www.workforceplanning.com.au

Strategic Workforce Planning –

Starting Right, Staying True,

Delivering the Future Workforce

Tony Wallace

Principal

Workforce Planning Australia

Tam Marte Quam Minerva

• As much as by Mars as by Minerva

– As much by war, as by wisdom

– As much by courage, as by genius

• Workforce planning is:

– Both art and science

– Both hard and soft skills

– More than HR or any one function

– Reliant on end-to-end or systems thinking

Dealing with complexity

What is Workforce Planning? Various definitions, variation in understanding and application

Strategic versus Operational

Workforce Planning - Definition

Workforce Planning is defined as a continual process

seeking to align the individual’s and organisation’s needs

and priorities to achieve business objectives.

Linked to the business direction – will continue to evolve

Implies a future focus – degree of uncertainty

Workforce Planning Process

1. Strategic setting

2. Current state analysis

3. Future state analysis

4. Gap analysis and risk assessment

5. Workforce strategies or interventions

6. Monitor, evaluate and review

Steps are repeated in a cyclical manner

Typical steps in workforce planning

Scope

• Starting Right – Building the foundation for

success

• Staying True – Producing results, avoiding

pitfalls

• Delivering the Future Workforce – Sustaining

success

“Creating the initial workforce plan is a project,

sustaining the workforce plan is an operation”

Lessons from Grad School and Workforce Planning Roles and Gigs

Vignette Part 1 – Starting Right? A Tale of Contrasting Visions

Not For Profit

• Restabilising after turmoil and

redundancies

• Recognised the importance of

people, and the need for

Workforce Planning

• Are we ready?

• Executive workshop – clarity

about what they wanted and

what it is

• Agreed broad plan of action

Government Regulator

• Large scale reorganisation

and change project

• Brief to develop workforce

plan – not clear

• Limited executive buy-in

• Lack of clarity between HR

and Finance

• Lack of true ownership and

accountability

Starting Right – People

• Ask the Right Questions – What are the problems we

are trying to solve?

• Executive Engagement

• Who Involved?

– Finance

– HR

– Others

• Who is the Champion?

• Do We Need Help?

Critical to build relationships and trust with the Executive Team

Starting Right - Systems

• Ask the Right Questions – What are the problems we

are trying to solve?

• Planning the Plan

• What data do we need?

– Finance

– HR

– Others: Training, Performance, Preferences

• Is software important?

• Means and End?

Start small, understand the end goal and the limitations

Starting Right – Key Considerations

1. Focus on jobs or roles of strategic importance or high

impact

– <50% of jobs in organisations are high impact

2. Build and vary the talent pool

– Both permanent staff and contingent workers

3. Use workforce more flexibly

– Meet workload demands and create agility

Keep the project manageable, define the scope and boundaries well

Discussion

• What are the typical issues or barriers that you have

encountered in starting workforce planning in your

current or previous organisations?

• What have you found to be successful in resolving

these issues and progressing workforce planning?

Recap – What about sharing your stories?

Vignette Part 2 – Staying True Maintaining momentum and increasing maturity

Military Organisation

• Workforce modelling and

planning well embedded

• Defined job families – demand

and supply

• Clear career models, HR

practices and processes

• Significant data resources

• Workforce problems exist

• Managing or transforming the

workforce

• “Developing true insights”

Emerging Organisation

• Commitment to workforce

planning

• Workforce segmentation does

not exist

• Career model less defined

• Issues not fully developed, nor

what data is needed

• Limited data and metrics

• Uncertain about how to

proceed

• “Breaking the vicious cycle”

Job Family Framework Differentiates across the workforce and links with other resources (ANZSCO)

Job families are groups of similar positions with related

skills, tasks and knowledge blocks. The model does not

reflect work level and is hierarchical (four tiers).

Job Family. The highest level of workforce classification e.g. Customer Service

Job Function. Families are divided into functions e.g. Customer Service - Sales

Job Role. Workforce planning occurs to this level. Small numbers can be problematic.

Job Title. A meaningful description of the position’s role.

Level of detail

increases from

job family to

job title

Data Issues and Metrics

• Organisations data rich, information poor

• Organic capability – cost effective?

• Measuring the right things or the things that are easy -

critical review of metrics

• Correlation versus causation

• Workforce planning – longitudinal versus cross

sectional data

• Heterogeneity – Differences between job families,

variation over time and control for demography

• Is the organisation prepared to compete on analytics?

Fundamental considerations

Competitive Advantage in Data Workforce planning relies on intelligence formed from different sources

Adapted from Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, Davenport and Harris, Harvard Business

School Press, 2007

Optimisation

Predictive Modelling

Forecasting Extrapolation

Statistical Analysis

Alerts

Query Drill Down

Ad Hoc Reports

Standard Report

Degree of Intelligence

Co

mp

eti

tive A

dvan

tag

e

Analytics

Access and

Reporting

Staying True – Emerging

• Identify the workforce issues to address in the context

of the strategic direction

• Determine the initial data requirements – build a basic

profile of the workforce:

– Agree and apply a job family classification

– Produce current demand and supply picture

– Demographics

– Recruitment and retention performance

• Build initial data story and develop insights – what does

this mean for the strategic direction

Just getting started can be a challenge, getting the basics right

Staying True – What’s Next

• Trend analysis – typical, outliers and random

• Understand differences:

– Job Family, Function and Role

– Demographics

• Basic models to create forecasts

• Understand the limitations

• Continue to build the data story and develop insights –

what does this mean for the strategic direction

• Use results to generate and update organisational and

people strategies

Continue to build historical data, and enhance the story

Staying True – Mature

• Sharpen the focus on the problem – develop hypothesis

and setting about proving cause and effect

• Try to look at the problem differently – remember inter-

relationships exist, and past history can give insights

• Value demand and supply sides equally

• Forecast models (steady state and dynamic) have

limitations – assumes rational behaviour

• Does the data show a trend or just randomness

• A deliberate response is preferred

Strive to find new insights, focus on understanding behaviour

Workforce Planner - Traits

• Analytical and critical thinking

• Data strengths – dealing with ambiguity

• Perseverance and not disheartened easily

• Good communicators and relationship builders

• Creativity and thinking differently

What should we look for in workforce planners?

Workforce Planning Systems

• Understand what you need to solve your problems –

start small, first principles

• High level of sophistication and complexity

• Ability to replicate your workforce, its rules and

behaviour

• Ease of use, system support and maintenance

• Efficiency – labour costs, speed

• Deliberate decision

What should we look for in workforce planning systems?

Workforce Planning Pitfalls

• Workforce Segmentation – Job Families

• Agreement on Job Families of Importance

• Data and Assumptions

• Forecasting by Job Family

• Iterative Process

• Not Generating Quick Wins

• More Than Numbers: – Skills and Education

– Experience

– Performance

– Preferences

Regardless of maturity level, avoid or minimise these pitfalls

Numbers

Skills and Education

Experience

Performance

Preferences

Discussion – Staying True

• How would you describe the level of maturity in your

organisation’s workforce plan?

• What are the pitfalls that you have encountered in

workforce planning?

Recap – What about sharing your stories?

Vignette Part 3 – Delivering Is the status quo a realistic option?

Growth and Reform

• Organic growth planned over a

ten year period - stalled

• Identify problems, develop

solutions – importance of data,

performance measures

• Reinvigorate growth plans

• Reshape key capabilities –

future relevance

• Critical understanding of

interactions – recruiting and

training

• Synchronise demand and

supply sides

Decline and Consolidate

• Significant project to end in

five years

• Gradual reduction aligned to

project needs, limited growth

in specialist roles

• Significant talent pool of

competent engineers

• Synchronise project, program

and HR management

• Develop and test options –

redeployment, retraining

• Engage with staff

Change Management

• Create the sense of urgency and shared vision

• Align leaders, managers, and staff – communicate

• Enable action and remove barriers

• Generate quick wins, build on this success

• Focus on long-term outcomes

• Integrate workforce planning into normal business

practices

Change or Die

Demand Side

• Organisational and Team

Design

• Technology and Process

Redesign

• Job Design

• Workforce Mix

“Working on the Organisation”

Supply Side

• Attraction and

Recruitment

• Learning and

Development

• Deployment

• Retention and Promotion

“Working on the People”

Workforce Planning Strategies Too often the focus is on “Supply Side” solutions

Linking Strategies Organisational and people strategies must be complementary

Organisational

Strategies – start

with these first

People Strategies

follow – “function

follows form”

Consistent with

HR Framework

and System

Integrate action to

support and value

our people”

Workforce Planning Cycle

Workforce Requirements

- Organisational Design

- Organisational Structure

- Job Families (Position Based)

- Capability Map

- Preferred Solution

Workforce Budgeting

- Workforce Budget

- Workforce Management

- Workforce Mix Options

- Vacancy Management

- Validated Solution

People Management

- Skill Utilisation and Development

- Opportunities

- Performance Management

- Career Management

People Planning

- Recruitment

- Retention

- Learning and Development

- Staff Progression

Leadership, Governance and

Management

People System and HR Framework

Inputs:

• Strategic

Direction

• Draft

Business

Plan

• Required

Outcomes

Outputs:

• Capability

Delivered

• Objectives

Achieved

• Required

Outcomes

Work

forc

e D

em

and

“Spaces”

Work

forc

e S

upply

“Faces”

Workforce and Business Planning Cycles must be aligned

Discussion – Delivering Success

• What are your success stories in developing the

workforce plan?

• What are your success stories in implementing the

workforce plan, and how have you measured success?

Recap – What about sharing your stories?

Base level only (assume untrained) All Levels

Workforce Planning – Importance The necessity of workforce planning varies between organisations

Consider these characteristics:

1. Recruiting:

4. Competitive Advantage

3. Succession Planning

5. Level of Transformation:

2. Skill Development

Large intakes, batches Small, selective

Invest in skill development People have the skills

Committed to Grow Your Own Hire Stars, All Levels

Continual, Significant Minimal, Status Quo

Challenged Strong Competitive Position

Bringing it Together

• Create the workforce planning team – not just HR,

include Finance, Business Leaders

• Build a great data story

• Segment the workforce – sharp focus

• Create a workforce planning cycle

• Systematic, balanced and logical approach

• Align people and organisation

• Continual effort – it is iterative

Ideas for success

Workforce Planning Trends

• Speed and tempo continue to quicken – is long term

planning realistic or valid?

• The rise of the agile workforce

• How do we continue to make workforce planning

relevant?

• Workforce planner – trusted business advisor

Language and emphasis is continuing to evolve

www.workforceplanning.com.au

Workforce Planning Australia

55 Swanston Street

MELBOURNE VIC 3000

(03) 9206 8000

Tony Wallace

Principal

0427 039 306

twallace@workforceplanning.com.au

http://au.linkedin.com/pub/tony-wallace/26/30a/540/