks, benches and tables went out each month. Mark the busiest and slowest months.
2. Turn orders into people
For each section, such as tube cutting, welding, painting and packing, estimate how many people the busiest month needed and how many the slowest did.
3. Mark the core and the seasonal
Decide which people must stay all year, such as lead welders and the painter, and which can be seasonal. Write the list.
4. Plan slack month work
List repair, mould building, stock making and training for the quiet weeks, with names. See HR strategy and workforce planning.
5. Link the plan to cash
Mark when payments from school managements usually arrive, and when raises or bonuses can be afforded. Adjust the plan each quarter.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Write down how many people worked in your busiest month and your quietest last year.
- List the welders and painters who left in quiet months and whether they returned.
- Check how many institution payments were late last year.
- Count the jobs you could do in slack weeks and who would do them.
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
Several months before the peak. Orders from trusts and tenders often fix the delivery date, so working back from it shows when to bring people in and when to start training.
Keep the best and the ones who are hard to replace. Others can be seasonal, with a promise to call back. We would look at your core skills and the cost of losing them.
Treat payments as uncertain. Plan wages against orders you can cover from cash on hand, and set raise dates after the usual payment months, with a note to staff.