The budget has been approved. Targets have been communicated.
Recruitment requests are moving, and teams are settling into the new financial year.
August gives leaders their first opportunity to test those plans against everyday operations.
Are vacancies affecting delivery? Have new supervisors received the support they need? Are employees clear about expectations? Is the business relying on overtime or a handful of experienced people to make the numbers work?
For managers and directors, a workforce review should connect business commitments with the people and capability available to deliver them.
Check the assumptions behind your staffing plan
A workforce budget can balance while the operating plan remains difficult to deliver.
Perhaps recruitment is taking longer than expected. A new contract may require skills the business does not currently have. Planned productivity improvements might depend on training or equipment that has not yet arrived.
Review the assumptions made during budgeting and compare them with July’s experience.
For mining, civil and construction businesses, examine upcoming project demands, mobilisation requirements, supervision and contractor availability. For office and service teams, consider customer demand, administrative workloads and coverage during absences.
For managers: Which part of the plan is already proving difficult to deliver?
For directors: What assumptions would materially affect performance if they turn out to be wrong?
Where a gap exists, make a decision about resources, timing or scope. Leaving the target unchanged does not resolve the shortfall.
Look beyond the number of vacancies
A vacancy report tells you where positions are empty. It may tell you little about the work that is not being completed—or who is absorbing it.
Ask managers to explain the operational effect of each vacancy. Is it delaying work, increasing contractor costs, reducing supervision or leaving one employee carrying additional responsibilities?
Then prioritise recruitment according to that effect.
For example, a vacant supervisor position may leave an experienced operator informally coordinating a crew while still completing their own tasks. Filling another operational role could add capacity without addressing the supervision gap.
Before advertising, confirm what the position needs to achieve, which capabilities are essential and who will support the new starter.
The leadership question: Are we recruiting for the work we need done, or simply replacing the last person’s job title?
Review how new starters are settling in
Employees who joined around the start of the financial year should now have enough experience to offer useful feedback about their onboarding.
Ask what has been clear, what remains confusing and where they need further instruction or support.
Check whether they understand:
Their responsibilities and immediate priorities.
The standards expected of their work.
Relevant procedures and reporting arrangements.
Who can answer questions or authorise decisions.
How and when their progress will be reviewed.
On operational sites, confirm that required inductions, competency checks and equipment familiarisation have been completed through the appropriate processes.
A completed checklist is useful evidence of activity. A conversation and observation help establish whether the person understands what they need to do.
Give new supervisors more than a title
A strong operator may bring valuable technical knowledge into a supervisory role. They may still need development in delegation, feedback, planning and responding to workplace concerns.
August is a useful point to review recent promotions and acting arrangements.
Has the supervisor received a clear explanation of their authority? Do they know which decisions they can make? Are they expected to manage former peers without guidance? Is there a manager available when a difficult situation arises?
Consider this example:
A newly appointed supervisor is responsible for daily allocation but continues to receive competing instructions from two project leaders. The crew becomes frustrated by changing priorities. Rather than treating this solely as a communication problem, management clarifies reporting lines, agrees on how priorities will be set and provides regular coaching.
Supervisor capability depends partly on the structure and support around the role.
For directors: Are we holding supervisors accountable for outcomes while leaving their authority unclear?
Set expectations before concerns become established
The early part of the financial year is a good time to confirm what each team is working towards and how performance will be assessed.
Avoid relying on broad instructions such as “improve communication” or “take more ownership”. Explain the behaviour or result required.
For example:
“Provide the next shift with an updated handover covering incomplete work, equipment issues and outstanding actions before leaving site.”
That expectation is easier to understand, discuss and review.
Managers should also check whether employees have the resources and instruction needed to meet expectations. Where a concern is emerging, raise it promptly and fairly, using specific examples and allowing the employee to respond.
Directors should ask whether the business has a consistent approach to setting expectations and supporting improvement across departments.
Identify where knowledge is concentrated
Every business has experienced people others rely on. Problems arise when important tasks cannot continue without them.
Review who holds critical knowledge, approvals or customer relationships. Consider what happens if that person takes leave, becomes unavailable or moves on.
Useful actions may include documenting a process, cross-training another employee, arranging a structured handover or clarifying delegated authority.
For smaller businesses, this may involve the owner or director. If routine decisions consistently wait for one person, the workforce plan should address how responsibility can be shared appropriately.
Ask: Which activities would stop tomorrow if one particular person were unavailable?
Put people measures alongside financial results
Financial reporting may show a cost increase without explaining the workforce issue behind it.
Use your August management review to bring operational and people information together. Depending on the business, useful measures could include vacancy duration, overtime, turnover, onboarding progress, training completion and outstanding workforce actions.
Discuss what the information means. Repeated overtime in one team may warrant a closer look at staffing, scheduling or rework. A high number of completed training sessions says little unless the learning is being applied.
Choose a manageable set of measures that helps leadership make decisions. Give recurring issues an owner and review date.
Your August workforce review
Ask each manager to bring five things to the next leadership meeting:
One staffing gap affecting delivery.
One capability gap requiring development or recruitment.
One responsibility that needs clearer ownership.
One employee or supervisor who needs additional support.
One decision they need from senior leadership.
Agree on the actions, resources and timeframes required. Revisit them before the end of the quarter.
August is early enough to adjust the plan. A focused review now gives managers clearer priorities and directors a better understanding of what the business needs to deliver its commitments.
Need support strengthening your workforce plan?
RAM Industry Partners supports businesses with recruitment and candidate sourcing, HR and industrial relations, supervisor development, policy reviews and practical workforce planning.