Current State of Workforce Planning:

Transcription

1 Current State of Workforce Planning: Tips and Tools

2 Five Key Strategies for Workforce Planning Today s technology gives human resources professionals access to key data, making it easier than ever before to use metrics to prove effectiveness. The long list of metrics like headcount, retention, payroll and training can make you wonder, What metrics should my department focus on? The truth is you can t determine what you need to measure unless you have a clear vision of what you re trying to achieve. This vision is at the heart of workforce planning. Below are five critical steps to help you clearly navigate the workforce planning process. Understand the strategy. Workforce planning is the discipline of aligning workforce management with business strategy. In order to understand the business strategy, HR professionals must create a dialog with key people in the organization, whether C-level executives or line managers, to understand their needs and goals. This dialog is most effective when you align the right people on the HR team with the right departments. This means having a group of diverse people on the team that can clearly communicate with different people in the organization. For example, an analytical person might be the best HR representative when speaking to the vice president of engineering about future workforce goals. This alignment of audience-appropriate communication styles is an important step in driving efficient strategy in the workforce planning process. Communicate your plans. It s important to outline what you are going to communicate to the organization about workforce alignment. If you address what programs, tools or changes are coming, why they should use the tools or embrace the change and why they should care, you will address potential issues before they become a problem. In any type of planning, clear and consistent communication is important to achieving alignment. Fill key positions from within; take risks with non-critical positions. Workforce planning isn t just about numbers. It s about taking a proactive approach by identifying talent from within your organization, knowing upcoming needs and mapping out a plan based on these needs. In many cases, the very best CEOs were promoted from within an organization. They were developed over time, they understood the organization inside and out, and by the time they were promoted to the top position, they were prepared to be effective and proactive. An effective strategy for workforce planning is to take this inside-out approach. Fill the most critical positions from inside the organization, and you will be taking much less risk. Then take the risk on outside hires for lowest-cost or non-critical roles. 2 Current State of Workforce Planning: Tips and Tools

3 4. Include the other workforce. Today s workforce includes a population that is growing exponentially: contractors, or those who are sometimes referred to as the contingent workforce. This other workforce includes highly skilled, selfemployed professionals who bring important talents to the organization. However, this population is often ignored when taking a wholistic look at the organization. It s important to address how these contributors fit into the workforce planning process. They should be considered for future needs as well. 5. Engage management through knowledge. Workforce planning is not a top-down or grassroots effort. It s a combination of both. If you want managers to use data to make better decisions, then you must teach them how. For example, dashboards don t solve a problem. You must train managers on the trends and data that are being presented and engage them on how this will help them achieve their goals and make better decisions. They will reward you with better workforce decisions. 3 Current State of Workforce Planning: Tips and Tools

4 The Current State of My Workforce Plan Workforce planning is just that planning. In order to effectively plan your future, you need to address both the past and where you are today. Use the following planning tool to assess your current state of workforce planning effectiveness. Who is asking me to measure and plan? What do they expect? What are we planning for? (specific or general goal, strategic or tactical) What is the scariest thing about this initiative? We currently measure... 4 Current State of Workforce Planning: Tips and Tools

5 If I walk away with answers to the following questions, I will be happy... Things I think are missing in our current Workforce Plan process Data I think is missing or is going to be hard to get Things we are doing well that I want to capitalize on for our Workforce Planning and Analytics Initiatives Learn more at 5 Current State of Workforce Planning: Tips and Tools

6 About Peoplefluent Peoplefluent is the leading provider of talent management solutions designed to support the entire workforce. We provide the mobile enablement, social collaboration, information visualization and the domain expertise required to empower strategic decision making and Learn more at true employee engagement. Our talent management software enables organizations to unlock each individual s potential by removing the boundaries that limit the performance and productivity of your workforce. With the most comprehensive talent suite in the industry including solutions for talent management, workforce compliance and diversity, contingent workforce management, analytics and workforce planning, Peoplefluent offers a solution to optimize every step of the talent lifecycle. Our solutions have helped over 5,100 organizations in 214 countries and territories successfully achieve their talent aspirations. Today, 80% of the Fortune 100 relies on Peoplefluent solutions as part of their talent management delivery strategy. 6 Current State of Workforce Planning: Tips and Tools Raleigh, North Carolina 434 Fayetteville Street, 9th Floor Raleigh, NC USA Toll-Free: (877) Tel: Waltham, Massachusetts 300 Fifth Avenue Waltham, MA USA Toll-Free: (877) Tel: London, United Kingdom 15 Fetter Lane London EC4A 1BW United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)