Chapter 13. Assessing Your Current Strategic Staffing/Workforce Planning Process

The diagnostic represented in Table 13-1 allows you to assess the extent to which your strategic staffing/workforce planning process “stacks up” against the concepts described in this book. It may also identify opportunities for you to improve the effectiveness of your process. For your convenience, a copy of this form is included among the files that you can download from the web site.

Table 13-1. Assessing Your Strategic Staffing Process.

Suggested Step/Component	Our Current Practice	Is Current Practice Adequate?	Opportunities for Improvement?
Is your process aligned with your business strategy? Do you have a staffing strategy? Is it seamless, not a follow-on? Is it ongoing, not just annual? Is staffing discussed as each change is considered? Other: ___________		Yes No
Does your process focus on strategic staffing issues/gaps? Are they identified? Are they defined? Are they prioritized? Other: ___________		Yes No
Have effective staffing strategies been developed? Do they form a long-term context to guide short-term decisions? Do they address only critical issues? Do they adequately or fully address each issue? Are they long-term? Are they directional? Do they define how issues will be addressed? Other: ___________		Yes No
Are appropriate staffing plans/models developed? Do they define appropriate model parameters? Do they tailor the process to each issue, not assume that one size fits all? Do they include only relevant jobs? Do they keep models separate and distinct, not consolidated? Other: ___________		Yes No
Are good action plans defined? Are actions well defined? Do actions fully support strategy implementation? Are responsibilities defined? Is implementation monitored? Are results measured? Other: ___________		Yes No
Are the plans realistic? Can the plans be implemented? Do the plans actually drive staffing decisions?		Yes No

Here is how the assessment tool should be applied:

• Read through all the suggested steps/components in the first column of the form. Make sure that you understand each concept as it is described in this book. If you find a component that you do not understand, go back and read that section of the book before proceeding.

• For each step of the process (i.e., each row of the form), document your current practice. What is it that your organization does? To what extent is that consistent with what is being suggested? Does your process include each component that is listed? If you complete that step, do you do it in the way that is suggested?

• Assess whether your current practices (as you have just described and documented them) are adequate, and indicate the result of that assessment in the third column. Are your current practices meeting your needs? If they are not, why is that? Is something missing? Does something need to be done a different way?

• If you check no in column three of any row, document any opportunities for improvement in column four. Be as specific as you can about what should be done to improve your process—don’t just restate the problem. Finally, review the notes that you have made in the fourth column and create a work plan that you can use to implement the changes you have identified.