Summary of Tender: Implementation of Strategic Workforce Planning

Objectives

The primary objective is to transition TNPA’s workforce planning from reactive and fragmented to proactive and strategically integrated. The initiative aims to implement a comprehensive Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) framework, execute a full-scale Skills Audit, and develop a Feeder Pipeline to secure a sustainable talent supply. The project supports TNPA’s ambition to elevate its People Management maturity from 1.5 to 5 by 2031, enhance organisational resilience, and ensure workforce agility amid port automation, digital transformation, and evolving maritime logistics demands.

Scope of Services

The engagement spans six months and delivers four integrated workstreams:

• Current State Assessment & SWP Framework Design: Analyse workforce demographics, competencies, attrition trends, and succession coverage. Establish governance structures, accountability mechanisms, and end-to-end process maps aligned with corporate strategy.
• Comprehensive Skills Audit: Evaluate technical, behavioural, and leadership capabilities organisation-wide. Identify skills gaps, surpluses, and obsolescence risks. Deliver a digital, role-based dashboard for real-time monitoring and produce a five-year Skills Plan integrated with FY27/28 learning budgets.
• Feeder Pipeline Development: Conduct supply and demand forecasting, scenario modelling, and gap analysis. Design succession strategies, talent pools, and a centralised skills inventory database targeting 70% internal fulfilment of critical roles by Year Two.
• Capacity Building & Knowledge Transfer: Train thirty People Management practitioners using a blended learning approach. Develop train-the-trainer materials, learner guides, and supporting resources to embed workforce planning into daily operations.

Technical Requirements

Bidders must demonstrate robust technical capability through the following deliverables and compliance measures:

• Submission of a detailed project methodology explicitly addressing seven mandatory areas: skills audit execution, workforce planning, feeder pipeline design, stakeholder engagement/change management, data analytics/HRIS integration, risk management, and knowledge transfer.
• A comprehensive six-month project plan utilising GANTT charts, RACI matrices, or Work Breakdown Structures, clearly outlining milestones, deliverables, resource allocation, and governance.
• Evidence of prior successful implementations, including at least three client reference letters for comparable SWP, Skills Audit, or Feeder Pipeline projects completed within the last ten years.
• Achievement of a minimum technical evaluation threshold of 66.67 out of 100 points to qualify for subsequent price and preference evaluation.

Skills & Key Resource Requirements

The proposed team must include three designated specialists, each meeting strict qualification and experience criteria:

• Project Leader/Manager: Postgraduate qualification (NQF 8+) in Human Resources, Industrial/Organisational Psychology, or a related Social Sciences/Business discipline. Minimum six to nine years of direct experience managing similar workforce planning initiatives.
• Talent Management Specialist (Skills Audit): Postgraduate qualification (NQF 8+) in Human Resources, Industrial/Organisational Psychology, Talent Management, or Social Sciences. Minimum six to nine years executing Skills Audits and designing feeder pipelines or succession plans.
• Strategic Workforce Planning Specialist: Postgraduate qualification (NQF 8+) in Human Resources, HR Analytics, Data Science, or a closely related field. Minimum six to nine years conducting workforce modelling and forecasting.

All international qualifications must be verified by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Incomplete or non-compliant resource documentation will result in zero scoring for that criterion.

Explanation of Key Terms

• Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP): A data-driven, forward-looking process that aligns human capital strategy with business objectives through demand forecasting, supply analysis, and scenario modelling.
• Feeder Pipeline: A structured talent development and succession system designed to cultivate internal candidates for critical roles, reducing external hiring dependency and improving retention.
• Skills Audit: A systematic evaluation of employee competencies against organisational needs to identify capability gaps, redundancies, and targeted training interventions.
• NQF Levels: The South African National Qualifications Framework; NQF 7 denotes a bachelor’s degree, while NQF 8 indicates a postgraduate qualification.
• B-BBEE Specific Goals: A preferential procurement mechanism awarding additional evaluation points based on a bidder’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment status level.