HR PLANNING

CRITIQUE PAPER:

CREATING AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING FUNCTION

This topic and as dicussed has provided an overview of the key foundational components that

should be planned out before launching and implementing an SWP function. It cannot be

stressed enough how important it is for business and HR leaders to spend a significant amount of

upfront time deliberating on the details of these foundational components.

If done correctly with enough thought and planning, the organization will have the necessary

pillars forged to build a high-powered, sustainable and scalable SWP function that will be a

partner with the business in creating value and improving company performance.

Despite its importance, this asset is often not carefully planned, measured, or optimized. This

means that many organizations are not sufficiently aware of the current or future workforce gaps

that will limit the execution of business strategy.

Like any businesses who has ever experienced staff shortages will know, not having the right

talent in place can cause enormous strain on a business. However, if organizations are able to

look ahead and plan what roles, skills, and people will be needed to meet their business goals

now, and in the future, they are more likely to thrive.

Together, line managers and HR teams have a role to play in both employing people and helping

them stay with the organization. That said, the decision of what the workforce should look like in

the future is often a mystery revealed only up to board level or executives’ level only.
Strategic workforce planning is often designed to meet scenarios three-to-five years in the future.

Therefore, it must be aligned with business needs and objectives. It also requires the knowledge

and time to prepare a plan that looks at future business strategy and includes scenario planning.

This makes workforce planning particularly tough for HR leaders who already wear many hats

and are disreputably short on time. Unfortunately, it is only possible to be truly strategic once

HR operations are running smoothly. This means that finding the time and space to do workforce

planning properly means getting the nitty-gritty admin of HR out of the way.

Great workforce planning can help align what a business does, why they do it, and how their

employees can add value to their day to day work. Of course, this is all when it’s done right. That

means making it clear who to hire, what skills and attributes to find, and determining whether

someone is the right fit or not and the why behind that decision. It also involves ensuring that

employees develop. In addition, that their development reflects on the business’ ability to get the

best out of the employees.

It is said that workforce planning processes, when done right, can reduce labor costs, respond to

changing customer needs, improve employee retention and their work-life balance. This is all in

addition to allowing HR to make recommendations about how the business can deliver more

strategic value by making the best use of its talent. If that is true, then getting and keeping the

right people isn’t just good for business, it’s good for people, too.

By analyzing the skills of the current employees helps any organization determine gaps that need

to be filled, through either hiring or training and development. Meaning, you know exactly what

you need today and, in the future, to help businesses achieve its goals and objectives. Workforce
planning is not just about hiring new people, it is also about the gaps between what you currently

have and what you need.

Therefore, proper workforce planning allows for effective planning in advance for the recruiting

needs of the organization. If the organization know what the future may look like in terms of

talent needs, the organization can invest in the recruiting of that talent in advance before they

have an actual vacancy to build a pipeline of potential candidates. This allows for a much faster

time to hire, which is an added benefit of the process of workforce planning.

By identifying all gaps and required workers, any company can stay a step ahead of their

competitors and quickly address each gap.