Hear me out…

This is how to meet talent demands and still WIN with your business instead.

To any of my fellow Talent leaders pushing this boulder up an infinitely high hill, listen up….TRUE strategic workforce planning is not value add in business anymore and it’s slowly becoming more obsolete.

The bottom line is that trying to plan talent needs 3-5 years out is not practical anymore. We live in a world where 3-6 months can change business priorities and objectives, and companies are so subjected to the volatility of politics, economics, pop culture, social pressures, etc. – which shift priorities too quickly. If you’re using traditional SWP methodologies, you’ll never get to action planning before the objectives end up shifting. It’s futile, and while you’re focusing on “strategic roles” for the future, not only will you not get there, but your CORE talent and annual operating headcount demands are going to need you more – and leave your business perpetually frustrated with you and your function.

So here’s my suggestion if you actually want to make an impact and get some WINS with your business:

1. Scrap the long term (I can’t believe I’m saying this – trust me it hurts). These methodologies and processes are logical and brilliant but no longer fit with the rapid pace of business operations or planning.
2. Focus the principals of workforce planning back into operational workforce planning. 6-12 months out (don’t over complicate it – just figure out what they need in 12 months to execute LTA/customer demands)
3. Segment your talent needs – DE-prioritize the MORE strategic/long term talent (again – can’t believe I’m saying this, but here we are). What I mean by this is that if the impact of the role wouldn’t be seen for more than a year – it goes to the bottom of the list – not forgotten – just not prioritized. You get it.
4. Identify the CORE talent – the majority of roles that produce the product or service to deliver on those customer demands. Remember these are not the most strategic or niche – they’ll likely be the majority of your business. These go to the top of your focus list!
5. For the love of GOD – run some good Talent analytics and gap analysis on these roles. What do you have, and what do you need? Use this opportunity to pepper in any market demands or risks you anticipate impacting this demographic. This is possibly your BEST chance to show value and integrate your data into business planning – you want a better seat at the table – this is your chance!
6. STOP: How close are you with your financial team? Get close. Huddle up to your spreadsheets or your systems and get REALLY familiar with the enterprise Operating plans. The FTE and SG&A data…as well as the COGS. If you’re lost on these terms – you need to do some quick education for yourself. Your data means nothing if you’re not able to digest these numbers. Validate what the organization is planning for the next 6-12 months. Validate that data against your gap analysis – you’d be surprised how many mistakes you’ll find in the financial plans, and they’ll be grateful for your insights.
7. Take the outputs of your data (this is your volume) – If you’re planning on recruiting for these numbers (buying vs. building v. barrowing) …make sure you have the right operating model to deliver against this volume….I’ll share more on how to build out the best recruiting operating model in another article.
8. Measure your success. I’d be remise if I didn’t say this – all your work means nothing if you can’t show the success. In this case, success is easy to measure because you’ve got a goal post. How close are you to that goal (gap to goal on fills), and are you meeting the demands at the right pace (time to fill)

Whatever you do – just don’t overcomplicate this. Workforce planning is a great concept that’s been murdered by over engineering and unnecessary “HR complexity”. Just keep it simple and prioritize what the business needs.

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