Faculty and Skills Workforce Plan
An education provider delivers programmes through faculty who teach, assess, supervise, advise, conduct research and support institutional service. A headcount can show how many people the institution employs, but it cannot show whether the right expertise and available time exist for the programme portfolio. Two academics with similar titles may not be able to teach the same module or assume the same supervisory responsibility.
Marketways translates the programme plan into the disciplines, credentials, teaching effort and supporting responsibilities required by period. We compare this demand with available faculty capability and time so that management can decide what to recruit, develop, contract, partner or change in the portfolio.
Begin with the programme portfolio and delivery plan
Faculty demand begins with the programmes, modules, student numbers, delivery modes and academic calendar the institution intends to offer. A new programme can require expertise that the current faculty does not possess. Growth in an existing programme can increase teaching, marking, supervision and student-support demand even when the curriculum remains unchanged.
Marketways defines each programme’s delivery requirements by period. We include lectures, seminars, laboratories, studios, clinical or industry activity, assessment, moderation, supervision and learner support. This translation prevents management from treating contact hours as the complete teaching commitment.
The portfolio also contains choices. An elective with low enrolment may consume scarce specialist capacity, while a common module may support several programmes. Management needs to see these dependencies before approving growth or introducing a new course.
Translate delivery into capability requirements
A module requires more than available teaching hours. The assigned academic may need specific disciplinary knowledge, professional registration, research experience, language capability or familiarity with a method. Accreditation and institutional rules may also determine who can lead, assess or supervise the work.
Marketways maps these requirements to each activity. We distinguish capability that must exist at launch from expertise that can be developed later. We also identify where one person holds knowledge that no colleague can readily replace.
This map shows whether the institution faces a volume shortage or a capability shortage. Additional general teaching capacity will not resolve a missing specialist supervisor, programme leader or laboratory competency.
Measure available time rather than contractual headcount
Faculty contracts divide time across teaching, research, service, administration and external commitments. Sabbatical, leave, grant-funded work, programme leadership and supervision can reduce the time available for a new teaching assignment. A nominal full-time position therefore does not equal full-time teaching capacity.
Marketways reconciles contracted responsibilities with scheduled and recurring work. We include preparation, assessment, feedback, moderation, office hours, student support and coordination where these activities materially consume time. The purpose is to create a realistic capacity view rather than attach a precise but unsupported hour to every academic activity.
We also examine when the time is available. A faculty member may have annual capacity but remain unavailable during the semester or examination period when the programme needs the work completed.
Similar job titles do not establish interchangeability
Two faculty members may belong to the same department but differ in discipline, credentials, teaching experience, research commitments or supervisory limits. Treating them as interchangeable can leave essential modules uncovered or assign work to someone who cannot meet an academic or accreditation requirement.
Marketways builds an assignment model that respects these conditions. The model identifies feasible coverage, scarce capabilities and assignments that depend on one person. It can also show where a faculty member is technically eligible but the assignment would create an unsustainable concentration of preparation, marking or supervision.
Interchangeability may improve through cross-training, team teaching or curriculum redesign. However, management should approve those changes deliberately rather than assume that every vacancy can be covered internally.
Workload must reflect variation in academic activity
Two modules with the same contact hours can create different workloads. Class size, assessment format, laboratory supervision, new preparation, moderation, learner needs and teaching support affect the effort required. Research supervision and academic leadership also vary by stage and complexity.
Marketways identifies the workload drivers that matter to the institution’s decisions. We test whether the allocation recognises actual recurring work and whether comparable activities receive consistent treatment. The model should be transparent enough for faculty and managers to understand how assignments were produced.
The purpose is not to maximise every person’s recorded utilisation. A plan that leaves no capacity for student issues, research obligations, illness or programme change is fragile. Management needs a realistic operating margin for work that cannot be scheduled precisely.
Student numbers create more than classroom demand
Enrolment growth increases marking, feedback, advising, supervision, placement coordination and academic administration. Some activities increase broadly with student numbers. Others increase in steps when an additional tutorial group, laboratory session or supervisor becomes necessary.
Marketways models these relationships explicitly. This approach prevents the institution from assuming that an existing lecture can absorb additional students without affecting the work surrounding it. We also identify activities where technology or process redesign can reduce administrative effort without weakening academic judgement.
The demand scenarios should include retention, progression and elective choice because the same incoming cohort can produce different module-level workloads later in the programme.
Hiring lead time can determine whether growth is feasible
Specialist faculty may require a long search, notice period, relocation, licensing or visa process. The institution may also need time for curriculum orientation and teaching preparation before the person can assume responsibility. A workforce gap identified shortly before programme launch may have no credible recruitment solution.
Marketways aligns recruitment stages with programme milestones. We identify the last date by which the institution must appoint, contract or secure a partner for each critical capability. Where the lead time exceeds the available window, management must consider a delayed launch, smaller intake, revised delivery model or another qualified source.
Hiring risk also includes acceptance and retention. The plan should not treat every vacancy as filled on the earliest possible date or assume that one candidate will remain available throughout a long process.
Development must prepare faculty for a defined future responsibility
Faculty development can close a capability gap when the institution has enough time and the required expertise can be learned through a credible programme. General training does not create readiness for a specialist teaching or supervisory responsibility without practice, evidence and appropriate oversight.
Marketways links each development investment with a future module, method, technology or leadership role. We define the capability standard, learning activity, opportunity to practise and evidence required before the faculty member assumes the responsibility.
Development also requires time. Assigning a full workload while expecting the same person to prepare a new discipline or delivery mode conceals the capacity needed for the transition.
External faculty and partnerships add capacity with conditions
Adjunct, visiting and industry faculty can provide scarce expertise or flexible capacity. Partners can support specialist modules, laboratories or supervision. However, external capacity may have limits on availability, continuity, assessment, student access and institutional service.
Marketways defines which responsibilities the external contributor can assume and which remain with internal faculty. We include coordination, quality assurance, induction, moderation and handover in the workload plan. A lower teaching rate may not reduce total cost if internal staff must absorb substantial coordination and recovery.
Management should also test concentration risk. A programme that depends on one external expert or partner may require a backup arrangement before admitting students.
Scenario planning connects workforce choices with portfolio risk
Demand, attrition, recruitment and faculty availability remain uncertain. Marketways compares scenarios such as higher or lower enrolment, delayed hiring, leave, programme expansion, module cancellation and loss of a critical specialist. We test the effect on coverage, workload, quality and cost.
The scenarios allow management to compare recruitment, development, contracting, partnership, scheduling and portfolio changes. Each option should state when it must be selected and which later choices it preserves or removes.
Verify whether the plan protects delivery and academic quality
A workforce plan succeeds when qualified faculty are available for the required responsibilities without relying on persistent overload or unplanned substitution. Marketways monitors module coverage, vacancy lead time, cancelled activity, workload concentration, supervision capacity, late assignment and repeated exceptions.
We also examine whether the plan produces the intended learner and academic conditions. A formally covered module can still suffer if faculty lack preparation time, students cannot access support or assessment is repeatedly delayed.
How Marketways develops the faculty workforce plan
Marketways begins with the programme portfolio and converts delivery into capability and workload demand. We reconcile contracts and existing commitments, test assignment feasibility, identify scarce expertise, model recruitment and development lead times, and compare internal and external options under different scenarios. The final plan states which capability is required, when it must be available, how the institution can secure it and which programme decision follows if it cannot.
The engagement can combine Workforce Planning and Capacity with Workforce Performance and Capability Assessment, Organisation Design and Operating Model and Simulation and Scenario Analysis.