workforce-planning-org-design

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name: workforce-planning-org-design
description: "Build workforce plans and org structures: headcount forecasting, capacity models, spans and layers, organizational design options, and restructuring/Redundancy planning. Use when the user asks to plan hiring budget, forecast headcount, design an org chart, calculate staffing needs, or plan a reorganization."
---

# Workforce Planning & Org Design

## Purpose
Right people, right seats, right time, right cost — linking business plan to hiring plan.

## Headcount forecasting
1. Start from business drivers: revenue targets, product roadmap, ticket volume, projects won — each maps to capacity demand per role.
2. Capacity models by function:
   - Sales: quota × reps needed = target; ramp factor (new rep = 50% productivity months 1–3)
   - Support: volume / (tickets per agent per day × workdays) × shrinkage factor (leave/training ~20–30%)
   - Engineering: roadmap points / velocity per engineer
3. Add attrition buffer: planned hires = net growth + (headcount × expected attrition %).
4. Cost it: fully-loaded cost per role (salary + GOSI/taxes + benefits + equipment + tools ≈ base × 1.25–1.4).
5. Scenarios: base / aggressive / lean, with trigger points ("if Q2 revenue ≥X, open wave 2").

## Org design principles
- Span of control: 5–9 typical; wider for routine work, narrower for complex/mentoring-heavy.
- Layers: every added layer slows decisions; audit "manager of one" structures.
- Design from work backwards: group by customer/product/function deliberately; each unit needs a clear mission, decision rights, and interfaces.
- Document: org chart + role charters (mission, accountabilities, decision rights, key interfaces) — an org chart without charters is decoration.

## Restructuring / redundancy (handle with legal review)
- Business case + selection criteria that are objective, documented, and consistently applied (skills matrix, performance history — never discriminatory proxies).
- Local law: notice, consultation requirements, severance/EOS, protected categories.
- Communication plan: sequence (affected first, privately), scripts, support (severance, notice pay, reference, outplacement).
- Survivor management: remaining-team comms, workload rebalance, retention risk watch.

## Deliverables
- Workforce plan: hiring waves table (role, level, quarter, cost, driver, status)
- Capacity model per function (formulas included)
- Org design doc: chart + role charters + design rationale
- Restructuring plan framework (legal-review flagged)