Strategic Talent Planning Guide

Strategic Talent Planning
A Human Resources Guide
Department of Human Resources
Learn Grow Lead Excel

Committed to Excellence
The Managers Toolbox

Acknowledgements
The Washoe County Department of Human Resources would like to thank the following for
providing information and/or inspiration that contributed to the completion of this guide.
Bersin & Associates, Talent Management InvestmentsFocusing on What Matters Most

through Talent Planning (2009)
International Personnel Management Association, Workforce Planning Resource Guide for
Public Sector Human Resource Professionals (2002)
M3 Planning, Erica Olsen, Principle
National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), Building Successful Organizations: A
Guide to Strategic Workforce Planning (2000)
Partnership for Public Service, Developing an Effective Strategic Human Capital Plan (2006)
The states of Colorado, Georgia, New York, Washington and Wyoming
Yolo County

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION ONE: Guide to Strategic Talent Planning

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6
Addressing Washoe Countys Workforce Needs......................................................... 7
Purpose of the Talent Planning Process ..................................................................... 7
How to Use This Guide................................................................................................ 9
Strategic Planning ........................................................................................................ 10
The Key Components of Strategic Planning.............................................................. 10
Strategic Talent Planning ............................................................................................. 11
The Strategic Talent Planning Model ........................................................................ 11
Conducting Strategic Talent Planning........................................................................ 12
Process Overview ..................................................................................................... 12
The Right Team for the Job-Roles and Responsibilities ........................................... 13
The Strategic Talent Planning Process....................................................................... 15
Step 1: Assess and Forecast .................................................................................... 15
Step 2: Identify Supply and Demand......................................................................... 16
Step 3: Analyze Gaps and Surpluses........................................................................ 17
Step 4: Build and Implement a Talent Plan............................................................... 18
Monitor, Evaluate, and Modify the Strategic Talent Plan .......................................... 19
SECTION TWO: Tools for Strategic Talent Planning

Tools:
Strategic Review-SWOT Analysis ............................................................................. 22
Supply/Demand Analysis .......................................................................................... 27
Gap/Surplus Analysis ................................................................................................ 33
Strategic Talent Plan ................................................................................................. 36

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures
Figure 1: Washoe County Strategic Talent Planning Model...................................... 11
Figure 2: Activities and Responsibilities for Strategic Talent Planning...................... 14
Figure 3: SWOT Analysis .......................................................................................... 23
Figure 4: SWOT-Strengths and Weaknesses, Sample ............................................. 24
Figure 5: SWOT-Opportunities and Threats, Sample................................................ 25
Figure 6: Strategic Review Worksheet ...................................................................... 26
Figure 7: Supply Analysis, Sample............................................................................ 30
Figure 8: Demand Analysis Master Sheet, Sample................................................... 32
Figure 9: Gap/Surplus Analysis-Jobs, Sample .......................................................... 34
Figure 10: Gap/Surplus Analysis-Competencies, Sample......................................... 35
Figure 11: Strategic Talent Plan, Sample.................................................................. 37
List of Appendices
Appendix A: Glossary of Terms .............................................................................. 38
SECTION ONE:
Guide to Strategic Talent Planning

Introduction
Strategic Talent Planning is one component of a set of processes that
provides managers with the necessary information to make strategic
human resource decisions based on identifying and forecasting talent
needs in support of the departments mission and strategic plan. While
most workforce planning efforts focus solely on reacting to current and
anticipated position vacancies, talent planning is aligned with the overall business strategy and helps to solve the full scope of talent management challenges and create a high-performing and sustainable organization.
Organizations, both public and private, have developed talent planning models and while the
terminology may differ, the processes are remarkably consistent. All rely on key elements:
identification of organization objectives
identification of the resources and competencies needed to achieve them
analysis of current workloads, workforce resources and competencies
identification of future workloads, available resources and needed competencies
comparison of current and future states
development and implementation of a plan to build the workforce necessary for the
future
implementation of an evaluation methodology to monitor and measure the plans

success
Talent Defined
For some organizations, talent refers to those in leadership or executive positions. For others,
it includes those who have been identified as having the ability and aspiration to assume those
leadership roles in the future. At Washoe County, we believe that all employees, regardless of
their position or aspirations, possess talent that should be identified, utilized, managed and developed.
Strategic Talent Management Defined

Just as there are numerous ways to define talent, talent management means different things to
different organizations. Some focus on employee performance and leadership development;
others include recruiting and staffing. We define talent management more broadly as a set of
on-going, formal, organizational processes designed to attract, select, develop, motivate, and
retain a highly qualified, engaged, and diverse workforce that delivers the highest quality services to citizens in the most effective, efficient, and fiscally responsible way.
Strategic talent management includes a variety of organizational practices and processes that
are integrated with the County and departmental strategies and implemented daily. These
6

processes and practices include:
Recruiting and Hiring
On-boarding
Performance Management
Job Evaluation
Restructuring
Individual Development Planning
Training and Development
Todays rapidly changing environment increases the need for an even greater focus on strategic talent management. All organizations are being forced to look at business, operational and
talent management challenges holistically and to build integrated processes to address them.
Addressing Washoe Countys Workforce Challenges

Did you know?
Although 92% of
companies say they have
some level of workforce
planning, only 21% take a
strategic, long-term ap-
The staffing challenges facing Washoe County are no different

than those of many other organizations. We have an urgent need
to effectively plan for and manage our entire workforce as well as
focus on key areas of attrition, shortages of highly qualified applicant pools, succession planning, leadership development, employee development, retention of talent, retention of institutional
knowledge, employee morale and engagement, and performance
and productivity.
proach to addressing the

talent demand, talent
supply, and the actions
necessary to close the
gap between the two.
The Modern Approach to Workforce Planning: Best Practices
in Todays Economy, Bersin &
Associates/Madeline Laurana,
April 2009.
Internal and external factors intensify the need for strategic talent
planning. External pressures, including social, economic, and political realities as well as changes in demographics, technology
and community/citizen priorities and requirements/demands, play
a critical role in determining Washoe Countys strategic focus. Internally, budget constraints, an aging workforce, inefficiencies, and
changing priorities strain the Countys ability to ensure it has the
necessary human capital to deliver on its mission.
Strategic Talent Planning is a critical tool that can help this organization meet its human capital needs and achieve its objectives.
Purpose of the Talent Planning Process and Guide

Washoe County competes in the same labor pool as all other employers in our region. Although our missions may be driven by differing interests, the workforce challenges we and the
7

other public sector entities face are the same as those in the private sector. Therefore, our
objective for developing the Strategic Talent Planning process and this guide is to ensure that
the Countys Departments are able to achieve the County Strategic Priorities and Departmental
Strategies today and in the future. To do this, we need to recognize that it is our employees
talents and skills that drive our results and utilize a consistent process to plan for and manage
that talent as skillfully as we do other resources and our operations in general.
This guide incorporates best practices from all sectors and aligns those with our unique needs.
If the process outlined in this guide is followed and rigorously managed, we expect that the
outcomes for Washoe County will include:
Better crafted and managed departmental strategic plans
Better communicated departmental strategic objectives
Smart human resource decision-making aligned with strategy
More effective employees, programs and management
Better prepared candidates in the pipeline to replace

those who leave
Resources to deliver services to customers in a timely

and quality manner
Enhanced ability by managers to anticipate change and plan for it
Enhanced ability by managers to identify competencies needed now and in the future and to select and develop the workforce
Better linkage of recruitment, performance management, development, and retention decisions to organizational goals
Employees who are better prepared for the jobs and responsibilities of today and
able to continue to contribute in the future
A workplace and opportunities that attract the best candidates and make employees want to stay and contribute
Employee development that is focused on supporting the strategic direction of the

department and the County
Strategic Talent Planning is a critical management/business tool for today and tomorrow. The
accelerated pace of changes and challenges all sectors face will remain constant for the foreseeable future. Demographics alone provide a compelling reason for the need to do a good
job of talent planning. In 2011, two short years from now, the eldest of the Baby Boomer generation will turn 65. Of course, not every Baby Boomer will retire at 65; some will stay on into
retirement years. Many at Washoe County will leave before age 65. But the reality is, 78 million people in the workforce will begin to turn 65 and a much smaller generation of about 49
8

million Generation Xers will follow behind. The question will become not only, How will we
find quality workers? but How will we find enough workers?
In the public sector, the average number of older employees in the workforce is generally
higher than in the private sector for a number of reasons. The average age of Washoe
Countys employees is over 40. Hiring freezes and reductions in force have contributed to our
older workforce as we have not had the ability to bring in new and possibly younger staff. Additionally, the layoff process is managed through seniority which tends to favor older workers
and penalize younger ones. As a result, we may be experiencing the impact of a worker shortage sooner and more acutely.
How To Use This Guide

The methodology outlined in this guide assumes you understand and have begun the strategic
planning process and have determined your organizations mission, vision, values and strategic direction. A brief outline of the strategic planning process will be provided; however you will
find detailed information on creating a strategic plan in the Guide to Strategic Planning on
the Human Resources web page under the Managers Toolkit.
Section One of this Guide will walk you through the Strategic Talent Planning Process.
A variety of planning tools will be referenced to help you complete your plans.
Section Two is a tool kit containing step-by-step instructions, sample documents and
worksheets to help you in your strategic talent planning. When you see the tool icon,
you will know a useful reference is available to help you with the topic being discussed.
As always, your Department of Human Resources is here to help you craft and implement your
strategic talent plan and support you in all of your talent management initiatives.

Strategic Planning
In order for a talent plan to be truly effective, it must be more than
a replacement strategy. A talent plan is an integral part of
every departments strategic plan. During the strategic planning process, each department completes a comprehensive
analysis of their mission, work, resources and strategic direction,
making talent planning a subset of completing that exercise. All
things considered, you will not be able to accomplish your mission and reach your desired future state without your workforce.
Therefore, your strategic plan must include objectives to ensure that you have the right people
on board, ready, willing and able to do the things that need doing.
The Key Components of Strategic Planning

The essential components of a Strategic Plan are:
Did you know?

Washoe County
Mission Statement your core purpose
Vision Statement your intended future state
Values Statement what you believe in
Strategic Direction what you will focus on to achieve

your Vision
meetings? Just call the
Strategic Review (SWOT) your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Team at 325-8027.
Strategic Objectives what needs to be done over the longer-term to carry out your
mission to achieve your vision
Goals -- what must be done in the shorter-term to convert the strategic objectives
into specific performance targets
Action Items/Plans what you do to implement the goals
Performance Measures how you track, manage and measure accomplishment of

your strategic plan
Financial Assessment how you know if the strategic plan is financially sound
Human Resources can

help you with facilitating
your strategic planning
Talent Management
Brief information for completing the Strategic Plan can be found in Section Two.
10

Strategic talent planning aligns your organizations human capital with its business direction. It
incorporates:
analyzing the current work, structure, people, and proficiencies
forecasting the future needs in these areas
identifying any gaps or surpluses between the current and future states
identifying and implementing solutions to address the gaps and surpluses so you
can accomplish your mission and strategy
monitoring and evaluating the plan to ensure results are being achieved
The Strategic Talent Planning Model (Figure 1) starts with the assumption that you have begun
your strategic planning and defined your Mission, Vision, Values, and Strategic Direction.
Figure 1: Washoe County Strategic Talent Planning Model
STEP 4:
Build &
Implement a
Talent Plan
STEP 3:
Analyze
Gaps &
Surpluses
STEP 2:
Identify
Supply &
Demand
STEP 1:
Assess &
Forecast
Talent Management Strategies

-Objectives-Goals-ActionsMeasures-Communication
Comparison of current
state to future needs
Work-Structure-People
Competencies
Strategic Review (SWOT)
MONITOR, EVALUATE, MODIFY
11

Conducting Strategic Talent Planning
Process Overview
As illustrated in Figure 1, there are four major steps to conduct strategic talent planning:
Step 1: Assess and Forecast
Step 2: Identify Supply and Demand
Step 3: Analyze Gaps and Surpluses
Step 4: Build and Implement a Talent Plan

Once you have determined your mission, vision, values and strategic direction, you will be
ready to begin an analysis of the internal and external environments in which you operate.
This Strategic Review is most often conducted utilizing a common business tool, the SWOT
Analysis. SWOT is an acronym for the four areas of focus of the analysis.
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Identifying your internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats
you face will provide you with a great deal of information for your strategic plan in general. But
for the purpose of Strategic Talent Planning, it will be the foundation for completing Steps 2, 3
and 4, as you gain an understanding of your current talent management initiatives and how
they will be affected by anticipated factors and events.
Your Supply and Demand Analysis will be based on your strategic direction and the information collected during your strategic review. During this step, you will assess whether or not the
jobs, the people in them, the capabilities they possess and the workload demands are balanced today and in the future to enable you to deliver on your mission.
The Gap/Surplus Analysis compares the information from the supply and demand analysis in
order to identify the differences between the current and future states of your organizations
talent resources.
During this final step, you will identify solutions to your talent management challenges identified in Step 3 and incorporate them into your action plan. You will set objectives and goals for
your human capital management and make them a part of your overall departmental strategy.
Depending upon the key issues you identify, your plan may include goals for job evaluation
and compensation, performance management, succession planning, diversity initiatives, or any
other aspect of human resources in order to support accomplishment of your overall strategy.
12

The Right Team for the Job Roles and Responsibilities
Be sure you have the right team of people in place as you begin your strategic planning process. In addition to key members from all levels of your department, it can be useful to include
others who are customers and/or suppliers. When you are ready to begin your SWOT analysis
you need to include the analysts from the staffing departments who support you on a regular
basis and who are major players in the development and implementation of the strategy you
will craft:
Your Human Resources Analyst will provide data on current workforce demographics
and community predictions as well as tools for identifying competencies needed in the
workforce and expertise for recruiting, developing, and retaining employees to build the
workforce of the future.
Your Technology Services Analyst will provide insights and expertise to help you determine ways to work more efficiently and productively.
Your Budget Analyst will help you understand the costs and benefits associated with your
plan and provide information about funding to achieve your objectives.
Figure 2 shows some of the critical activities that are necessary or complementary to the success of your strategic talent planning and the key players who need to be involved/responsible
for each. Use this as a guide to ensure you have the right people at the table to help you develop an integrated strategic talent plan. The activities and responsible parties may differ
slightly in your department.
13

Figure 2: Activities and Responsibilities for Strategic Talent Planning
Activities
Leadership
Managers
HR
TS
Budget
Conduct strategic planning
Conduct strategic review
Assess/forecast supply
Assess/forecast demand
Analyze gaps
Develop budget
Develop HR strategies
Develop TS strategies
Create staffing plans
Identify competencies
Create development plans
Manage process reengineering
Conduct succession planning
Develop retention strategies
Develop/manage diversity plans
Enable/evaluate performance
Manage communication
Monitor/evaluate plans
14

The Strategic Talent Planning Process
Once you have defined the philosophical foundations of your strategic plan by clarifying your
mission, vision, values and strategic direction, you are ready to begin your strategic review.
The strategic review helps you understand the current situation in which you operate and consider the future from both an internal and external perspective. There are a variety of resources that can be used to provide inputs to this step in the strategic planning process. More
detail on completing the assess and forecast step is provided in the Guide to Strategic Planning found in the Managers Toolkit.
The most common tool used for strategic/talent planning, is the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis. The SWOT Analysis helps you to determine current
and anticipated factors that influence your departments ability to carry out its mission and vision. It focuses on both internal and external factors that may help or hinder your success.
A step-by-step guide for completing the SWOT Analysis can be found in Section Two.
Essentially, the Strategic Review SWOT Analysis answers four questions:
StrengthsWhat do we have or do well that helps us be successful?
WeaknessesWhere do we have significant deficiencies that can impact us?
OpportunitiesWhat are the favorable possibilities in the external environment that

may continue to make us successful?
ThreatsWhat are the conditions in the external environment that could negatively
impact our ability to be successful?
Youll start by focusing on your internal strengths and weaknesses to determine where you stand today. Then you will assess the opportunities and
threats that exist in the external environment. All of this information will guide
you in developing goals and objectives for your overall strategic plan and for its
sub-set, a strategic talent plan.
15

After completing your strategic review, you will have critical information to consider as you begin your Supply and Demand Analysis. This step identifies the composition of the talent resources you have (supply of human capital) and those that you will need (demand for human
capital) to achieve your strategic objectives in the short and longer-terms.
The jobs in your department, the people in them, and the competencies they possess are resources. Your HR Analyst will provide detailed information about demographics, diversity, age,
length of service, retirement eligibility, and turnover to help you complete your analysis, and is
your best resource in helping you identify competencies.
A guide for completing the Supply & Demand Analysis can be found in Section Two.
Supply Analysis
The Supply Analysis provides information on your current and future supply of human capital
by considering data on the current and projected jobs, workload, capacity, staffing and competencies.
Demand Analysis
The Demand Analysis looks at the future activities, workloads, people and competencies you
will need to accomplish your mission. Data from your SWOT Analysis will help you consider
shifts in workforce demographics, turnover, changing tasks and priorities, workload, technology, etc. to complete a forecast. During this step you will generate anticipated workloads and
workforce changes, as well as future competency requirements.
16

The Gap/Surplus Analysis is a comparison of the talent supply projections to the talent demand forecast you made in the previous step. You will consider the job structure in the department, and the composition of the workforce in the jobs including number of incumbents, their
skills, and demographic characteristics. This analysis will enable you to see where there are
differences in what you currently have and what you will need in terms of your human capital.
Where demand exceeds supply you will have a Gap indicating you may be facing a shortage
of workers, skills or a specific demographic. And where supply exceeds demand you will have
a Surplus that may indicate jobs or skills that will not be needed or not needed to the same
extent in the future. Your Strategic Talent Plan will include objectives and specific, measurable
goals and actions to close the gaps or manage the surplus.
Complete instructions for completing this step are found in Section Two.
To complete this step, you will analyze four sets of data:
the jobs in your department
the competencies required in those jobs
the strengths and development needs of the individuals holding the positions
the demographic characteristics of the individuals in the department (age, ethnicity,

gender, race)
Your HR Analyst will be able to provide detailed demographic information for your department.
Although you will not chart this information, you will consider these characteristics as you create strategies to address any gaps or surpluses you identify in alignment with the Countys
Equal Employment Opportunity Plan (EEOP).
17

The previous three steps in the Strategic Talent Planning process have provided you with detailed information to build a plan so
that your human capital strategy will be able to support your
overall departmental and, ultimately the Countys, strategy.
Your plan will address the gaps and surpluses you identified. Additionally, the good work you
have done may have surfaced opportunities to address structural, process, programming, and
technological needs that will impact your workforces ability to perform at its highest level and
position you for success in both the short and long terms.
An example of a Strategic Talent Plan can be found in Section Two.
Based on the information in your Gap/Surplus Analysis, you will have a master data sheet or
snapshot of your current workforce and your needs going forward. Remember that your Talent Plan will be a sub-set of your departmental strategy. You will create longer-term strategic
objectives to carry out the plan and incorporate them into the overall strategy as outlined on
page 7 of this guide. Shorter-term goals, actions, and measures will need to be created, and
cascaded through your organization by incorporating them into annual performance goals for
individual managers and supervisors and reviewing progress and achievement.
As an example, some of the actions you may need to take could include:
Identify restructuring opportunities
Define and/or redesign jobs
Determine reductions in force
Define recruiting needs and strategies
Define critical/job competencies
Identify and address employee development and knowledge transfer needs
Develop succession planning processes
Implement diversity initiatives
Define retention strategies
Also be sure to build communication, measurement and evaluation plans into your overall talent plan.
18

Monitor, Evaluate, and Modify the Strategic Talent Plan
As with the rest of your departmental strategic plan, clear goals and measures of
success must be clearly defined, resources must be allocated to plan implementation, and accountabilities must be established.
To ensure your strategic talent plan is successful:
Monitor and review progress on objectives and goals at pre-determined intervals
Assess status and efficacy of actions
Re-tool the plan to address new or unforeseen workforce issues
Re-adjust goals and objectives as needed
Re-communicate status and any adjustments made to the plan
Monitor
Part of your Strategic Talent Plan must include details on how and by whom its implementation will be monitored. Longer-term objectives must have shorter-term goals that can be reported on and evaluated to ensure what is planned get done and that success is being measured. Be sure to watch for internal and external developments that may affect the successful
implementation of your plan. You should be ready to make plan adjustments whenever they
may be required.
Evaluate
The methods to obtain feedback and evaluate achieving the desired outcomes of your talent
plan will vary according to the objectives you set. Reports, surveys, assessments, information
exchange meetings, and performance reviews are just some of the ways you can measure the
success of your plan. Be sure to include an evaluation methodology in your overall strategic
planning process. These questions will help you determine if your strategy and action plan are
effective:
Have the goals and actions been completed?
Have the goals and actions produced the intended outcomes?
Have the actions accomplished the strategic objectives of the organization?
If not, have the strategic direction and/or objectives of the organization changed? Are
there other factors preventing achievement of the goals?
Have the assumptions made in the SWOT Analysis changed?
Are the assumptions made in the Gap/Surplus Analysis still valid?
Is there a need to modify goals and action items?
Are employees being trained and developed to be effective?
19

Do adequate staffing levels exist?
Have costs been reduced?
Has retention improved?
Modify
Based upon the results of your evaluation, you may want to make revisions to your plan. Strategic objectives may need to change. Individuals goals and actions may need revision. Some
of the measures may need adjustment. Regardless of the changes made, they must be communicated. Additionally, all achievements and successful outcomes should be communicated
and indicate the progress made toward meeting strategic objectives.
In order for Strategic Talent Planning to be successful, it must:

Be a part of your overall departmental strategic planning process
Be an active, on-going process
Have measures and accountabilities built in
Be communicated
Be monitored and evaluated
Be adjusted as needed
Be repeated
20
SECTION TWO:
Tools for Strategic Talent Planning
21

Tool: The Strategic Review-SWOT Analysis
A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis is best completed in a
group setting in order to take advantage of the collective knowledge of a variety of County employees. Before attending a meeting, participants should be encouraged to gather useful information about current practices, trends, and local and industry data. The more information
you have, the better able you will be to clarify where your organization is today and identify
those things that may influence or change it in the future.
The SWOT Analysis is typically completed using a four box matrix. The top two boxes are for
capturing information about your internal environment, focusing on strengths and weaknesses.
The bottom two boxes are where you will write in information about opportunities and threats
that may exist in the external environment and have an impact on your department.
START
HERE
Internal
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
Internal
External
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
External
To start your analysis, focus first on the internal environment by looking at your departments
capabilities, resources, programs and processes. Strengths include everything that you do
well or have in abundance to utilize in achieving your goals. Weaknesses are those things that
you are missing or will hold you back. Once completed, you will focus on the external environment, considering the opportunities that currently exist or may be available to you in the future
that you may want to capitalize upon to help you reach your goals. The external threats are
those factors that could impede your progress or prevent you from achieving your mission.
As you complete your strategic review, you will focus on all of these areas. The information
you capture will provide focus for the goals and objectives you will need to include in your departmental strategic plan. The objectives should capitalize on your strengths and opportunities
and mitigate weaknesses and threats. Those areas directly related to the human capital in
your department will provide direction for your Strategic Talent Plan. Therefore, the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats must include consideration of the people, both internal
and external, who may use or provide your services.
22

Information you will need to consider for your Talent Plan include all aspects of the human resources in your department such as:
what resources you have (jobs, people, budget)
the capabilities employees have or need
who may be at risk of leaving
how and with whom you would replace those who leave
whether you have budget for all of your current and future staffing levels
and any other factors that may be unique to your department
Randomly thinking about items for each quadrant can seem overwhelming, so think of categories like those shown in Fig. 3, to help ensure you dont miss anything.
Strengths are all of the internal assets you have, the things you do well, your customer relationships, resources, tangible and intangible assets; in short all of the things you can draw
upon or leverage to achieve your goals and mission.
Weaknesses are your internal liabilities, the things you could do better, resources you lack, or
all of the things that hold you back or prevent you from reaching your goals.
Opportunities and threats in the external environment are influences, factors, trends, events,
and changes that can directly or indirectly impact your ability to achieve your goals in a positive
or negative way. Identifying these will help you understand what exists and what is looming on
the horizon that you can capitalize upon or plan to deal with.
Figure 3: SWOT Analysis
I
N
T
E
R
N
A
L
E
X
T
E
R
N
A
L
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
Capabilities: Human, Organizational, Knowledge

Resources: Human, Financial, Tangible, Intangible
Processes: Operational, Customer service, Communication, Other
Other: Technology, Performance, Productivity
Customers: Demographics, Satisfaction, Requirements & Expectations
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
Operating Environments: Political, Legal, Environmental, Social, Technological

Demographics: Growing/Shrinking, Changing, Program needs, New customers
Competitive Environments: Faster, Better, Cheaper, Customer demands, Suppliers
Resources: People, Budget, Economy
23
I
N
T
E
R
N
A
L
E
X
T
E
R
N
A
L

Step 1: Internal Focus-Strengths & Weaknesses

As you begin your SWOT Analysis, focusing on the workforce, it is helpful to
reflect on questions like those below. They will help you to think about what
you do well and where you have weaknesses to overcome. Figure 4 shows
and example of the kind of information you might include.
Has our hiring process resulted in highly qualified employees?
Does our staff composition adequately reflect the demographics of the population we
serve?
Are we doing a good job bringing people on board and orienting them?
How have/will retirements, reductions in force, and/or hiring freezes affected our ability
to get the work done?
Have we evaluated the performance of our employees critically, fairly, and consistently? Are we using discipline and performance improvement appropriately?
Are we retaining valued employees?
How effective are we in developing our staff?
Does everyone have the competencies and tools to do the best job possible?
Is our work environment conducive to bringing out the best in our employees?
How well do we manage communication and information flow?
Are we operating well as a team?
What systems do we have in place to capture and utilize institutional knowledge?
What is our decision-making process? How well does it work?
How effective is our structure? Our leadership? Our management?
Figure 4: SWOT-Strengths/Weaknesses, Sample
STRENGTHS
I
N
T
E
R
N
A
L
WEAKNESSES
Highly qualified professional staff
Some staff overqualified
Diverse employee population
Few promotional opportunities available
Everyone goes to training
Outdated software
Right jobs/number of staff to be ef-
Many manual processes
fective
Divisions operate in silos-no teamwork
High customer satisfaction ratings
Facing 7 retirements in next 5 years
Well documented processes
Budget cut by 36%
Etc.
Etc.
24
I
N
T
E
R
N
A
L

Step 2: External Focus-Opportunities & Threats

Some questions to help you think about the external opportunities and
threats related to your workforce needs include:
What is the impact of a shrinking pool of qualified labor?
What is the impact of separations and retirements on our ability to
succeed?
Will we have the ability to replace those who leave?
How will multiple generations in the workforce impact us?
What effect will alternative, flexible schedules and telecommuting have on us?
How will changes in our customers impact our ability to serve them?
Will our employees have the competencies and tools necessary to succeed?
What will the staff need to do in the future? What will the jobs be?
What program changes do we anticipate (additions, modifications, deletions)?
What are the projected workload volumes?
What staffing levels will be required to meet the future needs?
What alternative staffing patterns might work to meet the needs?
How might work be done differently in the future?
What skills, knowledge and abilities will be needed to perform the jobs?
Which of the competencies may not be available in the workforce?
An example of the types of strengths and weaknesses you might identify is shown in Fig. 5.
Figure 5: SWOT-Opportunities/ Threats, Sample
OPPORTUNITIES
E
X
T
E
R
N
A
L
THREATS
Availability of many potential employees Quality graduates leaving area

Community need for expanded services
Economy causing many to delay retire-
Ability to renegotiate outsourcing con-
ment
tracts
Continued economic downtown
New technology to improve efficiency
Community need for expanded services
Etc.
Etc.
25
E
X
T
E
R
N
A
L

Step 3: Strategic Review Worksheet

Use this worksheet (Fig. 6) to identify significant data from your SWOT Analysis.
Factors are those internal and external items that might impact your departments ability to
reach its goals and achieve its mission over the next 1-5 years. Once you have determined
your most significant factors, consider what effect each will have on your talent management
strategies such as staffing levels, job duties/titles, hiring, competency development, etc. Remember that the factors and their effect on talent management may be either positive or negative.
Figure 6: Strategic Review Worksheet
INTERNAL STRENGTHS
Factor
Ex.: Well documented processes
Effect on Talent Management

Ex.: Staff can easily be cross-trained
INTERNAL WEAKNESSES
Factor
Ex.: Some staff overqualified for current jobs

Ex.: Some highly-valued staff may leave
EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES
Factor
Ex: Community need for expanded services
Effect On Talent Management

Ex: Must increase some staffing levels
EXTERNAL THREATS
Factor
Ex.: Quality college graduates leaving area

Ex.: Hard to recruit professional level staff
26

Tool: Supply and Demand Analysis
The Supply and Demand Analysis uses information form your SWOT Analysis to help you review the jobs in your department, the competencies needed to successfully perform in those
jobs, and critically evaluate the employees holding those jobs in terms of their abilities, potential, and retention. As with any resource, your supply of human capital may or may not be adequate to meet the current and/or future needs of your department
Supply Analysis
The Supply Analysis provides information on your current and future supply of talent by considering data on the current jobs, workloads and capacity, staffing, and competencies.
The step-by-step process for completing this analysis uses a seven column worksheet and requires you to:
1. Identify All Positions/Titles
2. Identify Key Positions
3. Identify Critical Competencies (KSAs)
4. Identify Incumbents
5. Identify At Risk Employees
6. Identify Timeframes
7. Identify Employee Strengths
Step 1: Positions/Titles
What are the current jobs/titles in our department?
List all of them hierarchically from highest classification to lowest.
If you have more than one of a specific job (ex. 4 Office Support Specialists), be
sure to list each one separately.
Position/Title
Key
Critical Job
KSAs
Incumbent
Dept. Director
Dept. Manager
Etc.
27
At Risk Timeframe
KSA Strengths
of Incumbent

Step 2: Key Positions

What are the critical/key jobs in our department?
Evaluate each job according to its criticality in carrying out the mission and accom-
plishing the objectives of your department.
Positions at any level can be key. And positions that cut across departments can
be key in one and not in another. To help you determine the ranking of all of the
positions in your department consider answers to these questions:
Is this position key because of its title? For example, the department head
position may be key, simply because the department must have someone in
charge.
Do the duties assigned to this position make it key? Perhaps it performs
essential functions that would seriously impact service delivery to citizens or
greatly increase risk to the department or division if they were not carried
out.
Does the position require specialized knowledge or expertise?
Is specific licensing or certification necessary to perform this function? For
example, must the person in this position be a licensed social worker, a doctor, or perhaps an attorney.
Assign each job a rating of A-mission critical; B-key/important; C-nice to have; D-not
critical.
Did you know?
Identifying the criticality of each job in your department will help you understand where you
will need to focus attention when vacancies occur, where elimination of a job might be feasible, and where you need to provide opportunities for development of qualified replacements.
Step 3: Critical Competencies (KSAs) for Each Job

What knowledge, skills and abilities are needed to perform the jobs?
List all of the key/critical competencies needed to carry out each job successfully.
The job classification can provide key information. Contact your HR Analyst if a job
analysis is needed.
Keep in mind that you are only identifying those KSAs necessary to be successful in
the job and not evaluating the skill level of the person in that job.
28

Your chart should now look something like this.
Critical Job
KSAs
Position/Title
Key
Dept. Director
Competency 1
Competency 5
Dept. Manager
Competency 2
Competency 3
Dept.
Supervisor
Competency 1
Competency 3
Competency 6
Dept. Analyst
Competency 2
Competency 3
Competency 4
Incumbent
At Risk Timeframe
KSA Strengths
of Incumbent
Etc.
Step 4: Incumbents
Who is in those jobs now?
List the names of incumbent(s) in each of the identified jobs
Step 5: At Risk Employees

Who is at risk of leaving? Why?
List the reasons each incumbent may leave, if applicable. If you dont think there is
a risk, indicate NA. Some reasons might be retirement (Ret.), transfer (Tra.), resignation (Res.). Use a ? if you dont know.
Often, employees will express their interest in transferring, finding a promotional opportunity
outside of your department, resigning, or retiring. Sometimes you may have a sense that
someone is looking for a new job or you know that they have ambitions that you will not be
able to help them fulfill. Your HR Analyst will also provide a detailed analysis of your staff including eligibility dates of retirements, length of service, age, etc. Use that information to make
some informed assumptions about whether each employee will stay or leave. Just be sure to
keep in mind that these are your assumptions and may not be not hard facts.
29

Step 6: Timeframe
Indicate when you think each may leave.
Step 7: Strengths
For each incumbent list all of their competency strengths. Recent Performance
Evaluations will help you determine employee strengths.
Remember that all of their strengths may or may not be in critical KSAs you identified as being necessary for success in the job/position.
The resulting Supply Analysis chart will be a talent profile for your department as it currently
exists. In addition to the data about key jobs and their required skills, you will now have insights as to who will likely stay or leave, information on the key competencies you would need
in a candidate if conducting a recruitment for a vacant job, and how you need to develop employees to ensure they have the knowledge, skills and abilities to be fully proficient in their current jobs or to transition into another role.
Figure 7: Supply Analysis, Sample
Position/Title
Key
Critical Job
KSAs
Incumbent
At Risk Timeframe
XYZ Director
Competency 1
Competency 5
P. Doe
Ret.
XYZ Manager
Competency 2
Competency 3
J. Smith
NA
XYZ Supervisor
Competency 1
Competency 3
Competency 6
R. Johnson
NA
XYZ Analyst
Competency 2
Competency 3
Competency 4
C. Jones
KSA Strengths
of Incumbent
Sep. 20XX Competency 1

Competency 3
Competency 5
Competency 1
Competency 2
Res. ? 20XX
Competency 2
Competency 3
Competency 6
Competency 2
Competency 3
Competency 4
Demand Analysis
The Demand Analysis requires you to forecast the future activities, workloads, people and
competencies you will need to accomplish your mission over the next five years. Your SWOT
Analysis should contain valuable information to help you consider how changes in such areas
as workforce demographics, turnover, tasks, citizen priorities, and technology will impact your
organization and talent management practices.
30

Taking these changes into consideration, you will build on your Supply Analysis and incorporate additional information into one master document. Add three more columns to the worksheet to capture data on how the anticipated changes will affect key positions (your organizational structure), critical job competencies (the jobs themselves may evolve), and competency
development needs of staff (enabling them to remain valuable contributors).
The steps for completing the Demand Analysis include:
1. Identify Key Positions in the Future State
2. Identify Critical Competencies (KSAs) for Each Job in the Future State
3. Identify Development Needs for Each Employee
The in the example on the next page indicates where a new column has been inserted.
Each step will ask questions to help you through the analysis. Once you have reviewed the
completed sample, be sure to read through the narrative provided. It will help to explain how
this analysis can help you think through the data and consider potential actions that may need
to be taken to address talent management issues that become evident.
Step 1: Identify the Key Positions in the Future State

What will the critical/key jobs be in our department?
Evaluate each job according to its criticality in carrying out the mission and accomplishing the objectives of your department in the future.
Under Key , assign each job a rating of A-mission critical; B-key/important; Cnice to have; D-not critical, to show how its criticality may/may not change.
Step 2: Identify Critical Competencies (KSAs) for Each Job in the Future State
Will there be new/different knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform the jobs?
List all of the new/different competencies that will be needed in the future to carry
out each job successfully.
Step 3: Development Needs

What knowledge, skills and abilities will employees need to develop?
List each incumbents development needs to remain successful in the in both the
short and longer terms.
Which competencies do they still need for success in the current job?
Which competencies will they need in the job as it evolves in the future?
Which competencies will they need to be prepared for promotional opportunities?

31

Figure 8: Demand Analysis Master Sheet, Sample
Position/
Title
Key
Key
Critical Job
KSAs
(Current)
Dept.
Director
Competency 1
A
Competency 5
Dept.
Manager
Dept.
Supervisor
Competency 1
D Competency 3
Competency 6
Dept.
Analyst
Competency 2
B Competency 3
Competency 4
Competency 2
Competency 3
Critical Job
KSAs
(Future)
Incumbent
Competency 1
Competency 5
P. Doe
Competency 7
Competency 8
Competency 1
Competency 2
J. Smith
Competency 5
Competency 7
NA
R. Johnson
Competency 2
Competency 4 C. Jones
Competency 7
At
Risk
Time
KSA Strengths
of Incumbent
KSA Needs
of Incumbent
Competency 1
Competency 7
Ret. 9/20XX Competency 3
Competency 8
Competency 5
NA
Competency 3
Competency 1
Competency 5
Competency 2
Competency 7
NA
Competency 2 Competency 1
Competency 2
Res. ?/20XX Competency 3 Competency 7
Competency 4
Lets walk through what this chart is telling us.

In the short-term, Dept. Manager, J. Smith, needs development in Competency 3 and Dept.
Supervisor, R. Johnson, needs to develop Competency 1.
In the longer term, there are many changes that could take place that would need attention
from a talent planning perspective.
The Director position is critical and will continue to be in the foreseeable future. P. Doe, the
current Director, will likely retire within the next 5 years.
The Dept. Manager, J. Smith, needs to begin developing Competencies 5 and 7 to remain effective the current job. And if Smith is a potential replacement for the Director, we also need to
begin developing Competency 8 in order to ensure success. The Dept. Manager role will continue to be critical, so if J. Smith promotes to Director, this position will need to be filled.
The Dept. Supervisor role is currently nice to have but at a point in the future it will not be
critical. Therefore, although there are competencies that are critical now, that will not be the
case in the future. A position such as this one is likely to be eliminated. If J. Smith vacates the
Manager position, R. Johnson may be candidate to promote into it. However, we will need to
begin developing Johnson in competencies 5 and 7.
Dept. Analyst, C. Jones, is fully proficient for the role today but would need to develop Competency 7 to remain so in the future. C. Jones is also designated as at risk for resigning. If this is
a valued employee, we will need to consider what we need to do to keep Jones motivated and
32

Tool: Gap / Surplus Analyses
The Gap/Surplus Analysis compares information from the supply and demand analyses to
identify the differences (gaps or surpluses) in the talent resources you have and what you will
need to accomplish your departments mission and strategy. You'll complete two analyses;
one on the jobs/positions and another on the competencies required to perform the jobs and
the competency proficiencies of the incumbents. Together they can provide quick data for talent management measures within your department.
The Gap/Surplus Analysis of Jobs will give you a quantitative snapshot of where you may not
have the correct number of people/positions needed in jobs in the future. Youll be reviewing:
the number of positions you have in each job currently
the number of positions you will need in each job in the future
the number of incumbents you anticipate leaving in each position (attrition)
This chart is useful for reviewing organizational structure and addressing headcounts.
The Gap/Surplus Analysis of Competencies will provide an overview of the competencies required for success in each job and the strengths and development needs of each incumbent.
This chart will be useful for planning development activities in your department.
Gap/Surplus Analysis - Jobs

Youll begin your Job Gap/Surplus Analysis by looking at the information you generated during
Step 2, Supply and Demand Analyses. Your master data sheet will show you which are the
key jobs for the future and how many incumbents there are in those jobs. It will also show you
where you are at risk of losing staff and when.
The sample on the next page illustrates how to document your answers to these questions:
1. What jobs do we have now and what jobs do we need in the future?
2. What are the number of staff we will need in those jobs? (Demand Analysis)
3. How many staff members are in the jobs currently? (Present Supply)
4. What is the expected attrition?
5. What is the gap or surplus? (if no hiring is done)
33

Tool: Gap / Surplus Analysis
Figure 9: Gap/Surplus Analysis-Jobs, Sample
Support Analysts Supervisors Managers Directors

Demand Analysis
Present Supply
Less Expected Attrition
Gap / Surplus
-3
+2
-2
-1
Gap/Surplus Analysis - Competencies

Your Competency Gap/Surplus Analysis will also look at the information on your master data
sheet regarding the competencies that staff currently have and those they will need to be productive and successful in the future you anticipate. You will produce data on the gap and/or
surplus in the competencies the staff will need to be effective and successful in the future. To
proceed youll document your answers to these questions:
1. What competencies will we need for each position?
Indicate them under Critical Job KSAs.
2. Which competencies will not be needed in the position?
Use NA to indicate it is not needed.
3. Which competencies are incumbents strengths?
Indicate strengths with a symbol like a or a + (we also shaded

this in green).
4. Which competencies will incumbents be missing?
Use a code such as Dev or - to indicate a development need (we

shaded this in red).
5. What competencies will we no longer need or have too much of?
Indicate the competencies that are not needed or do not need as

many people performing them by shading that column (grey in our
example).
34

Tool: Gap / Surplus Analysis
Figure 10: Gap/Surplus Analysis-Competencies, Sample
Position/Title
Dept.
Director
Dept.
Manager
Dept.
Supervisor
Dept.
Analyst
Comp Comp Comp Comp Comp Comp Comp Comp

Critical Job
Incumbent
KSAs
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
(Future)
Comp 1
Comp 5
P. Doe
NA
NA
NA
Dev
Dev
Comp 7
Comp 8
Comp 1
Comp 2
NA
J. Smith
NA
Dev
NA
Dev
NA
Comp 5
Comp 7
NA
R. Johnson
Comp 2
Comp 4 C. Jones
Comp 7
NA
NA
NA
35
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Dev
NA

Tool: The Strategic Talent Plan
The final step in the process is to develop strategies to address the critical talent challenges
you have identified in the preceding steps. These strategies will be incorporated into your
overall departmental strategic plan and goals, objectives and action plans will be developed
downstream to address them.
The key strategies you create will be specific to your department and may be the result of information you generated during any part of the planning process. Typically going through the entire process will help to funnel down the information so you can pinpoint areas that need action
based on the gap/surplus analysis. However, you may have uncovered a troubling demographic or team engagement issue during one of the other steps that you believe needs attention. For example, areas needing attention might include but are certainly not limited to:
Training of employees in critical competency/skill areas.
Need for workers with specific areas of expertise or licensing.
Underutilization or imbalance in a specific demographic characteristic.
Low worker morale/engagement.
Overstaffing in certain jobs.
Need for increased productivity/efficiency.
The strategies or solutions you employ can take many forms that address the full range of talent management activities from organizational design, work reallocation, and recruiting/
retention, to diversity programs, training and development, and performance management.
Keep in mind that there are additional factors that will have an influence on the strategies you
develop. Examples include, but are not limited to:
Budget. Will there be funds to hire, train, and promote?
Bench strength. Does the existing staff demonstrate the interest and potential to
develop the new competencies needed to stay proficient in the current job or to assume new/modified positions in the future?
Time. Will there be sufficient time to develop existing staff in the needed skill sets
or to build bench strength to fill anticipated vacancies?
Resources. Does the infrastructure support employee productivity and growth?

Are adequate knowledge transfer practices in place?
Organizational structure. Do the current department structure and job classifications meet the current requirements of the function? Will those structures continue
to meet the demands of the future?
36

Tool: The Strategic Talent Plan
As with any plan, your Strategic Talent Plan needs to be flexible enough to allow for adjustments. If the departmental strategic plan should change (due to legislative changes, change in
leadership, budget changes, etc.), the talent plan may also need to change. The talent plan
may also need to be adjusted when unforeseen changes occur that do not affect the overall
departmental direction or strategies (unanticipated resignations, retirements or separations).
Figure 11: Strategic Talent Plan, Sample
Department Strategic Talent Plan (including corresponding objectives and goals)

Strategy
Attract, recruit and retain a more diverse workforce in accordance with the County
EEOP.
Objectives
Improve the number of qualified candidates in target demographic groups who

apply for, interview, and get hired by the department.
Reduce turnover of female employees in supervisory/managerial positions.
Goals
Increase the number of Hispanic staff members from 0 to 2 by July 20XX.
Increase the number of females holding supervisory/managerial positions for a

period of three years by 5% by December 20XX.
Strategy
Develop and retain employees at all levels to enable promotional opportunities
from within the department.
Objectives
Improve departmental bench strength.
Improve employee satisfaction and engagement.
Goals
Reduce the number of external hires required to meet staffing needs by 25%
by July, 20XX.
Increase the number of departmental staff applying for promotional opportunities by 50% by Q2 of 20XX.
37

Appendix A: Glossary of Terms
Attrition: a gradual reduction in the size of the workforce that occurs through retirements, resignations, reassignments, transfers, promotions, and positions being left vacant.
Bench Strength: a term used to indicate an organization has the right pool of talent needed
to replace those in key positions when vacancies occur.
Capability: the practical or potential ability of someone to do something.
Classification: a group of positions with similar duties, responsibilities and skill/knowledge
requirements.
Competency: a cluster of skills, attributes, attitudes, knowledge, abilities and behaviors essential to job success and to creating lasting benefit for the organization (pl. competencies).
Demand Analysis: an identification and assessment of the human resources you will need in
the short and long terms to perform the work necessary for your operation.
Engagement: the emotional involvement or commitment of an employee to a job, leader, or
organization that provides motivation for him or her to go beyond what is expected and expend
discretionary effort to achieve personal and organizational goals.
Gap/Surplus Analysis: a process for comparing information from a supply analysis with information from a demand analysis to identify where there is too little, enough, or too much of the
data being compared.
Human Capital: the employees of an organization, possessing a set of competencies that
enable them to perform jobs and produce value.
Incumbent: an employee who currently holds a position within the County.
Institutional Knowledge / Memory: the collective set of facts, concepts, experiences and
know-how held by a group of people and translated from historical data into useful information
and wisdom that is preserved by organizations so it can be used to maintain operational performance, productivity and effectiveness.
Job: an activity such as a trade or profession that a person does regularly for pay; a paid position.
Knowledge: an awareness, understanding, or possession of information, facts, ideas or principles relating to a particular subject area.
KSAs: an acronym for the knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform a
job.
Key Position: a budgeted line item with specific, assigned duties and responsibilities that are
performed by one person and is critical or essential to the operation of the department.
38

Appendix A: Glossary of Terms (cont.)
Performance: how well an employee fulfills the requirements of the job, carries out responsibilities, or accomplishes things.
Position: a budgeted line item that has specific, assigned duties and responsibilities that are
performed by one person.
Process Reengineering: the analysis and redesign of work processes, practices and workflow within and between organizations for the purpose of improving efficiencies, effectiveness
and reducing costs.
Reduction in Force: a systematic process for decreasing the number of employees in the
workforce for business reasons (syn. Layoff, Downsizing, Rightsizing).
Restructuring: the process of changing the way a work unit is organized or operates in order
to make it more efficient, profitable, or better organized for its present needs (syn. Reorganizing).
Retention: the ability to keep employees in the organization.
Skill: the ability to do something well or the application of knowledge, usually gained through
training, development, or experience.
Strategic Plan: a document that sets the direction and measurable objectives for an organization and provides guidance for resource utilization and the day-to-day actions of employees.
Strategic Review: an analysis of the internal and external environments in which an organization operates today and forecasts how those environments may change in the future.
Strategic Talent Management: the set of formal, organizational processes designed to attract, select, develop, motivate, and retain human capital.
Strategic Talent Plan: a document that provides organizational management with a framework for making strategic human resource decisions and taking specific actions based on the
mission, vision, strategic direction, and objectives.
Succession Planning: the process for identifying, assessing, developing, and retaining employees in order to ensure there is the human capital in place and ready to assume key positions when vacancies occur.
Supply Analysis: an identification and assessment of the human resources you have and/or
will have in the future to perform the work necessary for your operation.
SWOT Analysis: a business tool used to complete a strategic review. The acronym stands
for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and is the framework for completing the
analysis.
39

Appendix A: Glossary of Terms (cont.)
Talent: the people in an organization, possessing the abilities to perform the work and produce results.
Talent Management: see Strategic Talent Management.
Workforce Planning: A process that ensures the right number of people with the appropriate
skills are in the right place, at the right location, at the right time to meet the customers changing needs.
40

Strategic Talent Planning Guide

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Strategic Talent Planning Guide

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Strategic Talent Planning

A Human Resources Guide

Department of Human Resources

Learn Grow Lead Excel

The Managers Toolbox