Wyoming Workforce Planning
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Resource Management

Definition

Effectively organize multiple assignments, sometimes of a complex nature or involving competing priorities, to produce work products that are accurate, thorough, and on time.  Ability to appropriately allocate a variety of resources, which may include, materials, money, facilities, and equipment. Requires the ability to assess needs and track progress for multiple customers.
 

Behavioral Descriptions
Proficiency Level 5

  • Determines and controls allocation of resources for entire organization.

  • Allocates resources for organization-wide operations

  • May cause major changes in functional operations, processes, and procedures at a statewide level.

  • Directs the fiscal and budgetary processes for an entire organization.

  • Strategically deploys agency-wide resources.
Proficiency Level 4

  • Balances allocation of resources within a division of an organization.

  • Controls financial and material resources for a major division or program of an organization.

  • Determines allocation of resources for major areas of services and operations.

  • Develops, acquires, and allocates resources to accomplish strategic objectives of a division, functional area, or major section of the organization.
Proficiency Level 3

  • Coordinates use of allocated resources among several teams or groups within a functional section/branch/unit etc.

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  • Manages the time and material of related work units or projects.

  • Allocates, identifies, and optimizes resources to accomplish goal of multiple projects or teams.

  • Prepares and justifies a budget for a specific functional area.
Proficiency Level 2

  • Assigns allocated resources to team or project members

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  • Apportions designated time, resources, and/or activities undertaken by several employees.

  • Ensures effectiveness in the use of time, material resources, and expenditures for a small project or work team.
Proficiency Level 1

  • Uses assigned resources to accomplish tasks

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  • Monitors use of resources assigned for personal work.

  • Accounts for personal use of time and resources.

  • May tally resource usage of others.
Suggested Activities for Development

  • Define what resource are.

  • Review procedures for acquiring resources. Make sure you understand the approval process for obtaining various resources.

  • Identify people who are successful at making optimum use of their resources (e.g., people, financial, and technology). Find out what they do.

  • Volunteer to manage the budget tracking process for your work section/branch/unit etc.

  • Periodically, ask employees if they have the necessary resources to perform their job.

  • Contact other colleagues in the organization to learn more about what they do and the resources they have.

  • When working on a project, make a list and prioritize the resources needed according to their level of importance within the department. Determine the cost (including opportunity costs) involved in using these resources.

  • Discuss what your work unit does with technology experts within your organization. Ask if they have any ideas about how to streamline processes in your work area.

  • Meet with your boss to discuss the budget and ways to control costs in your work section/branch/unit etc.. Identify the resource(s) that consume most of your work section/branch/unit’s budget. Devise a plan to cut costs.

  • When working on a project, develop or use a project management tool to help track resources.

  • Invite people from other departments to participate in a project.

  • Participate in the strategic, information technology, and/or workforce planning process.

  • Develop a forecasting model or use forecasting software to determine staffing, technology, and/or budget needs.

  • Identify a pertinent problem within your organization. Determine the cause of the problem. Brainstorm about possible solutions. Conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine the best solution. Present findings to others.
Recommended Courses
Additional Resource

Books

  • Managing from Clarity: Identifying, Aligning and Leveraging Strategic Resources by J. L. Ritchie-Dunham & H. T. Rabbino ( Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, 2001). Drawing from a variety of approaches and theories of management, this book presents a single integrated framework for understanding organizational and operational dynamics and for making strategic decisions. It describes methods for forming, communicating, and testing strategies, developing a broader perspective, and identifying an organization's key resources.

  • Mastering Project Management: Applying Advanced Concepts of System Thinking, Control and Evaluation and Resource Allocation by J. P. Lewis (McGraw-Hill Companies, 1998). A handbook for project management professionals. The author discusses power and politics, cultural differences, and systems thinking in project management, and explains how to develop shared understanding of a project, manage resources in project scheduling, control projects through tracking, and optimize project performance. Includes many illustrative tables, summaries, and cartoons.

  • Resource Allocation in the Public Sector: Values, Priorities, and Markets in the Management of Public Services by C.M. Fisher (Routledge, 1998). This book examines the competing values that underlie the public service ethic, including the role of markets and quasi-markets in deciding on how resources are allocated.
Behavioral-Based Interviewing Questions