Involving Line Managers in the Process
Once managers are engaged in and support workforce planning, it is time to define the role that they will play in the initial and ongoing implementation of the process. Line managers must play an active role in the strategic staffing process—after all, it is their staffing needs that the process is designed to meet. Managers also provide critical information at key points along the way, such as estimating staffing requirements and evaluating the feasibility of proposed staffing actions.
Before attempting to involve line managers in workforce planning, you will need to ensure that they fully understand the workforce planning process and are willing to buy into its results. They will need to know what is being done (e.g., the steps of the process), agree with the information and assumptions you use, understand the expected output, and feel comfortable with the staffing strategies, plans, and actions that the process suggests. As you work with line managers to develop and implement your strategic staffing process, make sure that they:
Understand what is in it for them. As described in the first half of this chapter, managers must be engaged in the workforce planning process and understand how implementation of the process will help them to be better managers right now. The development and implementation of the strategic staffing process will ensure that managers have the talent they need in order to implement their business plans and meet their near-term performance objectives and bonus targets. In practical, day-to-day terms, this means that their needs for talent will be quickly identified and met (e.g., the time needed to fill openings with well-qualified talent will be reduced significantly).
Understand the objectives and outcomes of the process. Verify that managers fully understand the objectives of the process and the expected level of detail of the output. This is especially important when you are implementing the more focused approaches to workforce planning that are suggested in this book. Some managers will have participated in the past in processes that were burdensome or that produced lackluster results. Make sure that these managers understand how this process will be different from what they have done before. Explain that the process will not use a one-size-fits-all approach and that planning parameters (such as the overall time horizon) will be tailored to reflect their particular needs. Make sure they understand that the analysis will be applied only where necessary (e.g., for critical jobs) and need not be applied to all jobs. Show them that the output (i.e., staffing issues, staffing strategies, and staffing plans and actions) is realistic, specific, and implementable.
Are familiar with the process itself. Managers need to understand how the strategic staffing process will be implemented (especially for the first time). They need to understand the various components of the process and how these components fit together. They need to feel confident that the process is robust, yet is flexible enough to reflect changes, emerging priorities, and other contingencies. However, there may be some managers who will not be interested in the details of the process. These managers need to know just enough about the process to allow it to proceed. If there are managers who do want to see and understand the detail, then provide them with as much information as is necessary to secure their support. Don’t give all managers all the detail just because some of them want or need it.
Understand the role that they will play. Managers want to know what their role in the process will be. They want to know the extent of their involvement, particularly how much of their time will be required. Therefore, you need to clearly describe what their role will be. Initially, managers must identify and discuss the staffing issues and implications that they think are most important. Usually, they also provide at least some of the information that the process requires (e.g., defining the capabilities and staffing levels that will be required in the future). Often, they help to develop various planning scenarios and staffing assumptions. Finally, they need to provide input regarding the feasibility of the staffing actions that are the result of the process.
Remember to clearly differentiate the level of effort and management participation that will be needed during the initial implementation of the process from the level that will be needed to maintain the process on an ongoing basis. There is quite a lot of information that managers will need to provide the first time you implement the strategic staffing process. However, when it comes time to update the process, managers can simply modify or revise the information that they provided initially. Clearly, this updating will require far less time and fewer resources than were needed to develop this information from scratch.
Make sure that you strike a proper balance here. Identify the information that managers must provide, and make those requirements known. Identify areas in which management input is welcome but is not required, and provide ample opportunity for managers to provide this input as they see fit.
Much of this communication and dialogue with managers can be facilitated if you have a prior example of the process that you can share. Nothing makes some of these points better than seeing what a good example of the process looks like. Rather than describing the benefits in conceptual terms, share the actual benefits that were realized in a prior implementation of the process (e.g., one from another unit or one that addressed a different staffing issue from the one being faced now). Better yet, get a manager who has seen the value of the strategic staffing process to share his perspective with the managers with whom the process is to be implemented. Instead of showing managers conceptual models, show actual spreadsheets and results. Don’t describe what their role could be; share what the actual level of involvement of a prior group of managers was.
When launching a strategic staffing/workforce planning process, it is usually most effective to present the process (at an overall, overview level) to a group of managers, then follow up with each manager individually. Included in the computer files that you can access from the book’s web site at www.amacombooks.org/go/StrategicStaff2E is a set of slides that can be used for this type of group presentation. In its current form, it highlights the process at an appropriate level of detail, providing a big-picture overview of the process and its implementation. The presentation can be edited if you need to tailor it to meet your own particular needs. Above all, remember to be open to questions at all times and to be readily available for management discussions on an ongoing basis.