Former chairperson and CEO of Xerox Inc., Anne Mulcahy, is often credited with the quote, “..our people are our greatest asset… our competitive advantage.” However, for a large number of industrial companies, there is a growing concern over recruiting and retaining these skilled and critical ‘assets’ due to the dynamic talent environment and trends we are facing.
Some of these trends include significant loss of knowledge/expertise via retirement, partial replacement of that expertise by gig economy or ‘alumni’ labour, challenges of attracting/developing/engaging millennials and GenZ workers, increased focus on cultural diversity, and rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) enabled automation that is gradually encroaching on human roles under the umbrella of the ‘Future of Work’. All these trends are on top of the ongoing operational talent management activities with which business leaders (supported by HR) are handling.
To deal with some of these short- and long-term challenges, companies are resurrecting and technology-enabling the ‘Strategic Workforce Planning’ (SWP) process. SWP focuses on aligning your human capital needs with those dictated by your business plan and strategy. This article will discuss SWP benefits, obstacles/roadblocks typically encountered, and the approach and best practices for implementation.
SWP is different from the tactical workforce planning done by each organisation that is principally focused on managing the workforce to deliver as effectively and efficiently as possible. SWP is more holistic and longer term, considering the needs and strategy of the business, the realities of the external environment, and securing the required talent at the right time.
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