A component of strategic planning within your organization is planning for workforce needs – not just in the near term but 3, 5, 10 years out. When we take the time to plan for the organization’s future workforce needs, we are better able to meet the needs of the organization in the future. Consider the following questions when planning future workforce needs:
- How will external factors such as increased competition, global markets, technology changes, and new products and services impact the workforce?
- Are their new skills and competencies that will be required within the company in the future? And if so, at what point? Do current employees have these skills and competencies? If not, can we train them?
- Will talent be difficult to hire in the future? Does it make sense to build talent internally, or will we need to source externally to meet our needs?
- Have we evaluated if current employees are in the right jobs? How do we ensure we keep them in the right jobs as the business and workforce needs change?
- Do we know how many employees may be retiring within the next 3, 5, 10 years and do we have a plan in place for when they do retire?
- Do we have a succession plan in place for when executives retire?
- Do we know who our best talent is and have we made plans to ensure we retain the best?
- Is the workforce diverse enough to meet the needs of a diverse customer base?
Once you have the answers to these questions, use this as your starting point for workforce planning. Determine your priorities and use this to engage key stakeholders (Executives, Department Heads and other business leaders) in a conversation about workforce planning for future organizational success.
When organizations regularly evaluate their workforce against their strategic workforce plan, they are more easily able to answer the questions posted above and to ensure that the organization is prepared to meet future needs of the organization and its current and future customers.
