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Free white paper · Masterclass

Capacity Planning, End to End

Turning a volume forecast into a monthly FTE plan and a recruitment schedule that respects ramp, attrition and budget.

Capacity planning is the most strategic seat in the planning function — the bridge between a forecast and a headcount budget, and where the biggest, earliest and most expensive decisions get made. This masterclass walks the whole chain: from a forecast to a required-FTE profile, through the three drags that make “required heads” and “recruited heads” different numbers, into a back-planned recruitment schedule and a required-vs-available plan, and finally into a business case finance will actually approve. Worked numbers throughout.

Cover of the ccplanning.net white paper: Capacity Planning, End to End

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What’s inside

  • What capacity planning is — the three horizons and why lead time makes it a distinct job
  • From forecast to FTE — the gross-up chain (workload → service buffer → shrinkage), with a worked month
  • The three drags — attrition, shrinkage and ramp, and why required heads ≠ recruited heads
  • The recruitment pipeline — back-planning from go-live, funnel yield, the ramp curve, training throughput
  • Building the plan — required vs available by month, reading the gaps, choosing the lever
  • Scenarios & sensitivity — low/expected/high and a deliberate hedge
  • Presenting it — the business case, the cost of inaction, the decision deadline
  • The operating rhythm — a monthly cycle and an eight-point checklist, plus the FTE formulas

A masterclass in the ccPlanning series. Pair it with capacity planning for the next 12 months, the true cost of attrition, and the new-hire ramp-up curve.