Your 2027 Headcount Plan Shouldn’t Start with Headcount
Your 2027 Headcount Plan Shouldn’t Start with Headcount
By:
Regina Dyerly, sHRBP, PHR
Partner / Chief Operating Officer | Vida HR
Sometimes a staffing problem is actually a process problem with a salary attached to it, which is why a request for another employee deserves a closer look before it becomes a line item in next year’s budget.
As employers plan for 2027, hiring requests often begin with familiar concerns: the team is overwhelmed, deadlines are slipping, or managers are spending too much time away from their primary responsibilities. Those concerns deserve attention, but understanding what is creating the pressure will help you decide whether the answer is another employee, a better process, or a combination of both.
Start with the work behind the request
When a manager says they need another person, ask them to describe the work that is not getting done, takes too long, or regularly requires overtime. “We need help” is a starting point, but “our supervisors spend six hours each week collecting missing information and correcting scheduling errors” gives you something concrete to evaluate.
For a week or two, have the affected team keep a simple record of major activities, approximate time spent, and recurring delays. A basic worksheet should be enough, including responsibilities that are easy to overlook, such as training employees, answering routine questions, correcting errors, and covering absences.
The goal is to understand what is consuming the team’s time without making the review another burden on an already busy department.
Look for work you can remove or improve
Examine which activities are necessary and which continue because nobody has revisited them. A report nobody uses, information entered into multiple systems, or an approval that repeatedly stalls routine decisions can consume hours without improving the outcome.
Consider a team requesting an administrative employee because staff members spend much of their day chasing incomplete submissions. Another employee could handle those follow-ups, but a clearer request form, required information, and an agreed submission deadline may reduce how much chasing is needed.
Before purchasing technology, check whether your existing systems offer useful features you have not put to work, such as automated reminders or approval routing. AI may also help with certain tasks, such as turning existing procedures into a searchable FAQ or drafting responses to recurring internal questions. Use approved tools, establish what information employees may enter, and assign someone to review accuracy, particularly when confidential employee or client information is involved.
Check whether responsibilities are in the right place
Work often ends up with the person who knows how to do it, responds fastest, or has always been willing to help. Over time, experienced employees can become the default owners of routine administration while work that requires their expertise competes for attention.
Review whether those tasks belong with the current role, another department, or a shared support function, and make sure any transfer comes with clear ownership and sufficient capacity. Moving work from one overloaded employee to another will not resolve the underlying problem, especially if unclear handoffs continue to cause duplicate effort or missed steps.
Evaluate capacity beyond an average week
A team may appear adequately staffed during a typical week and still struggle during month-end deadlines, seasonal demand, or employee absences. Your plan should account for those pressures, along with time for training, meetings, and unexpected issues.
Also distinguish between a shortage of time and a shortage of skills, because each calls for a different response. Specialized expertise may be available through training or outside support, while a sustained increase in essential work may justify another employee.
An eight-hour paid day does not translate into eight hours available for primary responsibilities, because breaks, meetings, training, and other obligations also take time. For example, allowing 20% for those demands leaves approximately 6.4 hours for the work you are staffing. Your actual allowance should reflect the role and your team’s experience, but a plan that assumes every paid hour is available for the core workload will overstate capacity.
When hiring should get the green light
Some needs are clear enough that a lengthy review would only delay necessary support, including replacing an employee whose essential work remains, supporting confirmed business growth, or addressing an established capacity gap causing repeated service failures or sustained overtime.
When the work is necessary, the need is ongoing, and the budget supports the position, move forward while improving processes alongside the hire. Your team should not have to reach a breaking point to demonstrate that additional help is justified.
Build the role around the remaining need
After reviewing the work, you may have a stronger case for hiring and a clearer understanding of what the employee should own. You may also find that part-time support, temporary coverage, or a specialized role fits better than the position originally requested.
Use those findings to define responsibilities and expected results, including what should improve during the employee’s first several months. If the need is to reduce a backlog, improve turnaround time, or give supervisors more time to manage their teams, spell that out so you can hire and evaluate the employee with those outcomes in mind.
Your 2027 headcount plan should connect each proposed position to work that needs to get done and a gap the current team cannot reasonably absorb. That makes the budget easier to explain and gives the person you hire a job designed to solve the problem that prompted the request.
Your 2027 Headcount Plan Shouldn’t Start with Headcount
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