Knowing where you are and what needs to be done to get to where you want to be is a crucial part of the planning process. During summer 2005, KKP assessed the sport and active recreation workforce in Scotland for sportscotland and SkillsActive Scotland.

The purpose of the study was to identify the existing workforce and its future requirements to meet the 11 main targets in Sport 21 (the strategy for sport in Scotland), by:

• Defining the Sport 21 workforce.
• Calculating its existing size.
• Identifying current recruitment and retention issues and the skills and knowledge needs of the workforce in the future.

KKP developed a skills/knowledge matrix, based on different career stages and different levels of strategic planning and management responsibility. The matrix also comprised nine categories for full, part time and casual workers, in six work environments. From which the size of the existing workforce and its current and future needs were determined. This was done through:

• Interpreting existing workforce information.
• Focus group interviews.
• Structured telephone interviews.

KKP, over a short project period, produced a report that is widely acknowledged to have nailed all the key issues.

The final report provided information that was discussed by the National Implementation Forum (for Sport 21). This was ultimately incorporated into the Sport 21 Workforce Development Plan.