In our second article in the Workforce Planning series, we discuss Why Do Organizations Need Workforce Planning? Workforce Planning is the way highly effective leaders ensure they have a sustainable supply of the right talent, available at the right place and time, to meet their short- and long-term business objectives. It provides them an action plan that helps meet their long-term goals to maintain long-term success. It’s an ongoing process that allows them to prepare to lead their company into the future successfully.
If your business is like many businesses, you have strategy’s in place that focuses on:
Technology,
Capital,
Brands, and so on
What you may not have is a strategy that focuses on what most businesses call their most valuable asset; your workforce. Few businesses are as meaningful in their strategies for their most costly resource; the workforce.
What does all that mean? Well, read on…
Let us first start with a simple observation, changes are happening in our workforce. demographics.
- The workforce is aging and working longer
- lower birth rates are resulting in a steady decline in workforce population
- Boomers are now working into their 80’s and beyond
Career Paths for workers are changing
- The concept of retirement is changing
- More “emotional” job expectations
- New Skills are required
Changes are also happening in the workplace. The requirements for new skills, some unknown today is but one. We have labor shortages with high labor participation and low unemployment. There are more jobs than job seekers.
The Nature of Work Is Changing
It is estimated that by 2030, over half of the jobs that exist today will not exist. Further claims are that over 85% of all support jobs of today can be automated today. Virtual/Remote work is increasing while automation and technology will increase the demands for workers.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKFORCE PLANNING
There are several. We begin with. It helps leaders understand whether they have or can obtain the workforce to execute their business strategy. It also assists HR Leaders in reorganizing, shaping, and deploying the workforce to deliver on their companies business objectives. Further, Research shows us that:
- 90% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution.
- 85% of leadership teams spend less than 1 hour per month discussing strategy.
- Most devastating, 95% of employees do not understand their organization’s strategy.
Back to our original question, Why do Organizations need Workforce Planning? Because Workforce Planning drives business strategy execution, having a plan is a competitive advantage. Workforce Plans drive strategy execution.
The success of your business is paramount to both your long-term sustainability and adding value for your Shareholders. That means developing a workforce Plan to drive both business success and workforce success. Effective workforce planning strategies and practices have a powerful effect on business outcomes, which include Performance, Profitability, and Shareholder Value. They also help solve your Recruiting and Retention challenges AND is something your competition cannot duplicate. If you haven’t begun the process you should begin it now. Workforce Planning is the future of your business.
The Series so Far: