Strategic workforce planning; positioning businesses for competitive advantage

Winning in the marketplace is non-negotiable for organisations that are desirous of growth, profitability and maximum returns to stakeholders. While the marketplace battles are won by having a superior strategy designed to outperform the competition, the workplace battles are resolved by having the right numbers of suitably qualified professionals, at the right time and in the right place to execute the strategy.

With the much talked-about war for talent, the alarming pace of global and local economic change and the aggressive drive for innovation, HR Leaders and Business Executives find themselves having to answer these critical questions with increasing urgency:

• How do we ensure that our organisation has a workforce with the capability and capacity to efficiently achieve our strategic objectives?

• How will the ongoing technology changes and innovation impact the workforce?

• How many and what types of jobs will be needed to meet the new workforce demands?

• What ways can we proactively identify workforce problems, manage risk and minimize crisis management cycles that can impact our business strategy?

• How can we ensure that workforce plans are integrated into business, performance and financial planning processes with a clear focus on achieving the business strategy?

• How do we optimise the use of human, financial and other resources?

• How do we develop the core capabilities and build the technical skills required by the business, now and in the future?

• How do we develop workforce skills that take time to grow, ensuring they are available when and where we need them?

While organisations cannot predict the future, they can and should prepare adequately for it. Indeed, leading organisations proactively and systematically take actions to ensure that they have the human resource capability to meet their current and future business requirements. These organisations have made Strategic Workforce Planning a critical force in their drive to win in the marketplace.

Strategic Workforce Planning Vs. Operational Workforce Planning

According to Bersin and Associates, although 92 percent of companies conduct some level of workforce planning, only 21 percent take a strategic long term approach to addressing the talent demand, talent supply and the actions necessary to close the gap between the two. The research also revealed that only 25 percent of workforce plans are effective at helping business leaders forecast revenue and operating budgets. 

Therein lies a key difference between operational and strategic workforce planning.

Strategic Workforce Planning is the business’s ability to identify, based on the business strategy, the supply of and demand for roles and capabilities, both current and future, and to determine the optimal solution to close identified gaps in workforce quantity, quality, timing and location.

Unlike traditional or operational workforce planning which more often than not is the Human Resource Team’s Responsibility, Strategic Workforce Planning is a shared responsibility between business leaders across the organisation – Finance, IT, Strategic Planning, Risk Management and/or Budgeting. It feeds directly from the business strategy, requiring an understanding of both the general and line of business-specific strategic plans for execution to be successful.

Strategic workforce planning always requires business leaders to segment roles- differentiating jobs that are mission-critical and those that are not, employees at risk for attrition or those who will be hard to replace. Its strength comes from its ability to hone in on critical talent segments, studying their current and historical data, needs and motivations, and develop a responsive targeted talent strategy for the critical segments.

Bolaji Olagunju