Before you can implement a workforce management strategy, you must plan it. First, you should lay the groundwork for your strategy by defining the organization’s three- to five-year plan and aligning your strategy goals to it. You must also ensure everyone involved understands:

• Their respective responsibilities
• The process timeline
• The expected outcomes

It’s important to develop a clear strategy in the beginning so you’re set up for success when completing the rest of the process.

Once you’ve developed a strategy plan, it’s time to identify the talent implications. 

Consider the following questions when doing so:

• What are the organization’s current and long-term priorities?
• Are there any future business initiatives? If so, what are they?
• What talent capabilities are needed to meet those future initiatives?
• Are there any changes that could significantly shift talent needs? If so, what are those changes?
• Will the shift in talent needs impact your workforce management strategy?
• How will you counteract to remain on track?

Before you develop a strategic workforce plan, diagnose the talent risks that could impact your strategy. It’s important to classify known and future risks as low, medium, or high, and prioritize them by assessing past performance, future potential, and business alignment. Focusing first on high risk and high impact allows you to concentrate efforts to the capabilities that have the greatest effect on the business. Then you may deprioritize the following risks until you’re left with the low impact and low risks.  

Talent risks include:

• Turnover
• Retirement
• Internal talent gaps
• External talent gaps

A vital part of step three is identifying skill gaps within your current talent pool, as well as gaps in the external talent supply. If the skill you’re looking for isn’t found within your internal pool, naturally you would look to the external. However, what if the skill isn’t found there either? What would be your next step? How would this impact your workforce management strategy? Take a few minutes to read the Gartner article on Key HR Challenges in Workforce Planning to know how to handle this situation.

Once you’ve considered the talent implications and risks, it’s time to develop your workforce plan. You will use a planning matrix to prioritize talent gaps and create a corresponding action plan to close them. Can you develop your current talent, or do you need to source externally? We’ll discuss this further in the next course, Curating Talent.

Remember, as a People Partner of the Future, you should always be looking ahead. Use future roles and capabilities to drive your workplace plan. 

Effective plans are monitored and adjusted when needed. A workforce plan is no exception. Think back to the blueprint. Does the contractor exit the project once the plan has been finalized? No. The contractor will stay and monitor the execution of the plan until the desired result is produced. 

Your role is no different. You will monitor the workforce plan by seeking feedback and identifying areas of improvement. Feedback can be received through discussions with key stakeholders, workflow observations, speed of decision making, shadowing, and survey results. Also, talent data and assessments are helpful monitoring tools to diagnose gaps. When applicable, you will adjust your workforce plan to ensure it remains relevant and effective.

Business is always changing, and our talent needs will inevitably change with it. It’s crucial that you complete the workforce planning process on a regular basis to ensure your organization is set up for success.

PURPOSE: Practice completing the workforce analysis questionnaire. 

Now it’s time to put your knowledge to the test. Visit this link and download the workforce analysis questionnaire found under section 2.1. Practice filling it out based on your organization’s business plan. If you’re unsure what that plan is, reach out to your leader for more information. Share your business plan and responses to the below questions with your leader.

As you complete the questionnaire consider the following questions:

What capabilities are needed to meet future business objectives?

What are the priority talent gaps?

Do you have current talent to fill those gaps or will you need to look externally?

When addressing this question, consider head count, financials, and recruiting.

Are there other talent risks to consider? 

For example, turnover or retirement. 

How will you monitor your workforce plan to ensure it remains relevant and effective?