we will know if we are doing a great job or not.
Here are the basics of workforce planning:
• Where you are
but it is ultimately a business decision. Moreover, you may be
unaware of some business decisions, so you need to engage with
senior leadership.
• Where you want to be
• How you are going to get there
You should ask yourself the following questions about your
talent pool: Where will you get the talent that you will need? Is
there a demand for the talent that you need? Do you even know?
In today’s world, in which new technologies can make the
existing ways of doing things obsolete, you need to be tuned in
to what your organization does now and where it is going. Two
examples are the manufacturers of typewriters and paper towels
for public restrooms. Because of new technologies like computers
and commercial hand dryers, both typewriters and restroom
paper towels have become either obsolete or in dramatically less
demand.
Are the people you will be hiring still in demand? Are they
going to be in demand in the future? What will those factors do to
your strategy for hiring? Do you need to hire full-time employees
for a particular role that may be gone in six months or a year? Can
you make do with a temporary or contingent workforce? Maybe
you need to have employees learn a skill right now or do that job
for six months or a year because your organization needs that
knowledge to transition into whatever the new product is.
Competencies
Maybe the competencies you need at your organization are going
to change. Who is measuring that for your organization?
Here’s a conversation that we all have had:
“Phyllis has been doing that job for 34 years.
We need her.”
“Do we?”
“Well, we can’t fire her.”
You need to ask, “Why not?” Just because someone has done
something a certain way for a long time and gives stability to the
organization does not mean that this is the best use of her talent.
She might do better in another role.
We, as HR professionals, need to know what we are working
with and how to best utilize it. That’s what competencies and
workforce planning are addressing. A great way to determine the
competencies for the positions you need to fill is to ask the people
who actually do the job, not management.
Mobility
Mobility is another factor in today’s workplace. Some people
don’t want to come to work, but they want to work. When large
companies change the landscape for worker mobility, it is going to
affect what candidates want when they apply for a job. They may
be some of the best and brightest, b