HR strategy and workforce planning for Telecom Infrastructure Companies: growing and shrinking with the order book
Rollout orders do not arrive evenly. Planning people against the order book avoids both idle crews and missed starts, and gives circle heads something firm to work from.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsWhy HR strategy and workforce planning matters in telecom infrastructure companies
A new order from an operator may need hundreds of people in weeks: erection crews, civil teams, electricians and site coordinators. The company scrambles, hires through contacts and accepts what it gets. When the wave ends, people are released with little thought, and some of the best go to a rival.
A workforce plan lays headcount by phase, circle and skill against the expected order book. It identifies a core to keep, a bench to call back and a flexible layer for peaks. It also shows when to train, and what the pay and progression picture looks like.
Tower and fibre work depends on safety-trained, certified people. A crew without the right working-at-height training cannot start, whatever the order. Planning must include the lead time to train and certify, so that capacity for climbing and site safety is ready before the wave arrives.
How to set it up
1. Build a view of demand
Combine orders, pipeline and typical project length by circle. Ask sales for a range, not a single figure.
2. Split roles into core, bench and flexible
Core roles stay between projects. Bench roles are people you can call back. Flexible roles are planned as project-based.
3. Cost the gaps
For each phase, note the difference between needed and available people, and the lead time to fill it.
4. Plan training in the quiet periods
Use gaps between waves for climbing assessments and supervisor training, so skills are ready for the next order.
5. Count certified people by skill
List how many climbers, riggers and supervisors hold current safety training, with expiry dates, per circle.
6. Plan subcontractor use
Decide which work goes to subcontractors in peak and set your checks on their safety training and conduct.
7. Review monthly with sales and operations
Update the plan as orders change and share the numbers with circle heads. HR reporting and analytics covers this.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. Use your own records for a defined period and note gaps in the evidence. The review may take longer if records are incomplete or spread across teams.
- Draw headcount by month for the past year and mark when orders landed.
- List the roles you could not fill within a month last time.
- Ask circle heads which people they would want back first after a project.
- Check whether any training was planned for a quiet period.
- Whether the number of trained climbers matches the next quarter's order book
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
Not exact, because orders move. A plan with ranges and triggers, reviewed monthly, is useful. A fixed figure for the year is wrong for this.
A senior person in operations, with HR as partner. Sales should supply the order view so the plan stays connected to the business.
Offer another project, a short training stint or a retainer-like arrangement where suitable. Confirm any arrangement with a qualified professional.
Look at past years' site progress by month and plan training, leave and equipment checks in slow months. Share the pattern with circle heads.
Some firms use both. Keep a core for critical skills and supervision, and use subcontractors for peaks, with clear standards for them.
We set up the interview and hiring process for telecom infrastructure companies
Every business interviews, but few have a written process that works the same way for every role and every interviewer. GullyHR designs yours, from the role brief to the offer, trains your managers to run it, and can run it for you on the roles you hand us.