What is position control?
Position control is a way to manage the positions an organization has approved, including positions that are partly staffed or vacant. Each position has a stable identifier and defined capacity. Employees are assigned to that position for particular dates and FTE amounts.
The position and the employee have separate records. When an employee leaves, the position remains available for a decision about whether to refill, change, or eliminate it.
Why position control matters
An employee roster answers who works here. A position register adds what the organization has approved and where staffing differs from that approved capacity.
Consider this small register on one review date:
| Position | Approved FTE | Assigned FTE | Vacant FTE | Next decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance analyst | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | Continue current staffing |
| Program coordinator | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | Review the remaining capacity |
| Office assistant | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | Decide whether to refill |
| Total | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.9 |
If each staffed position has one employee, the headcount is two. That headcount alone does not describe the 0.9 vacant FTE or the approved structure behind it.
Build a useful position register
Start with the information needed to identify a position and make staffing decisions:
- A stable position number, job title or job code, and department.
- Approved FTE, work schedule, reporting relationship, and availability.
- Employee assignments, their FTE amounts, and start and end dates.
- The approval or decision supporting a change, and when it takes effect.
- An owner and next action for positions that need follow-up.
Keep approved information distinguishable from a proposal. A request to add 0.5 FTE should remain a proposed change until the required decision is made.
Follow a position through a change
Suppose the program coordinator’s 0.6 FTE assignment ends June 30. The position’s approved capacity stays at 1.0 FTE, and the vacancy becomes 1.0 FTE on July 1.
The team can then refill the approved capacity, request a different FTE amount, or propose eliminating the position. Record the decision and its effective date. That preserves both the earlier staffing picture and the new one.
Review all positions and assignments on the same date. Comparing today’s employee roster with next year’s approved structure can create apparent differences that are only timing differences.
Decide how much process you need
A small, stable organization may manage position control with a carefully maintained spreadsheet. It needs clear ownership, stable position IDs, separate assignment information, and a reliable record of approved changes.
Shared software becomes more useful when several departments maintain records, approvals have multiple reviewers, access differs by team, or dated changes are hard to reconstruct. The goal is a dependable position record and review process, whatever tool supports it.
How FTE Tree works
FTE Tree keeps approved positions, employee assignments, vacancies, requests, and activity history connected. Teams can work from the same position records with access limited by role and department.
Workforce Planning adds labor budget, actual compensation, forecasts, and financial reports. Planned position amounts and employee pay have separate records and access controls.
To see the workflow in the product, explore position control. For product instructions, read Find and review positions.