Strategic Workforce Planning
The Issue
Ensuring that an organization has the right people, in the right roles, at the right time, and at the right cost is essential to effective strategy execution. Failure to get the talent equation right can have significant implications on its future growth and profitability.
Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) is a core business process that enables leaders to understand and forecast the number, type, and quality of employees the company needs now and in the future, and the actions and investments that must be taken to ensure they are in place when and where they are needed.
Our Point of View
- SWP is founded on two fundamental business premises; segmentation and portfolio management. These premises help leaders prioritize and manage talent investments based on the relative value certain roles have to the success of the organization’s strategy.
- SWP enables leaders to foresee potential talent supply and demand issues before they impact their ability to execute their business strategies. This foresight provides leaders with a competitive advantage, in that they are able to take action and make the investments needed to mitigate business risk before they become a problem.
- SWP also provides the HR function with a clear understanding of the company’s future talent needs. With this information, HR can proactively organize and align itself to provide focused HR support to the business where it needs it most.
Our Approach
Axiom helps clients implement a Strategic Workforce Planning Process that:
- Clarifies the value drivers of your business strategy and the number and type of talent needed to unlock the value.
- Helps an organization understand current and anticipated future labor markets (internal and external) and their implications on talent supply and demand.
- Models most likely future workforce scenarios to determine the workforce strategies that will best enable the successful execution of the business strategy.
- Identifies the nature, timing, and location of expected talent gaps and the risks they may have to the business.
- Develops a comprehensive and holistic workforce plan to close these gaps before they limit the organization’s ability to execute the business strategy.
Typical Benefits
- Mitigation of business risk associated with not having the right number, type, and, quality of talent needed to fully execute the strategy.
- Informed decision making related to the investments and allocation of resources needed to enable execution of the workforce plan.
- Direction for the HR function regarding the processes and organization to best support the talent needs of the business.
To learn more, contact us by phone at (312) 523-2123 or by email.