Most of us have read about upcoming workforce trends like decreasing employee loyalty, differing generational expectations, and the impending retirement of the baby boom generation, but surprisingly few organizational leaders are fully aware of how those issues will impact them.
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Several of the organizations I have worked with in recent years have discovered aspects of their business that could lose more than 70% of their workforce in the next three years alone.
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The time to read about trends is over. Now is the time to act, to develop, or to update your workforce plan to ensure that it accurately forecasts and triggers appropriate action. Nothing could be more strategic than looking at the big picture and developing action plans that prepare your organization for the future.
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Recruiting Is Backward LookingI challenge you to find a single recruiting report that doesn't report "history" (what happened last year). Telling managers how many people they hired last year, their time to fill, or their cost per hire might be interesting, but they cannot do anything about the past. Instead, talent management needs to focus efforts on the future, where preventive action could make a significant difference in recruiting and retention results.
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Recruiting Is Mired In Fighting FiresMost recruiting functions are so busy handling day-to-day activities and emergencies that they forget to spend the necessary time preventing the fires from occurring in the first place.
' `' D- [$ D9 l7 @3 Y `- B* O; \Allocate a portion of your resources toward forecasting and developing a strategic workforce planning effort. Organizational leaders need to understand that the recruiting function must be funded adequately, even in times when requisition loads are small, to allow the function to plan, design, and develop programs to support projected levels of recruiting in good times.
- [4 v' S r0 a: p. MUnderstanding Traditional Workforce Planning Efforts Over 90% of the workforce plans that I come across are merely mundane statistics. Many of these plans end up gathering dust on shelves because they don't drive action. Do not stop when you develop workforce forecasts; instead, put together a workforce action plan. A workforce action plan is different in that it drives managers and recruiters to "act differently" and identifies how to respond to changes in the business environment. Plans that don't drive actions are a waste of effort and unfortunately, that's what invariably happens.
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The Business World Has ChangedIt's an unforgiving world for those who don't plan. In the rapidly changing world of business and technology, a failure to plan and anticipate can spell disaster. Business managers and recruiters no longer live in a world of isolated companies and markets.
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In a global economy, when a major player stumbles, there is always another ready to instantly move in and seize the opportunity. Whenever an organization comes out with an innovative product or service, it's copied so fast that it's hard to make a profit over a long period time off of any new innovation. In past decades, companies could make errors and later catch up. In the 21st century, there isn't time to catch-up.
7 c+ B8 B. _) k0 r5 b- X9 WWorkforce Planning Adds Significant Capabilities There are many outputs that result from excellent workforce action planning. Some of the most significant ones include:
0 W& p$ \% l/ Y! a+ B- No delays. To ensure that the firm can meet production goals by having the right number of people.
- The right skills. To increase product development speed because the firm has the brightest people with the "right" skills.
- Rapid replacement. To be capable of rapidly re-filling positions that become vacant due to "sudden turnover," so that production doesn't miss a beat.
- Lower turnover rates. Because employees move rapidly throughout the organization and are continually being developed, they are less likely to have low morale or to leave.
- Low labor cost. The capability of rapidly reducing labor costs without the need for large-scale layoffs of permanent employees.
- No layoffs. Opportunity to avoid the need for layoffs by managing headcount to prevent a "surplus" of talent.
- Employee development. To be able to ramp up projects rapidly because the firm has already developed its internal talent so that there is a sufficient amount available when necessary.
- Early warnings. Managers will get warning "alerts” so that they can plan ahead for replacements for upcoming retirements and turnover.
- Take advantage of opportunities. Talent management resources are managed more efficiently so that the firm has the available resources to take advantage of talent "opportunities" like poaching from a weakened competitor or hiring exceptional talent during tough economic times.
