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WORKING FOR HEALTH
Appendix 2 Defining Workforce Development
Workforce development is about much more than workforce planning. It describes a dynamic approach to delivering staff who are fit for purpose in the right numbers at the right places at the right time.
It looks at the workforce as a whole, rather than one divided into separate employers or professional groups, and looks to create and maintain skills and expertise where they are needed to respond to changing demands for services in creative and innovative ways.
Workforce development involves absorbing a range of changing dynamics, but the important part is that decisions are then made on the basis of risk judgements on this information.
The factors that will influence workforce development decisions are ever changing and include:
Technology;
Design and configuration of services;
Patient expectations and their involvement;
Employment and statutory legislation;
Employee expectations and lifestyles;
Educational delivery;
Professional boundaries;
Terms and conditions;
Labour markets;
Expectations for governance;
Drivers for reform;
Targets for delivery.
Workforce development decisions are therefore complex but are essential to address, systematically, all levels of the NHS in Scotland if the future is to be managed effectively. The key issue is to take rather than avoid the difficult decisions that arise from the complexity.
Workforce development is not just about increasing workforce numbers. It is about linking workforce needs to the redesign of services and new ways of working to provide realistic workforce strategies for delivering the service reform agenda. And it is about more effective deployment of the skills and expertise we have at our disposal and that we can expect to become available over the years to come.
Effective workforce development is not only a crucial sign of good modern Human Resources practice, but also the life blood of professions, organisations and services in Scotland. It looks to a wider vision of the employment and educational market than merely supply and demand in Scotland. It is also built on the principles of partnership, internally and externally put into practice.
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