This document outlines the steps for conducting strategic HR planning:
1. Organize a team and gather organizational data like strategies, budgets, and workforce profiles.
2. Create assumptions and project workforce needs and competencies over the next 2-5 years.
3. Identify any gaps or excesses in the current vs future workforce and develop solutions.
4. Validate projections with leadership, refine needs, and define the workforce programs required.
This document outlines the steps for conducting strategic HR planning:
1. Organize a team and gather organizational data like strategies, budgets, and workforce profiles.
2. Create assumptions and project workforce needs and competencies over the next 2-5 years.
3. Identify any gaps or excesses in the current vs future workforce and develop solutions.
4. Validate projections with leadership, refine needs, and define the workforce programs required.
This document outlines the steps for conducting strategic HR planning:
1. Organize a team and gather organizational data like strategies, budgets, and workforce profiles.
2. Create assumptions and project workforce needs and competencies over the next 2-5 years.
3. Identify any gaps or excesses in the current vs future workforce and develop solutions.
4. Validate projections with leadership, refine needs, and define the workforce programs required.
Clearly understand why workforce planning is needed. Documents to review include vision and mission statements, organizational performance plans, financials and budgets, organization charts and studies, staffing plans etc. Organize a multidisciplinary team to conduct planning (HR, Finance, Budget, Unions and Business Leaders etc.). Gather data for the "big picture: strategic plans, current and projected budget information, external market data/trends.
Create a set of assumptions to set the scope of the
planning effort including: Focus of Plan (key roles, unit, function or organization; high turnover or declining performance areas) Number of years to project (2-5) Workforce characteristics such as permanent, temporary, contractors etc. Diversity and cultural issues making sure barriers are not being created Baseline financials (annual and projected budgets, headcount).
Research internal labor market
Collect the "people" data for the group in scope (headcount, titles, grades, performance ratings, qualifications, tenure, age, race, compensation, benefits etc.). Create acurrentworkforce profile; number, turnover, location, demographics (age, gender, race), competencies, job levels , education, certifications, status (Full Time/Part Time). Validate findings with managers and business leaders.
Assess existing and planned HR pool
Using the current workforce profile, identify trends; time in position, turnover, increased/decreased compensation, growth or contradiction of value of role; validate findings with managers and business leaders. Create aprojectedworkforce "profile" based on trends and assumptions. Ask questions such as: What changes (technology innovations, organizational structure, outsourcing etc.) are expected over the planning period?
How will that affect volume, type and locations of work?
Skill mix? What will the planned organization look like (what competencies, how many people, what certifications?). Prioritize the top 5-8 competencies that are essential; rank these to differentiate one job level from another. Summarize the projected (demand) staffing levels and competencies that can/will meet the need.
Identify future skills demands/needs
and gaps/excesses Align the current and projected workforce profile and identify: Gaps in headcount, grades, knowledge, skills, abilities, experience Excesses in headcount, grader, knowledge, skills, abilities, experience
Draft a Solution Analysis to address Gaps and Excesses, cover:
Vital skills needed for success Skill imbalance create by turnover; retention strategies and associated costs Training vs. recruiting to fill competency gaps Contractors vs. staff
Re-assignment of resources with excess skills to other
key roles to create development opportunities; create mentoring for staff needing nominal development.
Model the workforce against the
hypotheses Review findings with business leaders to validate projections and secure support; confirm, gaps and excesses and define associated actions; model alternate projection scenarios. Reach agreement on overall skill needs, rank criticality of skills, determine broad timing and staff requirements, etc.; determine compensation structure.
Define workforce requirements
Refine needs in terms total numbers and competency requirements. Outline how the skills can be developed; Recruited, developed through training, re-training, relocation, onthe-job etc. and the lead times involved to be fully competent. Use these elements to define the "workforce system" (the recruiting , training, retention, realignment functions) that reflects what is required to fill the critical roles.
Develop alternate scenarios (best case/worst case) and
their consequences e.g. lack of skills/expense of resources in market shifts focus to training. Develop a communication strategy to communicate workforce plan and expectations to impacted employees and stakeholders. Inventory HR programs that will require modification as a result of the projected requirements e.g., tuition reimbursement, certification awards, completion of training.
Develop resourcing strategy with
the business Agree upon guiding principles and philosophical approach to talent acquisition. Assess labor pool in key geographies for critical skills and competencies needed and : Determine whether internal candidates can meet need and how internal sourcing will be handled
Assess need for external recruiting support; establish
preferred provide contracts with reputable recruiting firms; leverage the organizational brand to solicit better hires Identify alternative sourcing strategies campus/trade schools, flexible arrangements, relocation, secondments, etc. Information sources include published labor market analysis; internal skills and competency databases.
Develop Resourcing Plan and
engage with business Establish project lead and project management team(s). Develop a high level action plan that includes activities and costs required to implement the sourcing strategy. Review with key stakeholders to gain buy-in, confirm their role and establish critical success factors and ways of working together (collaboration on interviewing, tools in place, hiring process, who has final say on compensation, etc.)
Review plan with legal to determine whether any "red
flags" exist; develop mitigating actions Monitor progress and track costs
Implement and measure
Appoint a project team to oversee implementation and monitor progress against goals. Develop a detailed action plan that includes all the tactical activities required to implement the workforce plan:
Project Management Office
Communication strategy: employees and leadership Training Recruiting Technology systems Policy and Program Revisions Measures of Success during implementation and on-going
Integrate with other planning
processes Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) can be an integral part of the corporate planning cycle and scenarios from the corporate cycle can be used in scenario modeling at workforce level. In some organizations the SWP tools are part of the wider corporate toolset.