Integrate, Don’t Align

It is not sufficient to simply align or link the business planning process and the strategic staffing process—after all, two components can be aligned or linked only if they are in fact separate to begin with. To be fully effective, strategic staffing must be seamlessly integrated into the fabric of business planning on an ongoing basis.

To gain the maximum benefit from strategic staffing, you must ensure that:

• Your business planning and staffing processes include the right components to begin with. For example, a well-developed planning process includes both long-term business strategies and shorter-term operating plans. Similarly, you should be developing both long-term staffing strategies and short-term staffing plans. It is unlikely that your planning processes can be effective if any of these major components are missing.

• The major components of your planning processes mesh fully. All the components of your planning process need to fit together like the proverbial well-oiled machine. Even if each component is developed masterfully, the planning processes will fail if the linkages between the components are not strong and dynamic. For example, there need to be strong relationships (and information flows) between long-term business planning and long-term staffing strategies. If the relationships between components are weak (or, worse yet, nonexistent), the planning process will be incomplete and ineffective.

• All of the various pieces and processes within each component of your planning process are fully integrated. Each major component of the planning process includes various pieces that must fit together and build on one another. For example, strategic objectives usually define what is to be accomplished during the planning horizon. Strategies then define specifically what is to be done to achieve those objectives. When these two pieces are well integrated, all the objectives will be achieved if the stated strategy is implemented as designed. When they are not well integrated, strategy implementation may leave some key objectives unmet.

Those well-managed companies that we all hear about typically have well-defined business strategies and plans that cover both the long and the short term. Similarly, these companies often produce and implement both longer-term staffing strategies and shorter-term staffing plans that fully support the implementation of their business plans. In your organization, however, it is possible that some of these planning processes need to be improved, better integrated, or created from scratch. In fact, you may be using this book specifically to create a strategic staffing/workforce planning process in an organization where one does not currently exist. How can you quickly assess your business planning situation and determine where strategic staffing fits in best?