Introduction Since the 1980s an unprecedented rate of change facing both public and private organisations has produced a major reorientation of structures, systems and management methods. Human resource planning has not been exempt from this and the methods established in the 1970s and 1980s have increasingly been criticised as being prescriptive, over centralised and lacking a flexibility in planning for people under turbulent conditions. What then is the revised role for human resource planning when the skills of people are even more paramount in institutional success, lead times for internal skills development remain lengthy and the labour market is still not as responsive as it should be in terms of available competencies? This new role must also fit the situation in which formalised planning groups and structures as currently operated may be incompatible with the devolvement of planning and the empowerment of line managers in people matters.